Mobile Botox Business: Do’s and Don’ts for 2024

Last Updated On: July 16, 2024

With the Botox market reaching $8.74 billion in 2024, investing in a Botox practice should be at the top of your list if you’re a medical spa or practice owner. 

One way to get all the benefits without a huge investment is to start a mobile Botox business—which is essentially Botox on wheels. It will help you provide your clients with the Botox treatments they want at their convenience and in the comfort of their homes.

But you need to ensure you do it right the first time—because you can face legal repercussions if you accidentally break Botox administration-related laws in your state. We’ll discuss everything you need to do and avoid in this article. 

5 Things You Should Never Do When Starting a Mobile Botox Business

The five do-nots of starting a mobile Botox business are:

1. Presenting Botox as a treatment for all

2. Hiding who will perform the treatment

3. Sharing misleading before and after images

4. Implying alternatives can produce similar results to Botox

5. Forgetting prior substantiation 

Don’t Present Botox as a Treatment for All

In the eyes of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), medical care, including Botox, is a necessity, so it shouldn’t be about making money. That’s why the FTC requires all medical outlets to be truthful about their products, procedures, and solution benefits. 

The FTC’s truth-in-advertising laws prohibit medical professionals from making misleading claims about their products and services. This means you can’t present Botox as a solution for everyone with crow’s feet or bunny lines because not everybody will be a good candidate for it. 

You also can’t suggest ways Botox specifically could improve someone’s appearance—because your claims have the potential to unduly influence a customer’s decision, according to the FTC’s laws. 

For example, you can’t advertise your services as being the “best,” “top,” or “greatest”—or make any other grandiose claims—because that would be a misrepresentation of the truth and unduly influence your potential customers. 

Don’t Hide Who Will Perform the Treatment

A medical outlet is expected to mention exactly who will perform a procedure—such as an MD, nurse, or nurse practitioner—on its website and ads. For instance, if you run a mobile Botox business, you need to specify that a physician (or another medical professional) provides the services you offer, not your facility. 

You also have to be careful with who is performing the procedure depending on your state. For instance, any nurse practitioner (NP) and physician can perform Botox and filler treatments regardless of their medical training, expertise, and specialty in Indiana. 

However, in Maryland, Botox treatments have to be provided by licensed physicians with training approved by the American Medical Association (AMA). This means it won’t be legal to have an NP perform these treatments in Maryland. 

Don’t Share Misleading Before and After Images

While you can share before and after images of your patients to get business flowing in, these images must not be false, deceptive, or misleading. This essentially means you can’t Photoshop, edit, or alter these images in any shape or form, according to the FTC. 

Editing photos can create a result that may not be real. Lighting also falls in this category. You can’t use better, more flattering light to show a procedure in a better light, as this can create a misleading expectation of real results—which is against the FTC’s truth-in-advertising laws.

Before-and-after images are also protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which requires you to keep patient information secure. 

As a result, you need to get written authorization from patients detailing exactly how their photos will be used, where they’ll be used, and how long they’ll be up. This permission is very hard to get but necessary to stick to HIPAA. 

Don’t Imply That Alternatives Can Produce Similar Results to Botox

The FTC’s “must not be false, misleading, or untruthful” statement applies to everything you do as a medical outlet and that includes talking about alternatives to Botox. While Dysport and Myobloc are similar to Botox, they aren’t the same and don’t have the same results. 

For instance, while Dysport is cheaper per unit and works faster compared to Botox, it takes more units to get results similar to Botox. Similarly, Myobloc is also a botulinum toxin, but its effects don’t last as long as Botox. 

Avoid comparing these injectables with Botox because all of them have subtly different results, and you need to make that “subtle” difference evident when talking to your customers. Otherwise, you risk making misleading claims, which is illegal. 

Don’t Forget Prior Substantiation

If you claim that “studies show” something—such as 40% fewer wrinkles in six months—about a treatment you provide, the FTC requires you to have documentation that expressly supports the advertised level of substantiation. 

In the FTC’s words, you need to have a “reasonable basis” for your claims. “Reasonable basis” covers both expressed and implied claims—the latter of which you have to be extremely careful about. 

