The $1,000 Startup That Became a Million-Dollar Spa Franchise

Nuttha Goutier came to Canada from a small village in Thailand with little money, limited English, and one clear vision: help people feel healthier and more connected. Today, her Sabai Thai Spa brand spans multiple locations and 13 franchise territories across Canada.

In this episode, Nuttha breaks down how she launched her first spa with less than $1,000 and no business background — and grew it into a brand where a single location can hit $1.7M a year. 

If you're thinking about opening a spa or buying a franchise, she gets into exactly what you can expect to make.

Explore all healthcare careers →

For more info about franchising →

Connect with Nutta: 

Website: https://sabaifranchise.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nutthagoutier/

"How Much Can I Make?" Is nominated for 2026 Women in Podcasting Award!

Music credit: Kate Pierson & Monica Nation

Visit howmuchcanimake.info

Transcript

Million-Dollar Revenue Cold Open

0:01

The first year it generated almost 1.1 million. And then the second year is already hit 1.45 million and second years. Welcome

Meet The Founder Of Sabai

0:10

back to How Much Can I Make, the podcast about jobs and careers. I'm your host, Mira Voseri. Today I talk with Nuta Gauthier, founder of Sabai Thai Spa. She came to Canada from Thailand and turned a deeply personal idea of wellness into a million-dollar business. What started as one spa quickly grew into a thriving multi-location brand and eventually a franchise. Let's turn to Nuta. First of all, thanks a lot for coming on the show. I'm happy to be here. Good.

Growing Up With Almost Nothing

0:45

I read a little bit about you and I read that you grew up working in potato fields in Thailand. So tell me, how did you get from the potato fields to open the Sabai Thai spa and other spas, the franchise, which we're gonna get into? Yeah, it's a definitely I did not imagine that for sure when I was a kid. I would not imagine what I am here today at all. Let me bring you back when I was a kid. I grew up with pretty much 200 people in my village. And we have no power, no run running water, no electricity. We don't even have car by no TV, nothing. We're hunting for food every day, just uh go hunting for food for survival, right? Just that what we do, and that's a life. And then the uh the nature of care for yourself, nature of healing, and those is part of lifestyle, parts of routine, right? We just care for ourselves, eating good food, good herbs. Or we do my good thinking, you know, mindfulness, loving kindness, community, and people caring for each other. And then every kid in the real age, as soon as you up, maybe six, seven, you able to work. Everyone has to go and help the family and the farm. It's part of going up. It's just normal. But in here, the kids are not allowed to work until they're what 16.

Learning Beauty Work And Leaving Home

2:09

So at what point did you have the idea to move to Canada? After I finished elementary school, I go to the city and I start to learn a little bit more. I learned the beauty, the hair, the beauty, the massage, facial beauty in school. And then after that, I go back to Beelish, open my salon, and then I said, Oh, yeah, something out there in the city. And at 15, I just moved to Bangkok, right? After I moved to Bangkok, now I start to meet people from all over the world, working to different companies, different spa, different hotel, different resort. And then maybe when it was 2021, I said, ah, I want to go to see the world. And then I got a job offer in Canada. Did you get a job in Spa in Wellness? Okay. In a spa

Arriving In Canada Without The Hype

2:55

in beautiful British Columbia. That, you know, like not exactly what I imagined. I imagine that I'm going to the North America. I come to see the future. I'm here to see futuristic. I come here to see rocket ship, flying car, talking machine. That's what I imagine. That I don't know anything about the word that what I see on TV. I just like that one I'm gonna get to see. But when I got here in Canada, definitely not what I see. I see horses, cow, pig, and turkey. And then I got a job in a resort in the middle of nowhere in a forest. It's a private resort with a beautiful view, it's a stunning wheel. And I I love it that it's so beautiful. I learned how to ride horses and go panning, fly fishing, and just do all the Canadian stuff here, and we're enjoyable.

Spotting A Warmth Gap In Wellness

3:49

So at what point did you decide to open your own place? Yeah, after I get married, I want to have a life, and then I said, Oh, let's move to the city. And then after we moved to the city, I come to work in a few hotel spa, different clinic spa, different independent spa that I worked a few of them. And then I see the gap that time, just oh the weather is cold here. The culture is a little bit cold, but I just I want to create something that's more warmth for people. I want to create not just a transition and spa, I want to create a sanctuary for people that come in. And I want people to feel like they transport to Thailand without getting on airplane.

