Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

[Sinwa]

I am a motivated student with about 700 hours so far, and applying to rent a massage room in a salon. The room is $40 a day - no receptionist, anything. I do and supply EVERYTHING. But this is how I want it. (The expense and extra time spent on building my business will get tiresome... but...) I want to have my own business. My rules, my hours, MY income. I have a million ideas for marketing, deals, gifts, etc... and thanks to some fantastic threads on this site, I have a million and a half more. I know it will be a lot of work to get going, and hope that I build myself a good clientele and earn a decent profit.. and I may be successful, I may not. But going in - I am not accepting a pessimistic outlook.

Now after browsing this site.. and at the expense of hoping I don't sound too redundant from threads already posted... here are my questions/topics I'd like feedback on, all bundled into one;

Is $40 a day (with me choosing my own hours) a reasonable rate, especially since I have no clientele base going in? From what I have seen... it is reasonable (I mean, after my first massage or so of the day = profit, right?)

I have a chair, but no table yet - mostly just waiting to pick a good one worth the investment (and any tips here also appreciated! Though I have been searching through old threads on this topic) - and hope to offer things like paraffin, heated blankets or my home-made microwavable rice or corn packs... some aromatherapy touches here and there... and small gifts. Are things like this (materials and gifts) tax write-offs? Surely the table is. I bought my chair as a student, with no job - so didn't include it in my taxes this year.

Business cards = I've seen most people use vistaprint, and that they have huge biannual sales. Is this the best out there, or are there other companies I should take a look at? I thought I had heard of some that offer free business cards? I also want to create brochures or fliers - easily made at home, but not quite as professional looking.

A classmate of mine does massages out of her home now, and puts fliers on people's windshields and wherever she can - this isn't a method I would choose, but it's worked ok for her - and she charges only $40/hr since she's still a student.

And back to income = I am all about discounts, specials, coupons.. etc. I have tons of ideas as far as these go. I thought maybe my first client in the new room could get something like.. a 90 min for the price of a 60. Or something else nice. Discounts on birthday months, specials during holidays, referral discounts.. etc. Instead of (or maybe as well as) offering a certain % or $ off, I thought maybe I could tack on a pre-approved extra 15 min to a client's appt. I'm worried about increasing their health and wellness first, and saving them money second. But how much to charge for each session? Would it be appropriate for me, as a student, to offer a temporary lowered rate until I become certified in 8 months? Should I even advertise that I'm a student? I do have to make enough to pay the room's rent, reimbursement for all my materials/time spent - and it's a bit of a drive up to the salon - as well as make enough myself a decent living.

I used to work at a dept store and I'd notice that almost everything was on some type of sale, almost all the time. Still not cheap prices (ok.. they had some great deals), but people SEE the normal price, then see the discounted price, and grab it before it's back to 'normal'. It's all a game.

And keeping my client's health forms, personal preferences, contact info, etc.. organized! I love organizing (it's an odd quirk. unfortunately mostly applies to my business life and not my home life...) but what would be the best way to store all of this? I'd be working in a rented room, part time, with my own clients. Should I use a file cabinet at home, bringing only those papers I will need for the day?

One more - Is this the type of situation where I would need to register myself as a "small business"?? I can only imagine my taxes becoming more complicated now!

Input please before I continue on my rant and rave - thanks!

 

[katty94]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

Is $40 a day (with me choosing my own hours) a reasonable rate, especially since I have no clientele base going in? From what I have seen... it is reasonable (I mean, after my first massage or so of the day = profit, right?)

Expound on "$40 a day". Does this mean $40 per massage? $40 per day, every day? $40 per day you're there no matter how many massages you do? This also depends on how much you plan on charging.

I have a chair, but no table yet - mostly just waiting to pick a good one worth the investment (and any tips here also appreciated! Though I have been searching through old threads on this topic) - and hope to offer things like paraffin, heated blankets or my home-made microwavable rice or corn packs... some aromatherapy touches here and there... and small gifts. Are things like this (materials and gifts) tax write-offs? Surely the table is. I bought my chair as a student, with no job - so didn't include it in my taxes this year.

Supplies and materials are tax deductible, I'm not sure about retail items, but probably. A table is a definite must, but I'd think about more staple items such as sheets and oil/lotion/cream before getting into much else (except for your rice/corn packs- on that note based on a lot of posts here, flax works well and has no scent.)

