7 Tips On Launching Your Massage Therapy Business

If you’re interested in launching a massage therapy business, you’re going to have an exciting time. While the business aspect of massage therapy can often be challenging at times, the upside of providing care for clients is rewarding and worth the effort.

Understanding a few basics about launching a massage therapy business can do wonders to help you through the early stages of your business ambitions. Here are a few tips to get you thinking about what you need to do when you create a massage therapy business.

Develop a Business Strategy

The first thing that you need to do in order to begin forming your business after you pass your certification tests, is to create a business strategies. For instance, if you’re an RMT in Toronto, you need to take a look at what the other RMT’s are doing and build your services based off that.

Is there something you could offer that many others don’t? What is there a demand for in the market that’s being filled or unfilled? Understand the needs in the area and create a business strategy off of this.

In addition to this, run some figures so that you can see what other businesses in the area charge for their services. The early stages of running a business are typically spent in research as you find out how your business can improve upon what others are doing or fill a need that’s present.

Then Develop a Marketing Strategy

Alright, so now that you have your business strategy, you need to focus on how you can market yourself. It’s important to remember that money for marketing is vital to your success and this shouldn’t be skimped on. Word of mouth is a wonderful growth engine, but it’s hard to create without marketing campaigns to get people talking.

To begin with, research marketing methods to get people in the door on your first few weeks as a grand opening. You’ll be able to use this marketing campaign to create a lot of hype around your business and pick up new customers. A common strategy is to offer a half off massage or do a promotion to where two people can get a massage for the price of one.

Become a Member of a Professional Organization

There are a number of great professional organizations out there such as the American Massage Therapy Association. A professional organization will allow you to stay up to date on industry trends and will help you to meet people within the community for support. These organizations are especially beneficial for those who are just getting into the industry by running their own massage therapy business because it will provide you with the best and most current information out there.

Register With a Health Fund

As you may already know, many clients are picked up through health funds. A health fund will issue a rebate to a massage therapy business which will bring you in more clients. Simply being a part of a fund will put you into their system and help to bring in paying customers.

Register with as many health funds as possible so that you can reap the benefits. To register with a fund you need to directly contact the health fund and fill out paperwork. Once this process is complete, you’re all set.

Religiously Track Your Expenses In and Out

In business, it’s easy to lose track of some expenses, but it’s important that you invest in a financial management software that allows you to easily upload receipts, pay invoices, and track the money that your business is bringing in. By paying for a software your life will become significantly easier, providing you more time for your clients.

Another important tip is to keep personal and business expenses separate. This includes both on your credit cards and with your bank accounts. It’s easy to get into a habit of buying personal items or business items on the wrong account, but come tax time this will become a nightmare to sort out. Save yourself the trouble and make this a priority from the start.

Create Your Website

Developing an easy-to-use website will help your business a lot from a marketing perspective. It will open a lot of new avenues for you to market yourself if you wish to do so through things such as a blog, Google Adwords, and more. Plus, it makes life easier for your customers who want to find out the services you provide, contact information, location, and the hours you’re open.

Creating a website is simple and can be done a few ways. You can hire someone to develop one for you or you can create one yourself for free or for only a few hundred dollars. Websites are easy to make using WordPress and sleek looking themes are easy to download for free.

Launching your new massage therapy business will be one of the most exciting moments of your life, but it can be a stressful time as well. Use these tips as a jumping off point to get you thinking about your business endeavor.