What should I do with a vacant room?

[?h??? ???? h???]

I rent a set of offices with a waiting room, bathroom and two therapist's rooms, one of which I sublet to someone with a totally separate massage business. We've been in the space 4 months, our lease will be renewed in two more months. I'm doing "fine" ... my business is ramping up slowly but consistently (20 new clients in the last 2 months, most of whom have become repeats). I need to get out there more and ramp up faster, but that's a topic for another day...

Anyway, my subletter is not doing so well and he told me this week that he will likely not renew his sublease with me at the end of this year (two months). He asked if he could share his space with another therapist to lower his costs. I'm not sure if my landlord will allow it, and even more importantly, I'm not sure if it's the best thing for me to agree to. Naturally, I care about the quality of the people who share my space and I don't think I know anyone he's considering inviting into his space.

Furthermore, I'm thinking the better move for me would be to find someone with another non-massage specialty to rent the space and we can perhaps build off each other. But which specialties compliment massage well? It has to be something that's relatively quiet (the therapy rooms share a wall) and can fit within a roughly 9x11 room. The complimentary practice has to be legitimate enough not to tarnish my credibility (no astrologists, etc.). I'd love to work towards putting together a wellness center as there are two unrented rooms adjacent to my space that might be good for a chiropractor (there is a locked door off my waiting room that leads into the other two, and they also have outside doors and a second bathroom).

Before I worry about expanding into those two empty rooms, I have to fill the space my fellow therapist may be vacating! So far it seems an acupuncturist or accupressurist might be good. I thought perhaps a nutritionist or life coach might work, but then there's lots of talking and maybe unpleasant emotions being expressed, so I'm ruling those out.

Anyone have suggestions on specialists that would compliment massage? Beyond another occupant, what other things could I do with the vacant room to make money? I thought about using it for retail, but I'm only there by appointment and there's no other walk-through traffic.

(And then there's the whole hurdle of finding the right person with the right specialty who happens to be looking for space in my small town ... )

 

[JaMaMe]

:iagree: congratulations on that!

i've tried comp. therapies in my center as well. we had a personal coach (louise hay materials), psychologist, homeopathic pet practitioner, pranic healing person. bringing in a reflexologist would be wonderful!

there are lots of options out there. but it can be tricky. like you said: finding someone in your town, someone who has a little bit of a work ethic (because trust me, you can kill yourself trying to help someone with no work ethic!), and who can afford the space.

other threads that might help:
obscure modalities
complimentary modalities

i know there are more but these will give you some great ideas!
good luck!

 

[wonderer]

Hey, thanks! A lot of my clients are finding me on the Interweb. I've searched for other therapists in my area (which I would call rural to exurban) and almost none of them have a web site and the ones that do are one-page sites. I show up first in Google's results for "my town + massage" ... at least for right now, and I'm also the only non-directory listing result on the first results page. So I seem to have positioned myself well that way at least. My most recent previous profession (more than a decade of web and print design) is coming in quite handy! And so are my word of mouth references...

What else am I doing?

I've done a couple stints of chair massage at the local health food store (the owner has become a client). I suggested this and my office mate said he's doing massage at a Ritz Carlton near DC on the weekends.

I give out cards whenever I think of it, including at my community's Prop. Owners Assoc. meetings a couple times. I got two client that way (maybe more in the works). I know my office mate talks to people around town and he seems to be known a bit (we once sat out front of a local coffee place and folks walking by knew him). He's skilled at joking with people and he's quick at physical assessments and so forth, better than me in both regards. I might come across as more grounded than he is.

My office mate was one of my teachers and is talented, I think. But given the rural and somewhat provincial nature of the area (though there are broader minded people here too) a male therapist has a rougher go of it here. He also has a marketing background (though I don't agree with some of his approaches, like charging $10 less/hour than me, and he seems to think discounting is the way to go). Even though our rent is pretty darn cheap, especially split two ways, he's really cash-strapped right now following a nasty divorce. He stopped teaching during the divorce and doesn't have much else to fall back on (that I'm aware of) except a pre-paid legal service that he also sells, and whatever work he can pick up in other massage outlets.

The most obvious differences between us that I can see is that I have a well developed web site (and I have more plans for it) and I'm female. I could offer him a web site in trade for massages or something, only I really don't want to do any more web work. I'm having a hard enough time finishing up a couple small jobs I've taken on; I want to be building the shopping cart for my own site! So those, and I'm also positive and rather passionate about having my own business, I seem to be cut out for it...

I'll talk with my office mate some more about marketing himself and see if I can help without getting in over my head...

Thanks also for the links to the other threads (why couldn't I find them when I looked?) and the other advice, it's much appreciated! makingachange, how did your forays into complimentary therapies in your space go?

 

[caspar]

Just a couple of ideas...

I didn't follow the links to see if a private (one-on-one) yoga instructor was mentioned?

If you can afford the rent w/o the sublet, put another table in there so that you can allow the client to stay in the treatment room after the therapy.

Or, if you adjust your table for different techniques, you could have the luxury of one room for deep tissue and the other for Swedish.

 

[Illana M]

Cicerone, that's a lovely idea (I have two tables) and I'll seriously consider doing it if there's some lag in finding a better complimentary practitioner. At my present level of earnings, the whole rent plus electric would cost me at least a week's worth of gross income. If I can double it, as I hope to eventually, a half week doesn't seem so bad, especially as I know there will be some level of tax write off.

Finding ANY good yoga instructor locally is a challenge, the only one I ever came across that I really liked moved to Florida three months later. But I'll ask around, it's a great idea. It'd be awesome if the person also did Thai yoga massage!

 

[?Socially Awkward?]

