Back to normal, are we really?

If you are in the personal services business and miraculously managed to stay open after Covid, you may find yourself back to business as usual, or do you really? 

A lot of businesses did go under, a lot also mismanaged loans and grants given during Covid to find themselves over leveraging  and now ended up in a ton of debt and facing that tough decision to shut down.  The fears are still lingering.  If the government were to decide to pull a shut down again, will your business survive once again?  

One thing is fur sure, there has definitely been a slow down in individuals attending school for personal services and that is a fact.  For those that were able to keep their doors open, the ongoing struggle to find personnel is the number one cause of the decline in the business.  We see it in all types of industries as a matter of fact, some decided on changing careers to something more recession proof because the personal services industry took a hit that still has many stumbling trying to get up from, and others just do not feel its worth the investment to go to school for it. 

So what do you do to continue to survive?  Once again it's time to pivot.  Staying on top of the market is key, trying to bring the customer more value for the services you already provide, getting creative with your offerings and DO NOT, DO NOT discount your services.  If anything at all, it's probably time to take a leap of faith and raise your prices January 1st.

For the massage industry there are a lot of affordable ways you can get creative.  Here is a list of updated ideas you can explore as an add on to your practice to stay relevant.  A great way to create value is to educate your clients on how combining services is a great way to reach their wellness goals. 

You can add them little by little to eventually create a menu of services that your clients will appreciate.  Adding new services is not only a great way to bring more value to your existing clientele, bring back some that fell off but also attract new ones.

Celluma Light Therapy

Heated Scraper

Infrared Blankets

Hypervolt Gun

Body Wraps

Local Cryo Therapy

Infrared Sauna Pod

Normatec Compression Therapy

Healing From Pandemic Exhaustion

Here we are, over a year since Covid changed the way we do business and the massage industry continues to struggle.  If you have a massage business in 2021 you are suffering from either lack of massage therapists willing to work while requests are pouring in, or you have therapists but requests have dwindled.  Either way, most likely your business is  barely making it.

What do we do now?  Why aren't massage therapists applying to the overflow of jobs hitting the market?  Why aren't most of our regulars returning to their wellness routines? How much longer can we keep our doors open?  These are some of  the questions circulating on the internet about the massage therapy industry, quite frankly the answers remain uncertain.  Maybe in some states this is not the case and its business as usual but rest assure many across the country don't share in the same blessing.

Massage Therapists all over the country are questioning if they should return to the field or give up their license all together, is it the mask mandate in certain states?  Is it unemployment benefits keeping them home?  Is it that they are also healing from pandemic exhaustion just like most of the world population and the thought of risking being in a closed room for an hour or more just elevates the anxiety that comes thinking of how Covid came to change every aspect of the business, and it still very much a present worry in many people's lives?  These are just more and more concerns and  questions that remain present toward the end of 2021.

So now, what will 2022 look like for massage therapy?  Hard to predict....

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Givers Gain

If you are a business owner then you know networking is key to business growth, from Chamber of Commerce, Meetups and Bni you can test the waters for one that is a great fit for you and your business. 

One favorite is Bni because their model seems to be one to really focus on helping the individual and the business grow.  If you have never heard of them Google them.  Bni is an international networking platform and similar to others only accepts one member to fill the category that represents your business, geared to cut out the competition and allow members to focus and being your marketing team.

Out of the many benefits Bni encompasses for its members the best one is their "Givers Gain" motto.  Focus on giving others business and you will get business in return, if you take this concept  a step further and give your clients a little more, you will also receive more. How about when you clients come in for their session, you go the extra mile and listen to their needs? By doing this you are showing them that you care about their wellness and that you are attentive to what they expect out of their session.  If you take it another step further and after the session point out areas you noticed were restricted, inflamed, or just knotty your client appreciates that. 

Now you are establishing yourself as a wellness professional they can trust, by doing so you can now transition into referrals.  Referrals can be to a Personal Trainer, Physical Therapist, Chiropractor or an Acupuncturist or even to a product you carry like a foam roller, tens unit or acu ball.  Again, your client will be so appreciative of you attention that they will brag to their friends and family about how you went above and beyond.

Remember Givers Gain.

5 Ways To Get Free Education

We all know that massage schools train you to do a massage but do not teach you how to run a business.  Some schools do  have an in-house clinic where you practice how to check in and out clients and how to run the front desk but aside for that there is really no formal training.  You are lucky if during a few weeks they tap into the business book and teach you about a business plan or about local zoning laws.  Here are five ways to help you go in the right direction:

1. Check in with your area to see which bank is community and small business friendly.  Often these banks like to help small business grow and many offer classes even with incentives like if you complete the classes your business qualifies for a credit line.  Liberty Bank is one of those be sure to see if they are in your region or look for one that offers something similar.

2. Find the Economic Development Office in your city and get on their mailing list, they also have classes geared to help small business owners.

3. Join Facebook groups of more than 1k members, you can enter a topic and the search bar and find all the posts related to the information needed and the best part is that you are learning from others in the field.

4.  YouTube has great content and great teachers that put out information to help you for free. Yes, keep an eye on those selling overpriced courses but do not completely rule out investing in a course that expand your business growth.

