To move or not to move...tell me what you think

[Pompal 09.]

???  Okie Dokie here we go.....I've been a massage therapist for almost 3 years now.  Things were kind of 'hit and miss' until about a year ago when a friend of mine--who is a cosmetologist asked me if I would like to be in her beauty salon that she was planning on opening.  I said I would be interested.  She rented a place that she felt would be good for her business and she had me to look at it also and I was quite satisfied with the room I wound up with, and the rent was satisfactory.  That room is about 14 ft. by 20 ft. awesomely huge for a massage room!  And far enough away from the usual beauty shop noise to be relaxing for the few clients I have.Problem #1 came when about 3 weeks ago when she decided she couldn't afford that place anymore---this was a big surprise to me---I had no idea she was even thinking about making a move.  Of course there was no requirement that she tell me such things, but, it did catch me by off guard.  Well, she managed to get out of the lease she was in and very quickly found another location....I did get to look at the 3 places she considered.Problem #2 The new location is on one of the busiest street corners in town! And guess where my 'area' is? In the corner of the shop that is directly on the corner.  In other words, LOTS of street noise!  It's also the hottest corner in the shop since the evening sun shines in the 'huge' windows.  I have put curtains up, but, who knows when a 'big breeze' might blow them back and then there would be my client-----exposed to the busiest corner in town!Problem # 3 The only 'wall' between my area and the rest of the shop is some zig-zag room dividers that I have.  And my area is only 9 ft. by 12 ft.---the absolute smallest space that I feel I can give a good massage....that gives me 3 ft. all around the 72 in. (6 ft.) by 33 in. (almost 3 ft.) table that I have.   This is the only area I have and I need to have a shelf, two fans, a cd player, linens & towels and a hamper and all the other various thing-a-ma-jigs that massage therapists need.  Unfortunatley, all these items have to be within this same 9 ft. by 12 ft. space.After reading "most salon owners want you there to help themselves out and take no consideration into the calmness and stress relief we hope to give to our clients " in another post I realized that my presence in her shop was simply her "effort" to "have something different" in her salon and probably nothing more.My problem is that I'm not sure about making the move I want to make.  It would be a building at my home.  I'm wondering if you all might have some comments on this.  I live out in the country so there are no zoning restrictions to bother with......I checked the distance and it's only 7 miles from town to my house.  The town is small only about 5,000 population with another 1,500 in close town.  I wonder if being out in the calm quiet country atmosphere might be a "selling point" for my business at home?  You know, something like "come & relax in a quiet, pleasant country atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of town."  I have talked to a couple of clients and they don't seem to object to coming out here at this point in time.I appreciate any input and thank you very much for reading all this.  I only made it this long so you would get a good idea of what I'm dealing with.Thanks loads!

 

[artmeistro]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

I'm new, just graduated from school a couple months ago.  I've been giving massages out of my home.  Frankly, I don't care for it.  Yes it's more convient.  But there are many things to take into consideration.  One I have to deal with.......I really don't want some people to know where I live.  I live farther away from our main town.  So I'm looking for some place in town.  Yes, lots of my clients like being out of town and enjoying the quiet, the birds chirping and the green of the forest.  But they will not come this far in the winter.  If you have enough clients, that you like and are willing to share them in "your space", then by all means give it a try.  I think it may work for you.  I just got out of a proposition with a salon owner........she wanted me in a small room, in between the nail room, the lobby and the hair room.  Too much noise for my clients.  Then share the room with the girl doing facials.  And she wanted me to give massages on a facial table to accomidate the facial girl who has been there quiet awhile.  It was either that or put my table in the same small room and keep the facial table in there also.  Yes, most salon owners are in it for making their salon look like they have everything.  But they want you there for the money it will generate for them and nothing more.  Because why else would they have you in a 9 by 12 room with all your equipment.  The noise factor is something most salon owners have no concept about.  It tells me they haven't had many massages themselves.  A good question for them is, "would you want a massage in this room?  And would you feel comfortable undressing in this room?  And would you be able to relax in this room?"I think the best bet for most massage therapists is to go in business for themselves.   :

 

[kneady]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

It's too bad the salon owner didn't let some of you in on her financial dilema.  Perhaps there would have been a solution without having to uproot everyone on the spur of the moment....several heads working together may have been able to come up with ideas on how to bring more revenue into the salon.....Well that's all in the past and it seems that you are on your own.  I had a similar situation happen to a friend of mine and she opted to move her clients into her home.  She also does hair so she made a cute studio in her basement with a hair station and a massage setup.  It has a bathroom on the same level, and her clients never have to enter the living area of the house.  For now it works for her but her clientele is very small.  I can see drawbacks if she wants to really grow bigger....parking, zoning, security etc.  I too had my business out of my home when I first started, but quickly realized that it was an obstacle to the growth of my business.  I'm a private person and don't like strangers in my house.  If there were a separate entrance, or even a building separate from the main house it would be more ideal.  My advice is try to find something else in town that will work for you.  My $.02Cassandra

 

[Maz]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

Thanks for your input. آ Just a note here.....my plan is to have a separate building for massage....so folks wouldn't be coming in my home.I understand what you mean about privacy and it's sure something to think about....I had one client that I wouldn't want to know where I lived. آ Thank goodness he doesn't come around anymore. آ This is such a small town though that almost everyone knows where everyone else lives.Latest thing......she put a telephone in my tiny area! آ Told her before we ever opened up at the other location that I didn't need or want a phone and I definitley would NOT stop in the middle of a massage to answer a call. آ You can bet your boots that I'll be reminding her of that next time I see her. آ  Again, I thank you for all input.  I appreciate all the help I can get.

