Join me in this episode of Eye On Franchising as Cynthia May, co-founder of Beem Light Sauna, shares her journey in the franchising world and the benefits of infrared light therapy. Discover how she turned her passion for health and wellness into a successful business venture. Tune in now! - Cynthia's Franchising Journey - Beem Light Sauna: Health & Wellness - Traditional vs Infrared Saunas - Beam Light Sauna: Franchise Opportunities --- Ready to watch these great conversations? Come check out a few videos have have and give me a follow! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoAdrkPZmveJt5AQRDk8WA --- Lance Graulich Franchise Consulting Services from ION Franchising Eye On Franchising
Join me in this episode of Eye On Franchising as Cynthia May, co-founder of Beem Light Sauna, shares her journey in the franchising world and the benefits of infrared light therapy. Discover how she turned her passion for health and wellness into a successful business venture. Tune in now!
- Cynthia's Franchising Journey
- Beem Light Sauna: Health & Wellness
- Traditional vs Infrared Saunas
- Beam Light Sauna: Franchise Opportunities
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Ready to watch these great conversations? Come check out a few videos have have and give me a follow!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoAdrkPZmveJt5AQRDk8WA
---
Franchise Consulting Services from ION Franchising
Cynthia 00:00:00
Lance 00:00:02 Welcome to Eye on Franchising. Are you looking for business opportunities? Well, you are in the right place. We represent over 650 franchises and business opportunities. We will help you find your perfect franchise for free. We even have a free assessment on our website that will help us determine what the best businesses for you based on your investment level mindset, skill set and life experiences. This is Ion Franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise future. I'm your host, Lance Graulich. Each week we will speak to fascinating folks from the world of franchising, franchisors and founders, franchise funders and franchisees. Are you looking to find your perfect franchise? Or perhaps you are an independent business owner looking to grow and scale your business by setting up a franchise. Either way, our team can help you ion Franchising, where you will learn the A to Z's of franchise. Hello everyone, and welcome back to another fabulous episode of Ion Franchising. And I'm your host, Lance Graulich. Welcome, everyone. Today, you know we're all about feeling better and recovery. And I happen to know that this hot, super hot brand, if you are looking for something to help with your mental health, little detox, perhaps boosting your metabolism. I know my wife and daughter love it for recovery. Athletes love it for recovery. Welcome Miss Cynthia May. She is the co founder and president of Beem Light Sauna. Welcome, Cynthia.
Cynthia 00:01:48 Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk about these hot topics today.
Lance 00:01:53 Hot topics. Love it. So let's talk about the world of Beem light. Sauna? Let's start with how did Cynthia get into the world of franchising in the first place and all of a sudden a co founder of Beem Light Sauna.
Cynthia 00:02:06 Yeah. Well, thank you. I don't know how far back you want me to go, so I won't go too far. I go back to the yeah, those days are hard for me to remember, but I grew up. I was a military Brad. I was the youngest of four, so the youngest child, whatever. I don't know where you fall in that lineup, but there's assumption.
Lance 00:02:28 I'm the oldest.
Cynthia 00:02:30 Oh, God, man. All the wisdom.
Lance 00:02:34 That's right.
Cynthia 00:02:35 And fairly normal military life. Growing up, I was that kid that from a young age always knew what I wanted to do and that was going to be a nurse. That's what I was going to do with my career. And that stuck with me. Through high school, I definitely ran into some challenges. I either didn't apply myself at school fully or I was a little bit artistic and just worked the beat of my own drum a little bit, came across some challenges in school and then really just started to not make the best choices. I was a teenager and having a good time, so all of that kind of flipped for me at 16 when I became pregnant. Yeah.
Lance 00:03:23 How did that happen? No, I'm just kidding.
Cynthia 00:03:25 You know, that is a whole nother podcast. I am sure we can definitely schedule that one. So all my plans at that point flipped upside down and I was on a timer and I had to pivot very quickly in my life. And so the thought of becoming a nurse at that point derailed and I needed to take a different path. I needed to find a way to provide for my daughter and myself. We were going to be on our own. And so when you have a monumental moment like that in your life or somewhere where you have to pivot, it does, it shifts a lot of things. And so all of a sudden I'm on this timer, I got to shift my life and make different choices. And so decided to go into the beauty industry and ended up going down that road and spent 17 years in the beauty industry. In the last five of those years, I co founded a high end hair salon and ran that very successfully. Grew that to over seven figures a year in top line and really enjoyed that a lot. I towards the end of that started to feel ready to pivot again. I still felt that calling to the health and wellness industry in a different way now because I had that entrepreneur side. I'd run a business and so I was looking for something still that would be working for myself or creating something. And so started to dabble in that world and look and really see. Where are there holes in the market? Where are their gaps? What's missing? Where are the trends going?
