You're a massage therapist. Your passion is helping people feel their best through your skills, and you probably love what you do. That’s a great position to be in.
However, if you want to ensure that you can grow and sustain your massage practice over time, you'll need to think like a business owner. In fact, the success of your practice depends on it. Your success will determine how well you can care for your clients and offer the best experience possible in the years to come.
If you've only been thinking about short-term goals and quick wins, it's time to shift to long-term planning and, yes, knowing your numbers. Please don't be intimidated. For this, you don't need to be a math genius. You simply need to know basic financial principles, a few key terms, and some pitfalls to avoid. We'll walk you through everything you need to know to feel empowered by your numbers, allowing you to make more informed decisions and set yourself up for future success.
By the time you're done reading this blog post, you'll have more clarity and confidence in your business.
If you don't take the time to learn your numbers, you could run into significant financial difficulties. It’s fully possible that you currently have an unaddressed issue and you don’t know about it. The good news is, this stuff is pretty straightforward. You might be surprised to learn how simple it is. There is a lot more that we could cover, but this guide is tailored to massage therapists.
Here are some key metrics to know about your business. If you can understand these, you’ll know everything you need to run your business smoothly.
If you can familiarize yourself with these numbers as they relate to your business, you're already on your way to building a thriving, stable massage practice. The next steps will walk you through how to track your numbers consistently so you can set and keep your financial goals
This is another area where you can't proceed until you know your numbers! The key here is that we want you to focus on clear, specific financial goals that are reasonable for your business. If done right, this goal can actually motivate you, so it needs to feel tangible and reachable.
To set realistic financial goals, you should look at your personal income, revenue, savings, and investments. Remember, your revenue is what your business makes in total. Your expenses are how much you spend on your business. Your profit is how much you take home from your revenue after expenses are taken out.
Set goals that relate to your personal income (or profit), revenue, or savings and investments. Goals need to be numbers you can meaningfully track. Not simply, "I want to make a ton of money" or "I want to buy a new electric car every year and pay the entire cost upfront." There's a time and place to think about what you want your rich life to look like, but these goals don’t work for this exercise because they don’t define a specific, measurable goal.
A better example would be setting a specific financial goal, like a monthly personal income goal. You’ll need to understand your revenue and expenses to get this number. Let's say you've done the math, and your expenses are $1000 per month. So, if you want to set a goal of taking home $3000 every month in personal income, you'll need at least $4000 in revenue.
Then, let's say we break this down so that it feels more tangible. $4000 per month is simply $1000 per week. In terms of client engagements, if your average session is $80, you need to book 50 clients per month. That's only about 12-13 per week. Bump up your price to $100 per session, and you're looking at 40 clients per month or about 10 bookings per week! That certainly makes the large monthly number sound more reasonable.
Or, you could work on building up your emergency fund in your savings account. You should set aside at least 3 months' expenses (though 4-6 months would be better). All you would need to calculate this is to figure out your expenses each month, then multiply that by 3. With this number, you can then break down your revenue minus expenses each month. Out of the remaining profit, how much are you able to set aside in savings for your emergency fund? If it's 10% or 20%, you can calculate how long it would take to build up your emergency fund.
If these numbers don't quite suit your practice, play around to find a reasonable goal that works for you. It may be more, it may be less, but you should strive to shoot for a number that makes you a little uncomfortable. We say a little uncomfortable because we don’t want you to be so uncomfortable that you don’t take action.
Pick a goal just uncomfortable enough to challenge yourself to succeed. Even if you don't hit your monthly goal, you can see what it's like and what you must do next month to get closer.
You may have to adjust your goal or your approach to reaching it, but either way, you're learning at all times, and you always know your numbers. Speaking of knowing your numbers, let's talk more about tracking your metrics with the right tools.
Thankfully, we live in an age where there's a digital tool for everything. If you can believe it, all businesses used to track their finances in ledgers with physical pen and paper.
Today, there are so many available tools that it can be overwhelming if you’re new to tracking your numbers. Don’t worry—we've narrowed it down to a few options for you to consider.
You could track your expenses manually using spreadsheets like Excel or Google Sheets. You could also use pen and paper, you just need to make sure you have a system that you can keep track of.
If you're great at spreadsheets, this might be the route for you. If not, there are other options out there that make it even easier.
One of the most convenient things about using programs is that the information is usually stored on the cloud or in one reliable place. There are plenty of options including massage business software that allow you to track your finances, create budgets, send invoices, and more.
Some are specifically tailored to massage therapists, like MassageBook, which is designed to help solo professionals book clients, track finances, build credibility, grow their client base, connect with their local market, and build a thriving business with a single platform.
You could also consider broader platforms like QuickBooks, Freshbooks, Wave, or other invoicing software. These platforms make it easy to bill clients, manage payments, and so on, but they aren't made for massage therapists like MassageBook.
Another option is managing your numbers right in your banking app, assuming your bank offers an app. If they do, you can use it to track income and expenses, especially if you have a credit card. Some allow you to break down your credit card purchases in great detail, which might prove useful for your business.
These are three different approaches but feel free to use more than one at the same time. Just as long as you have a system that keeps your number tracking consistent and reliable. Consistency is crucial, so we recommend taking some time out of each week to do a "money review" to allow yourself time to review your finances.
