KEY TO SUCCESS

Manging director Dave Courteen has grown Mosaic Spa and Health Clubs into a multi-site business. He shares his advice and experience from running a successful business for 34 years

What makes a good business person or entrepreneur?

“It’s important to be resilient to ensure that you continually do the things you need to do in order to run a successful business. You need to be able to communicate with people and inspire them, but resilience is at the heart of it.”

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the beauty and spa industry?

“Have a clear vision – both personally and with your business. Ask yourself, ‘What do I want to get out of this?’ and ‘What is my goal that I’m working towards?’ Focus and stick to that.

“We’ve been really clear to our staff, and to a certain extent to our members, about what our vision is and what we will deliver. Mosaic Spa and Health Clubs was born out of starting friendly health clubs that are fun to belong to, evolving into day spas that create a wonderful experience.”

What’s your top advice for working effectively with a business partner?

“My business partner Steve Taylor and I have worked together for 34 years. We started out as friends and said that if we were going to start this business, there would have to be three rules.

“Number one was that our friendship is more important than the business. If the business gets in the way of our friendship, then the business goes.

“Secondly, we wanted to have fun doing it, and third was not to borrow any money from the bank. For the first 14 years we did all three, but we did borrow some money later. We have our tough days, but we still enjoy what we do and our friendship has evolved from what it was at the start. If you’re getting into business with someone, you need to establish ground rules to make sure it works.”

What’s the biggest business mistake you’ve learned from?

“When you’re young and in leadership, you feel like you have to be the best because people may undermine you. As you grow older, you realise that you will never grow a team that way. Building a team of people around you who are brilliant at what they do and who can do a better job than you can is so important. It took me too long to realise that.”

Post-coronavirus pandemic, what opportunities do you see for spas and salons?

“We’re entering a period of time where people have been stuck in their homes, unable to see loved ones. There are a lot of people who now want to spend their money and where better to spend it than on a spa day? It’s a huge opportunity as people who have never had a spa day before will want to be looked after, and they will want to come back.”