Self Employed or Employee – That Is The Question!

When first starting out, many massage therapists have grand dreams of running their own massage practice. Dreams! I encourage them! Often this turns to confusion as questions arise as to whether it would be more beneficial to work for someone else or to try and build your own clientele. Today’s blog considers pros and cons of the following three options:

1. Working for someone else
2. Working for yourself
3. A combination of the two

Working for someone else
Working in someone else’s clinic can have some great benefits. Although your hourly rate will probably halve when working for an employer, you will not need the initial outlay and ongoing running costs. If first starting out in your massage career it is an ideal way to develop additional skills you may not have learnt in your initial training and gives you an opportunity to master your massage skills before stepping out on your own. It is also an opportunity to develop your resume. However if you have chosen massage therapy as your second, third or even forth career, then it is probably time to harness your life experience and go for it on your own. There is one important question that must be answered before you consider venturing out on your own.

Working for yourself
The question you must ask is "are you prepared to market yourself?" Once you have completed your training, obtained the relevant insurance and professional recognition, and put an ‘open for business’ sign on your door, it is not simply a matter of waiting for the phone to ring! If you are going to run your own practice, you will need to actively market yourself. This does not simply mean ‘doing a brochure’. You will need to have a consistent plan to ensure that you are constantly reaching new people and building a relationship with existing clientele. We will be exploring marketing fundamentals in detail over the coming weeks. In addition, there is substantial cost involved in setting up your practice and in ongoing expenses. It is important to allow time to build up your practice and ensure you have access to saved funds or another source of income to carry you through until you build up your client base. Typically savings equivalent to at least six to twelve months expenses would be required if you are relying purely on massage income. You may need to have another part-time job for regular income while you establish yourself. It is common for a massage practice to take three to five years to become profitable.

A combination of the two
Doing a little of both will help you to focus on building a massage career which is most likely what you are aiming to do. Ideally your employer will be able to mentor you and help you to learn from their past experience. Be clear in your own mind on the number of hours you would like to spend on your own business and take shifts accordingly. I would not recommend taking any position that involves you manning a reception area, but only being paid if massages are booked. Believe me, this is surprisingly common.

Working as a contractor
As a contractor you may provide services for other businesses and invoice them for payment. You negotiate your fee for service. These services may be provided to other massage practices and day spas, or for business to business services such as on-site workplace massage or corporate event massage. In Australia you would need to provide an Australian Business Number (ABN) at the time of invoice or that business must legally withhold 48% of your fee which is payable to the Australian Taxation Office. (For more information regarding Australian business taxation, go to the ATO Business Portal: http://www.bp.ato.gov.au/ or speak with an accountant.)

We invite comments and questions to this blog or directly at info@vitalityoptions.com.au

Stay tuned for our next blog which looks at low-cost ways to start building your own clientele.