Negotiating Treatment Room Rent for Your Reflexology or Reiki Business
Many holistic health practitioners work in clinic spaces with other complimentary service providers. A chiropractor's office, physiotherapy or even a midwifery clinic are all places one might consider offering their reflexology, Reiki and other modalities from. The agreement with the clinic is often negotiable and can vary wildly depending on the business model. How much the room costs will vary and can be dependent on some of the following factors.
Does the clinic provide the following or do you have to do these things for yourself? The more the clinic provides, the more they generally make from your services.
website presence and social media marketing
email newsletters
referrals
linens and laundry
furnishings and decor
online booking
reception
client followup
Knowing what your needs are, what your strengths are and what you enjoy doing should be factored in when making a decision about where to work and how much you're willing to pay. For example, f you don't enjoy social media or email marketing, it may be worth it to you to pay more for rent if it includes these services.
Flat rate rent or a split?
Flat rate rent can be per month or day. Some practitioners might rent a room part-time and pay for 2 or 3 days per week while other arrangements might offer a flat rate amount for the month. Like other rental agreements you may be negotiating an agreement that is month to month or for a longer period of time.
A split might be 30/70, 45/55 or any other amount. This means the clinic gets paid a percentage of the fee for the service offered. If a practitioner doesn't have clients, the clinic doesn't get paid. If the practitioner has many clients, the clinic makes more money. Occasionally clinics will have a cap so busy practitioners never have top pay more than a set amount even if they are very busy. For new practitioners who are just starting out, a split arrangement can be very beneficial for obvious reasons.
More confident practitioners who can build a business very quickly can take the risk to negotiate a flat room rate if they know they'll easily have enough clients every month to cover the cost. Flat rate rent may provide practitioners the opportunity to make more profit depending on how much the room costs.
Consider sharing a room
Something many new practitioners forget to consider is sharing a room with another similar practitioner. Nobody is seeing clients 7 days per week through the days and evenings. Time can easily be divided up so that practitioners with similar needs can work around each other's schedule. This is a brilliant way to reduce business overhead costs which increases our net income and reduces business risk.
Room sharing can come with other challenges but with good communication, even the most veteran practitioners can enjoy this option (like myself!).
Ask an experienced practitioner for advice during negotiations
There have been many times that new practitioners have reached out to me when they're considering a place to offer their service. If you're unsure if the rent is reasonable or if you have any questions about what is normal in your community, don't hesitate to ask someone who has more experience.
Negotiating a treatment room agreement is a business negotiation and should be treated as such. Ask many questions and make no assumptions. If email marketing iso offered, how often? How often will you be promoted on social media? Will you have input towards the content? If furnishings are provided, what exactly does that include? Spend time in the space to better understand what you like and don't like about the space.
These considerations can help new practitioners navigate negotiations and make business decisions as they venture into their professional, holistic health business.
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