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How Long Did It Take You?

i think we all, as noobs to the field, wonder just how long does it take before one feels "successful". at the same time "successful" is probably also different for each of us.

So how long did it take for you to feel successful...and what was it that made you finally feel successful? Was it how many clients you had? or perhaps it was being able to pay all the bills just doing massage. Maybe it was when you migrated from home office to rented space?

Our teacher taught us that it would take at least 2 years to truly build up a client base. I'm curious what reality tells us.

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Permalink Reply by Gloria Coppola on November 16, 2009 at 7:29pm

Success? Like you say Lisa how do you measure success?

I remember almost a year into my private practice I felt like it was coming together. I had the ah ha moments
that my techniques were being mastered and the confidence I made the right choice.

It took A LOT of diligent networking to build my practice F/T for financial support ( as a single mom of 2) and I was able to
accomplish that in one year. Within 2 years I had opened a holistic center of about 2200 sq feet and expanded in 6 months.

It all depends on how much time, effort, energy etc., you put into your business.
Good Luck!

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Permalink Reply by Darcy Neibaur on November 16, 2009 at 8:10pm

I felt success graduating number ONE in my class which was a surprise to me until the end, especially at the age of 51. I felt success when I passed the NCBTMB Exam. I sat in my car and cried for 30 minutes, I was so grateful to the Powers that BE for helping me with that exam. I Felt success on Valentines Day 2008, when I made my first dollar. Success to me is in the small things not the big things.

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Permalink Reply by Choice Kinchen on November 16, 2009 at 9:47pm

I've been at this 9 years. I'm not sure where in the process I felt successful. When I quit doing my routines as step 1, step 2, step 3, etc. was one of the turning points. I'm at the point now where I'm comfortable with whatever treatment I do on whatever client I have. I do convention/corporate work. So another point came when a convention that comes here yearly called me for the 2nd year in a row. Then another did the same thing. Then a corporate group that I did their healthfair one year called me back for a 2nd year. Repeat business was an unbelievable success cause it was no longer random. But, when I realized that, due to my health issues, I could take a day off and not have some management SOB tell me I couldn't, that was when I truly knew I had made it. That, and the fact I haven't used an alarm clock to wake up in 9 years.

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Permalink Reply by Laura Allen on November 17, 2009 at 5:33am

In six years, I have gone from zero to my clinic grossing $300,000 a year. That was after spending 5 years as the administrator of a massage school. I had one other therapist when I started, now I have six full-time, 3 part-time, an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, and an RN aesthetician.

My town is about 20,000 people, and our county is the 2nd most economically depressed place in NC. In spite of that, I am ahead of last year financially.

The second year, I took over an adjoining suite of offices, and back in August of this year, I took over the third suite. I have invested a lot of money in my business. I started taking money back out of it near the end of the second year. This year, I haven't taken out much because of the expense of expanding again. But it's all good! Nothing comes easy or without sacrifice. Visit our website to see what we do:)