Are you looking for a new esthetic device? Before doing so, we invite you to think about how to choose the right machine for your business.
Few people crunch numbers and quantify amortization. An esthetic equipment is a working tool, and as such, the last thing that should happen is to end up working for it.
Many companies work for their machines, rather than the machines working for them, with the excuse “if I don’t have it, they’ll go elsewhere”.
I need to have the latest
The aesthetics sector is very changeable. Customers want novelties and, sometimes, centers make impulse purchases to get on board with the latest fashion, which is beginning to be in demand.
It seems that when something new comes out, everything that has gone before is no longer useful. For example, IPL, then alexandrite laser and now diode laser.
Other times it’s just marketing. If iontophoresis is old and cheap, we rename it. If cavitation is too common, ultracavitation is better. And instead of bipolar radiofrequency, tripolar or pentapolar is better.
While it is true that many customers are looking for a particular technique, you have to think and do the numbers well to know if it is profitable. It should be remembered that the acquisition of equipment is a business decision.
As such, we must assess:
- Does my facility really need that equipment?
- Is it going to improve the services I have or is it new?
- Will it bring me new customers?
- Is it a fad that may be short-lived?
If, after asking these questions, we decide that we are interested in acquiring equipment to provide a new service or to enhance existing services, we move on to assessing profitability:
- What is the cost of the equipment?
- What investment can I make?
- What price can I charge per session?
- If it is a fad, how long can it last?
- Over what period of time do I amortize it?
Choosing an esthetic equipment
We all want to make a good purchase, to acquire good equipment with fast amortization and excellent results.
The problem arises when an infinite number of models appear, with intelligible technical characteristics, different frequencies, technologies, depths, electrodes, etc.
In the end, given the impossibility of knowing what is objectively interesting, people end up choosing for other reasons.
- The bigger the better: this simple reasoning is behind many purchasing decisions. Fortunately not as much as a few years ago.
- The higher the power, the better: in the equipment values, we often get carried away by the maximum power consumption. Is that better?
- The more expensive, the better: we all have a direct relationship between price and quality built in.
In this sector there are huge differences, with equipment that is much better than others costing much less. We have to try to buy quality at the right price. - The more prestige, the better: advertised or used by celebrity X or used by the great esthetician X. Just because a celebrity is treated (or said to be treated) by a certain team does not make it good. This does not mean that we will have a better result. That celebrity has been paid money to promote that equipment. In many cases, the aesthetics professional imitates the opinion leaders in the sector. However, that leader will announce a different team the following month.
Should we base the image, credibility and prestige of our business on a specific technique or device?
Some people think that if they have the latest and most expensive, their center will have more prestige. But this is short-sighted, because prestige is achieved with a good diagnosis and good treatment.
When the tool is the product
We are used to the sale of technical bonds. There are some that may make sense, such as those for hair removal, but with the others we only manage to turn the product into something that is the same everywhere. The only difference is the price.
The consequence of this behavior is lower prices. Standardization of techniques devalues them, making it increasingly difficult to charge less and less and making it more difficult to amortize good equipment.
On the other hand, the profession is devalued. The professional becomes a secondary element, since the team is the protagonist. The professional becomes a simple operator.
By making the equipment the important thing, clients can reason that they don’t need to go to a center for treatment, they can do it at home.
To combat these behaviors, we need to give more value to the professional, to the one who really has it. And less so to the equipment, which are nothing more than tools at the service of the professional.
And this is achieved by making a good diagnosis, using the best tools available and adapting the treatment to the patient’s evolution.
Issues to consider
Before purchasing any aesthetic equipment, it is important to consider a few issues. Buying low quality products is not a good way to start a beauty business. Superior quality equipment will provide maximum benefits.
These issues to be considered are as follows:
- Maintenance. When purchasing aesthetic equipment, it is important to consider routine maintenance. Regular cleaning, inspections and preventive maintenance will ensure that the equipment lasts longer and keeps the business running smoothly.
- Training. It is necessary to have the relevant training to perform a wide range of aesthetic treatments. Many distributors offer a comprehensive training program for the equipment they sell. It is a good idea to review the training requirements for any aesthetic equipment before purchasing it.
- Price. Aesthetic devices can be quite expensive, as can consumables. In fact, it is important to review the price of consumables when assessing the price of the devices.
- Quality. Quality is important, of course. And it is something to consider whether you are buying new or second-hand devices. If it is good equipment, the use of used equipment can be much more economical than new equipment and offers the same benefits for people who want to start an esthetics business.
Regulation of the sector
It is common to hear that more training is needed in the aesthetics sector, so that there is no deception when it comes to selling equipment.
It is true. However, it is not possible to delegate to training what in reality is a lack of regulation. In the European Union there are a number of standards and controls in all sectors. However, in Spain, with aesthetic appliances, the regulation is the same as for a light bulb, despite the fact that we work with people to whom we apply an infinite number of techniques, currents, ultrasound, etc.
This does not occur in other countries. Nor in Spain in other sectors such as physiotherapy.
When in doubt, we must use common sense and try to analyze coldly the technique we are interested in and want to acquire.
With a good basic education and common sense, it will be more difficult to be deceived.
Made in Spain
The fact that a device has been manufactured in our country is almost always a guarantee of quality and good technical service. However, you have to be very careful, because some of them are a bit tricky.
However, you have to be very careful, because some of them There are, in the Spanish market, equipment with very high sales prices that, in reality, come from China. Chinese equipment is not better or worse than Spanish equipment, but there the selling price has two zeros and here, the same product, with a Spanish logo and the phrase “made in Spain”, costs 10 times more.
We recommend, when in doubt about the provenance of this equipment, to go to the Alibaba website and try to locate to find the actual manufacturer. We can get many surprises but also avoid being deceived.
They are usually easy to find. If it costs, it may be because they change the casings. In that case,look at the applicators it incorporates.
In Spain there are very good appliance manufacturers. We should prosecute fraud to prevent them from charging more than 10 times the real value of a piece of equipment.
