30+ Profitable Spa & Massage Business Ideas

Having worked in several different grooming salons, I was not satisfied with how dogs were being treated. In the US in general, grooming is seen as a necessary evil, and the focus is not on making the dog comfortable or giving them an enjoyable experience. I began to see more and more clients who view their dogs as a part of their family, and I wanted to focus on serving this demographic. They are not looking for a cheap, quick haircut; they want to bring their dogs to a place where the stylists get to know their dog individually and understand what their needs are.

There is an expectation among entrepreneurs to have to give themselves extreme working hours and high expectations to be successful. Money is not worth it to me to work 80-90 hours a week. I could be a millionaire, but who cares? What I need is a good quality of life.

My idea was that there had to be a better alternative than the typical grooming salon. At Pawsitivity, our primary goal is the comfort of each canine client. We want to understand each dog’s personality and what makes them happy so that we can give them a comfortable, pleasant grooming experience. I educate my clients on how to care well for their dogs, what spa services are needed to make their dog comfortable, and how to read their dog’s body language, especially after a grooming appointment, to understand how they are feeling.

I started off with just a blog, I was living in Europe and writing about my adventures and experiences. My focus was really on enjoying a slower pace and appreciating the little things in life. I was working in enterprise software - my day job not all that interesting, but I did enjoy it.

You can read all the books you want about the different cycles and phases of businesses, but I’ve found that nothing replaces lived experience! Just focus on where you are and always be asking yourself, what is the NEXT RIGHT step. That’s it.

Eventually, I left my corporate job looking for something more fulfilling - I did consulting on the side related to my previous job, but started rolling out some advertising display ads and affiliate relationships to try to generate some revenue from my efforts. Back then generating traffic (at a low cost) was pretty easy, but I wasn’t able to generate a lot of revenue.

My interest in herbalism started when I was teaching health in 1998 and an herbalist guest speaker came into my classroom. Isabelle Hadley showed my high school students beautiful jars of dried herbs and passed around small vials of plant-based essential oils. She talked about using these beneficial plants for health and beauty, as healthier alternatives to products many of us were using in our daily lives. Everything smelled so good and I was captivated. I followed Isabelle out of the classroom and took her 6 Saturday long course at her cozy log cabin in the woods. We learned about plants and made herbal products. I had found my passion.

Supporting pollinators is a big part of what we do here at Everlasting Herb Farm. We give back to help the plants that help support us.

Five years later in 2003, with the help of my friend, Mary Ellen Reis, Everlasting Herb Farm was born. We met while volunteering for our local school’s parent/teacher group when our children were little. We went to Pickety Place in New Hampshire one day, which is where you can enjoy a fabulous 5-course herbal lunch, walk through greenhouses, and wander gift shops designed around herbal themes. On the long, three hour drive home, we chatted about starting our own herbal business.

Hi there! My name is Sam Varnerin and I created Snuggle with Sam, my independent professional cuddling practice, while I was still working full-time as a construction engineer.

Here’s all of the contributors on the panel at CuddleXpo in Chicago presenting how we came up with the Code of Ethics for Professional Cuddling. Back left to right: Maryelen Reid, Madelon Guinazzo, Samantha Varnerin (me!), Samantha Hess, Jean Franzbleau, Fei Wyatt, Janet Trevino. Front left to right: Keely Shoup, Lisa Meece. Photo credit Rellian Chen Merrin

In retrospect, I’m pretty sure no one else has the foolishness we had in the start of our business. But, you know, it worked out ok…

So, first, let me say that we had never made soap before we decided to start a soap company. Yeah, seriously.

In June 2018, I left my corporate gig after 16 years. I had a severe repetitive stress injury in my neck and shoulder that just wasn’t improving. I figured there was no way cubicle culture was going to allow me to get better. I told colleagues I was leaving to pursue “creative projects.”

Don’t wait until you know what you’re doing. Just start. Say yes more than you say no.

