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Written by: Esther Strauss
Esther is a business strategist with over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, executive, educator, and management advisor.
Edited by: David Lepeska
David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.
Published on April 25, 2021
Investment range
$9,050 - $19,600
Revenue potential
$150,000 - $375,000 p.a.
Time to build
1 - 3 months
Profit potential
$75,000 - $150,000 p.a.
Industry trend
Growing
Commitment
Full-time
When establishing your massage business, consider these significant factors:
How Jenni Jo Became Portland’s Massage Maven
First, it’s a good idea to look at the industry as a whole.
There are both pros and cons to the massage therapy industry. Let’s take a look.
Like many industries, massage has experienced a dip during the pandemic. Today massage is coming back strong, and secondary markets like massage equipment and oils are also expanding, with the latter expected to grow 5% annually through 2030.
The latest trends in the industry include:
Some of the challenges are:
Starting a massage business could cost as little as $30,000, or more than $100,000 on the high end, with the average being around $50,000. For a basic non-therapeutic massage business, you could probably spend just $40,000 to get up and running.
Excluding the cost of acquiring, or leasing and renovating a studio, here’s an example on the low end:
| Start-up Costs | Ballpark Range | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up a business name and corporation | $150 - $200 | $175 |
| Business licenses and permits | $100 - $300 | $200 |
| Insurance | $100 - $300 | $200 |
| Business cards and brochures | $200 - $300 | $250 |
| Supplies | $1,500 - $3,500 | 2500 |
| Furniture | $1,000 - $2,000 | 1500 |
| Payroll | $5,000 - $10,000 | $7,500 |
| Website | $1,000 - $3,000 | 2000 |
| Total | $9,050 - $19,600 | $14,325 |
This leaves $10,000 for your studio space, accessories, and other expenses if you allocate $30,000 for your startup expenses.
Keep in mind, if you’re planning to start as a sole practitioner you could run your studio out of your home, or make client house calls, and cut your startup costs down to just a few thousand dollars.
The average one-hour massage session costs $100 and a typical full-time therapist sees about five clients per day. Working six days a week, you could see more than $150,000 in annual revenue and profit of $75,000, assuming a 50% profit margin.
As your brand gains recognition, you could hire two more therapists and attend to 12 clients per day. At this stage, you’d rent a commercial space, reducing your profit margin to around 40%. With annual revenue of $375,000, you’d make a tidy profit of $150,000.
It’s always a good idea to be aware of any barriers that could stand in your way. Here are some potential barriers in the massage industry:
Now that you know more about the industry, it’s time to start crafting your business itself.
Market research will give you the upper hand, even if you’re already positive that you have a perfect product or service. Conducting market research is important, because it can help you understand your customers better, who your competitors are, and your business landscape.
It’s a good idea to scope out who you’ll be competing against. Since you and your clients won’t want to waste time traveling, you should look within your local area.
Find out what your competitors offer, their prices, and how they treat their customers. You can take this one step further by going in for a massage or treatment yourself to see what the experience is like.
Knowing all about your competitors will help you create a unique and competitive business.
You might consider targeting a niche market by specializing in a certain aspect of your industry, such as therapeutic massage.
This could jumpstart your word-of-mouth marketing and attract clients right away.
When it comes to massage services, there are three main types: therapeutic, non-therapeutic, and massage spa. It’s a good idea to decide first what type of services you’ll provide.
Therapeutic massage focuses on health benefits, and can include services like remedial massage or sports massage, which help release tissues within the body. Clients are often able to pay for therapeutic massage with a health fund or insurance.
Non-therapeutic massages focus more on relaxation, while also providing health benefits. These benefits include improved blood flow, reduced pain, and better sleep.
If you want to open a massage spa, you’ll need to incorporate a number of extra services. Besides massage, common spa services include facials, body treatments, and sometimes even hair and nail services.
How much you charge will come down to your location, the experience you provide, who your competitors are, and your ongoing costs.
For example, if you open a store in a location with a high average income, you’ll obviously be able to charge more. If you aim to provide more value, you might offer lower prices and attract more clients.
Once you know your costs, you can use this Step By Step profit margin calculator to determine your mark-up and final price points. Remember, the prices you use at launch should be subject to change if warranted by the market.
Your target market will be the people most interested in your service offerings. For example, if you choose to open a high-end spa, your regular customers will likely have large disposable incomes. They could earn this income from stressful corporate jobs, hence the need for a relaxing spa day!
So your target market could be people with corporate jobs, and the best way to market to them would be in luxury lifestyle magazines and at high-end industry events.
Whatever services you offer, make sure you identify the right market for your services and direct your marketing accordingly. Otherwise, your business may not last long!
