Massage starting out - course/clients

[estisilelia]

Hi all,

My sister who recently qualified as a reflexologist would like to become a massage therapist. She is based in South Manchester.

She has looked into the swedish massage and aromatherapy course with orchidindulgence. http://www.orchidindulgence.com/massage-courses.html

It is a 7 day vctc course. Has anyone studied with them and what did they think? OR if anyone can recommend a course that would be brilliant.

Also, how many clients can you get realistically when you first start out. She will be offering mobile massage for ladies only at around 30 or 35 pounds an hour. If she advertises and gets a website etc how many clients are we looking at per week. Is 4 clients per week a realistic amount? (Obviously she is aware that it also depends on the amount of advertising etc and a full-time income will probably take many years)

Would love your input on this.

 

[Meghan P]

Hi ATW

Four clients per week is quite realistic. As for 7 day VTCT, well maybe OK. Depends on the skill of the tutor. At least she has reflexology skills to build on. I noticed on the website nothing about A&P. They would have to provide that for VTCT. If in a situation that your friend had to do A&P again (and some colleges have this policy) how much extra would this cost? Is it included in the price? How much extra time will this take.

VTCT is a recognised examination board, but with the short courses I can't see how you can learn Indonesian Massage in one day. I must be very watered down. As someone who trained over 5 intensive days of Indo in the UK and did extra training in Indonesia, I consider this a joke.

Best Wishes

RP

 

[tatyana a]

I think they will ask her to start the swedish massage course first. She is finding it difficult to find a course that is longer than 7 days in Manchester, which is such a shame.

It's good to hear that 4 clients a week is realistic. Do you think that the price is fair though? £35.00?

 

[Danran]

bump

 

[Pompal 09.]

I'm not a massage therapist but I work as a hypnotherapist from three locations, my own in a business centre in Manchester, a small injury clinic in Glossop and a highly reputable therapy centre in Sheffield that has been established for over 60 years. In the two latter locations, I work alongside massage therapists (amongst others).

As a hypnotherapist in Manchester, 4 clients in a day is what I would deem as being quiet, with my overheads I couldn't imagine only having 4 clients in a week! The massage therapists I work with all have a lot more than 4 clients per week, most of them have more than 4 clients per day.

£35 for a massage is reasonable in Manchester (as well as being a complementary therapist, I also use other complementary therapies, massage and Indian Head Massage included). If I wasn't getting "mates rates" for treatments I receive, I would expect to pay about £40-£50 for a decent massage, in fact I pay £25-£35 at "mates rates".

4 clients per week in Manchester at £35 per session I actually feel is aiming very low. That said, it really depends on advertising/marketing/PR as to how successful your sister will be. Unfortunately, you do have to "speculate to accumulate" at least in the early days (my advertising expenditure has decreased massively over the past year or so as I no longer need it).

 

[Ashley Riggs]

She has looked around at other massage therapists websites and they are charging £30.00 for a swedish massage per hour. I do wonder why they are so low.

 

[woofs n whiskers]

Hi ARW

I don't know about the Manchester scene, but therapist prices do vary depending on the area, availability and experience. I charge £35 per hour in Cornwall, but in Central London it would charge double that or more (but then I don't offer Swedish/Holistic). Colleagues in Brighton tell me there is sooooo many therapists it's hard to make a living and a typical treatment is £30 per hour.

A VTCT Swedish massage is just a foundation course. To command higher prices a therapist needs to do advanced courses afterwards.

Not all massage therapists are the same. Some have a natural touch, others don't, and this has also has to be taken in consideration.

Pricing is a difficult one in CAM especially in an industry with many well meaning nice people (like RP), but I would say to your sister neither under sale yourself. It's easier to drop the price on a special offer than sticking the price up. Another suggestion is as your sister gains experience, she could charge the old price for regulars and put the rate up for new clients.

Is your sister really into massage or is she jumping on a bandwagon? Sorry to ask the question but a good therapist has to have their heart in it, if she does then with some business acumen (did I spell that right?) she will succeed.

Best Wishes

RP

 

[Fatefinger]

So it's 7 days training and then charge £30 an hour to clients which is 'so low'

Can't be many jobs in the (real) world where someone EXPECTS/DEMANDS that kind of money after such a short training.

The massage might not be any good either not having trained but your sister already assuming she deserves £30 an hour!

£30 an hour is a LOT of money, what do you pay that kind of money for in daily life.

£30 x 40 hour week = £62,000 a year gross!!

But of course no one works 40 hours a week in massage land, talk about wanting your cake and eating it!

Personally I don't /wont pay more than £25 an hour, exceptionally I might pay £30 if the practitioner isn't a clock watcher or is excellent.

It beggars belief people charging up to £50+ an hour, you should listen to yourselves!!

Rant over; love massage, can't afford it as much as I would like (sorry for being poor).

 

[Jacquey]

She's only going by what people are charging in the area. the majority are charging £30 and above, some even £45 an hour for a swedish massage. I am only asking because there are so many therapists on here and I would like their feedback on prices etc. Please don't take it personally.

