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Healthy, Wealthy And Wise 10 great ideas for starting a health, beauty or fitness business.

By Carlienne A. Frisch

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Americans are increasingly concerned about staying well andlooking good," says Deb Lundberg, owner of Health Solutions, aMankato, Minnesota, fitness-consulting business. Service businessesthat offer preventive or nontraditional health options or thatpamper the customer offer entrepreneurs a variety of start-upopportunities. You can join a network marketing company likeFreeLife or Jeunesse, or develop a unique service of your own.


Carlienne A. Frisch presented a look at in-storedemonstration businesses in the February issue of BusinessStart-Ups.

On-Site Massage Therapist

Business managers who want to improve employee morale, reduceabsenteeism, and prevent work-related injuries are providingon-site therapeutic massage as an employee perk, according toElliot Greene, a Silver Spring, Maryland, massage therapist."A therapeutic massage break--fully clothed, in a massagechair--fits into most employees' work schedules, reducesstress, and prevents repetitive motion injury," Greenesays.

You can begin an on-site massage-therapy service from homewithout giving up a part-time job with a chiropractor or physician.To begin, explain the benefits and procedure of on-site therapeuticmassage to the human-resources directors of the companiesyou're targeting.

Employees sign up for a 10- to 15-minute massage, for which theemployer pays about $1 per minute. With the employee seated in aspecially-designed 20-pound chair that folds to fit in most cars(and costs about $350), the therapist applies a combination ofSwedish massage techniques and acupressure to the person'shead, neck, arms and back.

Most message therapists have a degree from a certifiedmassage-therapy school accredited by the Commission on MassageTraining Accreditation Approval in Evanston, Illinois (see"Reader Resources" on pg. 78 for contact information).Some therapists take additional courses for seated massage. TheDistrict of Columbia and 24 states regulate massage therapy. Checkwith your state's professional licensing department or healthdepartment for specific information.

Mobile Childrens Gymnastics Program

Parents and day-care providers welcome a chance for kids tojump, roll, hang, climb and dance to music on someone else'sturf. A mobile gymnastics bus brings that turf to the kids.

To promote a mobile gymnastics program, ask day-care providersand pre-school directors to distribute fliers to parents, then holda bus "open house" and sign-up session. A typical fee is$24 per month per child for a weekly half-hour class of 12children. Although certification is not required, you'll findexperience in gymnastics, cheerleading, childhood development orphysical education helpful. Ask the Department of Motor Vehicles ifa commercial (bus) driver's license is required for a busweighing less than 15,000 pounds, and check city and countyordinances if you plan to park the bus at your home.

Brenda and Larry Scharlow, of New Albany, Indiana, created justsuch a mobile gymnastics/fitness program. Refurbished schoolbuses--each called a Tumblebus--"deliver" this activityto Montessori schools, pre-schools, day-care centers and weekendbirthday parties. At no point do they drive with the children onthe bus.

"More than 115 Tumblebuses are on the road nationwide, witha potential gross income of $75,000 to $125,000 the first year offull-time operation," Brenda Scharlow says. The Scharlows havenot franchised the Tumblebus concept; instead, they offer fellowentrepreneurs a fully-outfitted Tumblebus for a one-time fee of$29,500, which includes equipment, advertising materials, themedlesson plans, and training in marketing and bus driving. If youalready have a bus, you can get equipment, materials andtraining.

Medical-Information Service

When Janice Guthrie was diagnosed with a rare form of ovariancancer, she looked beyond the usual radiation therapy and foundother treatment options. Wanting to help others get the informationthey needed to make informed medical decisions, Guthrie launchedThe Health Resource Inc., a medical-information service in Conway,Arkansas. In 1984, she quit her administrative job at theUniversity of Arkansas at Little Rock, took $2,700 from the familysavings account (for office equipment, letterhead and advertising),and placed classified ads in health magazines. She used direct mailto promote in-depth medical/legal research services toattorneys.

"When a new client calls, I take the person's medicalhistory or ask for a fax of their medical records," Guthriesays. Each time a client requests information, Guthrie conducts newcomputer searches and draws on information stored in her extensivefiles.

"The client may have been diagnosed with breast cancer orwith a rare blood disorder," says Guthrie. "We tailoreach report to the client's education level. We providereports--full texts of articles, not summaries--and send freeupdates throughout the year. I advise clients to take theinformation to a specialist and to set a time to decide abouttreatment."

