Our personal "Everest"

In July of 2001, ACG opened AesthetiCare Medical Day Spa & Laser Clinic, now AesthetiCare Medi-Spa & LipoDissolve Center (AC).

At the time, we had several reasons for wanting to open a MedSpa including:

• Most consultants and manufacturers in the aesthetic industry have very little "real" knowledge of running a successful MedSpa. In fact, many consultants background includes failed aesthetic businesses. We needed to see what really went into the day-to-day operation of a MedSpa and understand the key ingredients to a successful aesthetic business.
• We realized that there was very little, high-quality training available in the aesthetic industry. Equipment manufacturers provide usually just the minimum, and most people do not know where to go for training that is based on long-term experience. One of our goals was to create an advanced training center that could provide training based on actual experience.
• After 5 years of selling aesthetic equipment, we realized that what the manufacturers promised and what actually occurred, in regards to the performance of aesthetic treatments, where often very different. We needed to see the top aesthetic equipment "in action" on a daily basis and understand how the treatments actually worked on real clients, how the treatments were tolerated, and how much clients were willing to pay for them.

We opened AC on a very tight budget consisting of $150,000 SBA loan and a small amount of cash. In our first month we did $9,000 in revenues. We had no patient/client base and very little money for marketing. In our 5th year, we exceeded $1,200,000 in annual revenues, had assets of $740,000, and less than $50,000 of debt.

AC has nearly 4,000 sq ft of space and employees a full-time Physician's Assistant, a full-time Registered Nurse, a full-time Aesthetician, a part-time RN, a business manager, and two receptionists. We are now one of the largest aesthetic centers in the Midwest and our future growth plans are very aggressive including purchasing a new building and expanding our scope of services and retail products. Visit our website www.greatskinkc.com.

We have learned a great deal in the past 5+ years that we are confident will be invaluable to our clients of ACG. Our ownership of AC combined with our history of 100's of clients across the country give ACG a very unique and realistic perspective on the aesthetic marketplace. We live this business every day and love it! We look forward to sharing our experiences with you.