Business cards = I've seen most people use vistaprint, and that they have huge biannual sales. Is this the best out there, or are there other companies I should take a look at? I thought I had heard of some that offer free business cards? I also want to create brochures or fliers - easily made at home, but not quite as professional looking.

Vistaprint is probably the best value (price vs. quality) and they do offer some free designs + shipping costs. They also offer different products that match whatever design you choose/create, which is a nice service unique to them. In my opinion, they are definitely not the best out there. The best, of course, would be to have a professional graphic designer make them for you and have them sent out to be printed. That can be costly unless you can find one willing to trade (if you're in to doing trades- my brother is a graphic designer so this is what I do.) I do feel that you get what you pay for when it comes to business cards.

A classmate of mine does massages out of her home now, and puts fliers on people's windshields and wherever she can - this isn't a method I would choose, but it's worked ok for her - and she charges only $40/hr since she's still a student.

And back to income = I am all about discounts, specials, coupons.. etc. I have tons of ideas as far as these go. I thought maybe my first client in the new room could get something like.. a 90 min for the price of a 60. Or something else nice. Discounts on birthday months, specials during holidays, referral discounts.. etc. Instead of (or maybe as well as) offering a certain % or $ off, I thought maybe I could tack on a pre-approved extra 15 min to a client's appt. I'm worried about increasing their health and wellness first, and saving them money second. But how much to charge for each session? Would it be appropriate for me, as a student, to offer a temporary lowered rate until I become certified in 8 months? Should I even advertise that I'm a student? I do have to make enough to pay the room's rent, reimbursement for all my materials/time spent - and it's a bit of a drive up to the salon - as well as make enough myself a decent living.

Discounts that you do after you get certified is up to you, but make sure to check your local laws to make sure charging people for your work while you're a student is legal. I know it's not here and in a few other places as well- you certainly wouldn't want to get in trouble for that.

And keeping my client's health forms, personal preferences, contact info, etc.. organized! I love organizing (it's an odd quirk. unfortunately mostly applies to my business life and not my home life...) but what would be the best way to store all of this? I'd be working in a rented room, part time, with my own clients. Should I use a file cabinet at home, bringing only those papers I will need for the day?

At the beginning before you have a lot of clients, you could probably get away with using an accordion filer that folds up like a briefcase. That way you can either take it home and to the office every day or leave it there with all the blank forms/filled out forms you need in case you get (and accept) walk-in or last minute clients.

One more - Is this the type of situation where I would need to register myself as a "small business"?? I can only imagine my taxes becoming more complicated now!

Input please before I continue on my rant and rave - thanks!

Yes, you'll probably register as a sole proprietorship and either register a DBA (Doing Business As and create a business name) or just have your name as the business.

 

[Leila L]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

My post is intended to raise some issues that I hope you think through thoroughly before you jump in headfirst. PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN - BEFORE you jump in. It's time well spent!

Some massage schools expel students for working professionally before they graduate. What the is policy of your school?

Have you got your professional liability insurance, your business insurance (not the same thing), your local/state licensing, your federal tax ID number, and a WRITTEN agreement with the landlord? Have you had someone knowledgeable about such agreements look it over for you? What type of business structure do you intend to set up - an S-Corp, an LLC, a sole proprietorship? Do you understand the advaneforum.xxxes/disadvaneforum.xxxes of each as it will apply to your practice?

Do you have HIPAA policy notices, intake forms, and policies regarding scheduling, no-shows, etc? Do you have SOAP forms and a safe place to keep them? Are you set up to accept credit card or insurance payments, or just cash/check? Will you accept checks, and if so when might you refuse them?

These are a few of the things you need to address before you are truly ready to start an organized professional practice.

Regarding service add-ons:

• How well do you know paraffin dips and how to manage them?
  Table warmers are better than heated blankets.
  Home-made rice/corn packs are usually of poor quality because most people tend to use low-grade field corn that hasn't been properly cleaned and filtered, and which has too high/low moisture %, resulting in bags that are (A) too damp and prone to becoming smelly and/or cracking the kernels, or (B) too dry to provide a pleasant moist heat, and too dry to hold heat or remain cold for very long. If you're going to make rice/corn packs, realize that a quality product is more than simply tossing the filler into a cloth sack.
  How well do you know aromatherapy? How will you reconcile it with people who are chemical/odor sensitive, or who have significant health issues?

