Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/97768
business side My opinion? Set a fair and competitive rate that works for you and your clients (and allows you to eat when you want to). LS: All very good points, my friend. But any therapist out there can set a goal of being the busiest therapist in town. I am convinced any therapist who has a "full" practice (as defined by their expectations) will be able to economically sustain their practice. My concern with your approach is that you are espousing a long-held, therapist-centric view that I have heard in many schools—namely, "Do not undersell yourself; you are worth more." And here, townspeople, is where I overwhelm you with math— 15 x $60 = $900, but 20 x $50 = $1,000. KC: Good sir, on behalf of all the townspeople, we are not overwhelmed, but curious; keep talking. LS: Well, let me explain. Therapists— especially new ones—must concern themselves with the total number of hours and total amount of weekly income that they seek, rather than getting caught up in the "I am worth more per session" belief. Someone told me a long time ago that you're worth what someone is willing to pay you. I would modify that further for massage and bodywork and say you are worth what X people are willing to pay you each week, where X is the number of clients you are willing to serve. In my equation, if you are seeking 20 sessions per week, then your goal should be to perform 20 sessions per week, not make a pre-set notion per session. If you have a full client load, it gets easier to raise your fees. Let's say you get those 20 at $50 per session. Then you can move them to $55 or $60 per session, and even if you lose a couple, you'll be ahead of the game. The therapist has to set her session goal or capacity first, her desired income second, and determine if those two numbers can make a reasonable hourly rate. If I say I want to perform 20 sessions per week, and need $3,000 per week of income, well, there is only one Mariah Carey out there paying $1,500 for one massage, so I may be out of luck. But if I say I can/will do 20 sessions per week, and I'd like $1,000 per week for starters, then I know I need to average $50 per hour. What many therapists miss is the number of hours/sessions per week part. Most people know how much they need/want to make, but don't plug in the other variable to make the math work. KC: I understand the point you're making with all of that compelling math, but as a therapist who has actually experienced living solely on the income of a private practice, I can tell you that I would much rather spend my energy marketing my practice and educating potential clients about the value of what I do than giving extra sessions at a lower rate each week to meet the same revenue figure. It's not an "I am worth more" complex; it's a "This is the fair market price for the service I offer" reality. I do agree that it's a smart idea for new therapists to offer a shortterm introductory rate as a special discount off of their established rate to entice new clients to try their work, but established therapists should be able to charge the going rate for their area and still have a full and successful practice. Maybe what they need is to sharpen their (SPOILER ALERT for future columns!) marketing skills to bring in new clients and keep current clients coming back. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. As with all things having to do with running a small business, practitioners need to evaluate their options and make a personal decision about what works for them and their practice. (Don't worry, readers, we won't always be so argumentative.) LS: Until next time practitioners, have fun storming the castle! Contact Les Sweeney at les@abmp.com and Kristin Coverly at kristin@abmp.com. www.abmp.com. See what benefits await you. 29