We hope you have all been enjoying our "Ask The Muscle Whisperer" series. This month we asked the UK massage industry's top thought leaders to share the mistakes they made in their massage therapy business and what lessons these mistakes taught them! Read on to hear their thoughtful tips.
For Earle as a massage therapist you are always continuing to learn and grow. You will have elements of your massage therapy business that you will need to change and new ideas you will need to adopt. The biggest mistakes Earle made when starting out his career as a massage therapist was to act too hastily when developing his consultation forms. Earle went online and googled a template and handed it straight to his clients! It was only when clients started to ask how should they answer certain questions that to Earle's horror he discovered there were lots of elements on the form that were completely irrelevant to his massage therapy setting!
Earle's first tip is to not just go for convenience. Take time to alter forms to make them specific to your scope and practice not just to avoid embarrassing situations with your clients but to start demonstrating your value. Be critical and analyse each question. Ask yourself is this relevant? Why am I asking this question? What information am I trying to get from my clients?
The other mistake Earle made when starting his massage therapy business was one that is very common. When starting out it can be incredibly difficult to know how to price your services and you can easily end up being vague with your clients out of embarrassment. Being clear from the start and demonstrating what is included can save you a lot of hassle and heartache. You also need to be sure that you have factored everything in when setting your prices. This includes all your treatment costs but also things like CPD training.
Watch Earle answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!
You can find more details on Earle's latest book 'Muscle Testing – A Concise Manual' by clicking the images below or find out more details on the next Hands On Training courses by clicking here.
Publications:
For Nikki from Orchid Massage Academy the mistakes she made with her massage therapy business in the beginning have led her to her current work as a business mentor for fellow massage therapists. It took Nikki years to fully understand her massage therapy business and she would like to help other therapists fast track their way to success!
The mistake that Nikki made, is one she sees other therapists making as well. In the begining Nikki spent a lot of time really concentrating on the techniques and anatomy side of being a massage therapist. Nikki focused on learning new techniques, learning more about the body and how she could help her clients feel better. Of course this meant Nikki grew to be a fantastic massage therapist but it meant she neglected the business side of things.
Nikki had great clients but for the first 10 years of her massage therapy business her books were hit and miss. Sometimes she would be busy and things were great, at other times it was client and she was struggling to find new massage clients. Nikki didn't have a way of getting new clients,or knowing how to raise her prices properly,. She didn't have a way of making sure that the clients I got were a good fit.
Nikki realised she needed to step up as a business owner and start putting strategies and procedures in place to protect her hard work. It took a while to learn these business skills but it has made a huge difference to her career as a massage therapist! While focusing on anatomy and techniques is very important Nikki would really recommend taking time to educate yourself on business skills, marketing skills, and strategies and systems to put in place to make sure that you have a steady stream of massage clients, that you have a way of getting referals and a way of getting clients to rebook. This can be overwhelming so just take a deep breath, understand that you've got a business to protect and then just start to implement some learning into how to make that business work for you!
Watch Nikki answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!
To find out more about Orchid Massage Academy, click here or find more details on Nikki's mentorship program, here. Alternatively you can follow on Facebook here
The easiest way to save is to rent a room by the hour rather than by the month. This way you can rent it for the hours you need and avoid paying for it when you don't have appointments and income coming in. As your massage therapy business builds you can then look to take on a monthly lease for your treatment space.
Another tip Jayne shares is to be selective with your advertising. It can be tempted to try and spread the word as far as possible but in Jayne's experience local magazines worked best for her. Leafleting can also be a great way of attracting new clients but only if you take the plunge and deliver yourself. Depending on your location this might not be suitable for your massage therapy business. But if you are based in a small town or village it can be a fantastic way to spread the work and keep fit! For Jayne advertising in restaurants or doctors surgeries proved too expensive and not particularly lucrative so she recommends sticking to the cheaper local advertising options wherever possible.
Jayne's final tip it don't be a busy fool! Make sure you are doing your sums and setting your prices right. Otherwise you could be making your life as a business owner more difficult if you need to raise your prices by a significant amount to cover a miscalculation.
Watch Jayne answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!
Click here to find out more about Jayne Burke Holistic Therapies or you can follow on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Earle Abrahamson
For Emma a common mistake we make as massage therapists when we are starting out is to not spend enough time selecting our domain names and thinking about our branding. Putting some serious thought into how we want to represent ourselves as a business can pay off in divendeds down the road. In Emma's experience the massage therapists who pick a name that really sums up the essence of their massage therapy businesses are the ones who go on to be the most successful. Another tip Emma has found is that if you can include your location in the name of your massage business you will also do better in the online rankings when people search for a massage service!
Emma's second tip is to learn how to delegate. At one point in her career Emma was seeing around 40 clients a week! She was too busy but didn't think to take on help straight away. If you are finding you are overwhelmed with an aspect of the business don't be afraid to delegate! Whether that is finding another therapist who you can work alongside or outsourcing some of your admin. Think about which parts of the business you don't enjoy or find difficult and see if you can get some help!
Emma's final observation is about pricing. After qualifying lots of massage therapists continue to underprice themselves despite putting lots of effort and money into their training. While it might be tempting to start with lower prices when starting out it could actually put off clients who are looking for a serious treatment from a knowledgable therapist!
Watch Emma answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!
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