By Claire Roberts
Want to know the secret weapon against head lice? Women. Yup. When Sally comes home from school with that dreaded note, it is usually Mom that gears up for battle.
As CEO of Lice Clinics of America, I have a unique glimpse into the heroic efforts women give in the battle against those disgusting bugs that crawl around the heads of our precious ones. These women will give up many hours of their time (including time off work) to take care of the problem. The only compensation they expect from their labors is a child free of lice.
But here’s the interesting thing. Hundreds of enterprising women are now making a living out of doing the dirty work of treating head lice for others’ children. There is a small—but rapidly growing—industry of professional “nitpickers” out there. These range from owners/operators who will discretely come to your home and comb out the lice and eggs for you to investors who own multiple treatment centers.
Regardless the size of the operation, most of these owners are women. Apparently, just like at home, women seem to be the ones willing to get their hands dirty when it comes to lice. And treating lice, it turns out, can be a lucrative business.
Lice Clinics of America is the largest network of professional lice-removal clinics in the world. And just like the industry as a whole, most of our clinic owners and their technicians are women.
We license our patented lice-removal technology (an FDA-cleared medical device that effectively kills lice and eggs using just heated air) to entrepreneurs who open treatment clinics under the Lice Clinics of America brand within dedicated territories. We have licensees in 32 countries. Our technology is used in more than 150 clinics (roughly 110 of those are in the United States).
We provide devices and other products to our licensees, train them, help them get their clinics open, and then give them ongoing support on such things as best practices for their marketing and PR activities. They do the rest themselves.
Our clinic owners find this to be a great business to be in for the following reasons:
1.Although awareness of head lice might spike during back-to-school time, lice infestations are not really seasonal
2.Frustrated parents are willing to pay an average of $170 per treatment to let someone take care of the problem
3.Our device works so well that they are able to offer one-and-done treatment guarantees
4.Getting positive press in the community is easy
5.There are just as many lice to treat during a recession as during a bull market
Also, because most of the people getting treated are girls and women (if a child has lice, the mom is going to also get it 25 percent of the time), female owners are well-suited to understand their clients’ concerns (many of our clinic owners got into the business after dealing with lice in their own homes).
All those reasons notwithstanding, perhaps the primary reason women go into this business is because they are really making a difference in their communities. The frazzled people that come into their clinics leave with happy smiles on their faces. It isn’t uncommon for our technicians to get hugs after treating a family.
Being financially independent using an innovative technology that really blesses the lives of others? Now that’s an opportunity a lot of women can (and do) get behind.