Lance 00:04:57 Find that classic problem that needed a solution.
Cynthia 00:05:00 Yeah, I really did. So I came across infrared light therapy, started to dive in, found that very interesting. I'd run a big large salon and so lots of employees you're working with artistic people and just heavy on the staffing model. And so I'd always wanted to grow my business beyond just this one location. But that model was a little bit more challenging to kind of scale at that point. And so I was looking for something that I could potentially scale. Obviously there's so many things that go into that when you're doing that to really do that well, to have a passion behind it and love it. And so started looking into infrared light. But it really wasn't until our oldest daughter Maya, she was in middle school, got diagnosed with Lyme's disease. And so she went know, happy, healthy, vibrant, typical middle school child to chronically ill and it was just challenging time. So you saw this whole shift, she had to quit sports and her whole life changed. And so we went the traditional route, which is just traditional antibiotics for three to six months. But it's heavy duty and it's hard on your system, really hard on your gut health and all of that. So went through that and didn't see a lot of success with it. And when you have a loved one that's going through health issues like that, and you've really seen their life change and you're the mom, you're going to do a lot to try and help them. And so when the doctors were kind of like, yeah, that's all we've got, the search didn't end. So we found another doctor, MD. But she also had a homeopathic side, and she actually introduced us to infrared light therapy again. And so now this thing is coming up again, and it's like, all right, I'm really going to dive in and.
Lance 00:06:52 Pay literally a red light flashing.
Cynthia 00:06:55 Yeah, it is. When you start seeing things pop up a couple of times, a few times, it's like, pay attention, look into that. So that just dove my curiosity and research and really started to dive in. And then she had recommended her going to a light therapy, infrared light therapy, about three to five times a week. So I started looking for a place I could take her and started looking, and the closest was from us at that time was about three or 4 hours away, and we have two other kids, and it's like, you can't do that three to five times a week. So I kept researching and diving in and spent a lot of time on that. And that world of entrepreneur and mom and trying to help my daughter really came together. And this is a very condensed version, but essentially after a lot of research and decided this really is a missing element in the health and wellness space right now, it's not accessible to the consumer. If it's somewhere and it's in a doctor's office, it's like, okay, you can go from 09:00 a.m. To eleven, and then they have lunch from eleven to one or two, and it's like, how do you do that? So it wasn't accessible. So I had taken a lot of my experience and knowledge from my first business and took those learnings and how can I apply that to this business? It's a lot less heavy of a staffing model because you essentially have a product or machine doing the work. And so just on a staffing model side, it's a lot slimmer in that area, but really dove in and eventually decided to open my first studio. And we opened that in May 2020. So impeccable timing.
Lance 00:08:40 Right after the pandemic started.
Cynthia 00:08:42 Right after the pandemic. So we were set to launch actually March 2020, and then got delayed. So people are like, wow, you're so brave to start a business during the pandemic. I can't take credit. I signed the lease before the pandemic hit.
Lance 00:08:56 Exactly.
Cynthia 00:08:56 So it wasn't really my decision, but then just had to pivot again and like, okay, well, this is happening. Don't know how it's going to affect us, but we're going with.
Lance 00:09:10 So that's what a story. So when it comes to your services at beam, you mentioned a lot of things that some listeners might not have a clue about, including, like me, a couple of months ago, infrared light, sauna therapy, et cetera, compared to, let's say, traditional Sauna that some people listening probably do know about. So talk about those differences and obviously the services at Beam.
