When I started out practising Reiki I felt I had to go out there and somehow “get” my business.
I left cards in shop windows and at coffee shops. I designed email newsletters.
I also trawled London looking for rooms I could hire.
I found rooms in Euston, Great Portland Street, Oxford Circus and Swiss Cottage - a good mix. As I started to build my practice I moved around London from room to room. I always tried to see clients at a time that suited them at a location that suited them.
Mounting expenses
This meant I was often travelling into town seven days a week, and travel expenses were mounting up. Moreover, I was working early mornings, lunchtimes and evenings. I even had post-watershed appointments.
Working from home means I can see last-minute clients, do very early morning appointments and after-work ones too
It was exhausting and after a while I found that if someone was late for an appointment I was getting irritated. Some of this was down to my tiredness. Some of it was because I had to pay by the hour for the rooms. So if someone is late that means either the treatment is shorter or I run over and pay more.
As my client base started to build it also started to get harder to see clients at their first choice location or at their preferred time. I found myself having to be stricter with what times I offered and the days.
In the last few months I have moved house. I am now in a space that lends itself to being used also as a healing space. I am considering asking clients who are regulars to come to my “private practice”.
I am tentative because as a woman there is always the fear of being alone in a space with a male client. I have never been attacked but I have had male clients confuse the therapeutic relationship with something more romantic. It is easier to maintain boundaries when there is a receptionist outside and a time you have to be out of the room by.
I live in North London and found that some clients were initially unwilling to travel to what they saw as far away. It got me thinking: in my quest for rooms had I been pandering to the assumption that somehow if you are in the Centre of London you are more successful?
My decision to start a private practice was born out of wanting to have ultimate flexibility with my healing space. If I run over it is fine. I can make it work. I can set up the space how I like. I can have a base from which to see clients at any time.
Working from home means I can see last-minute clients. I can do very early morning appointments and after work ones too. Above all, I do not have to pay the added expense of travel costs.
I now need to consider the legal implications of working from home as a healer. As well as the safety issues, insurance and how this change may impact on my business. I’d like to make the move to private practice.
I believe it will give me more flexibility to work from home and be better for my clients. It’s about being sure I won’t be compromising myself or even adding extra costs to the mix.