There are several approaches to tracking your business's finances. The most important thing is to find a system that ensures consistency and reliability. One way to maintain consistency is to schedule a weekly "money review" to monitor your finances and keep your numbers on track.
Don't forget to keep all of your receipts (physical and digital) somewhere safe.
If you can automate any of these processes, especially for predictable expenses (like rent), you can reduce the amount of manual work you put into tracking and optimizing your numbers. Whatever you do, do your best to make it a habit so you can stay ahead on your finances rather than falling behind.
Planning out and tracking your finances is straightforward, but it isn’t without its troubles. Let’s discuss three common pitfalls and how you can avoid them.
We're inclined to underestimate our expenses, and this is really easy to do if you're not carefully tracking your finances. This can make it feel like any additional money you make seems just to disappear. However, this isn’t magic, it’s just poor planning.
To give some examples of things that might cause you to underestimate your monthly budget, think about unexpected taxes or fees charged by your payment processor. If you're already aware of these things, then you're on the right track. If not, there may be room for improvement in how you plan for your expenses.
One easy thing you can do is to factor in an additional percentage into your expenses, say 20%, for example. If you know your expenses each month come to around $1000, why not be conservative and set aside $1200? If there's additional expense money left over at the end of the month, great! Decide on a rule for yourself for how you'll use it. Should you put it towards that equipment you've been saving up for? Or split it between investments and savings?
As a business owner, you need to set aside taxes for your quarterly tax payments. If you’re new to this, we always recommend you discuss your taxes with a professional.
That being said, the general rule of thumb is to set aside 20-30% of your income in a separate account. When it comes time to make your payments, use this account only for taxes.
Just like in the above section, go ahead and create a rule in advance for what you will do if there is money left over.
Cash flow, if uneven, can lead to financial stress. Again, you can be profitable on paper but still wind up in a tight spot if your cash flow isn't consistent. This may happen in the event of a few slow months. When this happens, it can take time to recover and get caught up on your bills. So, even if you're having your best month yet, your cash flow hasn't caught up yet.
Preparing your emergency fund is The best way to keep your cash flow consistent. In an ideal world, you can build up 4-6 months of expenses (or even more, if possible). If you can only manage to save up 3 months, that's great! However, please keep in mind that, as a solo professional, your income may vary from month to month. If you can build up a big enough emergency fund, you can continue to pay yourself a consistent amount even in the slower months.
When you do have a really good month, you can put an additional amount into your emergency fund and pay yourself a consistent income. This consistency helps you reduce financial stress and focus on things like growing your business, improving your outreach, or investing time and energy into continuing education.
At the start of this post, we said that knowing your numbers empowers you as a business owner.
That's because insight into your numbers helps you make better business decisions.
For example, if you're considering raising your rates, you can sit down with your numbers and plan what those changes would look like. Is your new pricing sustainable? Does it drive you towards your financial goals? If you know your numbers, you can get very specific with your rates rather than just choosing a number that feels right.
Likewise, there might be room for cutting costs if your expenses are increasing. You might notice that you're spending money in areas that aren't adding a lot of value and may decide to make adjustments that reduce expenses and improve your profitability. When you're honed in enough on your numbers, you can treat these variables like sliding scales that can easily be adjusted to suit your goals.
Another amazing benefit of taking ownership of your finances is that you can intentionally invest in your growth. That might be in the form of equipment, training, or spending more on marketing. These investments may increase your income or fulfillment as a massage therapist and business owner.
Let's look at investing a little extra into marketing this month. If you decide that you want to put an extra $200 into advertising, what would that return on investment look like? If it leads to one new client, how much is that client worth in the course of their lifetime? Probably a lot more than $200. So, you'll want to slide that scale to meet or exceed your financial goals.
As a reminder, you don't need to hire an expert to manage your finances.
In fact, learning to do it yourself, at least in the beginning, is one of the best ways to approach it. After seeing how simple it is, you may not feel the need to hire an expert.
However, there are plenty of situations where it would be appropriate to hire a professional, such as:
To find an affordable expert, you can start by searching for bookkeepers or accountants who have experience working with small businesses or perhaps even wellness professionals.
If you'd rather work with a software solution, you can explore online bookkeeping services like Bench, Bookkeeper360, or MassageBook.
You might also be happy to find a middle ground by scheduling a one-time consultation with a professional to help you set up a system you can self-manage.
Either way, just keep in mind that you can do this, especially with all of the easy-to-use tools at your disposal these days. By learning the process solo, if you do decide to hire a professional, you'll be able to have a more meaningful discussion.
That being said, hiring an expert may be the best path for you, so give the above options a try.
We've covered a lot in this post, so let's review a short, summarized action plan so that you can get moving and take ownership of your finances.
Don't wait to get your finances in order. It will be one of the best things you can do for your own financial health and to help you drive business growth.
Knowing your numbers is not about perfection but about taking control of your business, reducing stress, and making better financial decisions.
By establishing a strong, smart system (especially one that uses automation), you'll be able to easily follow through with your plan and build confidence.
All you need is a little effort and consistency, and you'll be able to build a thriving practice that allows you to support your passion and lifestyle while improving your client’s well-being.
Want to learn more about building a thriving massage practice? Check out our eBook today!
For more help starting and building your massage business, check out our eBook “How to start a massage business in ten easy steps.” It’s packed with actionable insights and advice for starting from scratch and building up a profitable massage practice.
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