Cynthia 00:09:39 Absolutely, yeah, most people have either been in a traditional Sauna or have at least heard of it. And so that's a good place to start. They'll say, yeah, I sauna, and it's like, well, what kind? And so no dig on traditional Saunas. They are super beneficial and really good for you. They just heat in a different way. And the way they work, they have to get between like 170 to low 200s in temperature, and they are traditionally steam saunas. And so if you've ever been in one, you can usually last I can't last more than like five minutes, but I know it gets competitive because people are like, oh, I did twelve or 14. And I'm like, wow, that's impressive. So you can't last too long before you're just too hot or uncomfortable and need to step out. And so the way it works is it heats you from the outside and works its way to the core. And really the benefit is when it gets to your core and it raises that core temperature. So I won't geek out too much on the science behind it, but essentially getting that core temperature up is hugely benefit on so many levels, beneficial on so many levels. So by the time you get your core temperature up in a traditional Sauna, your body temperature is so hot on the outside and your skin is so hot, you're ready to get out. So you need to have it elevated, your core temperature, for a period of time to really get the maximum benefits. And so you're just not able to endure it long enough, usually, to get those benefits. But there are some great benefits as well with that. And then infrared light is at a much cooler temperature, so you're usually around the 135 range when you're getting in. It's a 40 minutes session, 30 to 40 minutes session. And you should never be enduring it, you should be enjoying it. And if for some reason you get to that point where you feel like you're enduring it, step out, you're good. Your body will adjust over time, but generally people stay in their 40 minutes. We have people that ask for longer, so it's very comfortable, but you get a very deep detoxifying sweat, and it's essentially starting from your core and working its way out. And so that's why you're able to stay in there so much longer, and it's able to achieve a deeper detoxifying sweat. And then the light part of it as well. Has a whole other host of benefits in there. Yeah, sounds exciting. Yeah.
Lance 00:11:56 So how big was your first location? And I mean, now you have like hundreds of these things sold. And in development, this is a hot industry, but what was the square footage footage of the first one versus what you're building today?
Cynthia 00:12:11 Yeah, so I still have my current studio, we're about at 1300 sqft. It's the smallest. We don't go that small. So you start your first one and then if you start at day one and you say, if I could do this over again, what would I do? And that's when you're able to perfect it, which I'm fortunate enough that I had the opportunity to be able to do that with our second low, my business partner's location. And so I have six rooms, but we've really found that that sweet spot is around eight or nine. Anywhere seven to ten is where we're aiming. So we're still seeing square footage about 15 to 2000, usually on the high end, but again, with leases and other things, we want that class A, there's other things we're looking for. So if the price is right, we can get in those 2000 sqft as well. But generally we're finding 1600, 700 sqft. So a little larger than where we're at right now, but that's our sweet spot.
Lance 00:13:07 So what's the typical investment in a beam light sauna?
Cynthia 00:13:13 Yeah, so great question. It's a wide range right now if you're looking over SDDS, because that's just super fun to do on the weekends, spending your time doing that. And you're going to find an average in here, but anywhere from low mid 200 to mid 500s in there. And then usually just go from an average out there. But it just depends on the real estate, your market, how many square footage, what's your build out cost.
Lance 00:13:43 Looking those build out costs are that big chunk, you're going to find something that's easy to convert, what we love to call second generation space. Are you going to have to build it yourself? But these days, for a hot concept, there are landlords that are generous that will give great improvement allowances to help you build the space.
Cynthia 00:14:05 Yeah, that tenant improvement, especially on those first gen spaces, are huge. And we are not lawyers, and we always recommend you get a play one on TV. And look, I know, right? They do such a good job, right? Yeah, definitely not a lawyer, not giving advice. But we do have criteria that we go by and we're going to look out for our franchisees best interest in those spaces. So we're looking at all of those leases coming in after your attorney has reviewed it and looked through that. But I'm going to want to get whatever I would get for my space for them as well, if not better. So we are seeing these landlords come in with really great ti, especially on those first gen spaces. And even on second gen, you can still get a decent amount of ti, depending. But you are seeing landlords work in that way. So that hugely impacts where you land. If you're getting $10 a square foot or $60 square foot for Ti, that tenant reimbursement, it's going to really impact those numbers hugely. We're looking at all of that individually on an individual level.
Lance 00:15:13 So all of these hundreds of new stores, locations in development, who are these franchisees that you found? Talk to the audience that might be interested in a Beam Light sauna. Who's the ideal person?
Cynthia 00:15:29 Yeah, great question. I would say it more comes down to personality and your drive and what you're looking for than just this type of person or that type of person. But you have to have some tenacity in you too. This is still what do they say? You're in business for yourself, but not by yourself, with Franchising, which is so true, but there's no mistake, it's still a business, it's still a small business. And so you have to know that at the end of the day, that that's a commitment that you're making. Even if you're having it GM run or you're not in it on a daily, you have to be actively working your business, whether you're present or not. And so having that tenacity and drive, wanting to build a team and build people up, and if you're going to be a little bit more abstinent to have a GM run it, you really have to invest in your people. And this concept is simple, but no business is easy and every business has people. So if you don't want to work with people, this probably isn't for you, because it does come down to the people. And so being empathetic, listening, hiring and motivating your team, you really are a leader of your team. And so those are the characteristics we're looking for. Do you have that drive and tenacity? You don't have to know it all. That's what's great about partnering. It really is a partnership and the franchise, there is a load that we take off and give you the ability to focus on your team. But at the end of the day, it still is your business to run on a daily.
