Working from home and for a holistic centre

[Kevin Durbin]

I went for an interview at a holistic centre today. I was informed that room rental and a percentage share of profits was available. My aim was to be around other therapists and in a team environment. I was told they only had two days a week available but I would find it impossible to work at home on my own clients as well, I did question how I would be able to commit to my therapy full-time if I dedicated my clients to their practice if only two days were vacant to me. During the hour I was told how difficult this would be and how impossible my plans to work 4 days a week for 7 hours would be(although I had not said how many hours I would work). I believe that four days a week would not be too much for me.
I wanted to ask how many hours people work privately and if anyone also works elsewhere. I was told by the lady that I should consider another job alongside reflexology. Logically I thought the share scheme of client profits would only benefit both parties, unlike room rental I would have thought being available to offer my services to a centre would be enough. I did not expect to feel I had to contract myself entirely to that venture. I do not want to do anything but reflexology and I will perservere with this.

 

[Xenu]

Hi portiaophelia,

I've found most of my clients work full~time, and so generally see two clients a night Mon - Fri, the first at 5.15pm and another at 7pm. This works really well for me as I have a 3year old son too, and so prefer not to work/and/or pay for child care during the day. I have a very supportive hubby who takes over at 5pm.

I work from home and so have very few overheads. Again I feel I'm getting the best of both worlds ~ earning ok money for less than p/t hours.

I also volunteer as a therapist witha drug & alcohol charity 2 afternoons a week ~ this allows me to work in a team environment and I'm hoping to land a full-time job with them at some point in the future.

I think (depending on where you are) it's important to realise that whilst there are lost of clients out there, I'm not sure there are enough coming to one therapy centre to keep you busy 4 days a week.

The therapists I know in my area who work from therapy centres, tend to workfrom 2 or 3 different therapy centres, in order to keep busy and bring in the money. If your having to pay rental charges etc you need to see far more clients, in order to earn the same money, than if you work from home.

meridianmoon xx

 

[Yakov Smirnov]

Hi portiaphelia (great name!)
What meridianmoon says is probably true. I don't know of many centres that support a full time reflexologist - the ones I know use other therapies as part of their contract.I know of one centre where they employed one therapist full time Mon - Fri, but a couple of months ago, they had to'sack' her, so that she could go freelance, and is now "on call" if a booking comes in. The number of clients dropped dramatically at the start ofthe university holiday, so they couldn't afford to pay her to sit and file her nails!!
If you are paying room rent, and are not paid as a contracted employee, you do not have to stick to one centre - you can rent as many rooms in as many places as you like.
You canwork as many hours as you like - but do watch out for 'burn out', and make sure that you are getting therapy yourself, especially hand-care. Please don't get disappointed if you find you are unable to fill your diary every day - but be ready to put the flags out when you do!

 

[?Jessica ?]

hi portafelia,

i'm trying to do the same thing, trying to set out as a reflexologist working for myself. right now i have a chance to work from a therapy room full time, very reasonable price (£150) per week. the owner would not want to rent the room to anyone else, so potentially i could work 7 days, which is only £21.4 per day. the problem comes from the fact, that i have to pay in advance and i don't have a client base yet. you see i have a 3 day job in a spa already as a steady income,and i don't really want to give up this income.
but in your case, it would give you a lot more experience and insight into a private therapists world if you worked in different clinics. what you also have to consider is your income and overheads. are you sure you will have enough clients from the beginning to give yourself enough for the room rent, and for a bit of salary for yourself?
i think you could make it work with doing reflexology only, if you advertise yourself right.for example make sure you mention that you specialise in it. and this could be advantagous for you also, as practising reflexology only, you will get better at it quicker than other therapists who practise other therapies too.
good luck and do what your instinct tells you
kb

 

[Jesica]

Hello there

I've been working as a reflexologist since 2003 and the number of clients I see per week varies considerably - anything from 10 to 20! I try not to see more than 4 or 5 clients per day as it can be tiring work and I don't want to put too much pressure on my joints. A client base can be hard to build and people can just disappear for no good reason, so you have to be on the case and work on your marketing consistently until you reach the point where you don't need to any more (I wish ). Many therapists choose to have another job to keep some steady money coming in, and I can really see the sense in this.

On another point, make sure you charge enough to make it worth your while. I think I started off a little on the cheap side, and I've had a price increase recently because I felt I needed to earn more - and because I also felt I was worth paying a little extra to.

 

[Miss Anne Thrope]

Thank you all for your very wise replys.

I have been considering charity work and have a number to call to help out with drug and homeless, I feel spurred on to do this now.

From what everyone has said I have my vigour back as a specialist reflexologist (thank you for that hint!!)

I feel the centre were expecting a bit much only offering 2 days and not permitting any outside ventures, I felt 50% would have given them a profit even if I wanted to work privately as well.
So glad to hear that therapists work in different centres and do not have to be locked into one.

ooohh the name was accidental. I was flumoxed when registering and thought I was entering my password. Portia & ophelia are my two cats

Again. Thank you all for your feedback xxxxxx