The Health Resource Inc.'s gross revenues have increasedfrom $700 in 1984 to $350,000 in 1996. Guthrie now employs fourclerical staff members and seven researchers, some freelance. Theresearchers all have medical backgrounds and use medical schoollibraries, academic and public libraries, the Internet, and healthand medical books purchased by Guthrie, who pays royalties for eachuse of copyrighted print or electronic information.

"You should enjoy digging into books and working on acomputer," Guthrie says. "My science background helps meto understand medical terminology. Without a science education, Iwould need a partner with medical expertise, such as a nurse ormedical transcriptionist."

Other potential clients for medical-information services caninclude hospitals, health-maintenance organizations, physicians,and industries concerned about health-care costs.

Image Consultant

The way others see us directly affects how successful we are.Image consulting is a growing field for people who project aprofessional, current image, enjoy public speaking, and are activein their community. An image consultant advises clients such asattorneys, sales representatives, television reporters--evenretired people looking for a new direction--on clothing fashions,hair and makeup styles, mannerisms, and speaking.

This business can be started at home with basic office equipmentand a steady supply of magazines and books on fashion, beauty andbusiness topics. Study the local and regional corporate culture andget experience in public speaking, retail clothing sales, cosmeticsales, or modeling. Become active in community organizations andplace ads in their newsletters. Offer free self-image sessions tostudents and free seminars to conventions, corporations andcommunity organizations.

Fitness Vacations

"Vacations that fit a healthy lifestyle are popular amongbaby boomers," says Franklin Wolf, a guide with Bike RidersTours, a Boston bicycle-tour company. "People 35 to 55 yearsold are the best customers for biking or hiking vacations. And afitness-vacation service is ideal as a start-up homebased business,because its weekend and seasonal aspects permit starting up thecompany while keeping your day job."

To reach customers, place ads in national or regional travelmagazines. Begin with a home office and a van (for transportingluggage and weary vacationers); for biking, add state-of-the-artbicycles. Get first-aid and CPR training from the Red Cross and anattorney's advice about liability.

The typical biking vacation covers 15 to 35 miles per day,depending on the terrain and the fitness level of tourparticipants, while hikers walk five to 15 miles daily. As a tourleader, you should be physically fit and detail-oriented. Youshould know the terrain, history and cultural background of thearea, including restaurants, inns, campgrounds, and local points ofinterest.

Corporate Fitness Consultant

"For every dollar a company invests in a well-targetedpreventive health program, the employer can expect an averagereturn of $1.80," says Deb Lundberg, who founded HealthSolutions in 1992 in her home in Mankato, Minnesota. Lundbergprovides all-around health care as a fitness consultant formanufacturers, professionals and nonprofit organizations. As afitness consultant, you should have an education in at least one ofthe following fields: health science, dietetics, physicaleducation, coaching, sports medicine, or certified aerobicsinstruction. An advanced degree with an emphasis on corporate orcommunity fitness and professional experience in a medical facilityincrease a consultant's credibility.

Lundberg recommends marketing to a company's human-resourcesdirector with a proposal for a program tailored to thecompany's needs. You can offer one-time seminars, annualcontracts and self-teaching videos. Services may include astatistical assessment of the company's health risks, employeeassessments, and education and training on diet, body composition,back fitness and stress. With a portable computer, you can offerindividual stress inventories and nutritional analyses.

Most states do not have certification requirements. The AmericanCouncil on Exercise has specifics on certification.

Nutritional And Weight-Loss Supplement Sales

While health-conscious people want to maintain vigor andvitality, more than half of all Americans are overweight, accordingto recent government statistics. "Nearly every person whocrosses your path is a potential customer for nutritional orweight-loss supplements," says Thomas Carvell, a Louisville,Tennessee, marketing executive with FreeLife. Companies likeFreeLife, Shaklee, Melaleuca and BodyWise offer network marketingopportunities, some with start-up costs as low as $70. Productsvary from vitamin supplements to children's vitamins.Commissions on sales vary from 30 to 70 percent.

Customers and new distributors are recruited through ads innewspapers and free shopper publications, home-party plans, andpersonal referrals. Network marketing companies also paydistributors commissions on sales made by the new distributors theyrecruit. A distributor receives training about products and salesstrategies through print materials, videos and local meetings.Typically, a distributor takes orders, collects payment, andreceives the products for personal delivery to the customer.Established distributors usually carry an inventory of the mostpopular products for immediate delivery.

