A Massage Therapist's Guide to Business

Description

This text is a reader-friendly, yet comprehensive, guide to developing business skills for massage therapy students and practitioners, written by a longtime successful massage entrepreneur who is also the author of One Year to a Successful Massage Therapy Practice. The book is written to be enjoyable and practical, with an encouraging, casual style. It includes checklists and forms that readers can use to build their own practices in a variety of settings, either as entrepreneurs or as employees.

Features

--There are several "driving" themed features; together with the design of the book, they emphasize the idea that the student/practitioner is on a journey, and is in control to help build confidence and increase retention of the informatoin:

• "Roadside Assistance": advice from the author
• "Words of Wisdom": 1- or 2-sentence bits of general advice from author
• "Alternate Routes": advice for non-entrepreneurs
• "Explorations": boxed feature that prompts students to research specific issues in their communities
• "My Personal Journey": journaling page to plan, consider obstacles, etc., with blanks for students to write on directly

--In addition to the "businesslike" forms, letters, and other samples, the book includes humorous cartoons that illustrate business situations and the author's suggestions in a light-hearted way.

Table of Contents

Part I: Mapping Your Route
Chapter 1 Preparing for Your Career
Chapter 2 The Business Plan
Chapter 3 Business Ethics

Part II: Setting Out
Chapter 4 Starting Your Business
Chapter 5 Managing Obstacles and Steering Toward Success

Part III: Staying on Course
Chapter 6 Record Keeping
Chapter 7 Managing Your Finances
Chapter 8 The People in Your Business
Chapter 9 Policies and Procedures

Part IV: Traffic Signals
Chapter 10 Projecting Professionalism
Chapter 11 Effective Communications

Part V: Highway Visibility
Appendix A: Business Forms for Every Need
Appendix B: Professional Organizations for Massage Therapists and Other Holistic Practitioners
Appendix C: Resources for Massage Therapists

Glossary
Index

Author Bio

Laura Allen LMBT
North Carolina Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy, Raleigh, NC