Let's Run a sauna in Rio

[floridarob]

Since we all get along so well      we should create a small investment group to take over a place like Lyon's Sauna , albeit on better terms than they had.  

I know the way we all travel and whore around, we could throw some cash we're not using at a place like this to make it work.

Advertising- Good about getting the word out about the place (Tomcal, although I'm sure he wants HR, to test new hires)
Accounting and legal matters- Experienced in accounting and detailed legal documents (Mvan1)
EEOC compliance manager- To ensure that we have the correct number of black, white, mulatto, etc (Solacesoul)
Training manager- Someone with experience in the field to train the guys the do's and don'ts of the position (Badboy81)
Consultant/Director-  Previous Experience running escort agency or sauna (Totallyoz)
Nationwide recruiter- Travel the country looking for fresh talent (Namuzu)
Historian- To give advice of previous saunas failures in the past so we don't make the same mistakes (Axiom2001)
Legalese speaker- Someone that will talk to the various police entities as needed to confuse them as to what is actually going on inside (Riobard)
Bar manager- Someone that will keep an eye on the bar, closely (floridarob)

I'm sure I've left some positions/names out.....chime in with your suggestions (Humor is ok, don't be rude )

Also, I don't know everyone personally that I've tagged, no offense intended to anyone. Just things that stuck in my mind from reading posts all these years.


And now what would the benefits be...?
We could have investment levels, not like pyramid schemes, but yeah.

Platinum, gold, bronze,  etc...

Haven't given this much thought, but what benefits could be given to the different levels of investment , hmmm

 

[Riobard]

Well, Lyons (also spelled Lyon) is a good start to throw off nosy busybodies ... since it is located in s/e France near the Swiss border. However, prostitution is now illegal in France (Nordic model). A good start to confound the local Lapa constabulary, though. Officer Pereira da Silva Mendes is already nodding off or needing to check his Whatsapp, 

 

[floridarob]

1 minute ago, Riobard said:

Officer Pereira da Silva Mendes is already nodding off or needing to check his Whatsapp, 

But they're not sleeping when it's time to come for their weekly/monthly payoffs....

[Riobard]

41 minutes ago, floridarob said:

But they're not sleeping when it's time to come for their weekly/monthly payoffs....

My limited Portuguese would likely have me saying something distorted like "I see that you are here on schedule to sleep with me and come in exchange for this envelope of cash" ... maybe I should be out of the running as liaison. 

[SolaceSoul]

6 hours ago, floridarob said:

EEOC compliance manager- To ensure that we have the correct number of black, white, mulatto, etc (Solacesoul)

There actually are EEO laws in Brazil, and they do apply to independent contractors and temporary workers like sauna garotos. But ethnic diversity issues aside, I wouldn’t be interested at all (as an employee or as a client) if this is going to be yet another twink sauna. They couldn’t pay me enough. Sorry.

@floridarob, you may be joking, but Ibwas discussing the possibility and viability of a sauna investment — except the city that needs another one isn’t Rio. It’s São Paulo. 

Edited October 21, 2019 by SolaceSoul

[TotallyOz]

LOL With that case of characters would there ever be any time for the boys to see others?

[floridarob]

4 hours ago, SolaceSoul said:

@floridarob, you may be joking, but Ibwas discussing the possibility and viability of a sauna investment — except the city that needs another one isn’t Rio. It’s São Paulo

I can never get over that SP for as large and populated it is only has 2 saunas with GP's.....and yes I'm joking, even Riobard realized that!

[SolaceSoul]

11 minutes ago, floridarob said:

I can never get over that SP for as large and populated it is only has 2 saunas with GP's.....

It really makes no sense for a metropolitan area of over 21.5 million people to have so few saunas with working garotos. There are 3 in Rio, 4 in Salvador, 3 in Recife, 2 in Fortaleza. That’s a big business waiting for the right investor. Hopefully, the relocated, downscaled, cozier Lagoa will thrive, so that there can at least still be two. 

[Tomcal]

I really like the size and layout of Lions, the third floor dance floor and bar is really large and has never been used although the intent was to open that one night a week at midnight as a mixed dance club. The reasons n it is not making it is 1) primarily lack of working capital! the number 1 reason why 50+% of new businesses fail! You should have a 1 years worth of money to fund operations w/o borrowing! Lions didn’t even have one month! Unless the landlord gives them another rent extension, they will be closing soon, but the opportunity is there for someone to take it over as all the renovations are done!  

