I went on my annual business retreat this weekend. I've been doing this for 10 years now and it's always an excellent use of a weekend.
One of the things I do is close out my books for the year so I'm ready for tax time. While I've got all those numbers in front of me, I also play around with analyzing different aspects of my business. Has it paid off to start working at a gym? What percentage of my money comes from the gym vs. my home practice? Is my practice growing? How much?
In light of those last 2 questions, I looked at the growth trend of my practice for the last 6 years (ah, the power of online bookkeeping!). What I learned is that my practice was on a steady path of growth and health....until I took a year off to move to Australia. And now I really am re-building from (virtually) scratch.
Specifically, between 2003 and 2010, just my private practice (I often also did outcalls, corporate massage, and teaching) had grown anywhere from 4% to 43% every year save one!
I hadn't completely realized that before and I did not truly grasp that truth when I agreed to close my practice and go to Australia. It was a painful truth to see in black and white in front of me. It hurt to contemplate where I'd be financially today if I hadn't closed my practice for a year.
On the other hand, I'm still glad we went to Brisbane for a year. It was a wonderful year and I would have regretted saying "no" more than I regret having to re-grow my practice.
But....yowza!
The most interesting people are the ones who are not afraid to loose it all and are able to rebuild from scratch, because they have done it before and can do it again. (Steve Jobs among others, are people who have bounced back). Go Kelly!
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