How to create Holistic Fusion & a long term business
Here’s a common scenario I come across. I speak to an experienced therapist. She’s been performing massage for years and has a good list of regular and loyal clients. She also offers facials and a few beauty treatments. The massage is her bread and butter, but it’s hard work. She sells the massage as being good for relaxation, relieving stress and helping with occasional aches and pains. We all know it goes beyond that. The mental health, physiological and emotional benefits are too great to mention.
Her clients have become more sophisticated because massage is no longer a luxury. They’ve read the articles, they’ve had the conversations and they’ve often self-diagnosed.
They’re familiar with all the current and newly emerging trends:-
- gut health
- the microbiome
- hormonal health
- remedies for peri-menopause and menopause
- cyclical living … to name but a few
As a therapist, she’s become ever more interested in female health and the nuances surrounding all of the above. She wants to consider the following:-
- preserve her own health whilst continuing to serve clients
- offer deeper work, both emotionally and physically
- be able to address female specific health issues
- have a better vision of what her business looks like in the future
- streamline her service offering but still add new modalities – yes, it’s tricky!
My own therapy practise – How to create Holistic Fusion
I would like to think I’ve created my entire training business around solving these issues. Let me tell you what happened in my own therapy practise first. Like many of us, I fell back on hands-on therapies when I became a carer for my parents. It’s a skill you never lose and if you have the passion for it, it serves you well. I left the high-flying job, returned to the UK and got stuck in where I was needed most. I thought it would be a temporary measure but the more I did it, the more I loved it. It was completely different to being a therapist first time around, over 20 years ago.
I could pick and choose what I offered. I eliminated a lot of treatments. All of my treatments would be a tailor made, combination of reflexology, Indonesian massage, facials and Temple Therapy (for womb and reproductive health). I occasionally throw in lymphatic drainage, Indian head massage and cupping.
Selling treatments by time
I mainly sell treatments by time. My clients come in for 2 hours or 90 minutes and most of the time they let me decide what they need that day. So … when I relaunched my training business in 2022, I created courses for all the therapies I offer. An holistic experience can be made up of any of the following:-
- Swedish massage
- Indonesian massage
- Reflexology
- Indian Head massage
- Cupping (yes, I sometimes throw this in too for tight shoulders and backs)
- Lymphatic drainage
- Temple Therapy
Initially, I created packages called Journey to the Temple, The Sensory Experience and Body Temple Bliss. They were all unique combinations of the above.
Here’s what my treatment menu looked like
I’ve created these deeply indulgent packages based on your favourite combinations
THE SENSORY EXPERIENCE Indonesian Power Massage & an ageLOC results driven facial
BODY TEMPLE BLISS Indonesian Power Massage & Reflexology Zone Therapy
JOURNEY TO THE TEMPLE 3 treats in 1 Fusion Back & Beyond, Aroma Essential Facial & Reflexology
The packages were from 90 minutes upwards and although they went down a treat, most of my clients didn’t care what they were called, or even what they included. They knew how long they wanted to be on the bed, so I started creating unique combinations of what they needed that day.
Peri-menopause
I had found as I got older, reached peri-menopause and became more conscious of my own health and limits, adding reflexology to a back massage, an Indian head massage to a facial, switching Swedish for Indonesian and introducing cups for deep work, added depth to my work, was kind to my body and very importantly – made my clients happy.
The knowledge gained over time, with life experience and studying different modalities means I can pass this on to my clients. Now, they come for more than the treatment. The experience goes beyond ‘the bit on the massage bed’.
I guess this is where my training academy strapline came from …
Education . Empowerment . Evolution
My hope is that my course offering, content and mentorship, educates and empowers therapists to continue to evolve, re-invent and adapt and create a business that’s around for a long time. I also hope that at the heart of that is a therapist who puts her own health first, invests in herself and has complete faith in what she’s offering and why. We don’t need to be everything to everyone. No two treatments need to be the same – that’s why you have a toolkit of therapies.
The majority of my students come back and do a second course and often a third. Once you understand how the treatments can fit together, compliment one another and offer added value, the model starts to make sense.
Today, my most popular 2 hour treatment combination is an Indonesian back massage, facial and reflexology. My students often reach out to ask for help to put packages together, create treatment descriptions and marketing strategies. I’m always on hand for this.
Let’s talk and see what could work for you.
Email me on [email protected] or whatsapp07942 477 601 to arrange a chat.
Thank you for reading this months blog, How to create Holistic Fusion & a long term business. If you would like more information about How to create Holistic Fusion please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Have a lovely day,
Sughra