Earning, and Working for Two...Rooms

In my last post, I mentioned that when you are self-employed you need to earn enough to support two:  you and your business. Roughly speaking, half your earnings go to you and half go to your business.

Continuing the "2" theme: if you think of your business as a house, it's a house with two rooms -- the first room is your practice room. The second room is your office. You need to spend time, energy, and money in both rooms.

 

In the practice room, you spend your time, energy, and money on being the best massage therapist you can be. In your office, you spend time, energy, and money being the best business owner you can be.

 

How are your energies currently being divided between these two rooms? If I were to guess, a lot of MTs probably split their time 95 / 5:  95% of their time, energy, and money are devoted to being a good massage therapist; 5% are spent on being a good business owner.

 

In my experience, a more useful split would be 80 / 20. If you're just starting out, it might be more like 60 / 40, maybe even 50 / 50.  You may be able get away with 90 / 10 if you have a mature practice full of repeat clients who never leave you. But it's never going to be 100 / 0 (or even 95 / 5) if you want to be truly proficient in both sides of the house.

 

What does it mean to devote 20% of your time, energy, and money to your business?

 

In a 40-hour week, spend about 8 hours on your business. That includes doing your bookkeeping, updating a website, writing a newsletter, doing the laundry (sigh), buying supplies, reading trade pubs, etc.

 

If you spend, say, $1,000 a year on continuing education, set aside at least $200 for business-related workshops.

 

When you dream about your ideal practice, remember to imagine what the business side looks like too!

 

If you go to a conference offering workshops, take at least one business-related workshop (if they're offered). If you organize those conferences, make sure you offer business courses.

 

Spend at least one weekend a year on a business retreat. What would you do there? Close out your books for the year and get them ready for filing taxes. Update your business plan for the coming year. Begin writing a business plan! Evaluate how you did meeting your goals for last year. Decide what continuing ed you'll take in the coming year. Catch up on your massage magazines. Finish reading that massage book you bought at your last conference. Get a massage. That sort of thing.

 

See how I'm thinking about this? Running your business happens every day. Making time, energy, and money available to become a better business person needs to be part of your regular schedule as well.

Now on to a more self-serving note....

If you find taxes, bookkeeping, or marketing (important business-owner kind of activities) baffling, The Healing Core is offering two workshops to help you:

Taxes & Bookkeeping for The Healing Arts Professional (early bird discount ends in a week)

One Year To A Successful Massage Therapy Practice (which is all about marketing)

Both are taught for massage therapists by massage therapists. Signing up for either can be a first step in getting your 80 / 20 lined up properly.

Did You Hear About Massage Envy.....?

Our clients often presume we are the Masters of Mellow. But then, most of them have never seen us get into a conversation with each other about Massage Envy. In case you have somehow missed the buzz, Massage Envy is a national corporation that sells franchises. These franchises offer mostly massage therapy but sometimes they will also offer some spa services.

Massage Envy -- at least in the DC area -- prices their massages at $65 (which is 20-25% below what most individual practitioners charge). They also offer "memberships" through which clients can get even better price breaks, especially if they book massages more often than once a month. They advertise broadly and are active in the massage industry at the regional and national level.

So, what makes your average self-employed MT get so nutty when we talk about them? It comes down to two things, based on my conversations with MTs:

• Rumors about how they treat their MTs
• Fears that their size and influence will put the rest of us (solo practitioners) out of business.

I'd heard all the stories and I've had a mostly disdainful view of Massage Envy for years. Then I learned that a massage school classmate, who I respect, was working for a local Massage Envy franchise and was their new massage therapist manager. Well, damn.....

I had two choices: think less of my classmate, Carla Lawson, or learn more about Massage Envy. I called Carla and asked if I could come out to talk to her and get the lowdown on Massage Envy. I warned her that I specifically was hoping to write a blog post based on our conversation.

She agreed. I met with her and the franchise manager for about an hour. I also ran into an MT buddy I haven't seen in a while and she talked to me about her experience working there.

Let me go ahead and lay bare my conclusions before I get to the details:  Massage Envy is not the spawn of Satan. I don't believe they intentionally plan on driving the rest of us out of business but they do have an aggressive corporate plan for growth. They represent a distinct sea change in the business of massage. I am probably not a good candidate to work at a Massage Envy because of some core personality traits but it can be a good deal for the right therapist.

So, let's take a look at some facts about Massage Envy. In fact, let's start with the one that horrifies most of us the most.

Rumor: Massage Envy only pays an MT $15 - $20 per massage!

Fact: True but.....

Let's start with a crucial difference between an MT working at Massage Envy and an MT working for, say, the local group practice -- Massage Envy has employees; the local group practice has independent contractors. You cannot compare the two directly because they are fundamentally different.

As an independent contractor I have to support both myself and my massage practice. In addition to paying my home mortgage and buying groceries and dropping a little something in the offering plate on Sunday, I need to buy sheets and tables and linens and oils, and possibly my own health and disability insurance. I need to pay 100% of my social security contribution and pay for web hosting and business cards, flyers, and brochures, etc. I am supporting two on my massage income: Kelly Bowers and Kelly Bowers' massage practice.