[Marcorjbr]

I am afraid boy saunas ( and girl ) saunas may be a dying business model.  I beleive the new generations of boys are finding more success on the internet / whattsapp networks....  I have noticed the average age of the boys and clients have risen over the years and while there are always new boys, friends / primos of boys arriving.... its nothing like it used to be.  The new brasileiros (clients and boys) want discretion... less exposer.  They garotos can make their money without going to saunas.  I feel that this may be the last generation for the typical sauna.. thermas crowd.  

This is only my observation as a 27 year expat living and working in Rio....most of my carioca friends agree

[Riobard]

The fly in the ointment regarding the exposure/discretion topic is that online ads “out” the provider. Heck, the ferveção site, a gossip blog, even tracks known gogos branching out into escorting (some are flagged internationally!) and uploads their ads. Wannabe providers are put in a bind.

Just brainstorming here, but the business model I would like to see, or that might fly, is a “hustler bar” concept with a satellite love/sex motel. Separate components, but they might be linked in terms of proprietorship. There could be a rotation of staff among the components to help in identifying “bad apples”.

There might even be two watering holes: one called Twinkles, the other Studs. 

Joking aside, I don’t need or typically use any spa features and bathing can occur in the motel room. I douche in privacy, prn, at home anyway before going out. 

The bar(s) need not be huge with expensive overhead, the problem of large spaces sitting empty the majority of time reduced.  The motel need not be contiguous, but should be accessible.

The motel date-space profit margins might inflate because the hours of business are not confined to the 6 hour window in current brothel establishments. Like most love hotels, there could be 24-hour booking options for punters if business is slow.

The absence of complete site integration might add some flexibility to space procurement complexities.

A pipe dream, I realize. But it is so much more work and time to curate programas independently. I prefer to pay to more to have the infrastructure in place and the options laid out with minimal homework required.

It is really simply the streetwalker and linked facility model, but providers off the thoroughfare. 

[Riobard]

Of course, with apologies to Dragula Carrie, but there could be some wriggle room for loud  displays of whatever ... 

[SolaceSoul]

1 hour ago, Marcorjbr said:

I am afraid boy saunas ( and girl ) saunas may be a dying business model.  I beleive the new generations of boys are finding more success on the internet / whattsapp networks....  I have noticed the average age of the boys and clients have risen over the years and while there are always new boys, friends / primos of boys arriving.... its nothing like it used to be.  The new brasileiros (clients and boys) want discretion... less exposer.  They garotos can make their money without going to saunas.  I feel that this may be the last generation for the typical sauna.. thermas crowd.  

This is only my observation as a 27 year expat living and working in Rio....most of my carioca friends agree

I, for one, love the sauna model and the sauna culture. For me, it being a sauna and social club is a necessary part of the attraction. Sex — more specifically, sex for pay — is an integral part of the sauna culture, of course, but I find saunas relaxing and sometimes exhilarating. The showers, the near nudity, the cleanliness, the sexual energy, the freedom, the openness, the bars, the socialization — it’s all part of what I enjoy. Otherwise, if I just wanted a nut, I’d just go on a hookup app or call an escort from an ad.

I get that there are some clients or would-be clients who would rather NOT be in a towel, or use sauna facilities, or be in a private club around others. And that’s fine. But there are plenty of us who love sauna culture. 

There are many clients — local and tourist — that do not have a place to hookup with another guy (paid or free). Sure, there are also love motels, but that’s another step after finding the one you want for a short time. And then what if it’s a bust? Back to step 1.The ease and convenience of choice are available at saunas, whereas online ads or club / street hookups require a two-step process in these cases: finding the prospect, then booking a safe place to take him.

Most brasileiros that I know (straight or gay) do not dare take dates (especially not pay dates) back to their homes, and will not go to an unknown pay dates address for a hookup. So, it’s either love motels or saunas.

Regarding privacy, a very successful argument could be made that working at a sauna is far more private than advertising services on social media. What could be happening is would be sauna garotos simply do not openly advertise online and just the passive requests through PMs, DMs, etc. This, however, is probably not very stable, steady income — and regarding privacy, what’s to stop an unscrupulous or vengeful social media user from taking screen shots of the private messages proving this IG model is offering sex work and making it public? 

My takeaway is that the better saunas are just as active as ever, but the problem is not really the size of the client base or the number of garotos that are wiling to work there. The bigger problems are for sauna owners and operators: rental prices and operation costs may be increasingly too high. It’s definitely cheaper to operate a website or web page.