Renewal Through The Five Senses

4:28

I read that you said that spas in the wellness business, they focus on relaxation, but you focus on renewal. Yes. So what is the difference? Explain to me a little bit. It just is a five into five senses, right? It's just a sight that you come in, you feel like you transport, and the sound, the music that we have our own custom music that follows with a heartbeat, the flow in and flowing out, and just have a different layer of the pad that helps you to suit in in that environment. And then the touch, the technique itself that we have, we we teach a signature technique to a therapist. We it apply the signature and then the whole journey and then the test as well, that we just combine the whole five senses. I always talk to my team that you know it's it's truly care for others, like from your heart, right? Just work from your heart and truly care for each person that's coming in here, they're valuable of the time that they come to us for and then just treat them well beyond excellence and just truly careful for them the way you want to be careful. So you're in that. Your first customers were Canadians or were they Thai people that live in Canada? It's all mixed people. Like in Canada, we have different cultures of mix. Everybody just every country is uh is multicultural in Vancouver.

Signature Massages And What They Do

5:52

If you could just give me a short list of what services you offer, you offer massage? We offer the flow massage, it's just more relaxation, flow, and then we offer the fusion massage, it's the uh the combination of the oil massage and thai massage, and then combine with a little bit of stretching, long stroke massage, it's feel excellent. And then we offer the Thai massage or Thai stretch that you know people can. Which is excellent. I did it a few times. I love it. Yeah, yeah. We can we have an option people that they can do more with the pressure poise or they learn to do more with stretching, and that we can it's a tie stretch, it's it's amazing. Like someone doing yoga for you while you're getting massage at the same time. Yes, I agree. It's a benefit of that massage, it's amazing. If you do regularly, you literally get your joy movement, your pressure points, your tension lilies, just amazing. So it that what passive routine that brings me back to the village that even we are a farmer, we get a massage quite often. We uh legal massage is passive routine, pass of life, herbal steam, care for your skin. We sometimes we put turmeric. I remember we was a kid covered with turmeric in the whole body, and we go to a steam room and when they come here and they notice people feel guilty to to take

Ending The Guilt Around Self-Care

7:09

care of yourself. They feel guilty to go and get a massage. And I said, What? This is not right. You should not feel guilty. Taking care of yourself is not a bad thing. It's actually responsibility to take care of yourself because you I know, but this is what I want to know. How did you market it and explain to your new customers, the Western customers, your philosophy and your way of taking care of your body? It's what's challenging right from the beginning because it's new. People hear, oh, I only go once a year on my anniversary. I'm only going on my birthday. That's it. I oh my whole life, I never get touched before. I never get massaged. And I said, that's not right. You need to go every single week. Yeah, from now on. It's taking care of yourself. Don't feel bad that you are care for yourself. When you're taking care of yourself, you become a better version of yourself. You become more kind, you become a better mom, you become a better dad, and actually, more important for you to take care of yourself that you can take care of the person beside you. You will go home, you will speak kinder, you're not gonna yell at your kid and not snap at your husband or the wife, you just actually become better. The name is a buy. It's a buy is is relaxed, the contentment that we get is when we take time to pause to reconnect to ourselves. How much did it cost you to start your first

Starting A Spa With $1,000

8:30

spa? I start less than a thousand thousand bucks. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. I did not have money and then I moved to the city, and the only thing I just have only the vision and I have the belief that that what people need, and this is what I do, what I would like to do to add value to people's life. I want to help people to become more healthy, longevity. It just my interest is just in people, right? I just want people to become a better version. I want them to experience this. I did not think anything like about oh, how to run the business or how much money you have or anything or marketing. I have no idea. I don't know anything about that because I did not go to the business school. So, did somebody help you with a business decision? I oh, I just try my with my husband, right? We work together and we start a business together. Oh. So how long did it take for the first part to be fully functioning and profitable? It's surprisingly, it's very fast. I I start with a thousand bucks. I get a key in July, I think in August, September, try to do the work while we renovation at the same time. And it's just the same thing the landlord said, You don't have the money. How are you gonna start your business? I said, I'm young and full of energy, and I believe what I'm doing is gonna work. And if you're trusting me, I will make sure I never missed your rent. And that's all I said to him, and he just hand over the key. Okay, I don't need to rent, I do not need to rent the space for you because I already have someone pay two years ahead to pay for the space, but I believe in you. And he handed me over the key. And when I got a key, what I'm gonna do with this. I have no idea how to start the business, but you know what? It's a stranger comes when you need help. And I just told people, I said, I want to start this business, I want to do this. And the lady came and she said, Oh, I'm a lawyer, I can help to corporate your company and just give me two massages. And then I have the person who set up the book, the website, and then I told a guy I want to make it look like a Thai house, that you know, like an ancient Thai house. And he said, Oh, I know how to do that, just give me 10 massage, and then but I don't know how to pen it to look like tea. But I know someone, he said, okay. They come in, two of them come and say, Oh, give us 10 massages each, and then people, oh, I can help you run away, or I can help you clean, and I can set up your booth. And the whole thing is people just come. It's a stranger come and help. And then that's what the business started from nothing, but just a lot of Kai people out there that come in and where did you start the first place?