Reiki, she is really into holistic therapies. Wanted to study massage a long time ago but due to circumstances was not able to so did her reflexology course first and after completing it would now love to do aromatherapy massage and pregnancy massage.

 

[Yaagqc]

Not having a go at you personally, more the idea that therapists fix their prices by what others are getting (away with) in their locale.

Why not charge £20 an hour especially if working from home or mobile? Surely therapists can make a go of it at that price and in so doing make it affordable for more people, possibly even those who need it most.

 

[Craig]

I so wish it was that easy earning huge amounts working as a massage therapist. When I worked doing a 9-5 office job I too would have thought therapists were rolling in it but the reality is a lot different Many people wrongly assume that a therapist does or can do a 40 hour week of massage. Trust me this is not very easy to do without getting injured or becoming burnt out. The price also has to take into account paying taxes, national insurance, training courses, rent etc. Time and money also has to be spent on marketing the business.

Another consideration is the level of training and skill that the massage therapist has. Is the therapist delivering a general relaxation swedish massage or are they using advances remedial techniques to help clients get out of pain. All massage therapists are not the same. Beyond my initial foundation in massage training I have spend a further 3,000 pounds on advanced massage training courses. I think that thirty pound for a massage is low but then I live in London.

There are places that cheaper massages can be found for example at colleges with students who are learning their craft. Or with a student who needs to work on case studies.

Sorry to take the original question off topic but I needed to respond to this. Pricing always generates a response.

 

[Gratefuldeadhead111]

@essence99, well the OP is talking about a 7 day massage course after which her sister is looking at charging £30 to £35 an hour?

That's the economics of what you can get not what it's worth.

Granted there are higher levels of training which MIGHT justify charging £30+ per hour but it seems to me many would be therapists think it's a nice little earner that fits in with their domestic life with hours to suit them and of course they aren't going to work 40 hours a week but that doesn't mean they should be compensated AS IF they were working a 40 hour week.

In reality I expect as the OP says 4 treatments a week might be enough for the 'casual' practitioner, making a nice 'enhancement' to their income.

Gets back to the thorny issue of how proficient/qualified the practitioner is but even then for a routine massage for wellbeing I still maintain £20 an hour or so is ENOUGH!!

 

[Terry the Klown]

Thinking about it, 7 day foundation massage course at say 6 hours per day is only 42 hours of contact time training. A bit low but it is possible to train in this time. Considering a lot of massage courses are 50 hours practical & theory this is typical in the UK whether we like it or not. We mustn't forget case studies typically 20 to 50 treatments to submit to the exam board. When put this way it sounds pathetic, but that is the way things are, hence my advice for further training. At least ATW's sister has reflexology which in my mind increases competency.

As for charge per hour, well this is the reality of the self-empolyed therapist. I could list a massive list of typical overheads but E99 done a good job. One thing people forget about the self-employed practitioner is things like holiday pay, pension policy, training costs to pay back. That reminds me that my first aid certificate has run out, another £40 to pay out. WE don't get that from an employer, we have to fund it ourselves. Also work goes up & down, clients cancel and so forth. We as self-employed people have to stand on our own two feet, and that cannot be done on £20 per hour. As for luke's suggestion about £62,000 per year, I wish and even if I could 40 hours per week of massage would cripple me and I'm fit and healthy. The reality is that most struggle and often give up. Massage can be potentially good pin money but it isn't isn't as profitable as people think it is.

RP

 

[Beer and TV Olympian]

@RP I do understand about the extra costs of being self employed and the notional £62,000 income was just to illustrate the £30 an hour pro rata amount that it represents, I doubt anyone could achieve that!

My point was more to do with the expectation to earn £30 an hour straight off the bat after a 7 day course and already bemoaning 'why is it so low'

One point - is therapy just for the rich and/or desperate as it's expensive in my opinion. Seeing this from the client's point of view, not the therapist demanding £xx per hour because they trained for x hours, attended a 2 week course in the Algarve which cost £xx etc etc. - who cares?

I do respect that you are doing an honest job RP and expect to get paid for it like anybody else. For me any treatment is an occasional treat.

 

[Smorb]

I can't see VTCT doing a 7 day massage course at level 3. I also find it strange that there are no colleges in Manchester who offer a part time massage course over the space of 1 year.

I'm guessing (and hoping) it's an introduction course, or a refresher course. I've just finished 4 years of training in massage, and I charge £35 per hr in the centre of Cardiff.

 

[Preeno The Great]

If you go down the road a little to Bury then you can train at the Northern Institute of Massage over as many years as you can afford, most of the courses take about a year to complete, with the theory studied at home and you go there for the practical hands on training. http://www.nim.co.uk

 

[No Gods, No Masters]

Hi UH

It seems to be a growing trend for intensive training. A typical 9 month massage training at college can be the same amount of training hours for a 3 month course or a very intensive 1 week. It's the training hours that the exam boards look at. Personally I think courses should be over a period of time to assimulate the information and develop skills that have been taught.

Hi Luke

Yes I agree with up that to charge a relativity high rate after a short period of training isn't on. Like is many other industries, the rate of pay is/should be partly reflected on experience and competence.

Best Wishes

RP