5.  Podcast are free and full of thousands of professionals discussing every aspect of business you can think of. Subscribe to a few and find your tribe.

If you take these simple tips into consideration, you can be sure that little by little you will learn nuggets to get  your business in the right direction, FOR FREE!

So you want to go out on your own? Here are six tips to help

 

Working for yourself is not easy, in fact it is very risky but it also gives you a sense of accomplishment that you crave for. The issue is that many massage therapist do not have the skills required to run a business and find themselves juggling and learning by trial and error.  Here is some advice to get your entreprenuer imagination prepared for what is ahead.

When it comes down to opening your own business its easy to get enamored by the idea of what it would be like, the decor, the set up, welcoming clients and the ability to make your own schedule and running your business as you wish.  But what you dont learn in school is the ups and downs that are involved in taking such risks and how to prepare for it.  You learn how to massage clients, but unless you are a hustler and go spend a lot of time teaching yourself it is really hard to deal with all aspects of running your business regardless.  Here are six tips to help you along.

Find your NAICS number

Register your Trade name

Check with zoning about your location of choice, each town has their own guidelines

Do not count on clientele from the places you work at, It is unethical!

Be ready get paid last or not at all.

Once your business starts showing profit, talk to your accountant to file taxes as an S-corp and start paying yourself as an employee of your business.

While some of these things seem unimportant at the beginning, at one time or another it will be imperative to have had everything lined up from the start.

18 Additional Services You Can Explore

In an effort to expand offerings or pivot when times are challenging these products or services seem to be the topic of conversation across forums, social media and networking. All come with their share of pros and cons and all require different budgets and risk factors to consider.  

Here is a list of topics at the top of everyone's mind:

Normatec

Hypervolt

Bemer Mat

Infrared Sauna

Cryotherapy

Salt Therapy

Biomat

Oxygen Bar

Bamboo Fusion

Hydra Luxe Body Wrap from Biotone, Ecofin and foot treatment

Paraffin Treatment

Halotherapy

Cryotherapy

Amethyst soaking tub

Quartz sand therapy

Float tanks

Pulse EMF machine

Assisted Stretching

Like everything before you commit and invest in something do your due diligence and research each therapy or service to see if it's a good fit for your business.

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Retail Solmate

One popular idea you often entertain as your business grows is about getting into retail.  While starting out creating inventory can be an overwhelming task from the initial investment to picking the right products to fit your practice it all boils down to trying what works and what does not work for your clientele and quite frankly there is no way of telling.  You can score big with things like  candles or essential oils or not.  In the end, if you take some of your profits and reinvest it  into  products you are always taking a risk that may or may not pay off.

One company we wanted to feature is Solmate Socks all their products are knit form pre-consumer, recycled cotton yarn.  They collect remnants from t-shirt factories that would normally go into a landlfill, grind them down and re-spin them into their own yarns.  How cool is that for a talking point with your clients about zero waste.  Textiles take up nearly 8 percent of our country's landfills so you can rest assure by partnering with a company like Solmate you can make a little money and do your part in reducing waste.

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3 Reasons to use AliExpress

First of all! Disclaimer: We do not get paid to promote AliExpress but sure wish we did, will have to look into that. LOL,  Let's move on to the point of this article.

Many small personal services business start expanding into retail at one point or another.  You can order from Amazon  and up sell and/or purchase items on sale elsewhere and do the same.  Once your business grows you may find it harder to find products to sell other than Essential Oil companies that are the norm and some skin care companies.   But what about everything else?  Massage tools, wellness gadgets and so on.   AliExpress is a great avenue to explore products because of the following:

You can create an e-commerce store or shopping cart on your website with featured product using drop shipping companies that mail directly to the customer.

You can purchase cheap items  bulk for your retail area to make a substantial profit.

You can find companies that send products with FREE SHIPPING or LOW SHIPPING.

The one downfall is that depending on your vendor it can take 2-5 weeks for arrival but who cares, you stand to make good profits so go for it!

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Feature Product

 

This little life saving gadget can be a great add on to your services in combination with a massage or stand alone service.  It is totally safe to use and can even be a source of additional income because you can purchase and up sell by a few $$ to your clients.  Check out the one we recommend on our page that you can find in Amazon in many styles and sizes or at your local pharmacy.  

Clients often come in with muscle spasms and this guy right here can be a great product to refer your clients to purchase.  Sure a massage will help, but so will something like this.  Your clients will appreciate the fact that in addition to a great massage you also refer products they can use at home for self care.

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5 reasons why newsletters are still a good idea?

Daily, weekly, monthly or nothing at all?  How often do you send out newsletters to your growing email list? Or do you think is something of the past or maybe something not worth your time?

5 reasons newsletters are a good idea:

1. Help keep your clients informed and engaged.  Newsletters if used appropriately are a great way to keep your clients in the loop of new services or changes to your practice.

2.  A great avenue to educate clients.  Sending periodical newsletters with information about your industry helps raise awareness of where your business is headed as it continues to grow.

3.  Used as a way to avoid awkward conversations with difficult clients when its time to raise prices.

4.  A newsletter is a chance to allow your clients to get to know you more, you can  be yourself as you keep them informed.

5.  A newsletter is an easy way to ask clients for reviews as you can also include the links to all the  platforms. 

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