For the latest in our series of editorials focusing on Irish Women in Business, we’re talking to Debbie Devine, the owner of Urban Day Spa.
Here Debbie, in her own words, tells us about how she got started and the importance of her client base…
Would you believe I have been interested in the beauty industry from a very young age and involved since I was 15-years-old. Although I have diversified within the industry, I have never left it. From a therapist to a Sales Manager of a skincare line to delivering sales courses to advising on spa projects, every aspect that I’ve worked in has given me experience in my field and I have always found it to be very rewarding.
The business opportunity came about after I had been involved in the planning and design of the refurbish of the Sportsco spa facility, which became Urban Day Spa. After viewing the extremely high standard of the spa fit-out, both I and my sister decided to take the plunge and that’s how Urban Day Spa was born. That was in March of 2009, just on the cusp of the downturn, so it’s been interesting times! Our aim at Urban Day Spa was essentially to provide great treatments to our customers. This has to be combined with excellent customer care at a good price of course. Our company tagline is “Your Spa in the City”.
In the beginning we had a staff of four and in five years have grown to a staff of 11. Your team are your most important asset when building your business. This is such a personal business, your clients uses their hard earned disposable income so it so important to us to ensure every client feels we have scored 11 out of 10 on every service. So from small beginnings (in terms of our team) we have continued to concentrate on giving excellent customer service and as a result, customer word of mouth quickly spread. Offering luxury surroundings with many added benefits, example steam, sauna, and Jacuzzi and relaxation area at no extra charge added to the value for money on all our services. In addition, because of our city locations, we have grown relations with our corporate neighbours and quickly developed a corporate client base.
The benefit of having your own business is that you can manage work and family on terms that suit you, well most of the time! I have a young family so it gives me the opportunity to work with their schedule. That balance is important to me. The spa opens seven days a week (four of those days being late opening) so as with many owner-managers, the days are long but fulfilling. The spa has many issues on a daily bases so if I am not on front of house, I am behind the scene juggling stock, rosters, marketing and daily spa issues.
There have been many great moments, working with my sister is one of them. It’s really wonderful and being able to have total trust in each other is priceless. Seeing the team grow with such great girls is another. It may seem smaller in the grand scheme of things but reading the positive feedback from clients on our booking system and being on the receipt of a 5 out of 5 rating is always a proud moment (so much so I share them on Facebook).
Client care comes first and foremost in the company. In addition, having three businesses under one umbrella and location, i.e. Urban the Day Spa (total escape in the city), Urban the Clinic (advanced skincare & Laser) and Urban the Salon (offering the latest beauty treatments), gives us an added advantage.
The Launch of our Urban Day Spa App is next. We are trying to make the customer experience with Urban easy and exciting with exclusive offers. With the ever growing use of smart phones, it’s a great way for us to stay in contact with our customers and advise them of our special offers in real time. Also offering Repechage Seaweed Spa-on-The-Go treatments, these treatments for both face and body are for clients who are short on time however do not want to lose effectiveness of their treatment.
For further details about Urban Day Spa, visit the website here or the Facebook page. To suggest other great Irish women to feature in this series, please drop us a line to [email protected]
