Just Booked

I just booked a long weekend for myself at a state park in West Virginia in January. One of my favorite places.

Yes, it's time for my annual business retreat! 4 days I devote to the business side of my practice, getting ready to pay my taxes, close out the books for 2013, think about what I want to accomplish in 2014. Get a massage, maybe have a soak at the tiny national park. Visit some favorite restaurants.

I feel like I'm a solo voice in a vast maelstrom that is the massage therapy profession. So many of us. whirling and spinning, keeping our practices moving forward, just trying to keep one step ahead of the next thing. And then the next thing. Who's got time for four whole days away??

You do. If you're serious about growing a business, you do. Here's why:

If you take a 2-3 hours to quietly close out your books for 2013, tax time will be easy-peasy because you'll already have all the information you need for your Schedule C (and associated forms). Without panic. At 11 pm. On April 15.

If you take 1/2 day to quietly think through who you want to market to, it will easier to see good ways to reach them. You're less likely to waste time and money on marketing efforts that don't work.

If you take 1-2 hours to really look at the numbers for your business (income, expenses, growth, etc.) you can set realistic goals for 2014. "Make more money" is accurate but stupid.

You can spend an hour reflecting on the types of clients you've been seeing and contemplating what continuing education you need in 2014 to best serve them and yourself. That beats blindly grabbing at whatever comes your way the month before your license renewal is due. (I already know it's lymph drainage for me next year. It's the missing piece to make the other modalities I've learned truly the best they can be.)

You can spend 20 minutes making sure you're on track for your next license renewal! Ethics? CPR? HIV? Enough hands-on hours? Spread the costs out so it's not all heaped into the last few weeks before license renewal.

Believe it or not, if you don't have a business plan you could write one in 3 days. It would be a simple one, a one-pager, but a huge percentage of us only need a one-pager. I've said it before, a business plan helps you see clearly and honestly what your business is and what it can be. It keeps you honest, with yourself.

It's also a chance to celebrate everything you accomplished in 2013, mourn the stuff that didn't work, and just pause to realize you're still here, you're still moving forward, you're still providing quality service, you're still in business. (And get a massage)

I'm going to a state park lodge in West Virginia. $80 / night. Simple, quiet, effective. Where can you go?