Kathy Kawana had been practicing massage therapy for about 10 years when she felt a need to acquire new skills to employ in her practice.
"This is a common burnout point for many massage therapists," she says. "I had to do something else so I could continue working. I could not envision doing the physical aspect of massage indefinitely."
Acupuncture seemed to fill that void, for age and physical strength would not be a deterrent.
"Knowledge of the points and the ability to control the needles are the keys to performance," she adds.
Kawana enrolled in acupuncture school while still maintaining her massage practice. She took courses not only in acupuncture, but in herbology and nutrition as well. She graduated, became certified by a national commission, and became licensed by the State of Hawaii. Now she is able to practice
to diagnose and treat accordingly. She offers various types of massage, acupuncture, or a combination of acupuncture and massage. Her training also enables her to use moxa and Oriental herbs with acupuncture.
This expansion has been fruitful. Hawaii's two largest medical insurance providers have recently recognized acupuncture and massage therapy without physician referral, and she has capitalized. New clients have come in while existing ones sought acupuncture treatment. Furthermore, her new skills address her original concerns, and will enhance her physical longevity in the profession she enjoys.
Why Difficult Times?
All businesses face challenges no matter how established they may be. Many fail. Simplified, one of the main reasons for business difficulties is a lack of revenue. From this we can further break down the problem into several specific reasons.
- Health or physically not being able to perform. We discussed the burnout factor as an example.
- Bad economic times. Many areas, Hawaii in particular, have not enjoyed the economic prosperity that blessed the rest of the nation. A steady decline of disposable income has forced many to put financial priorities in areas other than massage. Many existing and potential clients left to seek fortunes elsewhere. For many businesses it was a futile struggle for survival.
- increased competition is always a challenge for any business, even in the best of times. In a given area, there are only so many clients who will get massages. More therapists will dilute this available pool. For instance, another therapist opened a practice in a highly visible shopping mall across the street from Kawana's office. She acknowledges that this other business did lure away some of her long-time clients.
Spinning Off
According to Big Ideas For Small Service Businesses, by Tom and Marilyn Ross, prosperity is a result of synergy (two or more things working together to produce a desired result). Going further, one way to survive and grow is to diversify into other activities. Its immediate result is added revenue and a broadening of the client base as discussed in the above example. In fact, many businesses are vitalized with new activity.
One-Stop Shopping
Diversification is a natural traffic builder. Clients who frequent the "new" endeavor often turn toward the original activity. In Kathy's case, this was massage. According to The Popcorn Report, a book of trends written by Faith Popcorn, this concept is called
"cluster marketing." Popcorn says that products or functions that allow a customer to get more than one thing done at a time will be most successful.
Jan Schmidt of the Absolute Wellness Center in Hawaii agrees. "People like to get several things done at one place," she says. Schmidt, an ordained minister, is a model of a diverse practitioner. She came into massage therapy later, having started out as a spiritual counselor. She wished to do more for her clients, and attended classes to add massage therapy, healing touch, nutrition counseling, and hypnotherapy to her repertoire.
Each activity now complements the other, and she serves her clients with a holistic approach to health care. When a client first comes in, she has him/her fill out a questionnaire. After serious perusal, she decides what program is best suited for the client.
"Most people come in for spiritual counseling," she says. "People have health issues and relationship issues. Later on they come back for more, usually for a massage or healing touch therapy. The health effects are usually the aftereffects of other stresses that is going on." Schmidt tries to get to the real cause.
In addition, Schmidt has recently written and published a book, Absolute Bliss, which teaches its readers how to find
"bliss." Public appearances at book stores have given her even more exposure and the opportunity for workshops in wellness. She sees this as bringing in more clients.
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