Barter Help And Fast Profitability

11:09

Do you remember? In North Vancouver in 2005. And by October, I already have a team therapist that's working with me. By December, we have 10 people on that location on a team. After that, I said, Oh, actually, I don't need to do a massage to be able to grow the business. It's come across my mind in that time. But I'm still young. I still, okay, I still want to travel. I want to go to Thailand. January comes, I just hand the key over to the receptionist, and then here I'll see you in three months. And I just fly to Thailand and I'm not coming back until the end of March. Actually, my business just opened for three months and then already took up for three months. And then that teach me something too. Like, actually, when you trust your team and then just empowering to do a better job, actually, they do a better job than me. And I just learned actually, people are pretty good. Like, actually, when you allow them to grow and to learn, actually they become very good very quickly. When you empower them, yeah. Yes, and then that or come back. Wow, business still here, still making money. It's from a thousand bucks that we start three months. We already have like over 60,000. Wow. For three months, and then already, yeah, pay up everything, already making money from the first

Community Marketing And Local Fundraising

12:28

three months. The people are literally supportive, beginning. We we knock on every door, we tell people what we're doing, we're opening, we walk around a community, and then that's another part of me is because where I grew up, the community of the village is the key of everything. We support each other, we know each other, and I just love that being community-based. Yeah, I'm just joy with every event, every group. We show up in the team sport and the school and everything. We so in I'm so involved with the logo. And then people get to know you very quick. And that's how we grow. Our first location. And even now we involve with the local, logo is a school, local sport, logo, every event, you know, sign auction, donation. And then to bring people together for me is that is is life, is make it more meaningful, not just uh, we just have a spot. You come in, you have a transition. No, and what we have the program here is in a school, you can fundraising for your school. And now we have that here, the Sabai gift certificate or gift card. You can sell to the event to your school, and then they can raise the fund, and then we give it 20% back. It worked very well because a lot of schools are so happy because usually if we just try to sell a donut, you have to sell many, you might get 20 back for the school. And then for the spa, you only sell a few gift certificates. You get like now six, seven hundred dollars for your

One Massage Means One Tree

13:52

school. Every massage, we also are planting a tree. Every massage that you give, you plant a tree. Yeah, every massage that we give, yeah, we plant a tree. Including in the franchise? Yeah, yeah. Everywhere you go, every franchise, more franchise that we go, more expanding is more tree being planted as well. And actually, this story is just more like my husband, right? He actually wanted to be environmental before. Oh, okay. Yeah, environmental business. And then he helped me. I said, Oh, I like your dream, I like your vision to open the Sabai. And he said, Okay, I'm gonna come and help you for a couple of years, how you set up, and then I'll do my own thing. And then he never did. And then after that, we said, No, let's merge your your dream and my dream together. Every massage. We plant one tree, one tree to honor your dream, and every one massage is honor my dream. And that's how you that's very good. What gave you the idea to start franchise?

