Saunapreneur
Island Sauna Shack
- Made back what it cost in
- 6 months
- Customer reviews
- All five stars
“It’s been the best business decision we’ve ever made and I’m so glad that we did it.”
Donna and Ed run Island Sauna Shack on the Isle of Mull, moving the horsebox between two spots on the island in three-week stints. The horsebox came before the sauna: their last venture, the Foodie Shack, was a wood-fired pizza business in one, so the name and the wheels stayed in the family.
They launched with a free open weekend, “one of the worst weekends in April, weather wise”, just to get the word out. Nothing like it existed on the island, and the bookings have kept coming since.
“We’re really lucky, but we’ve worked with like, male mental health groups on the island, menopausal groups, sister circles. Just so many different groups of people that just wanted, like a safe space to be that wasn’t the pub or a, like, community center, like just somewhere different.”
Six months in, Ed told Donna they had made back what the sauna cost them. “In terms of what that sauna costs to run, it’s not, it’s nothing.”
In their own words
Tom · Sauna Box
What were you doing before the sauna?
Donna
I was in my previous life, I was a spreadsheet person, so I was a forecasting person. And, you know, what do we need to do? Like a deadline person? Like, that’s what it was. Very boring, but made a lot of money for somebody else.
Tom · Sauna Box
Why a horsebox?
Donna
So horse boxes have a very special place in our hearts. That’s what the Foodie Shack was, you know, a wood fired pizza business in a horse box. And I have horses, I’ve always had horses.
Tom · Sauna Box
How did you launch?
Donna
So we did an open weekend, put it out there on social media and we just said like, come along. Everybody signed, whatever disclaimers and we offered them as free sessions. We did in a total, it was only about seven hours worth of free sessions. But it was just to get the word out because there was nothing here like that.
Tom · Sauna Box
What has customer feedback been like?
Donna
All our feedback is five stars. And the feedback that we get are about how welcoming and friendly the staff are. The quality of the sauna and how well built it is, how the wood smells.
Tom · Sauna Box
Would you buy again?
Donna
Without a doubt, like 110% would buy from you again, get you to design it again, do all of it again. Because the aftercare side of it is often what gets forgotten in, in any of our like retail and buying experiences. And you filled us with like so much reassurance and nothing was too much trouble and it was all dealt with so quickly.
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