An employee gets to take almost everything they make home for themselves (I don't think Massage Envy picks up the tab for license renewals; a given franchise may offer some assistance with continuing education). Plus, of course, the employee is only paying 50% of their social security contribution.

In my previous life as a tech writer, there was a rule-of-thumb for calculating how much you needed to charge as a contractor to match what you made as an employee:  twice as much. If I made $60,000 as an employee (about $29 / hour), I needed to charge at least $58 / hour as a contractor to come out roughly even.

I did some number-crunching on my own earnings and profits as a massage therapist for about 5 years and I'd say that's still a decent rule of thumb – about half of my businesses income goes to support the business so my “salary” is actually about half what my practice brings in.

If my solo practitioner/independent contractor massage practice makes $45,000 a year, I could make $23,000 a year as an employee and still be in roughly the same financial shape at the end of the day / week / month / year (it's tough to do an actual head-to-head comparison; hence the roughly).

And, of course, an employee doesn't need to spend the time and energy doing the bookkeeping, marketing, quarterly tax filings, scheduling, etc. etc. etc. that eats up so much of our weeks.

Interesting factoid: individual franchise owners have a lot of leeway about how they balance pay and benefits to MTs. Rumor has it the Massage Envy franchise in Bethesda pays up to $40 per massage! I'm curious if they offer the same or fewer benefits than the Herndon franchise.

Interesting factoid: the full-time MT employees (at least in Herndon) are offered medical benefits and paid leave. You have to work 32 hours a week to be considered full-time and eligible for the benefits. According to my classmate, most of the 30 MTs at the Herndon franchise are considered full-time.

Interesting factoid: Massage Envy actively encourages customers to tip. According to my classmate, she receives tips for virtually all of her sessions and they can easily be as much as she makes in wages. MTs keep 100% of their tips. Which makes her actual "per massage" rate more like $30 - $40.

Interesting factoid: you still get paid the same amount when a client cancels at the last minute or is a no-show.

Rumor: Massage Envy makes you "push product".

Fact: Maybe, depending on the franchise

Here's an important thing to know about Massage Envy -- because they are franchises, the individual franchise/location owner has a lot of leeway in how they run their franchise. Massage-only or massage + spa services?  Big benefits or big pay?  (One thing is always true: Massage Envy does not offer energy work and they are not interested in offering energy work)  If you're in a franchise that also has a significant spa services side, you may or may not be expected to support that side of the house too.

It really does depend on the franchise owner. The Herndon franchise has a great reputation, even among other local Massage Envy franchises, and regularly has MTs leaving other Massage Envy franchises to sign on with Herndon.

While the customer may have a fairly consistent experience from one franchise to another, the working reality is going to depend heavily on the franchise owner (and, of course, the on-site managers).

Rumor: Massage Envy is full of new MTs with little experience (who don't know any better).

Fact: Depends on the franchise

Of the 30 or so MTs at the Herndon franchise, at least 1/3 of them have been in practice 10 years or more, including Carla and the MT buddy I ran into on my way out. Fewer than 10% of their MTs have been practicing 2 years or less.

Rumor: Once an MT gets good, they leave Massage Envy. If you find an MT you like, they won't be there in a year.

Fact: Depends on the franchise.

Carla has been at the Herndon franchise for several years. She started as an MT and moved up into management, which is something you can do if you have such aspirations. "Part of what drew me to the company was that there were places to go beyond practicing massage. Let's fact it, I'm not getting any younger and one day the hands are going to want out."

Some of the other things that attracted Carla to Massage Envy was the stability of the operation and the price of the massages. She was uncomfortable working in places where the price of the massage was so high she, as a massage therapist, wouldn't have been able to afford it! "Somebody like me could afford to come here," she said.

Rumor: You have to do 50-minute sessions and see clients on the hour.

Fact: True

Yes, they do "50 minute" hours and you have 10 minutes between clients. The front office staff takes care of the health history form and answers any initial questions the clients may have but you’ve still only got 50 minutes with them. Carla says that takes some MTs some time to get used to because it's not negotiable.

Frankly, that would drive me nuts but I am the Queen of the Long Intake.

Rumor: You have to work long hours without a break

Fact:  False

Most MTs, at least at Herndon, take a break after 2 or 3 clients. They can also take more or fewer breaks if they want to.

Rumor: MTs are expected to see an absurd number of clients in a day.

Fact: False

Carla says (again, at least at Herndon) they have an on-going challenge with new hires who insist they can "power through" 6, 7, 8, or 9 clients a day. They actively discourage MTs from doing that because they know it won't work. But because the employees have a certain freedom to fill up their schedule as much as they can, management will sometimes say "OK, give it a try" but they usually find the MT themselves backs off for their own health and welfare.

As Carla showed me around the facility after our conversation, I ran into an MT buddy I haven't seen in a few years. She walked out with me and we talked on the sidewalk for another 15 minutes afterwards.

