How will working with people in their own homes work for me?

How affordable is it?

This is the next cheapest option for setting up your own practice if you choose not to work from home. However, what you save on premises costs and utility bills may well be spent on travel costs, chiefly your petrol, car insurance, road tax and maintenance costs, so make sure you reflect this in your charges. You will need to insure your car for business purposes and this will generally cost more than your usual domestic-use insurance. Also, you will need to set a sum aside for repairs, as the increased use of your vehicle is going to mean more maintenance. If you are often on the road you may also find you will need to pay more for your communication costs because of the increase in your mobile phone calls. However, you can keep this to a minimum if you use your landline and laptop for accessing your emails rather than your mobile. You should also check out what inclusive deals your service provider may offer to businesses ‘on the move’.

How flexible is this way of working?

Whether you live in a rural area or a town or city environment, there will always be people who would prefer to have any services come to them, rather than the other way around. And although this way of working can be highly flexible, you will have to be more open to your clients’ availability as they will be asking you to work with them at their convenience and therefore you may not always be able to combine working with two or three clients in a particular area on the same day. You will also need to set your own limits regarding how far you are prepared to travel to see clients.

What equipment will I need?

The only differences in terms of equipment between setting up a static practice and working with people in their own homes is that whatever you purchase needs to be as easy to carry as possible. This may mean that you have to spend more on some pieces of equipment, for example, to get a light but sturdy folding massage couch; but the good news is that if you decide later on to set up from your own home, or to rent a room, you will not have to duplicate these items. It also means that you can still work flexibly by offering clients sessions in their own home while you build your static practice.

How can I ensure my safety?

This is perhaps the biggest potential problem associated with this method of working. Although you may have spoken to your client on the phone and decided they sound very pleasant and affable, when you turn up for the session you don’t know who else may be there. It is very important that you go with your instincts regarding your client from the time of that very first contact, if something feels wrong have a ‘get out’ speech prepared. Far better that you lose money than risk your own safety. That said, having talked to therapists I know who work this way there have hardly ever been any incidents of note.

To safeguard yourself further, the following are some commonsense measures you may like to adopt.

• If you are female therapist, you may decide to only offer your services to other women.
• Before going out to work, make sure that you have left a duplicate list of all your appointments for the day, complete with addresses and contact details, in a safe place where a friend or family member would know to find them.
• Find out from the client in advance whether there will be anyone else in the home while you are working with them.
• Leave your mobile switched on when you enter the client’s home with an appropriate number up on the display ready to dial should there be any problems. And keep your mobile switched on until you have gone through the initial note-taking part of your session and have had a chance to more closely review the client’s problems, their state of mind and your general safety within this environment.
• Take some classes in self-defence.

Added value

Don’t forget that by providing your services in this way you are adding value for both yourself and your client. Taking your services to a client is providing the client with that little extra something: a tangible benefit by virtue of the fact that your client doesn’t have to travel, thereby saving them time, money and inconvenience – and the intangible benefit of being ‘valued’, with all the good subconscious messages that can send out, by the very act of this service coming to them.

This could also prove to be a good marketing point for your practice, especially if no one else in your area is offering a mobile service for your particular therapy. Not only will you be complying with the accessibility requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, but if you provide your vehicle with some removable signboards or have some professionally made signs on display in your vehicle advertising your services, your daily work schedule can become an effective advertising round.

The truly mobile office

This is an idea which has achieved greater success in the US than the UK generally due to the size of the vehicles involved, but it is still a concept worth considering. To set yourself up as a truly mobile service you first need to acquire a suitable vehicle. Some people have converted old ambulances, others have gone for even larger vehicles. But whichever vehicle you decide on it will need to already have the following attributes, or be able to be readily converted:

• sufficient headroom for yourself and any clients to walk around unhindered in the vehicle
• be soundproofed and insulated
• have adequate heating and ventilation
• be large enough to hold all your equipment with ease and allow adequate space to work
• have wash facilities if appropriate
• have steps or a hydraulic ramp so that clients can easily enter the therapy area.

It may sound a strange concept, and perhaps appear less manageable given the average size of UK roads compared to those in the States – but it does have some clear advantages:

• you are totally in control of your working space
• once equipped you only have your ongoing maintenance, fuel and phone bills to pay
• you can take your therapy to the client
• such a mobile service can be a unique selling point
• the sides of the vehicle can be used as mobile advert boards
• you can, with permission, park up at sports centres, golf clubs and supermarkets and offer your services direct.

The only disadvantages would seem to be:

• being able to afford and equip a suitable vehicle
• finding a space to park it outside your home or where you want to work
• having to pass another driving test if your current licence doesn’t cover the vehicle
• possible reluctance from members of the public to try this new concept.

If you decide to explore this option, you will, of course, also need to invest in a full range of mobile communication devices so that you can deal with your phone calls, faxes and emails as you move from place to place.