For instance, if the Commission thinks your marketing material suggests or reasonably implies other claims beyond those expressly stated, you’ll still be required to provide evidence for it. In this case, it is best to have evidence for any reasonable interpretations of your marketing copy. 

If you can’t provide a reasonable basis for an advertisement claim (expressed or implied), you are violating Section 5 of the FTC Act and will be subject to prosecution. You can learn more about this process here. 

5 Things to Do When Starting a Mobile Botox Business

The five dos of starting a mobile Botox business are:

1. Checking state regulations

2. Getting permits and licenses

3. Promoting consultations, not products

4. Sticking to the facts

5. Finding the right supplier

Check State Regulations

Before putting up a website with all the injectable treatments you offer, you need to check state regulations. For instance, you can’t talk about an NP performing a Botox procedure if your state doesn’t allow this. 

Similarly, you may also need to get specific training to perform injectable procedures in some states, such as Maryland and New York. You can look at your state requirements here. 

Get the Permits and Licenses You Need

When you start a business, you need to have the right permits on hand to make sure everything is legal. This includes a business license, a mobile business permit, a medical license, a sales tax permit, and a health department permit. 

Your state may also require your staff, such as nurse practitioners, registered nurses, estheticians, physician assistants, and physicians, to have specific licenses. Check your state laws and regulations to understand which permits you need.

Promote the Consultation, Not the Product

Instead of mentioning that Botox can help your patients improve their skin texture or relax wrinkles—which can be misleading under the FTC’s truth-in-advertising laws—it’s better to talk about your consultation, what you’ll discuss with your patient, and what they can expect.

You can also mention your years of experience, include a few testimonials, and anything you offer as part of the procedure to promote it. 

Stick to the Facts

Always be truthful about all your claims. If you say that “tests prove that Botox can reduce your trap size,” you need to make sure this claim is true—or you’ll be violating FTC laws. 

Similarly, don’t claim that Botox can treat medical conditions that you don’t have expertise in treating. 

This could create a false impression of you offering these services and cause you to be in violation of Section 5 rules. 

Find the Right Supplier

In May 2024, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a statement saying that counterfeit Botox was becoming a massive problem in various states. This version of Botox caused blurry vision, incontinence, difficulty lifting the head after an injection, shortness of breath, and hospitalizations. 

This is why the FDA recommends that you always check your Botox products before using them. The best way to do this is to compare your Botox package with pictures on Allergan’s website. 

But you can also identify FDA-approved Botox—50 and 100 units—by looking at the following: 

• Product description—This should be listed as either “OnabotulinumtoxinA/BOTOX®/for injection” or “BOTOX® COSMETIC/onabotulinumtoxinA/for injection”
• Manufacturer identity—This should be mentioned as “AbbVie,” “Allergan,” or “Allergan Aesthetics/An AbbVie Company” 

We recommend checking out our guide on how to recognize 6 signs of fake Botox products.

Always Know Your Source With Med Supply Solutions

Botox administration may be a billion-dollar industry, but it has a lot of hoops you have to jump through if you want to be successful. 

If you’re looking to open a mobile Botox clinic, you need to ensure your marketing is always truthful and compliant with legal guidelines. Misleading claims can damage your reputation and lead to legal issues.

Along with that, you need to source FDA-approved Botox products from a reliable seller. This is where we come in. 

At Med Supply Solutions, we’ll help you source those toxin products that meet stringent FDA standards to ensure the highest quality and safety for your clients. With us, you can focus on growing your business. Reach out to us today if you need help sourcing high-quality and reliable Botox products. 

Sources

1. Federal Trade Commission. Truth In Advertising. Federal Trade Commission. Published 2024. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/truth-advertising
2. FTC Policy Statement Regarding Advertising Substantiation. Federal Trade Commission. Published June 24, 2014. https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/ftc-policy-statement-regarding-advertising-substantiation
3. Federal Trade Commission. Health Products Compliance Guidance. Federal Trade Commission. Published December 20, 2022. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/health-products-compliance-guidance
4. Research C for DE and. Counterfeit Version of Botox Found in Multiple States. FDA. Published online 2024. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/counterfeit-version-botox-found-multiple-states