Securing Financing for your Medical Spa or Aesthetic Medical Practice

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Francis X Acunzo

If you are contemplating adding a new aesthetic laser to your cosmetic medical practice or if you are seeking financing to launch a medspa, join me on Tuesday, January 24 as I discuss how you can secure financing.

Here is the information for the upcoming Webinar:

SPONSORED BY: Eric Hanson, Financial Advisor – Merrill Lynch

Session date: Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Starting time: 1:00 pm, ET / 10:00 am, PT

Duration: 1 hour

Presenter: Francis X. Acunzo

Leading Medical Spa business expert, Francis Acunzo will review the basics on financing your Aesthetic Medical Practice or Medical Spa. How do you determine your financial needs for a new medical practice, re-capitalization of an existing business, or the cost of acquiring an established Medical Spa.

Learn how to analyze your risk tolerance and decide what your debt-to-equity ratio should be based upon your business and personal needs.

Attendees may request a Complimentary consultation with Aesthetic Medical Industry Expert: Francis Acunzo.

Session fee (USD$): Complimentary

REGISTER HERE – Limited Space

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Top 10 Acara Blog Posts in 2011

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Francis X Acunzo

I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone was reading about in 2011 so I pulled the statistics from my blog, SpaBusinessMD to find the top 10 most read posts.  To place this in perspective this year the blog had over 20,000 views.  Number 1 on the list was read over 3,000 times and number 10 was read 100 times (keep in mind that 1 has been posted for 4 years vs. 10 has been posted for 4 months).

1. Maximizing Medical Spa Interior Design – July 28, 2008

2. Medical Spa Interior Design – April 23, 2010

3. Building a Customer Centric Cosmetic Medical Practice – December 10, 2009

4. Medical Spa Interior Design – May 14, 2010

5. Zerona vs Zeltiq: Melt or Freeze Your Fat!  – February 5, 2010

6. Groupon Deals Equal to Fee Splitting, Experts Say – July 27, 2011

7. Formal vs. Informal Organizational Structure – October 29, 2009

8. Zerona Success Story – April 21, 2010

9. Smartlipo Pioneers to Hold Smartlipo & Liposuction Training in NYC – September 4, 2008

10. Daily Deals: Good or Bad for the Cosmetic Medical Industry? – October 4, 2011

 

FXA

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2012 Top Aesthetic Medical Trends Webinar

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Francis X Acunzo

Each year I publish my top aesthetic medical trends.  These are the procedures and treatments that Acara believes will meet the following criteria in the upcoming year:

  • Have high consumer demand
  • Minimal patient downtime
  • Offer visible results
  • Profitable

This year 9 aesthetic procedures/treatments met our criteria:

1. Fat Elimination
2. Fat Reduction
3. Fat Transfer
4. Injectables 2.0
5.Tattoo Removal
6. Laser Treatment Combo
7. Skin Tightening
8. Toenail Fungus
9. Hair Transplant: FUE

To hear my thoughts on these trends, please take 30 minutes and listen to the webinar I presented on Tuesday, January 10, 2012.

2012 Top Aesthetic Medical Trends

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Manage by the Numbers: Top 10 Data Points You Need to Know

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo

As owners, physicians and/or managers of cosmetic practices and medical spas you have a very demanding job.  First you need to insure the safety and care of all patients, second you must lead the team with a service culture while maintaining a sales focus, and third you have to be a great marketeer consistently implementing a marketing program that drives leads into your business.

In addition to these three responsibilities it is imperative that you manage your business by the numbers.  At any given time, you need to know the answers to the following 10 questions (without having to request a report from your accountant):

  1. What are your month-to-date sales?
  2. What were your sales for the same month last year?
  3. What were your sales last month?
  4. How much are you currently spending on your marketing program?
  5. What is your current break-even?
  6. What is your sales goal for this month?
  7. What is your current pace for this month?
  8. Are you currently on pace to hit this month’s goal?
  9. Are your expenses in-line with your budget?
  10. What are your current closing ratios?

I realize it is not easy, but if you are going to create sustainable growth for your business you need to focus on these top 10 data points to measure your success and insure that your business is holding the course you have planned.

FXA

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Is The Recession Over? Not According to Wall Street Journal Readers

Posted on April 16, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo

Even though consumer spending was up in March, and the Dow is sitting at 11,000 with many large publicly traded companies showing profits, “Mainstreet” is still feeling the pain of this (possibly over?) recession.  The Wall Street Journal did a poll asking its readers to vote on whether they thought the recession is over or not.  Here is the article and the current results:

The committee of academic economists that dates the beginning and end of recessions said it isn’t ready to put an end date on the recession that started in December 2007. The National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee said “Although most indicators have turned up, the committee decided that the determination of the trough date on the basis of current data would be premature.”

What do you think? Does it feel to you as though the worst is over?  Are you seeing signs of economic reinvigoration?

The poll results as of April 15th: 384 (26%) YES and 1094 (74%) NO.

I think this poll most likely reflects the sentiment of many of the Cosmetic Practices and Medical Spas we speak to on a very regular basis.  Acara boasts that 80% of our clients have doubled their sales.  But we must remember that Cosmetic Practices and Medical Spas call Acara when they are in need of increasing their business and we receive 3 calls interested in increasing their business for every one new client.

