From Groupon Deals to Multiple Business Lines: How One Spa Owner Built Tocar From a Single Room

In this episode of Do Small Business Like a Big Boss, host Aisha Jorge Massengill, Founder and Principal Attorney at Sedgwick Andrews Legal & Consulting, LLC, sits down with Stephen Conti, Founder and CEO of Tocar Spa, Tocar Sport, and Tocar Corporate Wellness. Stephen shares the remarkable story of how he went from running a small spa with Groupon deals to managing a multi-division wellness business in Howard County, Maryland. He reveals the real-life challenges, wins, and valuable lessons from his entrepreneurial journey, offering insights every aspiring entrepreneur can learn from.

🎧 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

How Stephen transitioned from a marketing career to owning a thriving wellness business

The ups and downs of using Groupon as a launch strategy and what he would do differently

The importance of word-of-mouth referrals and leveraging networking through the Chamber of Commerce

How the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program helped accelerate his growth

The importance of hiring for cultural fit in a service-based business

How to scale a business without losing loyal clients, including transitioning them to other providers

⏱️ Episode Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction

01:27 – Stephen’s life before Tocar Spa

07:17 – The side hustle: working at a massage franchise

09:27 – Early days of Tocar: no systems, just Groupon

11:20 – Networking: word-of-mouth & social media

14:47 – SCORE, Goldman Sachs, and finding the right CPA

17:18 – Funding the business and bootstrapping

18:35 – Identifying the revenue ceiling and scaling

20:27 – Hiring for culture fit

23:45 – Transitioning clients and leadership layers

32:40 – AI & robotic massage tech

40:35 – Advice to his younger self

45:14 – What Do Small Business Like a Big Boss means to Stephen

👤 About the Guest:

Stephen Conti is the Founder and CEO of Tocar Spa, Tocar Sport, and the newly launched Tocar Corporate Wellness, all located in the Columbia, Maryland area. Starting from a single treatment room and Groupon deals, Stephen has grown Tocar into a multi-division wellness company with 20+ team members across three business lines. He is also the creator of the Healing for Healers program, which provides free massages to caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia.

Connect with Stephen:

Website: www.tocarspa.com

Location: 10630 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, MD (by the mall) | Appointment only

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Podcast Mantra:

Build the dream messy, build it scared, just don’t build it small.

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