This is a lot to figure out, and some of it can wait until later. If it's "too much" to address right now, reconsider whether you are truly ready to run your own business.

"Plan hard, fight easy." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

 

[Bubblez]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

Taoist brought up some great points there. $40/per day adds up to $1200 per (30 day) month-- is the space worth that much? That seems a little high to me, but I'm not sure of your locale. I'm in an affluent area of San Diego and paying $490 per month, but $800 is the norm. As mentioned before, it's more important to get a table and the basics, sheets-etc before thinking about anything else. If you're just going to work on a chair it would be more cost effective for you to do chair massages around your town than pay the $40 per day. Whatever you purchase as a student is a tax ride-off for when you have your practice.

About marketing materials. Vista print is okay but how about designing a simple card for yourself and getting a local print shop to make them. I pay around $200 for a box of 1000 very thick glossy business cards that have my photo on them with basic info and on the back are lines for the client's next appointment. I'd download them here but my scanner is out.

As far as discounts go, maybe have something for new clients for your first month but otherwise I don't recommend them. True, I do use package specials (buy 6, the 7th free) but when you go the discount rate you'll get folks just waiting for your next discount. There's another therapist I know of here and she does good work and actually charges a little higher than the median range, but she's always got these discounts to bring in new clients. So I work less than she does and bring in more $$ b/c I don't have all these discounts going. Why not just charge a median range and don't run any or hardly any discounts. You'll bring in more $$ doing less work.

For client records, I use a file box and keep notes on papers stapled to their forms. I know I need to upgrade but haven't yet.

As Taoist mentioned, if you aren't certified, you may not be able to legally collect a fee for your services. When you do, I recommend charging a median rate that is charged in your area. Where I live, you can find a one hour massage from $50/hr to $110/hr. I charge $80/hr.

If you are renting a room as an independent contractor, you will need to apply for a business license which you can contact your city hall for that info. The ONLY time you don't pay business license fees is when you are an employee. A perk is that you should keep every receipt pertaining to your practice for tax ride-offs.

You have a lot of questions and enthusiasm. If you are a member of AMTA, I highly recommend using their mentor service.

 

[daringafire]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

Is $40 a day (with me choosing my own hours) a reasonable rate, especially since I have no clientele base going in? From what I have seen... it is reasonable (I mean, after my first massage or so of the day = profit, right?)

As was mentioned above... $40/day at 5 days/week = a hefty chunk of money. Now mind you, I think that we all have to bite the bullet if we want to go into practice on our own, and sometimes that means putting money into a place without a return for a while (sometimes quite a while). It is part of the risk we take as business owners.

But, for your $40/day, you could go rent an office space with most likely more than one room, in an area you like with other amenities. It might be something to consider.

The benefits of paying someone rent instead of renting your own space are that you can pick up and leave if it doesn't work out like you planned. They accept the risk, you just work there. I don't necessarily like it, but I see the usefulness for some people.

I'll get back to the other items later.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

Is $40 a day (with me choosing my own hours) a reasonable rate, especially since I have no clientele base going in?

Of course this depends on your area... here in SF I rented a room for a little less than $40/day, two days a week, when I was first starting out.

Regarding taxes, you must start working with a tax professional. I recommend http://www.foxtaxservice.com/ — they specialize in working with small businesses like ours, can do both your federal and state returns, and they are fantastic at helping you reduce your tax payments as much as possible. I wouldn't even attempt to do the kind of arcane tax magic they do for me. Being in business for yourself is hard enough without taking on responsibilities that are best left to other professionals.

Regarding business cards, Vistaprint may be fine when starting out. Eventually you will probably want a custom designed solution printed by a more professional outfit. I recommend http://www.psprint.com

Would it be appropriate for me, as a student, to offer a temporary lowered rate until I become certified in 8 months? Should I even advertise that I'm a student?

It may not even be legal in your area for you to charge right now. If it is legal, then I would imagine that it would be inappropriate NOT to let clients know you are still a student.

I used to work at a dept store and I'd notice that almost everything was on some type of sale, almost all the time. Still not cheap prices (ok.. they had some great deals), but people SEE the normal price, then see the discounted price, and grab it before it's back to 'normal'. It's all a game.

Please allow me to invite you to consider deeply whether or not you really want this kind of "game" playing energy built in to your relationships with your clients.

One more - Is this the type of situation where I would need to register myself as a "small business"??

