Monday, January 19, 2015

Change Your Mind

It’s not uncommon for us to have a conflicted relationship with “business”. It’s almost like our massage practices are a house with two rooms: one for massage and one for business. Different rules and values govern each room. Sometimes, even our personalities change as we move from metaphorical room to room.

For example: we’re the very heart of generosity in the massage room but we resent even the small amount of cost involved in letting our clients pay with credit cards.

As a profession we don’t even know how to think about business. Since our schools don’t give us enough to work with, we look around for role models. Should we do business like doctors? Chiropractors? Concierges? The local pizza shop??

It's time we built our own model of how to do business. How? By looking at our highest values and principles as massage therapists. Yes, massage therapy can teach us how to do business.

Get Educated. You needed an education to do massage. Why should you expect yourself to do business without any education? You don’t have to get a college degree or an MBA. But you can take basic business courses at a community college (which have more and more online options), through community organizations, and at massage conferences.

Never stop learning. The best therapists invest time and energy in improving and expanding their skills throughout the life of their career. A basic business education is good but you’ll need to keep going. There’s always something you can understand better. Spend some time and money on business continuing education.

Develop a business ethic. Our profession has at least 3 codes of ethics – AMTA, ABMP, and NCBTMB. They vary in details but agree on the basics. We can use that to develop a business ethic. For example:

  • Maintain healthy boundaries in business dealings between yourself and your clients.
  • Avoid dual relationships in business.
  • Be aware of transference / counter-transfererence in business interactions.
  • There is an inherent power imbalance in the massage room and in your business dealings. Be conscious of and respectful of that.
  • Represent yourself honestly in your business dealings.

Practice business self-care. We know what we need to do to keep our bodies operating well (whether we do that consistently is a whole ‘nother conversation). How do you keep your business healthy? Set and raise rates in a professional manner. Use discounts strategically. Choose partnerships carefully. Keep up with your bookkeeping. Separate your personal and business accounts. File quarterly taxes on time. 

Use good body mechanics. The key to good body mechanics is two-fold: knowing how to use your body well and being aware of how you’re using your body. In business that means knowing what good business practices are and being aware of whether you’re doing them or not. Setting money aside for quarterly taxes. Knowing what you can and can’t deduct as a business expense. Keeping licenses – business and massage – current.

Perfection is not an option. We would all love to do perfect massages each and every time. We can’t. We’re merely human. Setting “perfection” as your goal is a recipe for disappointment and failure. Do not expect yourself to be perfect in business either. You will make mistakes. You will have days / weeks / months? where you don’t do business well. Forgive yourself for being merely human, admit your mistakes, and keep trying to do things right.

Don’t go it alone. Even if you are a solo practitioner working out of your home, it is oh-so-wise to stay connected, even lightly, with other massage therapists. It’s also wise to have someone you can go to for supervision when you have an issue with a client. Talk to other MTs (or small business owners) about business. Share your successes and concerns. Teach and learn from each other. If nothing else, gripe together about the aggravations of running a small business!

Maintain confidentiality. We don’t talk about our clients outside of the massage room except in a professionally appropriate manner (supervision, for example). Don’t talk about your client’s financial situation (good or bad) outside of the massage room except in professionally appropriate settings (supervision, for example). No one needs to know which clients are only paying you a part of your fee because they’ve been unemployed for a year. No one needs to know which clients are unbelievably wealthy. No one needs to know which clients have maxed out credit cards or whose check bounced. What you know and learn about your client’s financial life should be kept confidential.


This is not an exhaustive list but if gives you a good idea of what I’m talking about. I think it’s time we defined what a healthy business mindset is for our profession and quit trying to blindly follow another profession. It’s time we changed our minds from “helpless/lost” about business to “solid MT values” in business.

Change your mind, change your world.