Lance 00:17:13 So you are not just doing single units these days, you have people buying large territories. So talk a little bit about that.
Cynthia 00:17:24 Yeah, we do. We still have people purchasing one at a time and then wanting to build from there. But we have people buying 510 packs, which is funny to just call it a pack. It seems like locations.
Lance 00:17:42 Like a pack of gum.
Cynthia 00:17:43 Yeah, like a pack of gum. But yeah, you're seeing synergies. If you have three in a proximity that works, where you could have a general manager, a regional manager, there's synergies there that you can create for cost savings. As you're building that, in the end, you have to start with one and really get that down and then go on. But we are having people open two and three at a time. Or go in that direction because there's still synergies there with your construction team and other things even throughout the build out. And so it's what's your appetite and what's your cash flow situation. It's very personal to where you are. But we're seeing a different I've seen a lot more investor type people coming in that are diversifying their portfolios, maybe stepping away from other real estate adventures or things like that. And so this is another exciting way to do it and also bring something really awesome and healthy to the community as well.
Lance 00:18:41 I love and I got excited when you said we've seen lots of investors coming in. When a brand sees that happen, it means that your model has really reached a level that's getting attention, you're getting talked about. I've been hearing people talk about you, and I was super excited to talk to you today because of that.
Cynthia 00:19:04 Thank you.
Lance 00:19:05 You're welcome. When investors get involved, there is obviously a great system. There is sort of an ease of operation, something certainly proprietary in this system. And most importantly, you're making money. So I heard your margins, your EBITDA, your cash flow quite substantial in the 30s.
Cynthia 00:19:31 Yes.
Lance 00:19:32 So talk a little bit about the money. A lot of people say, Show me the money. I think that was Tom Cruise originally.
Cynthia 00:19:38 Yeah.
Lance 00:19:39 So show me the money.
Cynthia 00:19:40 You can make money in this can, you know, you got to work for it, but you absolutely can. We are fortunate that this model is a simpler model. There's not a million different moving parts, and I still will always default to it's a business. Because I just think it's so important to if anyone tells you in any franchise, whatever you're looking at, that this is super easy. I would dig in a little bit more to that because at the end of the day, it's a business. So it's a simpler concept. You're able to open several at a time or move much quicker, and you are able to kind of rinse and repeat. But at the end of the day, you still have a business to run. Because of opening during COVID it presented a very unique situation I was in. They didn't really know where I fell within the rules of things because we are our service industry, but we're not touching anyone. And so we were allowed to stay open. But I'm using this only as an example because I opened with no prelaunch, no grand opening, because everything shifted. And in full transparency, I ended up homeschooling three kids when I was supposed to be pre launching. So they got some education in marketing, by the way.
Lance 00:20:58 I just have to interject that running a business, especially a great franchise, to me is easy. Being a parent, that is the hardest thing in the world. So keep that in mind. I would just sell.
Cynthia 00:21:12 That's really good.
Lance 00:21:13 Yeah, I would sell to parents all day. Do you have a kid.
Cynthia 00:21:16 Great.
Lance 00:21:16 You'd be good.
Cynthia 00:21:16 You're good. Yes. Maybe that's a new strategy. Thanks for that tip. Yeah, you're so right. It's simpler. I still look at businesses as like little babies in a sense, or they grow up to be about toddlers and then eventually it's a journey along the way. But this model is fully baked, as they say in the industry, and really thought out and thought through and durable. We saw this time during COVID getting through it and having success. So I essentially opened my door and just like, hey, we're open, was really how we do not do it like that now. It took me a lot longer than we're seeing franchisees now to get to that member base and have a really solid core, which now our franchisees are opening with because we're doing the right type of pre launches. And so you're opening your doors from day one already with money in your pocket generating revenue. And so that is a very healthy way to start. And getting that solid foundation is really beneficial and it really gets you off to just a running start. And I didn't have that, but I was still able to have success even from just growing organically during that time and just continue to see this growth and increase. And those early members were coming in, and we had one member in particular and she was moving to Vegas, and she just stuck with me and she just assumed we were a franchise. And she's like, please tell me you have one in Vegas. And I was like, not yet, but we will hold tight.
Lance 00:22:57 That is one of the biggest compliments ever, is that people think you're already an established brand.
