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Hi,
I have been offere a job on being a self emplyed massage therapist, but i only get half of the price of what they charge their client, does anyone knows if that's good offer to take up to, or the hourly rate is better?
farideh



I know a fair few practices that work like this, indeed I worked in one such practice.
You can turn it around in how you look at it. You are hiring the treatment room and paying for the hire by the hour for each client. Included in your hire charge is a reception service, marketing, support etc. It also gives you the freedom to promote yourself and allow you to work in another practice should you wish.
It all comes down to how many clients you want to see, or can see a day depending on your treatments. If you feel you can get the number of clients you need to make the wage then go for it. It is a two way streak, both sides have to work at getting the clients in.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
Foz xxx



Hi farideh,
this is the same rate as I get where I work, also self employed. As Fozzyo says, you do have to bear in mind that for that rate you are getting the whole package, ie marketing, reception, bookings, room etc, I also get all my oils, waxes and couch rolls included too.
Although at first I did think it was a bit steep, I now see it as a good deal. I love the room, the people who work there and the clinic, and I get to work when I want to fit round my family.
I was initially offered the option of hiring the room, but didnt think this would be worth while until I had built up a good client base, and this option is there for the future.
Good luck with your new role,
Karen



Hi Farideh
What do they charge for massage? You will be getting half of that with no out goings apart from travelling to and from work. They are doing all the advertising and getting the clients supplying the room, couch, oil etc. It might be worth doing to get your foot in the door and anyway you dont have to stay there if you dont like it.
Lorraine



The places where I give instruction to I would not opt for less that 60/40% IF I can get it I will take 70/30%....I have been offered 50/50 and walked away but they then upped....
It depends whether you think its worth the risk...I am not sure I know many therapists who are self employed working for less that 60/40%, the way it works with me is the clients pay the club, then I invoice the club...
T
x



When I started it was a 50/50 split and this changed after a probation period to my paying 40% to the centre. Where I worked the clients paid me 100% and I then paid the centre their charge for the room. The cash / cheque payments were handled and taken by the centre. A word of warning if this is the case, quite often in this scenario the centre may only accept payments for treatments by cash or cheque.
As soneone who lives by their Maestro card this is a nightmare for me as a client. If the centre doesn't take card payments for treatments ensure that they inform clients when booking. It is very embarrasing for the client to turn up for the treatment and then pay for it only to be told that they can't pay by card, something that may lead to loosing a repeat client or if they find out at before the treatment they may cancel at the last minute.
Foz xxx



Tell me about it Foz. The clinic where I work take cards for their own treatments, but cannot put my payments through (messes up their books or something).
All my literature states that I only take cash or cheque, but if someone books by phone, they don't necessarily see this. I have pleaded with them to inform clients on the phone, but I still get one or two a month who only have a card with them. If it's early in the day, they usually offer to bring the money back before I finish at 8pm, but if it's a last appointment, I have to trust them to bring in the money for me to collect the following week. Not ideal, but I haven't been let down yet. I do get cross though, because I feel it takes some of the benefit away from the treatment if the client gets embarrassed and has to rush back with the payment
As for how much you feel you should pay for room rental, I think this depends on whether you are just starting out and need to build up a client base (and experience), or whether you already have your own client base elsewhere and can afford to be choosy.
Where I work, I pay so much per hour and can set my own treatment prices.
Lesley



The clinic l work from is owned and run by an Osteopath, she also has a Chiropodist working there...
I pay £7 per client, up to 5 clients a day and then no more... so the most l would ever pay is £35.00 a day however many clients l had, and l set my own prices for the treatments taking in to consideration the room rent.
For that l have a lovely room, reception that book clients, they advertise for me and l have many referrals from the Osetopath as well, which is nice.
It's a lovely well established clinic in the town we all get on very well.
I know l have been very lucky to find a place like this...



I'm in a slightly different situation because I do 50% mind therapy, which means continually having to get new clients. I have a clinic once a week near Oxford Circus tube where I just pay rent and get no reception, marketing etc, but the location sells itself, and I have enough clients or client referrals that can make it into the centre of town, so that's OK. Otherwise, if I had a choice (and I do), I would always opt for commission, as this means the clinic will have to work hard to get you clients. I pay significantly less than 50% at my East London clinic, but then again, I have to supply towels, soap, tissues, couch roll, couch, and have even supplied chairs, not to mention marketing material. But the proprietor of the premises makes me appointments. Recently though, there have been a few changes. For instance, I take my own credit card payments, but the proprietor expects payment on the same day, which means I have to borrow the cash to make this payment. This is usually OK, however in the lean December and January period, this was a struggle, and around No Smoking Day, I will be making large sums all in a small period of time, so it will be a great strain on the finances if they all came in on credit card. Still, I'm happy there.
And I was in a clinic just like Aromababe where they took credit cards for their clients but not for the self-employed therapists, which was very hard as I then didn't have a credit card facility. My business was growing there until I moved to paying rent instead of commission, in which case it dropped dramatically (I was there for hypnotherapy, so no chance of seeing regular clients), and after trying everything I could do to stay there, I made the decision to leave and just operate from my own clinic for the day each week that I was there.
So if I was starting out again and someone offered 50% and doing all the donkey work, I would say yes quite happily.



what stops you getting your own facility for taking credit card payment? Is it expensive or labour intensive? I have n idea how you go about this but it seems like a solution to the probelm is to just get your own merchant facility. x



As far as I know you do have to pay commission on each credit card transaction - I'm sure someone will know the details of this.
As far as I'm concerned, my business just doesn't warrant this. All my home clients are happy to pay by cash or cheque as are 95% of my clinic clients (where I work just one day). As I said, those that expected to pay by card have always been happy to bring along the cash or cheque later.
Lesley



The commission charged is up to 4% on each transaction.
Lorraine