Have you been at the edge of your seat waiting for me to get this posted? I'm so happy to say that it's done, and am wishing I started with this bit of information first, rather than my bookkeeping statistics, since this information was much easier to tally up.
You can now click here to (hopefully) see how you rank against the rest of my clients among lots of categories and demographics. I left vowels out of lots of the categories to save on spreadsheet real estate, so I'll list everything here so you have a better idea of just what the numbers are representing. Please let me know if you are unable to access the file, I'm still figuring out Google Documents. I may still need to recreate it into a new file so more people can get to it, as I understand, not many people have Microsoft Works on their computers (except for me!).
The list starts with appointment times: 3-4p, 4-5p, 5-6p, 6-7p, 7-8p;
Day or the week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday;
Returning Clients;
How long the massage session was: 30minute, 45minute, 60minute, 75minute, 90minute;
Spa treatments: Bodywrap, Body Mask & Wrap, Mask, Toning, Skin Polish, Bodywrap & Massage, Skin Polish & Massage, Hand & Foot Polish & Massage, Body Mask & Massage, Add-Ons, Retail Products Sold;
Transaction information: Trade, Gift Certificate Sold, Package Sold, Complimentary Gift Certificate/Coupon Redeem, Gift Certificate Redeem, Package Redeem, Cash, Check, Credit, Debit, American Specialty Health (HealthNet insurance massage benefit), Private Insurance (car accidents), No Tip, Tip<$5, Tip<$10, Tip<$15, Tip<$20, Tip>$20;
Booking information: Rebook Yes/No, Same Day Appointment Booked, Same Day Appointment Cancellation, No Show Appointment, Sunday Appointment Request, Tuesday Appointment Request, Thursday Appointment Request, Saturday Appointment Request, Same Day Appointment Request With Full Schedule, Appointment Request Before3:30;
Source of new clients: New Client Referral, New Client Drive By, New Client Online, New Client Personal, New Client Miscellaneous;
Client demographics:
Male/Year of Birth/Female: M '20-'29 F, M '30-'39 F, M '40-'49 F, M '50-'59 F, M '60-'69 F, M '70-'79 F, M '80-'89 F, M '90-'99 F, M '00-'10 F;
City or residence: Beavercreek, Beaverton/West Side, Canby, Clackamas, Gladstone, Gresham, Happy Valley, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Molalla, Mulino, Oregon City, Out Of Town, Portland, West Linn, Wilsonville;
Job/career information: Accounting, Administration/Office, Architecture/Engineer, Armed Forces, Beauty, Computer, Customer Service, Design, Education, Food/Hospitality, General Labor, Government, Human Resources, Legal, Management, Medical, Media, Real Estate, Retail/Sales, Self Employed, Stay At Home Mom/Dad, Retired, Unemployed, Student;
Health insurance provider: AARP, Aetna, BCBS, Cigna, HealthNet, Kaiser, MediCaid, MediCare, ODS, Oregon Health Plan, Providence, Motor Vehicle Accident Insurance, Other, None;
General health description: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Not Indicated;
How much water drank daily: H2O<16oz, H2O<32oz, H2O<48oz, H2O<64oz, H2O>64oz, Not Indicated;
Health ailments/concerns: Headaches/Migraines, Arthritis/Joint Swelling, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Epilepsy/Seizures, Cancer, Cardiac/Circulatory Problems, Bruise Easily, Osteoporosis, Varicose Veins, Contagious Disease, Chronic Pain, Surgery, Motor Vehicle Accident/Injury, Broken Bones, Numbness, Stabbing Pain, Pregnant, Allergies, Contacts/Dentures, Etc for LMT to know;
Massage history: 1st Massage, Last Massage within the last 2 months, M<4mo, M<6mo, M<1yr, M<18mo, M<2yrs, M<5yrs, M<10yrs;
Massage needs: Relaxation, decrease Pain/Tension, decrease Stress, Maintain Health, increase Energy, Headaches, Other, No Response;
Pressure preference: Light Pressure, Light-Medium Pressure, Medium Pressure, Medium-Firm Pressure, Firm Pressure;
Areas to receive massage: Full Body OK, No Head, No Face, No Neck, No Upper Chest, No Back, No Arms, No Hands, No Glutes, No Legs, No Feet
Ahh... don't you love that sense of accomplishment when you finally get something done that's been on your to-do list for what seems like forever? The kids blessed me with a longer than usual nap yesterday, giving me some much needed quiet time to really chip away at my goals for this year.
