Category Archives: Business

Excuses

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One of my first real jobs was as the office manager of a small construction crew. Just temporary employment for one project. The boss of the crew had to learn using computers–it was the early nineties–and hired me to help him out. He was a lot more comfortable out on the site with his guys than in front of a screen.

I was hired for a position way above my experience and enjoyed the challenge.

Supposedly I was an expert on Excel, so I had to quickly teach myself the basic operations needed for calculating payroll.

I had a blast. The guys enjoyed bantering with me, my boss was happy he could do what he liked, and I was organizing the small office how I saw fit.

I also learned a lot about leadership.

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Best 10 Ways to Kill Your Massage Business

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they call it "deep tissue" I call it a joke.On a suicide mission?

Here’s how you make sure your business won’t survive 2012:

10: Give massages like in this picture and call them “deep tissue”. If you are strong enough to make it work for your clients, you will eventually develop arthritis, tendinitis and other problems that will ruin your career. It’s a slow way, but proven to work.

9: Tell clients that your method is the best thing ever, and if it doesn’t work, it must be the client’s fault.

8. Speak in dismissive tones about your coworkers and colleagues.

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Competition?

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Of course we can’t ignore competitors. When trying to determine what to charge for services, we have to look at what others ask. Figuring out our marketing priorities, we have to check where our most important competitors are best represented.

In the first year of Balance, the dreaded 2009, my vision was challenged by my business partner. He said we had to drastically lower our rates or we’d die–because we were competing with all the cheap massage offers. In my opinion, we had to charge more than other small clinics because we offer higher value. It got to the point where I had to say “ok, if you want to run a different business, you have my full support… now go and run a different business.”

The challenge, however, remained. There are places that charge $40 for a one-hour massage. A real full hour, not the 50 minutes a lot of chains do. Our one-hour massage costs $90, for members $76.50.

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Wanted: Another Rolfer™ for Balance

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I’m not only a Rolfer with a big background in  naturopathic medicine and bodywork but also a business owner.

update May 21st 2012: I am still looking for the right fit. Doesn’t have to be a Rolfer, a Structural Integrator from a different school would also be possible.

As you see here, we have four massage therapists, an acupuncture physician, myself as the Rolfer, and there are three part time people to staff the office.
By now a lot of my time goes into business development and management, so the space on the top right is reserved for a second Rolfer to give me more time.
At Balance we provide all the administration, marketing and professional facilities that bodyworkers need nowadays to be able to compete with the massage chains and chiropractors who employ massage therapists.