A Guide to Opening a Portable Sauna Business 

If you haven't noticed a portable sauna pop up in your home town, it won't be long. In the last few years, portable saunas seem to be the biggest trend, I mean, who wouldn't want to sauna right next to the beach, lake or with a stunning view, while earning an income? 

Want to Get Paid to Sauna?
 

If the health benefits of improved sleep, mental well-being, weight loss and stress relief wasn't enough, many are turning their heads to the those running portable sauna businesses. Parked at the beach on a Tuesday morning, sauna goers rinse off in the salty waves before returning to the toasty temperature of the sauna, as the facilitator pours cold water mixed with essential oils over the hot stones, creating steam scented with lavender and lemon like a wellness wizard.

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Some career options they didn't tell you about at school..

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How it Happens

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Weekly, I get calls from people all over the country, ready to open their own sauna business. They're finally fed up with the nine to five. Their most enjoyable moments in the week are sitting in their local public swimming pool sauna, the small electric heater struggling to maintain the tepid 67 degrees celsius, discussing in depth with their fellow sauna addicts how the town needs a better sauna. The large glass sauna door opens, the door is wide enough to let in a large bear, to ensure all the built up heat immediately exits the sauna every-time someone comes in or out. A young man pours his entire Hydro Flask water bottle on the hot stone and the sauna is out of order for another three months, for the second time this year.

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Finally, they've had enough. With a sense of valour they exclaim to the local sauna goers 'I will open my own sauna that is better than any you've ever seen before!' And with that they trump off.

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Already feeling like a saviour, they begin their research.​

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Where to Run Your Sauna 

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Public Land

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Each council has different rules and you will need to navigate through the elusive wormholes of the council multiverse to find out what they are.

Some general information:

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If you've seen a food truck or another mobile business running in your dream car park, you're in luck. Either with or without a permit, it is possible. If you haven't, on the other hand, don't roll up until you've found out. Councils have already threatened naive portable sauna owners with $20,000+ fines. 

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With a disciplined mind, you can even start grooving to the early 2000's pop music you listen to while you wait on hold for your local council. They will tell you where you can operate,  just make sure you explain to them the a sauna is not the same as a spa pool, somehow a common misunderstanding in the kiwi mind.

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Private Land

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With or without the option to operate on public land, I recommend to all our customers to operate from a private location. The main reason is that you can leave the sauna there semi-permanently. This not only removes the set up and pack down time every session when you pull up to your favourite spot, but it lets you build consistency for your customers and lets you run many more sessions, and this is where you will make your profit.

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Don't Operate as a 'Pop-Up' Sauna

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Going to the sauna isn't a one off occasion. People want to integrate it into their weekly routine. When I opened the Redwood Sauna in 2022, I was amazed, every week, new people would come to the sauna and afterwards say 'I loved it, I am going to start coming weekly', and they would! Within a couple of months we had over 100 bookings per week and now we have up to 200. This is possible because we run from private land and run consistent sessions, allowing the sauna to become a part of so many peoples weekly routine in Raglan. 

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The same goes for festivals, if you have a good set up, it won't be worth the hassle of going to festivals because you will have so many regular customers. 

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Facilities

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Even on private land, I didn't say it would be easy to find a location. Finding a location is the most difficult part of the process. Once you have a location, the rest of the process can flow smoothly.

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Why is it so difficult? Because you need access to the combination of the following:

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1. Parking for up to 15 people.

2. Bathrooms.

3. Water for drinking and showers.

4. Changing room (optional).

5. Electricity (if you want an ice bath).

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Somehow, this combination is like adding filters on Airbnb for the one date you can go on holiday and the results showing up empty. But it can found!

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Booking System and Website

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Another common barrier that keeps many up at night is the daunting task of creating a website and booking system. We feel ashamed to admit we don't even really understand what the word 'coding' means, let alone how to create a website.

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No-Code Website Builders

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Luckily, we don't need to. Website builders like Wix, Squarespace and Wordpress allow you to easily create a website from a template, you might even enjoy it a little, while only paying $300-$500 per year for the subscription.

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Booking System

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We have found that the cheapest, most affordable booking system, is the one that comes with Wix. It will handle your customer demand up to around 100 bookings per week. After this you might have to start thinking about specialised booking platforms such as Momence and Mindbody, which cost around $300/ month.

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Heating: Wood-fired 

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For practical reasons, our portable saunas are wood-fired, this means you can run them from anywhere. ​

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Heat Up Time

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The 15 person mobile saunas takes 90 minutes to heat up to 100 degrees celsius. This is, refilling the fireplace every 20 minutes.

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What Firewood to Use? 

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'Thin and crispy' is what I tell my firewood supplier every time I order. At the Redwood Sauna in Raglan, we use Kiln Dried Douglas Fir. It may sounds over the top but I promise you it is not. Firstly, to get the sauna temperature pumping, you're going to want to use soft woods, like Pine or Douglas Fir. We want it to burn hot and fast. We are looking for different properties than the 'Hot Mix' that is usually advertised for your home fireplace, which contains a lot of slow burning, hard woods like Gum, Oak and Manuka. You can get away with diluting in some harder woods when the sauna is at temperature, but not before.

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We want thin so that it burns fast. Large logs will take a long time to catch and will release their heat slowly. Remember, hot and fast is what we want. Find a supplier who can give you the right sized pieces, you don't want to get out your axe every time a load is dilvered. The novelty wears off. 

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And finally, we want dry wood. It shouldn't need mentioning but too many times have I been delivered a load of damp firewood. If you have the option to buy kiln-dried firewood, it is worth the extra cost, and have a large storage area where you can keep 2-3 cubic meters of firewood dry.

How Much Wood Does It Burn and How Much Does It Cost?

There are many factors that determine this. On average, one cubic meter lasts about 10 one-hour sauna sessions. So if you're paying $200/cubic meter, that's $20 per session, which is a pretty low running cost.

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If you're running 3-4 days per week and a few sessions each day, you can assume you'll be burning through one cubic meter per week. That's a lot of dry, well-sized wood for your local firewood supplier to keep up with. I recommend you find a commercial supplier who can give you a GST tax invoice so you can claim your firewood as an expense.

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​How Long Will The Sauna Take to Pay Off?

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It depends on which sauna you get, how many sessions you run per week and how much you charge. Let's do some simple math assuming you're running it yourself, excluding GST:

Main Expenses

Firewood - $700/month

Rent (if private land) - $1,000

Website - $40

total/month = $1,740

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Revenue

(10 people per session, 3 sessions per day, 3 days per week)

=90 bookings per week (we get over 150 bookings per week in Raglan, population: 3,000)

Average price per session: $20

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Revenue = $1,800/week

= $7,200/month

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Income

Income = $7,200 - $1,740

= $5,460/month

After tax (28%)= ~ $4,000 

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If you bought a 15 person sauna for $60,000 it would take you 15 months to pay it off, that's just over a year. That's a pretty good return on investment.

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Conclusion

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And with that, you're ready to create your own sauna business! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about location, saunas, or starting your own business!

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Written by: 

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Sam Jameson

Founder of Sustainable Saunas

and Redwood Sauna