In the early stages, you may want to run your business from home or travel to your clients to keep costs low. But as your business grows, you’ll likely need to hire workers for various roles and may need to rent out a studio. You can find commercial space to rent in your area on sites such as Craigslist, Crexi, and Instant Offices.
When choosing a commercial space, you may want to follow these rules of thumb:
Here’s a rundown of the essential equipment you’ll need to create a relaxing and professional atmosphere in your massage business:
Here are some ideas for brainstorming your business name:
Once you’ve got a list of potential names, visit the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office to make sure they are available for registration and check the availability of related domain names using our Domain Name Search tool. Using “.com” or “.org” sharply increases credibility, so it’s best to focus on these.
Finally, make your choice among the names that pass this screening and go ahead with domain registration and social media account creation. Your business name is one of the key differentiators that set your business apart. Once you pick your company name, and start with the branding, it is hard to change the business name. Therefore, it’s important to carefully consider your choice before you start a business entity.
Here are the key components of a business plan:
If you’ve never created a business plan, it can be an intimidating task. You might consider hiring a business plan specialist to create a top-notch business plan for you.
Registering your business is an absolutely crucial step — it’s the prerequisite to paying taxes, raising capital, opening a bank account, and other guideposts on the road to getting a business up and running.
Plus, registration is exciting because it makes the entire process official. Once it’s complete, you’ll have your own business!
Your business location is important because it can affect taxes, legal requirements, and revenue. Most people will register their business in the state where they live, but if you are planning to expand, you might consider looking elsewhere, as some states could offer real advantages when it comes to massage services.
If you’re willing to move, you could really maximize your business! Keep in mind, it’s relatively easy to transfer your business to another state.
Business entities come in several varieties, each with its pros and cons. The legal structure you choose for your massage business will shape your taxes, personal liability, and business registration requirements, so choose wisely.
Here are the main options:
We recommend that new business owners choose LLC as it offers liability protection and pass-through taxation while being simpler to form than a corporation. You can form an LLC in as little as five minutes using an online LLC formation service. They will check that your business name is available before filing, submit your articles of organization, and answer any questions you might have.
Choose Your State
The final step before you’re able to pay taxes is getting an Employer Identification Number, or EIN. You can file for your EIN online or by mail or fax: visit the IRS website to learn more. Keep in mind, if you’ve chosen to be a sole proprietorship you can simply use your social security number as your EIN.
Once you have your EIN, you’ll need to choose your tax year. Financially speaking, your business will operate in a calendar year (January–December) or a fiscal year, a 12-month period that can start in any month. This will determine your tax cycle, while your business structure will determine which taxes you’ll pay.
The IRS website also offers a tax-payers checklist, and taxes can be filed online.
It is important to consult an accountant or other professional to help you with your taxes to ensure you are completing them correctly.
Securing financing is your next step and there are plenty of ways to raise capital:
Bank and SBA loans are probably the best options, other than personal savings, for funding a massage business.
Starting a massage business requires obtaining a number of licenses and permits from local, state, and federal governments.
Federal regulations, licenses, and permits associated with starting your business include doing business as (DBA), health licenses and permits from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other intellectual properties, as well as industry-specific licenses and permits.
Additional licenses you may need are massage therapy license, which commonly includes 500+ hours of education and an exam, and a cosmetology license, if you’re planning on opening a massage spa.
You may also need state-level and local county or city-based licenses and permits. The license requirements and how to obtain them vary, so check the websites of your state, city, and county governments or contact the appropriate person to learn more.
You could also check this SBA guide for your state’s requirements, but we recommend using MyCorporation’s Business License Compliance Package. They will research the exact forms you need for your business and state and provide them to ensure you’re fully compliant.
This is not a step to be taken lightly, as failing to comply with legal requirements can result in hefty penalties.
If you feel overwhelmed by this step or don’t know how to begin, it might be a good idea to hire a professional to help you check all the legal boxes.
Before you start making money, you’ll need a place to keep it, and that requires opening a bank account.
Keeping your business finances separate from your personal account makes it easy to file taxes and track your company’s income, so it’s worth doing even if you’re running your massage business as a sole proprietorship. Opening a business bank account is quite simple, and similar to opening a personal one. Most major banks offer accounts tailored for businesses — just inquire at your preferred bank to learn about their rates and features.
Banks vary in terms of offerings, so it’s a good idea to examine your options and select the best plan for you. Once you choose your bank, bring in your EIN (or Social Security Number if you decide on a sole proprietorship), articles of incorporation, and other legal documents and open your new account.
Business insurance is an area that often gets overlooked yet it can be vital to your success as an entrepreneur. Insurance protects you from unexpected events that can have a devastating impact on your business.