What really made a difference in setting these goals, is that I was more specific in what I wanted to achieve. Until recently, my goals seemed to always be based on just a general number of client sessions per month, not taking into consideration whether they were 30, 45, 60, 75, or 90 minute sessions, or whether it wasn't even massage, but a bodywrap or other spa treatment instead. I suppose my 2010 goals didn't get quite as specific as they could be, now that I'm thinking deeper into it, but I've at least based my goals on the financial step I'd like to reach.
I'm still a bit on the fence about sharing exact numbers, maybe not due to my own feelings towards them, but more in regards to other people's feelings about income. I've never really understood why people are so secretive about money. I'll keep much of this information on a general, percentage standpoint, though I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to punch a few numbers into a calculator and come up with the exact. If you are really interested in knowing, just ask.
To begin, I had 206 total sessions in 2009, which is equal to 58% of 2010's goal of 351 sessions, based on the most commonly booked 60 minute sessions.
My total income in 2009 is equal to 67% of my goal for 2010, and 2009's total take home is equal to 66.6% of 2010's goal. I like that those numbers are pretty close, and am not too daunted by my goal of a 33% increase...so far! However, I'm also looking to reduce my total business expenses. 2009 is 117% of my goal/budget for 2010.
If I reach my monthly income goals, 31.3% goes towards business expenses, things like my massage room lease, student loans, stamps, ink, printing, continuing education, license renewals, linens, laundry, products, etc; 23% for taxes, maybe that will take the edge of my annual surprise!; leaving 45.6% for personal profits, ie. paying household bills and keeping tummies happy.
So to reach these monetary goals, I need to have 29 non-discounted 60 minute massage sessions per month, which would keep my schedule at 78% capacity throughout the year. I believe I worked in a few vacation days when figuring those numbers. If my schedule only books up to 70% capacity, I would need to increase my 60 minute massage rate by $6.86 to continue to meet my goals.
How will I keep my schedule at 78% capacity to avoid raising my rates, you ask? I've got a list of things to do and, as I found when beginning this post, a few more things to add on also. I don't want to list it all out here... so let's see if, as a client, you notice my efforts!
It feels like I've been spending A LOT of time working on these numbers, and when I posted them up last week, I thought I could finally be free from their hold on me. The task still was just not as complete as I had hoped. I, myself, was still going bonkers looking at ALL those percentages all at once.
Yesterday, I decided the best way for me to understand it all, would be to break it down into smaller groups of numbers.
First, I wanted to see how each percentage compared with an ideal, "average" throughout the year. Breaking 100% down by 12 (months per year), that number is 8.3%. So I looked through each category, and found the months that came closest to that 8.3%. But then, I also realized that just because there were some that were very close to "average," it didn't necessarily mean that was a GOOD thing. Sometimes it's better to be ABOVE or BELOW average, not spot on. So I took it two steps further, and found the Best of, and Worst of each category.
I then also scored each month by my new breakdown numbers--Closest to 8.3%, Best Of, and Worst Of, and looked at those 3 numbers to give each month an overall score.
Unfortunately, Google Documents doesn't want to read my Microsoft Works Word Processor document that this is all laid out on an easy to view and compare format, so I had to just list them month by month among the 3 new categories. My scores are at the end. See if you agree, or if I'm being too nice/hard on myself with the scores. I gotta say, by looking at the numbers this way, I was a bit surprised... some months didn't score as high as I thought they would, and others did much better than I thought previously also.
Here it is.
My 2009 Bookkeeping Analysis is FINALLY complete! I've compiled my numbers and figured them into percentages based on quarterly and yearly totals, as well as percentages of my total income, so I'll just post those percentages. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to get a sense of how much money I actually made, but I'd rather leave those exact numbers out.
Don't worry if you click the link and your head starts spinning...believe me, it was no easy task to figure it out as I was calculating the numbers either. Having this completed gives me a much better tool to measure success in this year and years to come. Often, I hear of other small businesses saying things like their sales have increased by XX%, and until now, I would not have been able to see that growth from my own business. Now, at the end of 2010 (as well as quarterly, because I WILL NOT put this off till the end of the year, or beginning of 2011!!), I will have a clear picture of financial improvements, particularly in relevance to marketing.
I've always liked seeing how many sessions I have in a month and had thought that was a pretty good tool of measurement, but as I look at the big picture, that's just one ingredient in my take home dollars pie. The biggest area I need to look out for are my business expenses. These encompass my massage room lease, student loans, continuing education classes, license renewals for Oregon, National, and business, stamps, ink cartridges, paper, business cards and other print materials, the cost of vendor spaces, sheets, oil, etc. Other areas, of course, are increasing my income from the get-go. Part of that means watching how much I discount services. You can bet I won't be offering 30% off for a whole month again!! Whew... October hurt me. But at the same time, I think that's a good way to drum up stagnant clients. Taking a look at August and seeing negative numbers--now there's a month that could've benefitted from a 30% off discount!
