Massage & Bodywork

MAY | JUNE 2017

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C h e c k o u t A B M P 's l a t e s t n e w s a n d b l o g p o s t s . Av a i l a b l e a t w w w. a b m p . c o m . 23 visit abmp.com per year, total number of sessions per month, total number of sessions per week, average number of sessions per week, and session totals for each day of the week. Once you have your data, start to look for trends. Is your annual number of sessions increasing or decreasing? Which are your busiest and slowest months? Which days of the week are your busiest and slowest? Are these stats consistent year to year? Plan Use the planning step to identify what you want and need for your practice and create your goals. Use the data from your tracking phase to shed light on areas of your schedule that need some improvement and to make decisions about your practice. For example, if Mondays are consistently slower days, you may choose to shift your schedule to take time off that day and add more session times to your busier days, or you may choose to run a special promotion to encourage clients to book sessions on Mondays. Identify what days and hours you want to work. This can change over time as your life and practice change, so periodically evaluate whether your schedule still works for you—and your clients. In conjunction with the income section coming up next, identify how much income you need per week to meet your financial goals. There are two variables that make up your income: sessions and price. One approach is to set your financial goal, and then determine which is going to drive your action: your sessions or your price. Have a specific session price in mind? Then use that to determine the number of sessions you'll need to perform. Or, do you know how many sessions you are willing to perform? Then use that number to determine your price (one that still works in your market). Act Based on your goals from the planning step, create definitive action steps you can take to move your practice from where it is today to where you want it to be. Write the detailed steps of how you'll promote Monday sessions or how you'll shift from working every Saturday to every other Saturday. Is August always slow? Block out your online calendar now to take time off when your clients do. INCOME Track Use data from your financial spreadsheets or practice-management program to organize your income into different categories. For this exercise, we'll use gross income, meaning your income before taxes. Determine the following for as far back as your data allows: total income per year, total income per month, total income per week, average income per week, and income by day of the week. Also, determine where the majority of your income is coming from. Which modalities, services, session lengths, etc., are the most popular and profitable for you? Ideally, your more popular services are also the most profitable per session. Plan Based on the averages and trends you discover from your data, start making some decisions about how you're earning money. Is it time for a rate increase? Can you step up your marketing efforts to promote more of the services that are your most profitable? Would it make sense to start selling products? Set goals for how much income you need per year and per week to meet your financial goals and translate this figure to a number of sessions per week. Look, too, at how it would impact both your schedule and income if you were to increase the length of your average session—say from 60 to 75 minutes— through marketing efforts. Act How are you going to make your goals from the planning step reality? Break those goals down into smaller, easier-to-attain action steps. What marketing ideas are you going to use to promote longer sessions and your hot-stone massage upgrade? Which products will you sell to clients as a test to see if that's a viable option for you? What steps will you take to meet your goal of increasing your average weekly income by $100? EXPENSES Track Let's take an in-depth look at your expenses. How much are your average, and somewhat fixed, monthly expenses like rent, cell phone, etc.? Are those monthly expenses more or less than last year? When are your occasional expenses—like state license renewal—due? How much do you typically pay in quarterly or annual taxes? Plan The goal with expenses is the same as doing the limbo: "How low can you go?" It's absolutely worth spending a little time to research ways to reduce your expenses, if you can. A famous businessman once said, "Expenses are like nails; they need to be trimmed regularly." Easier said than done, but being prudent can make a difference. Can you share your office space or move to a different office to lower your rent? Is there a less expensive cell phone plan available? Can you change your credit card plan to one with lower fees per client payment? Is it less expensive to buy your massage supplies in larger quantities? Are you taking advantage of all the discounts on products, supplies, cell phone plans, clothes, etc., that are included with your ABMP membership?

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