Here are some types of insurance to consider:
As opening day nears, prepare for launch by reviewing and improving some key elements of your business.
Being an entrepreneur often means wearing many hats, from marketing to sales to accounting, which can be overwhelming. Fortunately, many websites and digital tools are available to help simplify many business tasks.
Management tools like Fresh, Booker, and SuperSaaS can help your massage business with everything from scheduling appointments and payments to reporting and analyzing data.
Website development is crucial because your site is your online presence and needs to convince prospective clients of your expertise and professionalism.
You can create your own website using website builders like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. This route is very affordable, but figuring out how to build a website can be time-consuming. If you lack tech-savvy, you can hire a web designer or developer to create a custom website for your business.
Your clients are unlikely to find your website, however, unless you follow Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices. One way to do is to write about topics related to massage and wellness. This not only helps with SEO but also establishes your expertise in the field.
Starting a massage business is an exciting venture, and a robust marketing strategy is key to attracting and retaining clients. Here are some effective strategies to consider:
Unique selling propositions, or USPs, are the characteristics of a product or service that set it apart from the competition. Customers today are inundated with buying options, so you’ll have a real advantage if they are able to quickly grasp how your massage business meets their needs or wishes. It’s wise to do all you can to ensure your USPs stand out on your website and in your marketing and promotional materials, stimulating buyer desire.
Global pizza chain Domino’s is renowned for its USP: “Hot pizza in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.” Signature USPs for your massage business could be:
You may not like to network or use personal connections for business gain. But your personal and professional networks likely offer considerable untapped business potential. Maybe that Facebook friend you met in college is now running a massage studio, or a LinkedIn contact of yours is connected to dozens of potential clients. Maybe your cousin or neighbor has been working in massage for years and can offer invaluable insight and industry connections.
The possibilities are endless, so it’s a good idea to review your personal and professional networks and reach out to those with possible links to or interest in the massage industry. You’ll probably generate new customers or find companies with which you could establish a partnership. Online businesses might also consider affiliate marketing as a way to build relationships with potential partners and boost business.
If you’re starting out small from home, you may not need any employees right away. But as your business grows, you will likely need workers to fill various roles. Potential positions for a massage business would include:
At some point, you may need to hire all of these positions or simply a few, depending on the size and needs of your business. You might also hire multiple workers for a single role or a single worker for multiple roles, again depending on need.
Free-of-charge methods to recruit employees include posting ads on popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Jobs.com. You might also consider a premium recruitment option, such as advertising on Indeed, Glassdoor, or ZipRecruiter. Further, if you have the resources, you could consider hiring a recruitment agency to help you find talent.
Just 10 minutes of relaxing massage could melt stress away, studies have shown. Demand for massage services is expected to grow further as more people seek ways to cope with stress and get relief from the ailments it causes. You could get in on the action and grab a share of this lucrative market by setting up your own massage business.
Now that you have the knowledge to start a business, you’re ready to begin your entrepreneurial journey and help a lot of people improve their health. It’s time to get to work and launch your own massage business! Best of luck!
That depends on a number of factors, including your prices, services, popularity, and operating costs. While we don’t know what all of these numbers are, we can give you an estimate of what you could generate as a small business owner.
Thumbtack pegs the average massage session at $100, while WayUp’s research says that the average full-time therapist sees about five clients per day. If we put this together, you’d generate about $500 per day in gross revenue.
To start a massage business, you’ll need several essential supplies. These include various massage oils, creams, lotions, and balms for different types of treatments. Decorate your space to create a relaxing ambiance. Ensure you have ample storage for your supplies. Invest in a quality massage table and comfortable chairs. Stock up on clean sheets, pillows, and towels for client use. Consider offering robes for clients’ comfort. Optionally, you can enhance the experience by providing herbal teas.
If you put in the work, definitely! A full-time therapist can generate around $500 per day in revenue. This number is based on an average price of $100 per session and five clients per day. Even if you charge $60 per session (which is on the lower end) and see five clients per day you’ll still generate $300 in revenue per day. So your first goal should be building a full-time client base.
Massage can be a rewarding side hustle for those with the necessary skills and qualifications. It offers flexibility in terms of scheduling and can provide an additional source of income.
To set up a massage room at home, start by choosing a quiet and private area where you can create a relaxing environment. Invest in a comfortable massage table or mat and essential supplies such as clean linens, pillows, and bolsters. Consider factors like lighting, temperature control, and soundproofing to enhance the ambiance.
Start by creating a professional online presence through a website and social media platforms. Showcase your services, qualifications, and contact information. Offer introductory promotions or discounted rates for new clients to encourage them to try your services.
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