 

[Pedy123]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

Looks like things are going from bad to worse.  How are you clients suppose to relax with the road noise and a ringing telephone?  I was in similiar shoes with the first place I tried working out of.  Found my own office space and haven't looked back.  Have you searched for your own independent space in town?  The set up at in the seperate building at your residence is it conducive for bodywork?  Meaning temp control, noise, privacy, appearance of cleanliness etc.?  If it is you should give it a try.  Being 7 miles outside of a small town isn't really that important.  Most of us that live in small towns are used to driving to get anywhere anyway.  Sounds like you have quite the opportunity to make something unique and special out of this situation.

 

[Roflcopter]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

To Gator:I've thought about looking in town, but I really don't think I have the monthly income to manage it. There is one chiropractor I want to check with about possibly renting a room, though....I'll be doing that tomorrow.As far as the building at home is concerned, it would be extremely conducive to bodywork because that is what it would be built for....streamlined to meet the needs of privacy and low noise level for my clients ...not very many cars on this county road....and NO phone in there at all!Heat and cooling would be provided by one of those heat pump things that both heats and cools.  What I anticipate right now is at the very least a 12 ft. by 24 ft. building....quite possibly 14 ft. by 24 ft.  But, the only thing I would be using it for is bodywork and maybe a little bit of sewing and crafts.  Two rooms and a bathroom with one room being dedicated entirely and exclusively to bodywork.  I'm pretty sure I want to try it.  The expense of construction of a building is justified since if the bodywork business doesn't 'go' we would have a very nice place for storage, and I would still have a separate place to do my crafts and sewing.  I'm not the neatest person  :-[ in the world when I sew or do crafts but I do clean-up when I finish for the day and as I go along.Thank you for your input.Doe

 

[Roy]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

Plus your property value will go up...which is always a plus, not to mention the writeoff for a home based business and quite possibly...(not sure about this)  a write off for construction costs.  Will zoning be a problem?  Make sure you check on the requirements before  beginning construction.

 

[twoasonesfl]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

New construction?  Here I thought you were going to convert the ol' hen house or milk house.  J/k, guess that would be more of an Idaho thing.  With new construction you can build in all kinds of nice extras.  Surround sound, an in wall fountain, try some different lighting set ups, light switches where you want them.  If it wouldn't cost so much, in floor heating would be awesome.  No doubt you could get lots of cool ideas from people on this board.  I am so jealous about now.......

 

[Corey]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

At first I was against the idea of an in home massage business, especially the fact that people would know where I lived, but now that everyone has put in their ideas about writing off everything (I'm all about tax write offs!) that isn't a bad thought....however, when you have people coming to your home (while it isn't inside your house, they still know where you live) I would focus on a referral only business.

 

[xxlisa3andrewxx]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

As far as the home-based tax write-off goes, here is some good info quoted from the book "Tax Tips for the Self-Employed Bodyworker" by Paul A. Kirchhoff, MA, LMT and Paul Harold, MBA, CPA, 2001 edition. I think you can purchase the book by calling LMT Success Group at (954) 596-1170.Page 17: "To qualify for a home office, you do not have to own your residence. You do not have to have a separate structure, or even a separate room. Under the tax law, you qualify for a home office deduction only if your office meets *one* of these three tests:1. It must be your principal place of business2. It must be used to meet regularly with clients, patients or customers.3. It must be located in a separate building that is not attached to your house.in 1997..."principal business site" was defined not as where the work was performed, but where the business is managed...because many of us work in health clubs, chiropractic offices or other people's homes...this ruling is right up our alley!"It goes on to state that your home office must be used exclusively for business and that the IRS is extraordinarily strict about this.So I am figuring if I only count the hours of doing massage at my office away from home, then all the work I do at home (billing, adminstrative, letters, promos, phone calls, etc.) can outweigh the massage work and qualify me for the home-biz tax breaks.BTW, I highly recommend the Tax Tips book. A fellow therapist lent it to me where she received during a workshop on taxes. It is written for bodyworkers so all the examples are easy to understand and relevent to most of us. They make it more clear on what we can and cannot deduct and ways to maximize our deductions and how/why not to fear an audit.Jason

 

[Red Dragon]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

I would recommend either transitioning your clients to your home office or find a new space to rent.  Extreme noise can be a practice killer.  Look for a complimentary business like a chiropractor, accupuncturist, psychotherapist that emphasizes QUIET office space to rent from.  If your monthly income is the issue, one way to work around this is a limited consignment deal with your new landlord or office mate.  Let's say they want $300@month to rent a room in their office.  Sweeten the pot slightly and offer them $10 from each massage done there until you reach the $330@month point.  This also gives them incentive to refer their clients to you as well.I'd suggest talking to the chiropractor.  This could be ideal because you could do massage for some of his insurance cases while seeing your clients there too.  No construction costs, and you minimize the risks of losing clients who aren't willing to drive 7 miles to go to your home office.                             Good luck,                                    Michael

 

[gregtheripper]

To move or not to move...tell me what you thin

Hi *grins*... looks like you have an issue with phones *chuckles*.... just kidding... who wouldn't! So, sounds like you have a pretty good idea with your home office (on the side with the sewing room). *smiles*I like the idea! Something to consider, why not work "part-time" at the salon, move your clients to your home who want to move and just stay with her until you can't take it anymore.  This will give you a little extra income, give your real clients time to get situated in the new place and still make her happy by seeing whatever people she wants to send your way.Of course, I have always been pretty hip on massage therapists renting space at a chiro, acu, psych, etc. office.  Main thing there is to rent from them (if you plan on staying a long time), and not get a perceneforum.xxxe, because usually you loose out if you take the perceneforum.xxxe and work harder otherwise.That's my little copper penny for ya!