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The Business of Magic Hands
The Massage Business comes in many sizes and forms from the individual therapist running a sole proprietorship to a franchise holding offices in several states. The kind of business you open will depend on your preference, laws in your state and your finances. The preponderance of massage offices are run by one or two therapist. Office costs can be high in some locations and therapists will share facilities to cut costs. The decision of running a sole proprietorship versus a LLC or even an S Corp, is usually a financial one. The tax advantages of becoming a corporation increase as your business makes more money.
Small massage offices can provide the best one on one experience for the clients. Client bases tend to be small, but loyal. Costs are generally low and are restricted to phone service, advertising, supplies and rent. Insurance is recommended. You can choose to accept insurance patients, but many private therapists don’t because payment can be delayed for months. If you connect with a chiropractor or physical therapist, you have a nearly guaranteed flow of clients, but less say on who you work on and what kind of work you do. In this case insurance billing is normally handled by the parent office and you can work out being paid when you work on people, not just when the money comes in.
Multi therapist offices are the next step up. A head therapist rents out rooms to additional therapists, but each individual runs their own business. A receptionist is responsible for booking all the therapists based on a master schedule. Again costs will include rent, supplies, advertising, and phone service and most importantly insurance; you don’t want to lose your business if one of your renters is irresponsible. If you go into this sort of arrangement you need to make decisions about whether you expect therapists to share personal clients when they are not available. Consider which, if any, additional costs you expect your renters to pay.
The locally owned spa or massage clinic is larger still. When you decide to open a stand alone facility that provides massage throughout the day your costs will increase dramatically, but you also have a much greater potential for profit. Almost all such businesses hire therapists as independent contractors. This eliminates the need for benefits packages. Therapists are paid per massage plus tips and have specific shifts. Some owners require their therapists to be on site all the time, others are more flexible. Here the owner provides some or all supplies, rooms, receptionists, and equipment based on the services offered. Providing supplies is more expensive but you maintain a level of consistency allowing you to schedule clients with any available therapist. Treating your therapists well ensures low turn-over and happier clients.
The most formal type of massage business is the franchise. These are still relatively new. Memberships are required and guarantee at least an initial income from a new client. All supplies are provided to the therapists and a number of franchises now offer full benefit packages to their therapists after a certain amount of time. While you have franchise costs you also have home office support in this venture.
For more information on massages, visit http://massagemicroblog.com and http://spamassager.com
