NP / RN / PA Aesthetic Practice FAQ
What does an NP-owned medspa actually look like in year one?
Year-one outcomes vary enormously based on state, metro, operator focus, and acquisition discipline. We don't publish revenue projections — anyone who promises a specific year-one income number for "your medspa" is selling you something. What we publish: the launch path, the cost band, the structural decisions, and the operational discipline that correlates with outcomes.
Most "how much does a medspa make" content online is either anecdotal or marketed by people who benefit from you opening one. Real first-year practice outcomes vary by an order of magnitude depending on factors that include — but aren't limited to — your state, your metro, your acquisition strategy, your retention discipline, your pricing competence, and whether you're operating full-time or part-time during the build.
What we do publish, plainly:
Cost band to open: $25,000–$150,000+ depending on lease type, build-out, and equipment. The full breakdown lives at /faq/cost-to-open-medspa.
Time to first paid patient: 90 days for a focused operator. 4–6 months for an operator still doing clinical full-time. The breakdown lives at /faq/how-long-open-medspa.
Operating runway recommended: 90 days of fixed costs in the bank before opening. Pro forma should account for at least 6 months before the practice can sustain itself.
Key operating discipline indicators: - Cost per consult booked from paid acquisition (varies $80–$300+ in competitive metros) - Consult-to-treatment conversion rate (target 50%+ for established operators) - Patient retention / lifetime value - Average ticket per visit - Inventory turnover ratio
What we deliberately do not publish: - "Average year-one revenue" - "What you can expect to make" - ROI timelines - "Profitability in X months"
The reason is straightforward: outcomes depend on the operator. We can teach the operating system. We can tell you what's worked across hundreds of practices we've watched build. We can't promise revenue and we won't.
If a course, mentor, or coach is showing you specific revenue numbers — particularly numbers attached to "this is what you'll make" — that's a red flag. Walk.
The honest version: an NP-owned aesthetic practice is a real business with real upside and real risk. It rewards focus, retention discipline, and pricing competence. It punishes part-time inconsistency, undercharging, and trying to compete on price.
The free 17-question assessment at /find-your-starting-point returns your state-specific cost band and the 90-day launch sequence. Outcomes from there are yours to build.