Well, anyway, take a look, if you dare, and give me some feedback.
And, as always, I appreciate each and every one of my clients for coming in. Without you, my entire year could have gone negative, rather than just one month! The bottom line: 45% of my income stayed in my pocket for the the year. My hope for 2010: Raise that up a good 15%. I'm not a business whiz, so I don't know how steep a goal that is, but I'm shooting for it nonetheless! Anything higher will just be icing on the cake, and just a bit of an ego booster.
PS--If you're wondering why this is Part 1, it's because sometime, hopefully in the next few weeks, I will be putting up a spreadsheet on my client statistics/demographics. Stuff like what days clients book their appointments on, how they pay and tip, what cities they live in, how old and what gender they are, health ailments, frequency of receiving massage, WHY they are getting massage, pressure preference, what kind of work they do, how they rate their health, and how much water they're drinking. By the way, most of my clients should be drinking more water. I'm sure you've worked up a thirst after reading all this--go grab yourself a drink (of WATER!). I expect part 2 to be much easier to digest, although I may get carried away and work some percentages. Right now, it's basically just a couple sheets of paper with really messy tally marks on it...a true sight for sore eyes.
Alright here goes...
I am vowing to nix my chronicly-late problem this year, and truly learn to take control of my time and manage it better. There are always roadblocks in overcoming any challenge, and it can be so tough to really grab that challenge by the horns and defeat it. It takes a lot of planning for sure, and prioritizing.
Already, I have promised to share the statictics on my clients and business information from 2009 (keeping everything anonymous, of course), and I will get that accomplished. Turns out it was a bigger task than I anticipated, so it's taking me longer to figure out even HOW to share that information. My tally sheets are so confusing to read, and transfer to computerized versions. Not only am I working on getting 2009 stats up and posted, but also re-creating a format to simplify the process for 2010, and not fall behind in tracking my clients and business information as the new years rolls on.
Realizing the new challenges, I feel confident in being able to share the results of what really was my first full year in business FOR MYSELF by the end of this month. Some of it isn't pretty, but it is all so helpful to help me steer my business/marketing into the right directions this year. For that, it is entirely invaluable.
I hope you will come back to my blog to see how you ranked among my other clients, and how your business has contributed to MY business. And by the way, if you are low on gratitude, I owe each and every one of my clients a tremendous THANK YOU for helping me learn how to grow my business and become a better massage therapist. I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing without YOU. THANK YOU!
My family has been doing pretty well at keeping germs at bay this season, knock on wood. We did come across a cold-bug this past weekend, however, and I had a head cold in full swing on Monday, as well as a full appointment book for the day.
As a courtesy to those clients, I called them to let them know that yes, they could still come in for their massage if they needed it, but if they wanted to steer as far from my cold as possible and reschedule their appointments, that would be fine too. All three rescheduled. I felt kind of bad about it at first, but later in the evening, I was very, very relieved. Potentially, I just saved 3 families from catching the (fairly minor) cold that I had. But it meant so much more to me than that.
The straw that broke the camel's back in my previous career (working in assisted living), came in June 2005. I was sick, turned out it was bronchitis. I tried to call in sick, but basically was not given that choice. I HAD to go to work. With bronchitis. Working with the elderly. Within the same time frame, one of the residents got pneumonia, and I am convinced she got it due in part to my working with bronchitis. Fortunately, she got over the pneumonia, despite her poor health to begin with, but never really got well, and passed away several months later.
Well anyway... it bothered me to no end that I should HAVE to work with people with poor immune systems when I was already sick. That experience was the last one needed before I signed myself up for school to become a massage therapist (with a hoarse voice at the time!).
It was such a nice feeling to be able to let my clients choose whether I would come to work for them on Monday or not, and to know that they cared enough about my health and theirs to let me stay home and wait out the cold. To those clients: Thank You!
Aaahh, a new year is upon us. Not only the new year, but a new decade. The turning of a new leaf. Yes, we've all heard and said the same things of years past, but something tells me 2010 is going to be a truly fantastic year.
Put your powers into health, wellness, and happiness. Believe in yourself. You can be successful at anything you put your mind to. Make up your mind, make a plan, and work at it every day. Whether your goal is to lose those extra pounds, pay off those debts, or even land a new job, I don't believe you can expect it to happen without planning for it.
Begin with the broad goal in mind, make your end outcome as detailed as possible. Break the goal down into smaller tasks, small steps you can take that aren't overwhelming and can be scheduled into your routine, to build up to your main goal.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, and in those around you. Resources are everywhere. 2010 brings an abundance of positive energy with it, grab it by the horns and run with it! Make this the year all your wishes and dreams come true! Be happy! You can bet I am!
