The massage business, as it turns out, is particularly difficult to standardise. In F&B, owners can replicate recipes and menus and install the same equipment – from ovens to coffee machines – across their outlets to ensure consistency.

A massage therapist, of course, is harder to replicate.

To get around this, the company regularly updates its standard operating procedures and works to maintain consistency across therapists, customer service staff and outlets. It also generally hires therapists with two to three years of experience rather than complete newcomers.

There is some irony, then, in Wu introducing technology that can theoretically deliver precisely the same pressure, in precisely the same place, every time – after more than a decade of trying to create consistency among hundreds of individuals.

Wu, however, believes the human element still matters most.

She takes pride in the fact that many employees have stayed with the company over the years. Her approach to retention is to give them room to grow within the organisation. Some therapists have become trainers, while others have moved into management or customer service roles.

“We treat our therapists as our partners,” she said.

She also places considerable emphasis on transparency and fairness, particularly when it comes to income and commissions. A queue system is designed to give each therapist a fair turn.

Then there are staff incentives, including company dinners during festive periods.

“Happy staff means happy customers,” she said. Massage is a form of physical touch, and Wu believes a therapist’s mood and energy can be felt by the customer. “When you have positive energy… it’s easy to pass this on to the customer as well.”

LEARNING TO LET GO

Natureland’s new direction comes as Wu’s own leadership style is changing. A mother of three, aged 15, 10 and seven, she said motherhood taught her an important lesson: patience.

“You cannot control everything,” she said.

In the past, Wu said, she was more inclined to talk and expect people to follow her decisions. “Nowadays, I think I’ve changed how I lead. More listening, less pushing.”

She also wants to build a company that doesn’t depend entirely on her. “I want to have a trusted team to do it.”

There is a neat parallel here. Just as Wu is learning to relinquish some control as a founder, Natureland is trying to reduce its dependence on individual human labour through technology.

Neither, she insists, means removing people from the equation. After 13 years of building a business around human hands, Wu is shaping Natureland’s next chapter with some mechanical assistance.

Whether Singaporeans are ready to entrust their knots, aches and perpetually overworked shoulders to a robot remains to be seen. But Wu is adamant about one thing: The machines are not here to take over.