Starting A Small Business

[drummer]

I have a Thai friend who is interested in setting up an on-call spa service aimed at falang. She would go to peoples houses and do massage and spa treatments. Strictly professional - no funny business. Incidentally, she is quite good (my mother is a massage therapist and has 5 NBA players as regular clients ... my friend is as good.) She has a long resume and is Wat Po trained. She speaks good English and some French and some Swedish.

My have some questions...

(1) what reservations, if any, would you have to using this kind of service? Would you use it? How often?

(2) what kind of advertising should she do?

(3) her target is falangs and their wives/girlfriends.

Thanks

[Totster]

I have a Thai friend who is interested in setting up an on-call spa service aimed at falang.  She would go to peoples houses and do massage and spa treatments.  Strictly professional - no funny business.  Incidentally,  she is quite good (my mother is a massage therapist and has 5 NBA players as regular clients ...  my friend is as good.)  She has a long resume and is Wat Po trained.  She speaks good English and some French and some Swedish.

My have some questions...

(1)  what reservations, if any,  would you have to using this kind of service?  Would you use it?  How often? 

(2)  what kind of advertising should she do? 

(3)  her target is falangs and their wives/girlfriends.

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

(1) I wouldn't have any reservations using a service like this. It is nice to have a massage in your own home. If the price was right I would use it. Whenever I needed to. ( Instead of travelling to a shop )

(2) Word of mouth is the best advertising. Maybe start with a leaflet drop which is cheap and she can do herself

(3) What's the question ?

totster

[jingjingna]

Drummer,

I too would have no reservations about using this service if it meant saving time getting what I wanted. What is Wat Po??

I mean a massage!!

[drummer]

Wat Po is a temple near he Grand Palace that is the highest rated massage school in LoS.

Also, she has tried a leaflet drop already - I think 1,000 leaflets and not a single response. So any other ideas would be appreciated. Or, where would be a good place to distribute leaflets?

"her target" .. I mean she is trying to build a customer base of falang and their girlfriends/wives. Especially women, as sh does all the spa stuff - facial scrubs, etc etc

[Lavanchawee]

Well, if she wants farang clientele, she would have to make her services known at foreign embassies.. places like that. But since it is a small business with only one service worker, looks like word-of-mouth is the best. Otherwise she'll get too many customers to handle!

[calibanjr.]

My GF being kieniow like me, is always looking for in-house massage, since it's a lot cheaper, no need to pay the rent on a shop. It's usually someone from a massage shop anyway who will come on off hours, no need to pay the house. A lot more comfortable at home, and can be a total farang and watch TV if I feel like it, which I do sometimes.

So it will be tough to compete I think, but if she's done the Wat Po program, she'll do O.K. through word of mouth, just take some time.

[Lacoste]

My GF being kieniow like me, is always looking for in-house massage, since it's a lot cheaper, no need to pay the rent on a shop. It's usually someone from a massage shop anyway who will come on off hours, no need to pay the house. A lot more comfortable at home, and can be a total farang and watch TV if I feel like it, which I do sometimes.

So it will be tough to compete I think, but if she's done the Wat Po program, she'll do O.K. through word of mouth, just take some time.

I always thought a massage in your own home would be more expensive than in a shop.

[lannarebirth]

I have a Thai friend who is interested in setting up an on-call spa service aimed at falang. She would go to peoples houses and do massage and spa treatments. Strictly professional - no funny business. Incidentally, she is quite good (my mother is a massage therapist and has 5 NBA players as regular clients ... my friend is as good.) She has a long resume and is Wat Po trained. She speaks good English and some French and some Swedish.

My have some questions...

(1) what reservations, if any, would you have to using this kind of service? Would you use it? How often?

(2) what kind of advertising should she do?

(3) her target is falangs and their wives/girlfriends.

Thanks

Perhaps yor friend's rates are too high. What are her rates? I usually pay 100-150 bt/hr at massage shop, or 200-250 bt/hr in my home. I usually tip 30%-50%.

[Thaising]

Dropping advertising flyers would not help much on her trade, at least she need to build up some clientele for a start, and once client know her skills and services, they were start spreading her services by word of mouth to friends that require a massage. Good luck.

[Donz]

I think it would be great, coz i sometimes get alittle excited when getting a rub around the groin area, sometimes they accidently rub your thing and when its a pretty girl you can get sort of embarrassed when people are around, Its happend to me a few times and it was kind of embarrasing, especially when it happend at a temple in bangkok.

So I think it will work

[OZONE]

I think it would be great, coz i sometimes get alittle excited when getting a rub around the groin area, sometimes they accidently rub your thing and when its a pretty girl you can get sort of embarrassed when people are around, Its happend to me a few times and it was kind of embarrasing, especially when it happend at a temple in bangkok.

So I think it will work

how exactly do they "accidentally" rub your thing? May be its so small she didn't see it

[Donz]

I think it would be great, coz i sometimes get alittle excited when getting a rub around the groin area, sometimes they accidently rub your thing and when its a pretty girl you can get sort of embarrassed when people are around, Its happend to me a few times and it was kind of embarrasing, especially when it happend at a temple in bangkok.

So I think it will work

how exactly do they "accidentally" rub your thing? May be its so small she didn't see it

Or maybe too big you cant miss it even rubbing the ankles

[AlexLah]

Ahaaa Donz, so that was you.

I would certainly make use of it when:

She is really good

She can do other massage then traditional Thai (e.g. sports ore Kenko).

In all those years I am going for a massage there has been only two ore three massage

therapist that were really good.

I think I would not mind paying up to 500 Bath for two hours.

Alex

[calibanjr.]

I always thought a massage in your own home would be more expensive than in a shop.

Not in my experience, the masseuse doesn't have a "house" to pay, so as long as they're local, it makes sense for them. That being said, even though I'm cheap, I'm a heavy tipper (funny that, waited tables throughout college, in between more sordid work), so I don't save a ton, just a bit, plus I don't have to leave the house. My girlfriend surprisingly associates my leaving the house for massage with long disappearances and hangovers.

[Donz]

The one in temple was bad, coz there was heaps of people and were all just lying next to each other, the Gf was next to me, so was her friend and one of my mates.

But it seems to happen all the time, atleast I know it works

[sramkok-pratum]

It's nice to have someone come and massage you at your place but

Imop i will not call someone that i don't know come my house. i am negative person i will think that she will be a spy for thief. i need good recomadation from someone i trust before i will call for a massage therapist.

[LaReina]

If you are a member of any of the female expat clubs, then that would be a start.

The International Womens club would most likely welcome that and then the next best bet would be the American Womens Club.