In this episode, I chat with my former mentee, Karlee Lauren, about the steps she took before opening up her spa business, and her tips for navigating the spa world as a new business owner. 

KARLEE'S CHECKLIST

1. Decide on business name (pay to register with the state and renew every 5 years- in FL its sunbiz.org)

2. Choose between LLC and Sole Proprietorship

3. Obtain an employer identification number aka EIN (aka federal tax ID number, get from the IRS)

4. Open a business bank account (keep personal separate)

5. Find a location

6. Obtain business license from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) renew every 2 years.

7. Submit Business Tax Application for your state to pay/collect sales and use tax. (Department of Revenue)

8. Obtain Resale Certificate to resell products without being charged sales tax when you purchase inventory.

9. Hire an accountant. (Either for monthly bookkeeping services or quarterly/yearly taxes or both. You need to pay income, self employment, and sales + use taxes.)

10. Brainstorm a business plan and choose which companies to work with. (What services/products you'll offer, equpiment, point of sale/scheduling system, policies, intake forms, consent forms, etc.)

11. Get insurance coverage for professional, general liability, and property if needed. (speak with an agent if possible- I used PPIB for my insurance.)

12. Marketing. (logo and branding colors, business cards, website design + domain, maybe get professional photos taken.)

------(we didnt really get to this in the episode, but:)

13. Physical items/details. (design your spa space, retail bags, disposable supplies, tools, aftercare cards/take home info for clients, retail shelves, wall sign, comfort items like bedding, furniture, wax pots, towel warmer, spa wraps, towels, sheets, music speaker, etc)

Questions covered:

- LLCs

- Taxes

- Quickbooks and accounting

- Setting boundaries with policies

- Permits + licenses 

- Hydrafacial 

- Deciding on skincarelines 

and more! We love you Karlee!

Connect with Karlee

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Book with Karlee

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This episode is sponsored by Gloss Genius.

Music: Sweet by LiQWYD | https://www.instagram.com/liqwyd Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US