Here’s How to Start Your Own Massage Business

A simple way to improve your life is to find work that you love. Imagine starting a business where you can help people feel better, set your own hours, and get paid well for your work. If this idea appeals to you, then one line of work that you might find immensely rewarding is becoming a massage therapist.

Compared to many other professions, there is a growing need for massage therapists.  Life is getting increasingly stressful and many people who suffer from aches and pains are looking for relief.

How much you can expect to make per hour depends on whether you work for a clinic or start your own business. Salaries range from $20,000 a year to $80, 000 a year, with the average earnings being around $40,000 a year.

After you get your license and certification, you can get a business loan, open up your own clinic, find a good source for massage therapist supplies, and begin marketing your business online and offline.

Here are the steps you need to take to get into this field:

Enroll in A Massage Therapy School

You will need to find a school that offers a comprehensive massage therapy track before you can start your own business as a massage therapist.  Generally speaking, massage schools offer between 330 to 1000 hours of classroom education and hands-on clinical training. A school that provides shorter training hours will just teach you the basics while schools that provide more training hours will help you to learn many different types of massages

After you’ve completed all your hours of training, you will need to get board certified from the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. This will establish your credentials as a fully qualified massage therapist.

7 Steps to Starting Your Own Massage Therapy Business

Starting your own massage therapy business consists of 7 basic steps:

First, you will need to plan your business by writing out a business plan. You will then use this plan to obtain a business loan.

Second, you will need to form a legal entity, and a lawyer can advise you on the best way to incorporate your business.

Third, you will need to register for taxation.

Fourth, you will need to open up a business account as you don’t want to commingle your business income with your personal expenses.

Fifth, you will need to set up your business bookkeeping and accounting system. You can either buy software and do it yourself, or you can outsource the work. If you can afford it, outsourcing is a better option as you will not have much time to organize your own finances if your business gets busy.

Sixth, you will need to get all the necessary licenses and permits required by your state and municipality.

Seventh, you will need to get the right business insurance for a massage business. Speak to your insurance agent to see what kind of insurance you will need to protect your business from frivolous lawsuits.

Market your Business

 Unfortunately, many people who start their own massage therapy businesses fail to do well for one single reason: they don’t put enough effort into learning how to market their businesses.  Many others do try to market their businesses but don’t get far because they go about it the wrong way.

Avoid this common mistake:

Whether you market your business online or offline or do a little of both, one common mistake is to simply tell other people about your business. This is not enough to generate leads.

After introducing your business, you should focus on trying to be as helpful as possible. Avoid telling people how good you are and what you can do. Put the spotlight on the customers.

One way to market successfully is by providing people the information they need about the benefits of massage therapy itself. You can do this in person when you have introduced yourself as a massage therapist; you can do this through your flyers when you are inviting people to your clinic; you can do this through your emails when you are giving recipients tips on how to overcome their aches and pains.  

Educating people about massage therapy is not about talking about your massage therapy services. It is about talking about how massage can help them. For instance, talk about how massage can help people with their digestive disorders, with fibromyalgia, with headaches, with sports injuries, with soft tissue injuries, with myofascial pain syndrome and even with insomnia related to stress. Also, you should consider using relaxing music for your massages to enhance the experience and the desired result for your patients.

In closing, it’s important to keep in mind that you need two skills to prosper as a massage therapist. You need the technical skills to do the work itself and you need the practical skills to set up and market your business.