When daydreaming about starting a successful spa business, visions of taxation and articles of incorporation usually do not jubilantly dance in your head. Unfortunately, many of the most important tasks to set a business up for financial success are the most tedious and, frankly, foreign to a budding, creative “spapreneur.” There are five main legal and tax details to focus on when starting a spa business: decide on a business structure, register a business name, apply for a Federal Employer Identification Number, obtain a business license, and start a business banking account. These obligations are not part of the fun or glamorous side of starting a business, but they will help to ensure the business lasts longer than the daydream.  

Melissa Allen has lived many lives as a dance teacher, biologist, and marketing director before becoming a successful aesthetician and spa owner. All of these former positions help to color her opinions, actions, and style. Allen’s career in aesthetics has also been far-reaching; she has been an aesthetician in the back of a salon, a solo aesthetician, a spa owner with several employees, and a global brand consultant. Allen has experienced many of the paths of aesthetics and is open, honest, and willing to share her adventures. As her time in the treatment room comes to an end, she is focusing on mentoring and guiding the next generation of thinking skin care professionals and spa owners.