She graduated from PMTI in the early 90s and had a private practice (combo of home, corporate, and a yoga studio) for years. About 5 years ago she decided to step away from massage for a while. She started going to the Herndon Massage Envy to get bodywork for herself and enjoyed it. She found herself on the table one day thinking "Gosh, I miss doing massage..." and at the end of her session talked to the manager about coming to work there. She's been there for 2 years and loves it.

She says she works 3 days a week, which makes her part-time, and makes $32,000 per year, which is the average for a full-time massage therapist in the DC region according to the American Massage Therapy Association.

Best of all, after more than 15 years of self-employment, she is intensely grateful for the chance to do what she loves and still have the time and energy for the rest of her life. She is keenly aware of all the behind-the-scenes work it takes to run a healthy practice (the stuff our clients rarely see) and she's happy to no long have to do that.

I appreciate her viewpoint and I'm envious of her ability to just go in, do her work, and go home. I know, however, that I would be a bad fit for a Massage Envy. First of all, the 50-minute hour would drive me bananas. Then there's my fundamental temperament....

The Spring 2012 issue of the AMTA Journal carried an article by Jean Bailey, "The Separate Selves". In this article Jean explored the 3 aspects of our personalities that we need to run a massage practice:

• Entrepreneur (the part of us with ideas! and visions! and a desire to build something! and create things!)

• Technician (the part of ourselves who wants to be better and better at what we do and wishes we could just ignore the rest of it)

• Manager (the part of ourselves that deals with all the behind-the-scenes stuff and enjoys organizing, scheduling, analyzing, etc.)

We are usually strongest in one area but it's important, if we're self-employed, to be at least competent in all three.

It strikes me that the Technician could really thrive in a well-run Massage Envy franchise. They can expend their energy on honing their craft and ignore the rest of it. Me, I'm all Entrepreneur and that wouldn’t be a good fit for a Massage Envy.

In fact, Carla says that the ideal MT for them is someone who cares deeply about clients, has a strong sense of professional identity, and isn't in it just for the money (the Technician). Their biggest challenge is MTs who have trouble being on time and sticking to the schedule (weak as Manager).

I'll say it again:  Massage Envy isn't for everyone. It's not for me. But for some MTs, it could be a good thing.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Have you ever bought a piece of clothing labeled "one size fits all"? How did it fit? The odds are (if your experience is like mine) that sometimes it fits and often it doesn't. I think "one size fits all" should really say "we're too lazy to make multiple sizes, good luck".

With the growth of the healing arts industry, there are a lot of people offering us business advice. Blogs, columns, and articles in the trade pubs. Continuing education. Books. There's a lot of advice being tossed about. There's a divide, though, between the types of advice we're being given.

On one side is "conventional" business advice. It's the sort of thing you'd hear in business school or from the Small Business Administration. It's meant to be useful for all types of businesses. It may or may not have been customized or shrunk to fit a one-person service-oriented type of businesses, which so many of us are.

On the other side is experience-based business advice. It's more business experience than business knowledge. It may be supported by academic learning but it's primarily based on things the writer/speaker has learned from doing business. They are sharing what they have gone through and learned will work for them. The question is whether it will also work for you.

The first type -- the conventional business advice -- often feels like "one size fits all" to me with about the same degree of success. Conventional business advice assumes some things that just aren't true for me (or most of the MTs I know) -- a staff, for example, or a lot of spare time and interest for "business".

Conventional business advice is usually based on product-oriented businesses rather than service-oriented businesses like massage therapy. I have very few issues around inventory management or my "supply chain" (whatever that is) for example.

Here's my biggest disconnect with conventional business advice: it's based on the assumption that my primary motivation is profit, lots and lots of profit. I love the idea of making heaps of money (pause while I fantasize about what it would be like to make heaps of money....) but it's not what gets me up in the morning and keeps me doing the never-ending laundry. What keeps me going is the complete buzz of making a difference in someone's life, of having a body really talk to me, of feeling tissue open and breathe beneath my hands. It's the work that keeps me going.

Now, since I'm trying to support myself with massage, making a profit comes in a pretty close second in my passions! But it is second and most conventional business advice places it first. That's a disconnect for me.

Does that mean that there's nothing to learn from conventional business education? Not quite. There is a core of basic (albeit generic) information to be gleaned from conventional business education. There's often an under-appreciated "translation" problem -- translating the generic advice into something that's specifically useful to us.

When you read these business columns, articles, and blogs, when you are tempted to take the continuing ed or sign up for the workshops do you hear the voice of someone who loves the work first? Do you sense the compassionate heart that drives most of us? Do you get a sense of someone who fundamentally understands your priorities and appreciates that same passion? If the writer / speaker / teacher isn't coming from that place (or at least somewhere in the neighborhood) take a look for that "one size fits all" label.

It won't be easy. While the "biz advice" industry is growing, it's still much smaller than they "here's another way to rub the naked person" training / blogs / columns. When it comes to business advice and training, you will have to do a little work (but less and less with every passing year). If you've only got a limited amount of time, money, and energy for business education, make sure you're spending those limited resources in the way that will help you, specifically, the most.