The Great Franchisee: Scott Speicher, Elements Massage, Woburn, MA

Technology and consulting expert Scott Speicher is celebrating the opening of his second Elements Massage location in Woburn, Massachusetts. 

After years of experience in the finance industry paired with a knowledge of running a family-owned business, Speicher is excited to help expand the premier massage brand beyond its existing 250 locations nationwide. As a massage enthusiast himself, Speicher is not only looking forward to providing his community with the same health and wellness amenities he so enjoys, but he’s already provided over twenty new jobs to those in the area since opening in December.

1851 Franchise: Tell me your story – what did you do before franchising?

Scott Speicher: I grew up near the North Shore in Boston and attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute where I received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in management engineering. From there I decided to pursue a Master’s in Finance from Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. I knew I always wanted to own a business after watching my father start his own business, Cellular 2001. He was able to grow it from a one man operation to a company that staffed 50 people. I grew up learning how to run the family business before going off on my own to college.

During my early career, I did a lot of process work and project management that was focused around information technology. Most of my career has been spent managing information technology, and I’ve held the titles like director of brokerage operations and director of finance and technology. But, for the past ten years, I’ve primarily been in the consulting industry. I am currently a principal consultant for SEI, a boutique business and technology management consulting firm. At SEI, we support critical client needs in data and analytics, technology enablement, information security, strategy and operations and concept to delivery. We’re currently working with Johnson & Johnson to implement software. I decided to get into the franchise industry after years of being a client and having an interest in the wellness industry.

1851: How did you initially find out about franchising? 

Speicher: I like to think I have entrepreneurship in my blood, since my father started his own business. I knew I would own my own business, and having a background in project management, I knew I could be successful. I started to research different businesses and read franchise magazines to get an idea of what I wanted to do. A competitor of Elements Massage actually sent me an email looking to bring me on as a franchisee and that’s how I found myself interested in this industry.

1851: Why did you choose franchising over starting your own business?

Speicher: I knew if I had a playbook of what has made other franchisees successful and was supported by corporate, I could run a successful franchise while continuing my career as a consultant. It is helpful not having to build everything from scratch; the marketing, branding and business model was already laid out. 

The support from corporate is one of the main reasons I chose franchising over starting my own business. Corporate was great opening my first location in Saugus, Massachusetts. They provided me with vendors, contractors, location scouting and support around hiring staff. 

1851: What types of brands did you look at?

Speicher: I really looked into everything and evaluated my options. I was interested in cleaning, automotive, fitness and restaurant franchises. I looked into Dunkin’ and Massage Envy before purchasing my first Elements Massage franchise.

1851: Why did you choose Elements Massage? What excited you most about the potential?

Speicher: Really, the stars aligned with Elements Massage. I had been looking to open a franchise in my area and the corporate team was looking for a franchisee here as well. I had been a client at a competitor for years and was very interested in the wellness industry. As a yogi and massage enthusiast, it couldn’t have worked out better.

I started running numbers as soon as I received my franchise disclosure document. I realized even in my worst case scenario, this business would do great. It’s also a relatively low barrier for entry and I liked that I could purchase one unit at a time, being a first time business owner. I also wanted a retail focused business so Elements Massage was really a match made in heaven for what I was looking for. In the past two weeks alone, we’ve been able to sign forty new members which shows this industry is not slowing down.

1851: What are your dreams with the business? What does the future look like?

Speicher: This year has proven that the future is uncertain, so my plans for the business are continuing to provide the community with the best quality of service possible. With my two locations, I want to continue to perform well and continue to maintain great working relationships with my 50 employees. I have a great general manager who runs both locations who I actually just gifted part of the business. I’m very lucky to have her and the rest of my staff is great as well which makes providing top notch service easy. 

1851: What value do you see your business providing to Woburn, Massachusetts?

Speicher: The Woburn area had a need for an Elements Massage. It’s an underserved area where people were having to travel for services we provide. We’re the largest spa in the community with our only competition being smaller businesses that only employ one employee. I saw a hole in the service area that I was able to fill. Being able to provide over 20 new jobs to the community during the pandemic was also a huge value to the community.

1851: What advice would you have for others looking at buying a franchise?

Speicher: My biggest piece of advice would be to do your due diligence. I think a lot of people go into the franchise business without a strong financial background and go in on faith; thinking they’ll make it work when really you need to understand the business model. You should be educated on the competitive environment in addition to knowing the outcome of your best and worst case scenarios and what the numbers will look like for those. 

1851: What do you do in your personal time?

Speicher: I spend a lot of time with my family. My wife and I are parents to three, great young adults. The days of coaching little league are behind me but were the best days of my life. My two oldest are in college with the youngest in high school. Before the pandemic, my wife and I were traveling, and we have plans to travel more once it’s safe again. We planned a 10 day African safari trip in South Africa with the whole family that had to be rescheduled, but we’re excited to travel there soon hopefully! I’m an avid golfer, and my favorite courses are in Florida. 

I really enjoy kayaking as well. I typically kayak and fish in the Manchester Harbor and Atlantic Ocean. I’m also a huge Patriots fan and have season tickets! I’ve been to two Super Bowls.