Basically, you can succeed in this uncertain economy but in order to do so you need to be extremely good at managing your business: marketing, sales and operations.  You need to know how to communicate your unique message (you need a unique message), you have to be consistent in implementing your marketing program, you must have a sales system in place with someone dedicated to providing consultations, and you have to run a customer-centric practice.

With the possibility of economic recovery, mow is a good time to start putting your house in order.  If you wish to discuss how the economy is impacting your business please send me an e-mail at facunzo@acarapartners.com or leave a message here on this post.

FXA

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A New Gold Standard: Laser lipolysis advances are expanding body contouring applications

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo

Dr. Edward B. Lack, MD recently wrote an article for Healthy Aging, a publication that “provides unbiased information so that physicians can help their patients look good and feel good as they age”.  The topic was on laser-assisted lipolysis (LAL) an ever growing trend since its introduction in 2006.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Liposuction is one of the most commonly performed surgical cosmetic procedures; however, liposuction is traumatic and results in postoperative pain, edema and bruising. For surgeons, the procedure can be time-consuming and strenuous.

Advances in laser lipolysis are redefining body contouring, allowing surgeons to remove unwanted fat with greater precision and ease. Using laser lipolysis as an adjunct to liposuction, surgeons can now sculpt chiseled abs, contour below the chin and treat contour irregularities and fibrosis from previous liposuction.

Laser-assisted lipolysis (LAL) offers the advantages of skin tightening, adipocyte lysis, improved fascial retraction and faster wound healing with less morbidity. These advantages are opening the doors to emerging applications, such as laser-assisted facelifts and cellulite reduction, which traditionally have been difficult

to achieve with standard liposuction. As physicians find news ways to use the technology, laser lipolysis is becoming a gold standard of subcutaneous contouring.

Dr. Edward B. Lack, MD, is president of MetropolitanMD, a multispecialty medical/surgical clinic in Chicago. He is a past president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and is a past board member of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery.

Go to Healthy Aging to read the full article.

FXA

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Top 10 Aesthetic Practice Business Tips Featured in MedEsthetics

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo

I’m not sure how many of you receive MedEsthetics Magazine but if you don’t, you should.  It is definitely one of the best trade publications available to Aesthetic Medical Physicians, Practitioners and Managers.

In the March/April issue Acara’s Top 10 Aesthetic Practice Business Tips were featured.  If you missed them before (on this blog) you can go here to review them on the digital version of MedEsthetics (its on page 4).

FXA

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Customer Centric Telephone Answering

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo

I recently did a blog post on running a Customer Centric Aesthetic Medical Practice or Medspa.  I talked about how all your business decisions need to be made with the customer in mind.

I made a call today to a cosmetic medical practice and the phone was answered in a brusque voice, “Doctor’s Office”.  Here is a classic example of a non-customer centric business decision.  Essentially, the decision was made to answer the phone as simply as possible with the least amount of effort.  There is no greeting, no personal introduction and no gracious offer i.e. “how may I help you”.  Just a curt, easy to remember, easy to manage approach (a staff member will never forget the correct way to answer the phone in that office…just 2 words “Doctor’s Office” thus nothing to manage).

Can you tell that this is a pet peeve of mine?  Small example of a big problem!  If the aesthetic medical practice that I go to ever did this, I’d spend my money elsewhere.

FXA

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Selling, the Highest Form of Customer Service

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo

I looked online for a definition of “selling” and here is what I found.  Selling: to persuade or induce others to buy.

This definition is simple and understandable but it does not reflect what truly occurs within the best medical spas and aesthetic practices throughout the world.  I believe the Acara definition does…

Selling: the act of discovering client needs and identifying the most appropriate solutions.

It is based upon this definition that I always say “selling is the highest form of customer service”.

If you are not working diligently through a consultation and diagnostic process to discover what your client needs then you are doing a “dis-service” to your clients.  Selling, as in accordance with my definition, is truly the highest form of customer service.

To learn in detail about Acara’s Sales System, join our Sales Guru, Sandi Unkur starting next Tuesday February 9th for three consecutive weeks as she conducts a 3 session training:

Sales & Consultation Secrets: Training for the Aesthetic Medical Professional

FXA

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Listen to this Complimentary Webinar: How Acara Boosts Businesses to the Next Level

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo

On Thursday, I presented a live webinar on Business Boosting Strategies for Your Aesthetic Medical Practice or MedSpa. I discussed the successes Acara has had over the past year and the Business Boosting Strategies and Tactics that we implemented to achieve the success.

I decided to post a recording of this webinar, for a limited time, for everyone that visits this Blog to enjoy and learn about Acara’s secret sauce.  The content provides you a step-by-step approach to building your business stronger and at the same time describes how Acara accomplishes this for our Medical Spa/Aesthetic Practice Clients.

In addition, if you want to listen to other recorded webinars you may purchase them here.  What’s great about the recorded version versus the live complimentary Webinars is that they are available for 30 days from date of purchase for multiple plays and many of your team members can listen too.

To listen to this Webinar go here.

FXA

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