Cynthia 00:23:03 Yeah, and we kept hearing that on repeat. And so that's when sort of that next journey of, all right, let's get this thing going and expanding and share this in other communities so that they can benefit as well.
Lance 00:23:18 So, Segue, by the way, regarding the item 19, for those listening, the franchise disclosure document for any franchise is 23 items. Item number 19 is the earnings claim, financial representations, and there is a very healthy one for beam light, sauna, multiple six figure, certainly potential, but you got to work it and high net, high margins for sure. Take a look at that item 19. Let's talk a little bit about your process, though. When people are in process with you and you get the disclosure document, they talk to folks on your team eventually. Do you have a discovery day? Do they have to come sort of try out or do anything rigorous? I mean, how do you guys do that process?
Cynthia 00:24:05 Oh, yeah, we're putting all of them through boot camp. It's intent no boot camp. But yes, we do have a process. We have to have a process. This is at least a ten year relationship. It really is a long journey. And so aligning our core values with our franchisees values and our culture is super important to us. That's how when things get tough, you're able to look back at those values and say, okay, are we making decisions? Are we handling this difficult, challenging situation from our core values? When you're aligned from the beginning with that, you're going to run into challenges or frustrations or differences. And so it's how you deal with those to get through them that really makes the biggest difference. And so it is important for us. So we do have a very, I would say, streamlined and methodical process to get through that. And it's for the benefit of the franchisee and for us as well. And it's not just us, it's our other franchisees in the network. What other type of people are they going to be? Because that's a great thing about franchising, is a community that's built and you can say, hey, what are you going through? Oh, I'm going through that too. But if you're already aligned in those values and culture, to me it makes you be able to move with speed and collaborate on a whole nother level.
Lance 00:25:38 Sounds awesome. So do you have a validation process where prospective franchisees actually get to speak to real life franchisees doing the work?
Cynthia 00:25:49 Yeah, we do. So through that whole process, whether you're coming in with a consultant or working with our in house team, you're going to go through that whole process. We'll have executive calls with myself or a partner, so we get that one on one time and again, it gives them the opportunity to ask us questions and get to know us and vice versa. It's a two way street there. And then we have a brand visit day, and so they'll come out, experience the brand and have a session, go out to dinner, get to know each other on a personal level because this is a personal and business relationship. And then we have a whole other half of day essentially going through really in order, what our marketing team is coming in, our build out team and prelaunch team is going through the steps in order that you would go through as a franchisee. So we're really diving deep. We're very open during that process, and we want you to get all the information, all your questions answered. So yes, there is a whole validation process. Executive calls, president's calls. So there's lots of opportunities to get to speak with us and get to know us and vice versa. And then once you come out to that brand visit day, you're pretty much already there. But it's like, are these people real? Is this the culture? Are they what they've said over zoom or what we've read? Is that what I'm seeing in reality is what I feel like when people come in, most of their questions have been answered at that point, even though we're going through it. But now it's like the team and the people and the process and that.
Lance 00:27:20 You got hundreds of stores opening soon.
Cynthia 00:27:24 We do.
Lance 00:27:25 Sold so many locations, so you're already doing an amazing job. Cynthia, this is a ton of great information. Now, final thoughts, final words of wisdom for those listening on Franchising and specifically you and Beam.
Cynthia 00:27:41 Yeah. Thank you. I can only speak from my own experiences, and I've taken a couple of different jumps throughout my life and Pivoted in my personal life and professional life as well. And so if you're at that crossroads, Franchising, and you haven't had your own business or anything like that, franchising is a great opportunity to get with like minded people and have a lot of these processes already set up for you. It just accelerates that. So it's a great opportunity to get into business. But in the end of the day, when you're at that crossroads or that Pivot point, it's a difference between making that final jump or not. And that's really the only difference you see between people who went that route and didn't. It is they did the process, they found all the facts, they got all their questions answered, and then did you sit on the edge for five years? And maybe it took five years to get there, but it's just that final jump over. So I just encourage I really can't give advice, but just from my own experience, if all those boxes have checked out and what you're trying to go for, and then it's time to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Lance 00:29:00 I love it. Well, I have a feeling that people will see the light at Beam Light sana, given all the wonderful information. Miss Cynthia May, thank you so much for being here.
Cynthia 00:29:12 Thank you so much for having me. This was awesome.
Lance 00:29:14 I really my pleasure and continued success and we will talk soon.
Cynthia 00:29:19 Talk soon. Take care.
Lance 00:29:20 Bye. Thank you very much for listening today. Please, like, follow and subscribe. This is Lance Growlick. Until next time.