Those projects turned out to include naps, walks with my dog, cooking healthy meals, journaling, yoga, meditation and a series of personal growth courses.

I created Sayar because I needed something better.

I dealt with hair loss, and wanted a safe way to stop it. In medicine, the ideal approach in treatment is to treat the actual causes. Treating underlying conditions is comprehensive and highly effective.

If your “entrepreneurship” is due to a desire for something you need to see in this world, the journey can bring you the highest point of satisfaction a human can find.

I’ve had the Airstream Dream for about 15 years now. First of all, who doesn’t love the beauty of the shiny silver Airstreams? And to have a business on wheels, well, that’s the cat’s meow! I had gone so far to have owned 2 vintage Airstreams over the last 15 years but for one reason or another, I chickened out and became overwhelmed with the scope of the project and gave it up, selling my trailers.

Even when the ground feels shaky and you doubt and question everything, use that as a signal to go within and get quiet.

Then life happened. I got married, had twins and then got divorced 5 years later and during that time is when my midlife awakening happened. “It’s now or never.” So, the silver lining in my dark chapter in my life gave me the courage to go after my dream. And in my case, it’s a teeny, tiny, silver mobile body care spa. To be honest, the longer I was in the profession the less I enjoyed doing onsite gigs. Hauling equipment around is cumbersome and tiring. I bring ALL the gear. Towel warmer, body cushions, table warmer, lighting, music, aromatherapy. It’s not just a massage, but an experience.

We are Jackie and Evan Streusand - a married couple, living in Austin, Texas. (When not robe-ing) Jackie works as an interior designer for SLIC Design. Evan has owned and operated a sustainable women’s shoe brand called Fortress of Inca since 2010. Highway Robery was the inevitable outcome of our combined powers - Jackie (design + production) and Evan (business development + marketing).

Early in the summer of 2016 we took a road trip out to west Texas and spent a few days taking scenic drives and lounging around. There were a pair of colorful robes in the place that we were staying and naturally, we put them on. For the better part of the next few days they didn't really come off. We ate in them, we drank in them, we yada yada'd in them, and we slept in them. We had a great time and eventually we came back home to Austin.

That first $7,000 is all we have ever put into the business. We have grown it organically since then. As they say, slow and steady wins the race.

Growing up I was always the athletic kid who always had a little extra ‘love’ on him. I was constantly teased about my weight, but always laughed it off growing up. However, my 1st year of college was when I really let myself go. I bypassed right by the Freshman 15 and put on 40lbs. This led to a deep depression that was very hard for me to dig myself out of. Playing team sports I was familiar with working out, but it took me falling into that dark place to truly appreciate the importance of the gym; both for my physical and mental well-being.

I fell into the Fitness Industry in 2014 naturally, after being an active gym-goer. Over the next 5 years I moved my way up the food chain starting as a Membership Consultant (salesman) to the General Manager of the largest Health Club in the area with over 8,000 Members. Through this experience, I quickly realized the disconnect between our Club and Members on a personal level was not what I wanted for my career. I belonged to a CrossFit Box for years and even competed at a high level in my free time. I loved the community in the smaller facility and the results it got their Members. But I saw a need for a strength and conditioning based program that was geared to everyone. So many people are intimidated by the physical judgement of CrossFit and it keeps them from stepping into a box.

I saw the need for a Strength and Conditioning based program that catered to ALL! But combining this results driven class with the traditional 24 hour access for Members to do their own thing really put us in our own lane. This led to Hexbox® and HXBX®. Paul and I met at the Health Club I was working at before leaving to pursue my own Facility. When we quickly realized our goals and ambitions were well-aligned, we teamed up. The birth of HXBX® came very naturally and quickly after first discussing what we wanted to do.

