Finished your Anatomy and Physiology Course?

Business Support for Therapists

Now you have completed your Anatomy and Physiology Course and are qualified or on the way to being qualified in a therapy, you also need to start planning for your therapy success.

To get into the habit of planning is a really important discipline to have and will absolutely accelerate your success.

It also makes things real and creates more of a sense of urgency.
Let me explain.
If you are getting ready to go to work and you’ve got an hour –how long does it take you?
An hour - right?
If you’ve got 20 minutes to get ready- how long does it take you?
20 minutes- agreed?
So if you don’t plan your business and you don’t have time frames what will happen?
NOTHING!!!!!!

The next step of planning and of writing a business plan for your therapy business is to get in place the:
What
Why
When
How
Who

The Why is
The vision you have and the promise you make to your customers. Do they know you hold a qualification in anatomy and physiology for example.

The What is
The services and products you will provide broken down into a plan and priorities

The when is
Err when!! You need to have the what divided into projects with time frames
Eg; now I have a certificate in anatomy and physiology, I will qualify in massage by November and offer discounts for 3 months to everyone I practiced on. I will begin to research the creation of my own range of skin products in January ready to launch in June.

The How
This is primarily the marketing piece, will you use social media, have a website, give talks, have a stall at fairs…..

The Who
Who can you delegate to even if you are a 1 person band
Who youre suppliers are
Who your customers are
Who you can collaborate with

Lets us look at when I first started my massage school as an example to illustrate this:

The Why
To change the world through the healing power of touch
To have a lifestyle business that gives me a quality of life and time to travel every year for 2-3 months

The What
High quality diploma courses in massage in Walthamstow
A massage clinic at my home and one other venue seeing 10 hourly clients per week

The when
Courses three times a year starting in September, February and May each year, the first one starting in September 1992
Clinic at home already started. Find a clinic by September 1992

The How
1/have a “prospecting product” massage magic introductory workshop that get people interested and have offers to encourage them to take it further
2/have flyers
3/ Hire poster sites in 2 sports venues with a view to starting a clinic there
4/ Get registered with ITEC exam board and get referrals from them
5/ Get a piece about me in the local paper
6/ Tell all my ex- colleagues and contacts  

The Who
Employ ex- colleague 6 hours per week to delegate course bookings
Customers: ex- colleagues, local people on my magic workshop, members of the gym where I run the courses.
Collaborate with: venue where I run the courses to promote me to their members

This brings us on to the 4 p’s place, price, product and promotion, known as our marketing mix.
Being in the right place where the community knows you and want to buy from you is vital. When I began my massage school I started it in my local community where I had worked as a social worker in community development. I was known by some of the community and this definitely gave me an advantage.
However these days with the various virtual communities around- you can become a known person that way. If Facebook was a nation, it would be the fourth largest in the world!! So there are plenty of people to connect with.

It also highlights just how important you are in your own success. It may sound obvious but you are the product as well as the business person behind that product.

Let me elaborate
Firstly you need to be an absolutely glowing example of your therapy
Do you receive your therapy regularly? (How can you expect others to buy if you don’t?)
Are you vital, healthy and energetic? Would people want to be like you? Do they know you have a qualification in anatomy and physiology as well as a therapy. Does this distinquish you from other therapists?
Secondly you need to become known as The person for your therapy in your community or chosen niche market. PR, public speaking and networking will all help to develop your reputation and start to bring in business directly and through referrals.

Deciding your USP
It is important to be clear for your customers how you differ from other therapists. When you are writing your unique selling points always have the question “so what?” in your mind. This will help you write the USP’s with your customers view point in mind.
So for example:
I am one of the most highly trained and qualified therapists in the country. I have an ITEC level 3 certificate in anatomy and physiology
So what?
This means that as my client you will feel assured that you are in safe hands and that your condition/complaint/disease/disorder will be treated with the utmost professionalism. I will work within my capabilities and refer you on to my network of other professional therapists if I feel that would help you most.

Defining your niche
There is no doubt that having a niche market and becoming an expert in a certain field within your therapy will definitely lead to a much higher level of success.
This niche will then be reflected in your USP (unique selling point) and your tag line.
(A tag line is the motto or slogan of a company, think about Easyjet, McDonlads and Audi).
It is fine to have more than 1 niche but I would suggest you choose just one to focus on to start with. A clue to your niche will be who you are.

Deciding location
I think it pays to get yourself working in a well-established clinic/gym/gp practice even if it is only once a week.
When deciding location take the following into account:
Parking
Transport links
Footfall (number of people walking past)
Number of members/users if it is a clinic/gym doctors surgery
How full are the current appointment books
Ambiance
Customer service levels from the receptionist and other staff (book in as a client before you earmark the centre as somewhere you’d like to work)
Payment arrangements –is it on a percentage basis or room hire
How satisfied are the other therapists
How long have other therapists been there

Can I display my anatomy and physiology certificate?

Good luck

Gill Tree