In-Store Water-Purification Systems

Americans soaked up an average of 11 gallons of bottled waterapiece in 1995--up from 10.4 gallons in 1994, according to theBeverage Marketing Corp. (see "Reader Resources" on pg.78 for contact information). Water-vending machines offer anenvironmentally friendly start-up opportunity that can be run fromhome.

You can purchase a vending machine for between $3,000 and$6,000, depending on the water vended, from any manufacturer listedwith the National Automatic Merchandising Association in Chicago(see "Reader Resources" on pg. 78 for contactinformation). Service for the machine is based on the condition ofthe water in the area and the machine's usage. A machine shouldnet between $100 and $400 per month, depending on its location.

Look for a supermarket with no water-vending machine and atleast 15 feet of shelf space featuring bottled water, which showsthe product sells well in this location. Explain the advantages ofa vending system--no ordering, no stocking, a larger profitmargin--to the store manager, and offer a six-month pilot program,making it clear you will own the machine. The store gets 20to 40 percent of gross sales and provides electricity, a drain, anda source of water from the public water system.

Jerry Soost, owner of Clear Choice, a Mankato, Minnesota,water-dispensing machine business, says, "To develop a market,offer free water to a super-market's customers for severalweeks. Some will develop a taste for water with no organic matterand virtually no natural salts or other minerals, and will bewilling to pay about 35 cents to a dollar per gallon for water fromyour dispenser."

Personal Trainer

Americans are willing to pay $25 to $50 an hour, two to fourtimes a week, for a personal trainer's guidance. As a trainer,you instruct a client on proper exercise technique and a regimenbased on his or her goals, and analyze progress in body weight,muscle development and weight training. You may train clients intheir home gyms, work with health-club members who pay additionalfees for your service, or operate a small gym with a full range ofequipment (with a start-up cost of $7,000 to $10,000), developing aclientele over several years by working with or for an establishedtrainer.

Most personal trainers have a college degree in physicaltherapy, physical education, exercise physiology, sports medicine,health or related specialties. Many trainers add muscle to theircredentials with nonmandatory certification by the American Collegeof Sports Medicine (see "Reader Resources" on pg. 78 forcontact information).

In-Home Facial Classes

In-home facials offer an opportunity to make people feel goodwhile making up to a 50 percent profit on sales of skin-careproducts and cosmetics with network marketing companies like MaryKay Cosmetics Inc. (800-MARY-KAY) and Jeunesse Cosmetics Inc.(800-SPARTY-0). Because many states permit only a licensedcosmetologist to handle a customer's skin, a skin-careconsultant usually instructs customers how to do their own facialsat in-home "classes," or "parties," held byhostesses who receive free products for inviting guests.

A consultant uses a questionnaire to determine each guest'sskin type, and provides samples of the appropriate formulas of skincleanser, exfoliant, toner, moisturizer and foundation. Someconsultants also demonstrate cosmetics such as lip, eye and cheekcolors. Most guests purchase products; some also sign up to host asession or become a consultant.

Reader Resources:

The Association of Image Consultants International

1000 Connecticut Ave. N.W., #9, Washington, DC 20036-5032, (301)371-9021

The American Council on Exercise

5820 Oberlin Dr., #102, San Diego, CA 92121-3787, (800)825-3636

American Massage Therapy Association

820 Davis St., #100, Evanston, IL 60201-444, (708) 864-0123

American College of Sports Medicine

P.O. Box 1440 , Indianapolis, IN 46206-1440, (317) 637-9200

Beverage Marketing Corp.

850 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022, (212) 688-7640

National Automatic Merchandising Association

20 N. Wacker Dr. #3500, Chicago, IL 60606, (312) 346-0370

Contact Sources

Bike Riders Tours, P.O. Box 254, Boston, MA 02113, (800)473-7040.

Clear Choice, 712 S. Broad St., Mankato, MN 56001, (507)345-7738.

Health Solutions, 414 S. Front St., Ste. B, Mankato, MN56001, (507) 625-7462.

Tami Davis, RR 1, Box 139, Eagle Lake, MN 56024, (507)388-4482.

The Health Resource Inc., 564 Locust St., Conway, AR72032, (800) 949-0090.

Thomas Carvell, 3711-A Ambassador Ln., Louisville, TN37777, (800) 525-7710.

Tumblebus, 601 W. Main St., New Albany, IN 47150, (812)945-6866.

Uri Ben-Ari, 342 Madison Ave., #823, New York, NY10173-0899, (212) 682-7282.

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