What's most important to reach $100k/year in your massage practice?
I recently posed a poll-question in the Massage Practice Mentor Facebook group: “What do you think is most important to reaching a $100k practice?”
Here are the responses to the three options I gave:
44% Advertising and local visibility
33% Visionary practice and marketable niche
23% Revenue model and financial planning
There were also a couple write-in responses:
Client relations/retention
Organization and bookkeeping
So now for the real answer.
What’s truly the MOST important thing to getting a $100k/year business?
You probably think it should be advertising. But that’s wrong. So wrong.
Advertising can be like a black hole. Throw your money in and it’s gone forever. This is especially true if it's all you do for your business. There needs to be a lot more going on behind the scenes than out on stage, if you catch my meaning.
Local visibility, client relations and retention are all important for any massage practice. But if you want to get to $100k it’s going to take more than people knowing who you are and what you do. You can be famous for free.
Many massage therapists are booked out with clients waiting weeks to schedule. Are they all making $100k/year. No.
So how about having a visionary practice? If you follow me, you know that I have a program called Marketing for Massage Visionaries. I teach a class called Discover Your Vision. So if anything, it would seem safe to assume that would be my answer. Again wrong.
Despite how important having a visionary practice is to creating a business that will bring you a lifetime of joy and fulfillment - it’s not an instant recipe for $100k/year.
So the answer was actually revealed in the question. A financial goal of $100k requires a $100k revenue model and strategic financial planning. The least sexy of all the possibilities. Boring, right?
I'd say that organization and bookkeeping fit in as strategy here.
Of course, it’s important to note that a basic run of the mill massage clinic or spa isn’t going to be able to build a premium services model with diverse revenue streams, which is what a $100k business model requires for a solo therapist.
And obviously, even if you have a plan on paper, you need to mobilize to get attention and draw those high paying clients to your table with a strategic marketing plan and visibility campaign.
It’s ALL important to building a profitable business.
My point is this - I teach massage therapists how to build the practices that will give them the lives that they want.
That means, if you really want to make $100k/year then you need to plan for it by designing a business that is directed at that goal.
That’s why, in my Marketing for Massage Visionaries mentoring program, I show therapists how to create a revenue model and plan their finances around the goals they set. Some want to make a lot of money. Others are happy to make less if that means they can spend time with their families, traveling or pursuing other passions.
Now I just need to take a moment to give credit where credit is due. My mentor, Selena Soo, showed me how to go from booked out and broke to making $100k/year. I wouldn't be here if not for her wisdom and guidance. Thank you Selena!
So tell me, what motivates you in creating your practice? What life do you want to create?