“Don’t get rubbed the wrong way.”
Featuring premium, cheeky branding, Beyond Massage is exactly what it says on the tin—a massage parlour that goes beyond your typical massage.
But co-founders Calvin and Matthews sincerely mean what their motto says, and Beyond Massage intends to make good on it.
Bridging a market gap
Going into the business, Calvin Lim and Matthews Chang had a clear problem statement they wanted to address. Massage parlours were just not getting things right.
When you visit these businesses, you would often get a different masseuse who you’ve never built rapport with and hence doesn’t understand your body. To reiterate your condition all over again can be exhausting.
In other words, they felt rubbed the wrong way.
Calvin pointed out, “There are traditional massages with templated approaches. On the other end of the spectrum, it’s physiotherapy centres. Great for rehabilitation, but it’s very intimidating.”
For the average person who hasn’t been injured or doesn’t suffer from any obvious health concerns, physiotherapy might seem like overkill. Plus, physio centres typically involve a whole bunch of modalities, from electrotherapy to dry needling.
Matthews added, “This is great, but what we learnt from our market research is that the most enjoyable part of physiotherapy is getting pressed. So, let’s elevate that.”
At Beyond Massage, the team is essentially offering physiotherapy services in a more approachable way. The therapists at Beyond boast professional physio know-how, but on top of that, they’ve received training in traditional techniques such as Swedish massages, lymphatic drainage, and more.
Unlike typical massages, Beyond’s sessions are fully customised to customers’ needs and goals. In other words, it’s bespoke.
What you get really comes down to the initial 10-minute consultation you have with your therapist—which is free, mind you.
“The mission we have here is that we want to change the narrative on massages. It’s not so much a luxury but something that aids in continuous recovery,” Matthews expressed.
“The analogy that I gave to some other guys is that you’re like a car. You don’t wait until your car is spoilt before fixing it. You need to regularly service it. Think of this place like a service centre for your body.”
Calvin reminded, “Recovery is a part of training.”
Closing their own loop
For a new business, Beyond Massage comes off as a very premium, well-developed brand.
Well, there’s a reason for that. The co-founders actually run a sister brand called Hills Pilates, which has a presence in Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand.
“That’s more on strength and conditioning, and this is our recovery business to help close the circle,” Matthews explained.
With nine outlets in Malaysia alone, the team is able to leverage much of the data from Hills Pilates to guide them in the right direction.
For instance, Hills Pilates has a Bukit Jalil outlet as well. This helped the team secure a good spot for Beyond Massage, while giving insights into the local demographic and their spending habits.
“This is our MVP,” Matthews shared. “We start it up first, see if there’s product market fit, and if the evidence is there, we’ll start scaling.”
Interestingly, though, they already have another location in Tropicana Avenue that’s set to open very soon. Again, this is possible thanks to their Pilates business.
Any further expansion would be after a few months, though, as the team wants to continue taking a data-centric approach.
“Let the revenue flow stabilise, understand the demographic a bit more, do whatever we need to improve from an operational standpoint,” Matthews listed. “Once we’re confident that everything is replicable, scaling will start happening relatively quickly.”
Offering a more accessible offering
In terms of pricing, Beyond Massage actually offers rather reasonable rates.
For a full-body 60-minute session, it’s RM149. A 90-minute session is RM179, while a 120-minute experience is RM209. This is on par with premium massage parlours such as Thai Odyssey. Most physio centres tend to offer tailored pricing, so those who want a transparent, standardised rate might appreciate Beyond’s offering.
Aside from their bespoke physio-centric offerings, they offer relaxation-focused sessions as well as a foot, head, neck, and shoulder massages.
“It was a bit tricky—are you going to benchmark against traditional massages, or are you going to benchmark against physiotherapists?” they mused. “Well, we first need to look at the quality of the services. It’s being done by professionals who spent years studying this trade.”
As such, they leaned towards the prices of physiotherapy, but stepped down from there.
They don’t necessarily see their sessions as a direct alternative to physiotherapy, but more of a supplementary service. This is especially true if customers come in with injuries that they cannot assist in.
“I would say the main differentiator is whether there’s a need for other modalities,” the co-founders explained. This is as Beyond Massage doesn’t have the full range of equipment that the medical centres might.
Going above and beyond
These days, wellness has become more central to our lives. Just take a look at the proliferation of Pilates centres and pickleball courts. This is a clear indicator that as a society, we want to be more active and care for our bodies more.
However, the fitness scene is getting oversaturated—something that they’ve noticed in the Pilates community. In Beyond’s area alone, there are more than a couple of Pilates studios.
That’s why the co-founders believe that the wellness market in particular is ripe for the taking.
However, as much as Beyond might be tapping into an underserved market, competition is bound to come, especially if business goes well for them.
Yet, the founders believe that they will be able to stay competitive with the relationships that their staff fosters with each and every customer. Yes, there might be innovation. But what’s keeping the business going isn’t just that initial idea, but consistent execution and continual improvement.
“We see it in Pilates. Our retention rate is really high,” they pointed out. “We are also very strong on innovating in the form of upskilling.”
Plus, they have a good management team behind the business. If they can open 20, 30 stores rapidly, it would be hard for others to get an edge.
Quite literally going beyond massages, the team will also be introducing head spas at their centre.
It’s clear that the Beyond Massage team truly believes in their product, and they’re excited and ambitious to bring the product to more people.
But does Beyond Massage actually walk the talk? Well, we actually got to experience a session ourselves, so you’ll have to read our review to find out.
- Learn more about Beyond Massage here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.
Featured Image Credit: Vulcan Post