Hi Everyone,
I am hoping to receive some advise from Sports & Remedial Massage Therapists. Particularly therapists who work on a self employed basis.
I'm new to the world of massage and I will be starting my first training course in April. The course is an VTCT level 3 in Swedish Massage. Once I've completed this course I intend to undertake the level 5 Clinical Sport & Remedial Massage Therapy course at the LSSM.
I understand that you don't pursue a career in massage for the money. However, as I'm investing a lot of time and money, I want to be sure that I can set up a happy, successful career in this profession. I would like to work on a full time, self employed basis offering sports and remedial treatments from a home clinic. I would also like to offer mobile treatments.
It would be great if some therapists could share there experience of setting up and running their business in this industry.
It would be great if you could offer some advise on things such as: Building a solid customer base. What percentage of customers return on a regular basis? Is a home clinic a viable option? What are popular treatment times and days? Is it a disadvantage being a male in this industry? Are females comfortable being treated by a male therapist?
I'm bursting with questions but cant list them all. Please share any experiences and advise you may have for me.
Thanks in advance guys!
Mark
Hi Mark - welcome to HP.
I recommend you find some time to sit with a cup of tea/coffee/cocoa/other, and trawl through the Business & Marketing forum - [url]Business & Marketing - Healthypages Discussion Forums[/url] - all of your questions have been asked and answered many times over the years, and if you put some of the key words into the Search engine (towards the top of the page, in the icon banner) more specific answers will appear.
One thing I would recommend, and what may be required as part of you training, is devise a business plan, and don't bank on being fully self-employed with clients queuing at your door the day after you finish training - it simply doesn't happen - but make lots of plans anyway!
Good luck!
Actually, you can earn quite a good living from being a sports massage therapist, I think. Word of mouth is probably your best marketing tool, the better you are, the more people you treat will spread the word - but you do need to have proper strategies in place for letting people know you are there, and why they should try you out (and I dont just mean having a website, but be more proactive). Dont pitch your costs too low to start, as many clients dont tend to trust people who charge half the going rate, and it's also harder to then start raising your prices. Never had any issue with female clients worrying about being treated by a male therapist myself, in fact you might find it is the other way round! Might be an idea in time to start thinking about working from other clinics, gyms, health clubs, you're still self-employed, you just pay for the room when you use it - good way to get into more client bases. Exciting times for you - good luck!
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post Jaba The Hut & mikeoc
@ Jaba The Hut - Thank you for sharing the link to the business and marketing pages - this is just what i need. Actualy, I have a business in advertising and marketing and part of my job is graphic design and web design - I'm hoping these skills will come in handy setting up this side of things.
"Don't bank on being fully self-employed with clients queuing at your door the day after you finish training"
I know, this is the frustrating part, I intend to start setting up my business and building my customer base after I complete the Sweedish Masage training. Hopefully by the time I have completed the Sport and remedial training 12 months later I will have something that looks like a customer base.
@ mikeoc - thank you for the advise on pricing. This is something that I had thought about. Initially, I had intended on setting my prices low, this seemed to be the obvious thing to do. However, you are absolutely right, this makes it difficult to increase your prices in future, and, why would I under value the service I am offering!
Thank you for wishing me luck with my new career guys!
Some good advice here from Mikeoc, but I would add that gyms tend to charge a monthly rent and not charge on an adhoc basis
Actually, you can earn quite a good living from being a sports massage therapist, I think. Word of mouth is probably your best marketing tool, the better you are, the more people you treat will spread the word - but you do need to have proper strategies in place for letting people know you are there, and why they should try you out (and I dont just mean having a website, but be more proactive). Dont pitch your costs too low to start, as many clients dont tend to trust people who charge half the going rate, and it's also harder to then start raising your prices. Never had any issue with female clients worrying about being treated by a male therapist myself, in fact you might find it is the other way round! Might be an idea in time to start thinking about working from other clinics, gyms, health clubs, you're still self-employed, you just pay for the room when you use it - good way to get into more client bases. Exciting times for you - good luck!
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post Jaba The Hut & mikeoc
@ Jaba The Hut - Thank you for sharing the link to the business and marketing pages - this is just what i need. Actualy, I have a business in advertising and marketing and part of my job is graphic design and web design - I'm hoping these skills will come in handy setting up this side of things.
"Don't bank on being fully self-employed with clients queuing at your door the day after you finish training"
I know, this is the frustrating part, I intend to start setting up my business and building my customer base after I complete the Sweedish Masage training. Hopefully by the time I have completed the Sport and remedial training 12 months later I will have something that looks like a customer base.
@ mikeoc - thank you for the advise on pricing. This is something that I had thought about. Initially, I had intended on setting my prices low, this seemed to be the obvious thing to do. However, you are absolutely right, this makes it difficult to increase your prices in future, and, why would I under value the service I am offering!
Thank you for wishing me luck with my new career guys!
Hi Mark, I wish you had asked for advice BEFORE enrolling on your course, these is a far better route that would prepare you for working in the industry, Ive nothing againt the your chosen route follwed by further training but as an assessor in the industry I find the best prepared and competent, successful therapists dont usually come from this route. I assume you are London based by your course choice. I would be happy to discuss your options with you, perhaps you could send me a direct message with a contact number and preferred time to call.
To enlighten you as to my industry role, I am an advisor to the regulator on sports therapies, which includes sports massage as a prerequisite qualification. I also work in FE and private colleges as course developer, teacher and external assessor so see a broad range of training courses, some more suitable than other in preparing occupationally competent therapists.
hope that helps
BGFL
Hi biggazfromlincoln,
I would be delighted to discuss my training requirements with you - given your position within this profession, who could be better!
I have PM you, I look forward to talking with you.
Here's my input. I totally understand where you're at. Wish I had had the foresight to ask these questions...
1. Building a solid customer base?... Don't be afraid to ask the client if they would like to book again. My experience is that if you don't, often clients think you're not interested in them enough to want them back. If it's a remedial case and you think it's essential that they need several treatments then say so. Believe in your treatment approach.
2. What percentage of customers return on a regular basis?... Depends. Some clients come for "maintenance" type treatments and so I give them the option of considering weekly, fortnightly or monthly visits. Others come when they are in pain or discomfort, and so I tend to try and give them an idea of how many visits it will take to "fix" them.
3. Is a home clinic a viable option?... Yes. Totally. No room rent fees obviously! But marketing will be all up to you. And as a new therapist you might want to be in a clinic for a while to get your profile out there. However when you start at a clinic, assume that you will operate on a loss for a while as you build a client base.
4. What are popular treatment times and days?... Depends on your client base. I have a practice in The City (London) so my clients are all coming from work so I tend to be busiest at lunchimes and after work.
5. Is it a disadvantage being a male in this industry? Are females comfortable being treated by a male therapist?... If you are just giving relaxation massages then I would say yes. My experience is that people seem to prefer females over males for this type of treatment. If you are more focused on sports, deep tissue or remedial treatments then my experience is that it seems to be a level playing field.
Hope this helps
Henry
Business Advice
Hi Mark, I might be a bit too late replying but would love to let you know that I have created a free e-course and also kindle book called "Kick Start Your Massage Career". You can access the kindle book on Amazon or get it as a free 36 weekly step programme via your inbox
here:[DLMURL="http://www.essentialsforhealth.co.uk/Page.php?ID=Business_Passport"]Therapist's Business Passport[/DLMURL]
Good luck!