When I do consultations, answer most business questions, or otherwise try to help massage
therapists in growing their businesses, I categorize people into two camps.
Because it’s really important to know which one that therapist falls into before I can
give any kind of advice.
I can usually figure it out based on the questions asked, but sometimes it does take digging
a bit deeper into their specific situation.
Hey y’all!
Savanna Bell here with My Massage World, and when you’re seeking any advice for your
business, it’s important to know which of these camps you’re really in, because the
advice has to change accordingly.
And if someone is giving the same advice to both types of people, then I’m sorry, but
I wouldn’t trust them.
So what two scenarios am I talking about?
Which one of these applies to you….
Do you just need to survive right now?
Or Are you stable enough to focus on long-term
goals?
Because there is a heck of a lot of massage
therapists out there, and all kinds of other business owners too, who are in survival mode;
they just need to pay the bills and keep their head above water.
They can’t even begin to think of these big audacious goals like so many coaches are
preaching about, because they don’t know if they’ll have enough money for groceries
to eat next week, or be able to keep the lights on for another month.
It’s hard to see a path to a thriving business when you’re not even breaking even, or just
barely are.
You’re not yet stable enough to focus on long-term goals.
So many people are saying they can help you
reach these big wonderful goals, and if they can that's great.
But it so often ignores the huge segment of massage therapists who are struggling just
to survive.
You can't make big moves to reach big goals when you don't even know where your next meal
is coming from, or when you'll be able to afford to turn your heat back on.
I see so many "coaches" and self-proclaimed
business experts who have most definitely never known actual financial hardships because
they have absolutely zero empathy and help toward people who legitimately can't even
pay their bills.
It's all "raise your rates" and "6-figure practices" and acting as if that applies to
every single therapist.
But you have to crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run.
Sometimes that means doing stuff that's not part of your goals, just so you can get stable
enough to take the first steps to start moving in the right direction.
And that's ok.
There is absolutely no shame in that!
There is no shame in being an employee a little
longer than you hoped.
Or going back to being an employee, if necessary, just to pay your bills until you can try again
with a more stable lifestyle and finances.
Or taking a second job or side hustle to help build some startup funds faster.
Or going mobile until you can find the right office space.
Or getting an office space until you can build up a referral network to support a safer mobile
business.
Or doing massage modalities that aren’t necessarily part of your dream business until
you can educate your market more or get more practice or otherwise build that dream.
Whatever the compromise may look like to you,
sometimes it’s necessary to survive.
All of these can look a lot like you’re not working toward that big end-goal you may
have in mind, when really, they often allow you to get there a little faster and easier,
because you’re not trying to survive and grow at the same time.
You’re giving yourself a safety net.
So, there are those people who just need to
survive right now.
And then there are those who are paying the bills comfortably, but they’re not hitting
certain goals that they want.
My advice to each of those types of therapists is wildly different.
One needs help to crawl.
The other needs help to sprint.
So as much as, yes, let's set and reach for
huge goals, let's also keep in mind that there are plenty of people who are just trying to
survive this month so they can make it to the next one.
Let's give just as much hope, advice, and helping hands to those people as we see poured
into the huge, audacious goal types.
Because with enough support along the way, they'll be able to get out of survival mode
and can then move into setting and reaching for their own huge goals.
But right now, let's help them figure out how to pay their bills, so that soon we can
help them reach their big crazy dream goals.
Just a reminder that My Massage World is closing.
The last day will be July 31st.
After that, the website, social media pages, and everything else will be gone.
Ask me any questions you have and check out all the resources and tools while they’re
still available over at MyMassageWorld.com.
See you next time!