I started Southern Elegance right after my son was born as a hobby. Initially, I made a bunch of random bath and body products in addition to the candles. When I decided to get serious, I looked at everything and decided to just focus on one product and chose candles because they had the potential to be the most profitable. I chose a niche that I could speak authentically about. My ideal customer was easy to identify because it was basically me. (But, don't use that a marketing strategy. It just happened to work in this case) I was born and raised in the South. I LOVE living here and couldn't imagine living anywhere else. I created a company around all the things that I love to do.

Choose your partners carefully and trust your gut. I made very bad decisions by going against what I thought I should do and listening to “experts” and lost a ton of money.

I was working in education at the time and I absolutely hated it. One day walked into work and quit my job to make candle making a full-time career. I had absolutely no background in sales, manufacturing, marketing or anything business-related. I basically had no clue as to how it was going to work or if this was even a viable plan. Everything was a learning curve, and I spent hours learning a new skill then implementing it.

With very limited resources, (basically no money) I went to the school of Google and Youtube. I took some online classes on Branding and Wholesaling. I hired a business coach and I literally hit the streets selling. For the first year, I would sell my candles at any Church function, fair, festival, school bazaar… I did not care. I sold candles outside in the middle of the summer and the dead of winter. I also sold on any and every online platform that would accept me. Etsy, Amazon, Faire, Modalyst, Houzz, etc. All the money I made went back into building the brand, I was lucky to have a husband to pay the bills but it was tight financially. When I finally felt comfortable I approached stores to carry my products. And we slowly built a base of stores to sustain the company.

I always wanted to work for myself. So I was always thinking about business ideas. Not everyone wants to work for themselves and not everyone is suited to the lifestyle, so if you have the dream, make sure you pursue it!

My business started when I was working as a cook at a local reception venue. A bride wanted some local honey wedding favors, which I provided. Doing this made me find a jar supplier, register my home kitchen as a food premise, prepare an invoice, etc.

From here, I began selling honey to the public and then I experimented with other ideas (making jam, personalized wedding favors, etc) before going into skincare. I had quite a few failures in this period!

My Grandmother taught me to make Face Cream when I was about thirteen. While I enjoyed the time we spent together, moisturizer was not something I used and while it was wasted on youth, the impact of women lining up outside her front door was not; it’s one of the things I remember most.

Fast forward to the ’80s, and you’ll find me working for a large medical center. I had a creative side and was asked by the Administration to decorate two medical facilities for the holidays. When I inquired about funds to make this holiday magic happen, I was told to “have a bake sale.” Baking cookies is not my thing so I reformulated my Grandmother's face cream into solid moisturizing bars - which by the way, were just beginning to show up in the marketplace.

Making them at night in my kitchen, I sold them during my lunch hour at a table strategically positioned between the front door and the cafeteria and on weekends at Medical Center sponsored events. I pulled a volunteer team together to help decorate and sell, and each year we raised enough money to fund the raw ingredients and decorations.

Hi! My name is Tara Menzies, and I’m the creator of the five-star rated Christian Hypnobirthing App, which is a scripture-based relaxation app designed to help expecting mamas feel more relaxed and connected to God throughout pregnancy and birth. Being in this relaxed, faith-filled state helps the body produce optimum levels of oxytocin and endorphins, naturally helping to make labor more efficient and more comfortable.

The app currently has around 5000 downloads a month, and average revenue of US$10K a month. When I decided to create this app I had no app-building or software background, no money to invest, and no potential investors. All I had was an idea and the belief that it was possible.

I am Nabiulla. I manage RealDrop Natural Oil, along with my IT recruiting and web development company SkyllsSolutions.

I’m Hilary Erickson, the curly head behind Pulling Curls. I started the website as a “mommy blog” back in 2005 when I had two small boys who were making me pull my curls out. I came up with the name because I wanted to highlight something that made me different, and it’s always been my curly hair.

Pulling Curls income fluctuates monthly but the average would probably be around 16,000/month and was started with zero investment other than time and a lot of youtube videos watched on how to do things by Hilary.