Yes. If you are charging the public for a service, you will need to follow applicable local laws, which most probably includes registering your business.

 

[bayou_babe1111]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

Thank you everybody for the feedback! I've been quite busy lately but have read each post. Let's see..

I HAVE heard that flax is better - thanks! I'll try it next time. So far I've only made them with rice - but heard corn was better, and flax was better still. Now I just need to find a place that sells it.

I have had several conversations with my instructor over becoming self-employed vs an employee of a company.. and spoke with the city in which I'm applying... from what I understand, as long as you have the level of training that the city requires (and here, they're all different...) then you can start working. I'm sitting around 700 hours, and the city of Anoka requires 150. But after all the responses on the topic - I became unsure. I called the city back this morning and left a message asking about that, as well as all that is involved in registering as a business.

Jason - you said a table warmer is better than an electric blanket? I have read that microwavable packs, hot water bottles, etc. are better still - they don't overheat the client and can be easily removed. Can you buy a separate table warmer? Or would it be something the table comes with?

Thank you for the additional comments on the financial aspect of it too! I'll keep everything in mind. And yes it's $40/day, nomatter how many massages I do. And I choose all my own hours. I was thinking of starting out with a couple days of chair massage for their clients in that day, or talking with people off the street and offering them chair massages plus a flier... then once I get a few appointments starting maybe with one day a week (sunday sounds like a popular day? or possibly a friday and a sunday), and seeing how it goes from there. I definitely don't plan on doing 30 days a month.

Kathryn recommended AMTA's mentor service - sounds great! But I'm a student member of ABMP. I wonder if they have something similar. They do offer a personal website though, which I plan on utilizing.

 

[Dogbreath]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

Jason - you said a table warmer is better than an electric blanket? I have read that microwavable packs, hot water bottles, etc. are better still - they don't overheat the client and can be easily removed. Can you buy a separate table warmer? Or would it be something the table comes with?

This is what Jason is talking about: http://www.massagewarehouse.com/products/digital-massage-table-warmer/?sourcecode=MGOOPF. It's a table accessory that goes under your sheets and the client lays on it, as opposed to a loose blanket. Heat packs/hot water bottles are meant for heat therapy rather than a table add-on to make clients more comfortable. I hope that clears any confusion (regarding that anyway)

 

[Ciaci]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

You're in Anoka, MN? That's just on the other side of Minneapolis from me. My practice is in Eagan.

In case you haven't read it yet, here is the City Code applicable to practicing in Anoka:
http://www.anoka.govoffice2.com/vertical/Sites/%7B213A9A90-C8E1-49AA-AC02-51D3C4882D33%7D/uploads/%7B71961483-6786-427F-9540-FEE6ABF6ABF6%7D.PDF

Here is the Massage Business License Application:
http://www.ci.anoka.mn.us/vertical/Sites/%7B213A9A90-C8E1-49AA-AC02-51D3C4882D33%7D/uploads/%7B6A4D8C93-F475-4C13-A1A2-F81B62A9924F%7D.PDF

Here is the Massage Therapist License Application:
http://www.ci.anoka.mn.us/vertical/Sites/%7B213A9A90-C8E1-49AA-AC02-51D3C4882D33%7D/uploads/%7B78D92106-2A71-49F7-9C3E-B0ADDCE4A6D2%7D.PDF

It is not immediately clear to me whether you will need both licenses or just one. If you are renting space, you want to make certain that the facility and you are licensed appropriately. Find out whether the place you might rent a room in is licensed as a massage therapy business. If you are an independent contractor, you might need both licenses, though it's also possible that you will be fine with just one or the other. The Anoka City Clerk can clarify that for you over the telephone.

Side Note: You might benefit greatly from having a statewide massage credential established. Since you are about to become a professional, you might want to learn more about the legislation to create state massage credential that is garnering more and more support: http://www.ALMTMN.org

Regarding AMTA's mentor service - you might want to learn more about it and AMTA in general. The differences between ABMP and AMTA are far more far-reaching and potentially career-changing than their rates would indicate. I am an AMTA member and am very happy with all of the other benefits my membership has provided me. Visit http://www.AMTAmassage.org for info on AMTA as a whole. Visit http://www.AMTAMN.org for info on our state chapter - we also have a Facebook page.