It sounds like your officemate is dealing with some baggage and is probably feeling a bit cash-desperate. Despite having more seniority in practice and being known around town, he feels the need to discount his services. :undecided:

I have a sense that he is lacking some confidence, and this is probably coming through to his clients. Despite a marketing background, he is missing the most important piece: effectively communicating directly with clients/potential clients when face-to-face.

As a business strategy, charging lower rates than you cheapens his services and makes you look better. A $10 difference may bring in a few people that wouldn't otherwise come in, but probably not enough to make it a wise choice. If I were him, I'd raise rates $5-10 higher than yours, and market services based on skills and experience. Writing some articles for local publications and possibly doing educational sessions in public venues would bolster his image as an expert, and raise interest.

That said, you might as well look to see who else is around. Hope you find what you need!

 

[don]

If your office mate has someone in mind to share his room with, why not let him based on your approval? That way he can stay and perhaps you will be bringing some wonderful therapist also?

 

[the man 505]

Or if he does want to stay, but you are not allowed to sublet an already sublet room, perhaps you could rent him the room part time and you could find another part time renter.

 

[Joe & Sarah]

I have always wanted to incorporate a meditation room with my offices. (LOL I dont practice meditation, but its always been on my list of things to do.) Encouraging clients to meditate (or just be still) for awhile before or after their session. I dont know how the logistics of something like that would work, if it would be a great use of empty space or not, but it is just something I have always thought of fondly.

 

[RodiKenley]

I worked at one place with a quiet room and if I had to estimate, 5% of clients actually hung out and used it. So nice to have but perhaps not the best use of space. At this place the room couldn't convert into a massage room anyways.

 

[golden sindy]

makingachange, how did your forays into complimentary therapies in your space go?

not well! but that was here. i've sinced downsized my practice and am back to one other mt besides me. the woman i started the business with. for us, for this area, getting back to our roots was the way to go.

good luck!

 

[samarira]

I am trying to think of ways you could make some passive income. We have an infrared sauna but it's a big investment. Spa treatment room? Not passive but fun. Possibly an esthetician, or colon hydrotherapist. Both need plumbing though. lol I've always wanted an acupuncturist in our spa, but haven't found one yet.

 

[Pompal 09.]

perhaps you can interview the person your officemate wants to sublet to? i like the idea of perhaps renting the room part time to your officemate and finding another therapist (perhaps accupuncturist) to rent part time.

 

[mizfurrocious]

makingachange, how did your forays into complimentary therapies in your space go?

not well! but that was here. i've sinced downsized my practice and am back to one other mt besides me.

I too am wary of getting too big before I'm ready, and I'm not completely sure I want to do my wellness center idea, it's something I'm chewing on. There certainly is benefit in simplicity.

naturalhealing and Dilania and all, an acupuncturist is a good idea, one of my preferred choices for a shared practice.

My list has evolved into...

* Acupuncture
* Meditation
* Structural Integration
* Alexander Technique
* Ortho-Bionomy
Chiropractic (only enough space in the side offices)
Feldenkrais?
Any energy medicines?
Active Isolated Stretching?

I also have an "also worth considering" list. And I've thought: What if I hosted little workshops in my extra room, lectures and presentations? What if there were small meditation classes? Talks on nutrition? Demonstrations of different specialties? Arranging it would take more work than just renting the space out, but maybe the space would be used less or in a predictable way that I could schedule my clients around (e.g., meditation every Thursday evening, lectures/workshops/presentations the first Tuesday of every month)? I could display and sell select items in the waiting room, and it would be a way of getting more people into my space and familiar with my services. The rooms are small, the gatherings would have to be pretty intimate. Wish I could do such things for free.

Well, that's just another idea. Maybe more trouble than it's worth. Gotta chew on that one too. Of course the other side of thing is that I really don't want someone else to rent the vacant end space next to me! What if some phone-heavy business moved right next to my treatment room. I'm already (slightly) concerned about the house for sale just behind; what if a yappy dog moves in? ... :shock:

As it happens, I stopped by property management company today and got permission to split the sublet into two people or whatever I wanted to do. And I saw my office mate in between clients and we talked a little, will do more soon. I will share my gathered ideas as I can. I kinda want to give him a pep talk! JasonE, I like your pricing idea. He should *at least* be priced as I am. There's a nice little spa that opened in town a year ago and they're $15-$20 an hour higher than I am. (I'm comparable to the area, afaik.)

Thanks for everybody's responses!

 

[Val]

If you are thinking of building up a clinic at some point go for it, set out your short term and long term goals/ marketing/buisness plan to acheiving it, in my clinic we bring in minamum 25 to 50 new pt's a month, have a strong marketing and promo program in place, and never discount our work, i have 3 other therapists working for me (my wife is one of them but only part time) and we also have a naturopath starting soon as well.
If your rent is cheep why not start your own clinic now! you have the space, in stead of renting the room to someone have this guy work for you part time 2 days a week, give him 65 or 70 % then have another female work for you another 2 days a week, and you still have time to put a acupuncturist or Naturopath in ther as well, you can even split a couple days in two ie 9am to 1pm then the other MT starts at 1:30 till 8pm.
The great thing about this is that you have 2 or 3 therapists building there/YOUR buisness, if they leave you are still covered, make sure you have a good non comp clause for 5 km for 1 year in your contract with them.


The other option is to reevaluate wher you are, can you build your buisness faster in another location, by having two rooms but doing the same thing? i did this in two differnt locations (gyms) i rented space from a chiro then had other therapists working for me part time, i was able to build up my buisness faster, and when they left i had all these clients to pass on to another therapist or myself.

And if your therapist is having trouble being male, so am i and i have been out 9 years, sure we have to work harder at marketing but you get out of this buisness what you put into it! be proffesiional, medical based will bring in more immediat buisness with longer lasting referals from doctors etc.