 

[Tomcal]

1 hour ago, SolaceSoul said:

I, for one, love the sauna model and the sauna culture. For me, it being a sauna and social club is a necessary part of the attraction. Sex — more specifically, sex for pay — is an integral part of the sauna culture, of course, but I find saunas relaxing and sometimes exhilarating. The showers, the near nudity, the cleanliness, the sexual energy, the freedom, the openness, the bars, the socialization — it’s all part of what I enjoy. Otherwise, if I just wanted a nut, I’d just go on a hookup app or call an escort from an ad.

I get that there are some clients or would-be clients who would rather NOT be in a towel, or use sauna facilities, or be in a private club around others. And that’s fine. But there are plenty of us who love sauna culture. 

 

 

I, 110% Agree with you but i think we are a dying minority!

[Riobard]

I belong to Bains Scandinave where I reside in historical Old Montreal. I go about every second day, and its counterpart in the Laurentian Mountains when I can get away to ski. It is not inexpensive. 

Properly outfitted water and temp contrast features, as well as the cultural salutary benefits, are ingrained in my lived experience. At this spa there is a frigid dipping pool following various hot exposure components, including powerful jets that have helped spare me the discomfort of borderline yet non-debilitating sciatic discomfort that commenced in my 30’s. There are also code-of-silence relaxation zones.

I grew up my first 3 decades (1950s thru 70s) as a 9th generation French Canadian in the northern boreal. Like most families we were blessed with an off-grid summer lake “camp” with a natural fire hot-rock sauna with a water ladle for heat blasts and joyous repeated leaps into pristine freshwater off the adjacent dock, roughly mid-May to mid-October This tradition was, I eventually realized, at least in part, appropriated from the early 20th century Finnish diaspora in northern Ontario. My Finnish-Canadian friends tended to have sauna features at home as well as the ‘cottage’.

All this, of course, makes me a spa snob with marvellous memories of idyllic early extended family life. I don’t think I am hydrophobic. Au contraire, perhaps a hydrophilic aficionado. The brothel facilities/features are like (analogously) taking a sponge bath in a drought or detention camp as compared to a decent bathe. No point whatsoever other than a functional wash. We all have our own particular backdrop that influences our take on quality and value. 

The thematic area in which, in contrast, I hadn’t truly lived, was obviously in the unbridled access to delicious trade. I don’t expect to have the environmental expectations match up perfectly, but please ... Just give me a drink and some pleasant company without cacophonous racket. 

If someone has their nose out of joint about what I am wearing, they can approach me with their idiosyncratic complaint and I might consider a change if they are going to be so irreversibly rattled by an apparent “assault” on their tunnel-vision conformism hall-monitoring. I don’t like people to suffer unnecessarily and I have fashionable sliders and thongs available anyway. 

I have had hundreds of great encounters in my lifetime that did not hinge on the arbitrary rituals of bathhouse dynamics. There is more than one way to skin a gato and none is necessarily a cut above any other. Everyone should just autonomously do it the way they want. Don’t get distracted by pedantic arguments about how to present yourself. Absorb the experience at your comfort level. 

If there were something tangible to embrace about the practical features of Brazil venues, other than the hot stud availability that transcends all, I would consider embracing it. Otherwise, I don’t have a ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ default on this. 

[Marcorjbr]

I too enjoy the sauna experience.  The steam, the visuals, the masculine comaraderie....

My comment was geared toward the " business model " and the cultural changes.  My guess is it is a dying.  Lagoa in SP was dying even before the recent relocation.  And yes rents, real estate speculation and other costs make it very difficult to see sucesss.  Things like water / sewer and electric are outrageously expensive in Brasil.  While real estate taxes are still considered cheap by international standards... they will be the next to increase as the broke city governments look for revenue.....

I will be a customer... but certainly not an investor... rs

[Riobard]

The new Lagoa space, rent listed at R$18.000, is about .59PSF monthly (current USD conversion), approximate commercial space comparisons: Atlanta $1.74, Dallas 1.92, SanFran 5.43, NYC 6.16

Based on a 6-day week, an average of about 15 client entries per operating day should cover that part of the overhead, perhaps half that number predicated on one programa suite uptake per entrant. 

However, I expect that cost recovery for the extensive retrofitting done would take considerable time.

[davet]

Please post your plans so that I can apply for the training and recruitment position. Come to think of it, is there any training or recruitment in the current houses? Does a guy just show up and if he's awful he won't make any money and won't come back, kind of like natural selection? Seems like a waste of potential. There have been some awfully gorgeous guys who just needed some hints and practice. There have been good guys who could be great. And there have been guys I would have jumped at had their sales tactics not been so awful and downright obnoxious. I promise to be a very patient but firm trainer.