Re: Massage Therapy Course...is it a profitable income or worth doing?

newbie2009

Well that's it another college - about an hr away are offering a free diploma in beauty which normally costs about £1000, it may be worth the treck. And if it doesn't work out at least i've earnt something!

angelcatcher

Hey, there newbie2009,
your post was a question I have asked myself as well. I am currently 23 years old and have worked in retail and office positions my working life and the last few months have wanted a total career change into the beauty sector before I get much older and stuck in same old job. (in my case I am interested in aromatherapy massage specifically). I am so glad my Anatomy and Physiology certificate is still valid for my course, for that is torture I DO NOT EVER want to go through again! So be prepared for an intensive educational workout.
I fully understand that it takes time, effort and a lot of hard graft and at the end if you can't get the clients, you will fall flat. Saying that, also with todays finacial status, will people be wanting to pay for treatments as well. It is hit and miss I think so a lot to really think about. Still, if you feel confident to take the risk, you might as well try something to help enjoy life.
For myself personally, I know salons in my area I might be able to rent say at workends once I have the qualification. And if all goes well I would like to enter this sector full-time. At least that is the plan. But you never know what the future holds.
If you never try, you'll never know.

saving2cleardebts

Hi Newbie2009,

a family member of mine has a beauty business, she offers everything from peds n manicures, aromatheropy & reki along with others. She has bin working in the industry for 10years and so the transition was easier for her. It is possible the more skills u have in the industry though the better chance of success you have. But it is possible to successed with hard work and lots of determination.

G8311374

Hi, if you need guinee pigs for practise try advertising on gumtree, www.gumtree.com chose your town or city page and you can advertise for free!!! Just make clear what sort of services you are and aren't offering. Hope this helps.

Gothdolly

I trained as a holistic therapist many years ago and I still keep my hand in but to be honest getting a good client base takes a long time and a lot of effort, word of mouth is by far the best form of advertising. If I put adverts in the paper or yellow pages I'd get call from men asking for 'extras' and leafleting really isn't worth it.

I've worked as a mobile therapist - I wouldn't do that again, getting your massage couch in and out of the car is a pain but then a lot of times I'd find there wasn't much room to work in the clients home, phones ringing, dogs barking etc.... not the best environment for a massage!

I also had my own holistic salon which never took off until I offered beauty treatments too (which I'm also qualified in, I just don't enjoy waxing, doing pedicures etc....) clients did book holistic treatments but the main form of income was from the beauty treatment side of things.

If you really want to do it then do it but it won't make you rich and I doubt it would replace your current income, certainly to start with. If where you live doesn't have a beauty salon on every corner it's possible to make a good living from it but really you need to have a permanent place of work, as having every possible item on hand when working mobile is hard, especially if a client asks if they can have an extra treatment they had not booked for. Mobile waxing etc... really is a pain (lol).

Whatever you decide, I wish you good luck.

sonsbear

It is one thing getting the qualification but another getting the experience. To get a good client base you need to be good at what you do and college itself isn't enough for that. Plus guinea pigs aren't as forthcoming as you'd hope expecially if you do something like waxing and you have to have 6 bikini lines and 6 underarms using warm wax and hot wax! Massage - hopefully they'd queue up!

I'd love to do it myself but have seen too many people do it and be told they can earn this amount, etc, but it will take a long time to get that position.

nexuss

helenbolland wrote: »

Hi, if you need guinee pigs for practise try advertising on gumtree, www.gumtree.com chose your town or city page and you can advertise for free!!! Just make clear what sort of services you are and aren't offering. Hope this helps.

I would advise against this due to the amount of alledged offences committed by advertisers or people posting replies on there.

JoJoB

A lot depends on the area you plan to work in and what the local rates are. I trained in massage and reflexology and earned an ok living (10-15k) but it took a while and lots of different ways to find clients! In the end I also got a bit fed up of it - just doing massage does get boring I'm afraid.

Sports centres are good possibilities for renting a room, as are beauty clinics, spas, and private gyms. In one gym they paid me 50% commission on every massage I gave. This was in London so worked out £25 per hour massage. If I was to do that where I live now I would be earning £8-£10. This sounds good on the face of it but in reality there can be a lot of last minute cancellations which can be impossible to chase up for a fee, so a whole day's hanging around might just produce £20.

Another route was to rent a room on a flat fee basis. There were a few health food shop type places renting rooms like this, as well as the usual gyms etc. With this you really have to market yourself well to make sure you make a profit on your room fee.

Hotels are another option, either employing on a straight hourly fee, or you may be able to market yourself there as a mobile therapist.

Corporate gyms are a very good place to market yourself. Find out if there are any nearby and who runs them (think big office blocks/law firms/ accountancy firms which have in-house gym facilities. They often have a medical centre too with alternatgive therapy provision. Nuffield Proactive health (they may have changed their name now) runs many through the city of London and I worked for them for a while.

But to agree with the other posters you need to have more than just massage to be able to make a decent living. Also it gives you a bit of variety. Consider adding reflexology and a couple of beauty staples like manicure/pedicure/waxing to your repetoire.

ooobedoo

Hiya, I just thought I would offer my experience.

I did the level 3 VCTC in Swedish Massage, A& P was included, but the lifelong registration and consumerables was expensive along with the fee.

The problem is, with this quailification, advertising is hard, I tried on gumtree and stated it wasn't a sexual service and then got some bloke asking for hand relief...and he didn't mean a hand massage.

It's well dodgy, I kind of feel I have a quail that I can't do that much with, I did do a intensive course using www.beauty-training.co.uk and worked on a sports team and that I can use, but the swedish element is difficult. The bench I bought it pretty heavy and when you add towels, bench roll, oils, etc etc things do kind of mount up. Feel free to PM me. I would say I have spent well over 1k (with the swedish fee, consumerables, registration, admin fee to college, sports massage course, travelling from Portsmouth to Windsor, 1lte of grapeseed oil, bench roll, a bench and towels + insurance) and haven't actually earned anything- YET, but when I do, I can charge about £40 an hour if not more

Duane_Jones_2

Hi,

Massage therapy is beneficial to individuals who suffer from depression, isolation, or Seasonal Affective Disorder. The massage therapy education, by contrast, is a relatively simple process and is in great demand. This particular career is expected to grow as it is increasingly recognized in the allied health field.