If you want to see the differences between excellent corn packs and flax packs, I can show you. Our massage business stocks both, and we sell lots of them. The corn packs are more popular, but both are quality products that have people coming in to buy more year after year. Flax and corn have different advaneforum.xxxes, and experiencing the difference might help you understand why one or the other might be a good fit for your business.

The easiest thing would be for you to come meet with me. I can show you what works for our business and we can discuss how you might make your business succeed. PM me if you wish to do so.

 

[ksbcrocks]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

And keeping my client's health forms, personal preferences, contact info, etc..



...but what would be the best way to store all of this? I'd be working in a rented room, part time, with my own clients. Should I use a file cabinet at home, bringing only those papers I will need for the day?

I think, if you are going to be starting out renting a space that may be shared with someone else a few days out of the week, you may want to consider keeping your forms at home.

Many moons ago, one of my jobs was part-time for a very small day spa a few days a week (fill-in so to say). In that particular place, they had one therapy room, and two therapists who worked out of it.

We kept our intake forms in seperate binders, with rolling chart notes attached. We'd take our individual binders with us, and bring what we needed for each day of work. For the most part I could recall what work I did each day, and just filled out my SOAP's at home, which kept me from even needing to bring the binder.

Blank intake forms were kept at the business for new clients to fill out, and then we would take them home with us.

It was a simple solution and I kept everything in the three ring binder under alphabetical tabs.

 

[Sourkandy19]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

This is what Jason is talking about: http://www.massagewarehouse.com/products/digital-massage-table-warmer/?sourcecode=MGOOPF. It's a table accessory that goes under your sheets and the client lays on it, as opposed to a loose blanket. Heat packs/hot water bottles are meant for heat therapy rather than a table add-on to make clients more comfortable. I hope that clears any confusion (regarding that anyway)

I would have called that an electric blanket. I guess there's a difference. Thanks - I'll consider buying one in the future!

Jason - I know, I've followed your profile to your website! I live in Roseville, the job is in Anoka. Mind you I don't have it YET - this is all preparation and figuring out the details for in case I DO get it. I would simply just rather work for myself.
And yes, I would absolutely love to come in and talk with you sometime. I checked out the website for the place you work at, and thought I might come in and get a massage when my finances improve

I have been talking with an instructor at my school who also does taxes... he's been great with explaining some of the business stuff involved. I'm still unsure if I'd need a massage AND business license - city hall hasn't called me back on that yet. I'll probably give them another call in the morning.

Peuppi - thanks! Yeah I figured I would just keep the forms at home. That way I know where they are, and that they're safe. I don't know if I'd be sharing the room. As far as I know nobody else is interested in it at the moment.

 

[Bec]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

Hey here's another question. I've become interested in learning more about kinesiotaping. I want to learn and explore various things that could help ME help my clients in the future... and this is one of the ones I had in mind. And I have a friend who plays basketball and she uses it and needs somebody who knows how to apply it.

I'm working on the AAS degree in massage, and have been told we will cover this later on. Before being told that, I was thinking of taking the seminars and becoming certified. I looked into it and had it more or less mapped out where I could go to take them.

For those of you who know more about this or use it in practice... do you think I will learn enough about it in my program to use it effectively with clients? Would the seminars (and you need three..) be worth it? From what I understand, you can simply request the certification exam without taking the seminars.. and if you pass it, you're good to go.

Thoughts?

 

[emergency]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

If you have an effictive kinesio-taping class, you should be able to get the general idea of it and some selected specifics. Then you may be able to just purchase a book on the technique for taping of specific body parts. However, I think it is important to really study the technique and physical pathology before applying it to practice. You should know more than just tape placement in order to know why you are choosing the particular area to tape. Otherwise, many times you are just "applying tape to an area" and not affecting any change.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Student beginning a business - Questions and ideas

If you have an effictive kinesio-taping class, you should be able to get the general idea of it and some selected specifics. Then you may be able to just purchase a book on the technique for taping of specific body parts. However, I think it is important to really study the technique and physical pathology before applying it to practice. You should know more than just tape placement in order to know why you are choosing the particular area to tape. Otherwise, many times you are just "applying tape to an area" and not affecting any change.

Thanks. That's what I was thinking. Yeah, it's covered in our advanced clinical techniques course, it isn't it's own specific class. We are also taught A&P, kinesiology, pathology, etc throughout the program of course.... but for properly using kinesiotape, I wasn't really confident that working with it for a few days in class would really cover it.