“What you’ve been doing isn’t working,” she said. My heart sank a little as I listened to my client. I watched her choose her words carefully so as not to hurt my feelings, “What we’ve been doing feels like what I need, but the pain is still there after our sessions.”

She has been coming to me for about two years now. Most of the time expressing the same complaint, low back pain. I had targeted all the usual areas— back, hips, quads…but, it wasn’t working. Her words didn’t hurt my feelings, what bothered me is that I had fallen into a routine with our sessions. Doing the same massage every time with little to no results. Thankfully, she spoke up. I needed the reality check. We needed to take a different approach to solve the problem. So, that’s what we did. Low and behold, she felt a difference after the session. I checked in with her the next day and the pain was still at bay. Huzzah! This is why I love what I do.

Growing a business is a lot like this experience I had with my client. We start off with a zeel to work hard and make money. In my case, give a great massage and the rest will follow. When I first started my practice in 2018 I didn’t know the first thing about running a business. To be honest, the first 3 years were kind of a flop. Guess what, you can give the best bodywork session of your career but only getting one client a week will still have your bank account in the negative. You have to market, you have to be good at customer service, you have to keep track of your spending, and file taxes, and keep up with your licensing, and everything else. There’s a lot to it besides a one hour massage session.

It wasn’t until 2021 when I started to feel like I could be successful in my endeavors. Still, I was completely focused on the work and not the “business” side of it. You know, the paperwork. Then, there’s the continuing education which has taken a higher priority in the last year or two. Education is a powerful tool.

This year, 2023, I feel like I’ve made leaps and bounds as far as knowing the ins and outs of running a successful massage practice and I’ve only touched the surface. There’s still so much to learn.

Reflecting on the last (almost) 6 years of being self employed there’s one extra big thing I did wrong. I became trapped in a routine. What I was doing felt safe and I was getting by, but I wasn’t what I would call thriving. Not too unlike my client, I felt like I was doing what I needed to do, but I was still stressing about how to pay my bills. I needed a different approach, and that’s what I’ve been working on this year. Again, similar to my experience with my client, I’m seeing a difference. I’m a little less stressed and a lot more excited because my business is finally taking off.

I digress, a business is a business no matter what you’re selling. If you aren’t putting in the work on all fronts, you won’t grow. I’d even go as far to say that your investment will fail. If you aren’t growing you aren’t making money and after all, gaining financial freedom is the point of all this, right?

My advice is to pick up a good book on entrepreneurship and start writing down all of your goals—yes, even the big ones that feel out of reach. Then, develop a good sense of confidence in yourself because you’re going to need it! Lastly, surround yourself with fellow entrepreneurs and friends who cheer you on. Support and constructive advice is so beneficial in all aspects of business ownership.

Trust me, if I can figure this stuff out you can too. I can’t wait to see how much my practice grows in 2024.