Systems That Make Franchising Possible

14:51

After we have multiple locations, I sidetracked for do many different things. As when you're younger, you don't have mantra, you don't go to school, you just try and earn, just make a lot of mistakes, try so many things. I think 2017 that when I said this business is literally can scale because I'm not even in the store. And this is in the first one, like it's in the first location. I already be away a lot, and then I create a lot of protocol, a lot of system to free me up that I don't have to be in the store. 2017 I lead down again to create it. We're going to scale on that time. And then with the COVID come, we actually opened one template location on 2020. This is the template, this is our module, here's the flow, and then we're implementing the new system that we created on 2017, and they worked. After they're working, I said, wow, maybe I should try two more. And then 2022, I opened two more locations and then implementing the system again, and then both working again and keep improving and getting better. I said, Okay, I think I'm ready for franchising. The reason why I want to do franchising, because I want people to be able to access to what we're offering because so many customers. That's why we're in the first location. People said, I really love what you're doing. I I we just so appreciate it. We love it. We need to see you more over there in my neighborhood. I drive so far to come to see you here. How can I be everywhere? The only way to be everywhere faster is to go with a franchising route. For me, it's if I go to franchising route, I can help a lot of people to become more healthy. I can implement into people part of their routine. How do you make sure that they keep up with your standards, with your wellness philosophy, that they don't change it? How do you keep sure that's what happens? It's a system, right? I built all the systems that I'm 20-year-old so many times. We have cultural plus systems, we have a mindset system. Like usually we're teaching people more like a philosophy. Because for for me, I didn't see the spa at the spa business. I see more like a lifestyle. I see we are parts of people's life, parts of routine. That what I've been teaching to a team member is just we are parts of their life. We are responsible for their health. And then our job is to make sure they get healthy. That's it. We work in one go to help that person to have longevity. How many places do you have now? Eight locations that have been opening, and then we saw 13 territory on franchising, and then it's a few more coming that.

Franchise Costs And Build Standards

17:25

So if I want to buy a franchise, how much will it cost me? To open one location is between 650 to a million dollars per open one location. Wow. Every single room, we have the room inside the building, and then we have a beautiful Robbie and the quality of the build that we build, we have a good installation. Sometimes we even put an installation. You build the different facilities for the franchise? We do not build them, but we have the guideline for the construction person what to do. We have specification, the tire you're using, the wall, the color, the light, the stuff, everything, and then we decide all the flow, the customer traffic flow, the staff flow, and then just on beyond, and then every build that we build, how can we build it last?

Revenue Benchmarks And Staffing Model

18:14

What do you think is the average? Well, if I open a place in Canada for now, right? What can I assume? What can I estimate I could make in the first year or what a branch can make? Yeah, if you like for me, when I look back, when you open an independent business or mom and pop shop, would you average probably five, six hundred thousand a year? That's what I done, and it done so well in that what I achieved when I just have one, two shops, and I just not understand I don't have the system, I don't have everything. And after I get multiple locations, I implementing a different system, implementing different marketing, and then the numbers just went up from five. Oh wow, we hit a million. And then the last location that I reopened, okay, let's implementing it. 2022, we spend more time again, how to make it more efficiency, how to make it better, and that generate the revenue. The last location, you know, the first years it generates is over almost one 1.1 million on the first year of revenue. I spend that location, I spend a million bucks to build it. And then the second year is already hit 1.45 million in the second year. Wow. And then a third year, that we've just gone to the third year, this location is already hit 1.7, just over 1.7 million. Four years of this location that we expect is going to be 01.8. And then by the year 5th, we probably will hit 2 million on this location. Wow. What's the biggest money maker? Massages? Massage and Fascio. Yeah, massage is the main one. Yeah, massage is and the fascio is secondary. How many employees do you have in each location? Yeah, each location is about 25, part-time and full-time. And usually you have egg treatment room or 10. You want to have, if you have 10 treatment room, you want to have 12 therapists on hand. And then you have two front-end people, like uh fundest. And you open seven days a week? Yeah, seven days a week. Yeah, right now it's ten to eight every day. But our goal is to be able to open from nine to nine or eight thirty to nine thirty. We're still not just trying how to make it work because if you do that, now you have to double your team. Right? It will be too cheap. What does success look like to you

Defining Success And Final Goodbye

20:27

now? My success is still the same that 20 years ago. My success is when I see people smiling, and then what I can help people to become healthier. That's my success, and then my team. If I can see people come to work together in the location and then become the friend, they go hang out after, they're working, they do things together, and that is so successful for me. That is satisfying. Excellent. That's a lot to say for somebody that cares about the wellness of others, especially with planting trees for every massage. That is a fantastic concept. I want to thank you for sharing all this information with us. Thank you for having me for me here. Excellent. Thanks, Luta. This is an incredible story. And this is it for today.

More Healthcare Career Episodes CTA

21:14

If you're interested in more healthcare jobs, we have many shows in our healthcare category. Head to our website, how much can I make that info, and you can hear a lot more episodes about people working in the healthcare industry. And I will see you next week on how much can I make.