The Enviable Lifestyle is the first book of the Enviable Lifestyle Series. This book is a testament of how Bill and Shelley built their massage therapy business into the large, multi-staffed practice that it is today. Open 7 days a week, 9am-9pm, working with thousands of repeat clients. They have a national chair massage business and recently opened the Kneaded Energy School of Massage.
The Enviable Lifestyle book is an easy read. You'll want to curl up with a hot cup of tea, a pad of paper, a highlighter and this book. It will inspire you, energize you and encourage you to keep the course of building your dream practice.
The service industry, no matter the service, typically means long hours, hard work and minimal pay. Service work happens when the client wants the service - which tends to be evenings, weekends and holidays. In the service industry, customers have a unique way of handing your heart back to you - both with a compliment or an insult.
Small business, no matter the business, is not for the weak spirited or faint of heart.
In small business, customers are your life blood, without them you will not survive. Running a small business means you will eventually become the expert at nothing yet trained in everything; the toilet needs repair, the taxes have to be paid, the laundry needs to be done, and phone calls have to be returned - before you go home.
Before you know it, you are knee deep in paperwork, business offers, sales people and appointments - all of which pay nothing but take up your entire work day...an you still have the business to deal with.
And the hardest lesson every new business has to eventually learn is: no business will ever sustain the owners and employees without selling its product or service.
The fastest way to sell your product and service is to be available, invest in marketing and advertising - whether it is a newspaper ad, a billboard, a printed brochure, website, printed article or direct mail. To say: "I tried marketing once and it didn't work for me", is naive. This naivety also speaks loud and clear to your prospective clients and to other business people that might have wanted to partner with you.
Not every small service business wants to be as big as McDonalds, but McDonalds did not become a successful, household name from offering an inexpensive hamburger. McDonalds is "one of the world's most well-known and valuable brands" with favorite foods and quick service. In other words, McDonalds has captured the marketplace. They have documented and perfected their systems, advertised their products, staffed their locations with trained personnel, and made it absolutely EASY to purchase their product.
