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Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Open for Business


The clinic has finally come together - thanks to Brian. He has been busy helping with the final touches and things are really looking fantastic. He took the car in today to have advertising stickers put on the back window. It's official. I'm in business.

I ordered my brochures and business cards which should arrive next week. That's when I'll go around introducing myself to the local doctors and physio offices. I've discovered that there are not a lot of Massage Therapists that do what I do. I have a very specific target market - the medical side of massage.

New Zealand is still a little behind the times and there is a misconception that massage therapy is sexual. I have to be very careful when screening new clients to make sure that they understand that this is not one of "those" massages. I'm not naive but I have certainly been very fortunate not to have to deal with such matters for 12 years. I'm afraid I'm not in Kansas anymore Toto.

But it's a new challenge and a chance to change the face of Massage Therapy in my community. I think it's going to be great. It's all about education. The people who assume it is a sexual nature are merely ignorant - they need to be educated.

I've pretty much finished with the big items now. Here are some photos of the clinic. We did it all on a budget. Everything in here was purchased second hand, made by Brian or we already had. The most expensive thing was the desk in the office which I found on Trade Me (online auction). I bought it for $220 and the chair for $140. The lady we bought the chair from offered us $1000 for the desk on the spot. She's an antique dealer - and reckons it's worth at least double that. So we got a mighty good deal. Brian discovered a hunk of wood in our backyard which was being used as part of our wood shed - it's a big slab of Kauri - so he took it in and had it planed down and now it's the shelf over my desk! It only cost $10 for the planing!

I love this space. It certainly makes going to work the most pleasant experience I could wish for. I'm so lucky to have all of this in my own backyard. Our next project will be to install a bathroom and shower.

*note: the curtains are closed when I'm actually doing a treatment.