One of the first questions you will need to answer when setting up your own practice is, where?

A number of factors need to be taken into account when you are first setting up, as these can directly affect your ongoing costs and how quickly you can build your client base. This section will guide you through the major decisions you need to make and will help you to cost the various options.

Wherever you choose to locate you will need to consider the following:

• how much space you need
• whether anyone will be working with you
• your working environment
• how much money you have to spend on rent
• public transport links and car parking facilities
• your personal security and that of your clients
• any legal restrictions which affect your therapy practice
• access for clients with disabilities
• whether to buy, rent, share or use a room in your own house
• whether to work with clients in their own homes
• whether to run a completely mobile practice.

Size of premises

Do you know how much space you require for your practice? If not, this is one of the first things you need to work out, as this will influence your search for premises and it will save you time and money if you know in advance the minimum amount of space that you need for your work.

A simple pen and paper exercise is all that is needed to work out the space you need. First, you will need to decide on the minimum amount of equipment that you require in order to be able to work effectively. Next, make a note of how much floor space each piece of equipment requires, for example, the floor space for the chairs you will use. Then, using squared or graph paper, cut out a template for each piece of equipment using an appropriate ratio or scale, eg one square = 10 cm2. Arrange these templates into a layout which you might use for your work, for example, a massage couch in the centre of the layout with a few chairs at the side. Make sure that you have allowed adequate space to move around the equipment with ease – one metre is a good standard to allow. Then try a few different layouts. When you have settled on what works best for you, calculate the total space you require (in square metres). If you lay the templates out on a sheet of squared or graph paper, it should be a simple matter to work out the minimum space required, and you can then work out what the best, or optimum, size and layout would be for your practice.

To make this task even easier you might like to check out some of the bigger DIY companies such as B&Q and Sainsbury’s Homebase. Both these companies produce catalogues for kitchen layouts which include a design grid. Even more helpful are those office furniture suppliers such as IKEA which supply business equipment catalogues that include both a design grid and also sticky labels sized to represent various pieces of office equipment (for contact details see Chapter 12).

Make a note of your space requirements here:

Minimum size =                                                        Optimum size =

Reception areas and waiting rooms

You may be fortunate enough to operate from premises with a general reception or waiting area which you can use. If not, and you can’t afford the space for a separate waiting room, then you will need to make some provision for managing clients who arrive either early or late for appointments. And what about those clients who want to bring friends or family along to wait with them?

To get around this problem you could try investigating whether there is some general space within the premises where you could place a couple of chairs, where your clients can be away from the general flow of people through the offices, but close enough to where you are working to be manageable. Another alternative is to allow extra time at the end of each client session (in my experience 30 minutes is best). If your clients are punctual then you will have some welcome free time in which to catch up on your phone calls, take a short break, or have a quick snack – and if they are late, you have already made some allowance for this so the situation becomes less stressful for all concerned.

Licences

Depending on the nature of your work and where you are located, you may need to apply to your local authority for a licence in order to set up your practice. For example, the premises that massage therapists work from need to comply with certain legal requirements, such as the need for washable walls and floors so that any oil spillages can be effectively dealt with. Also, in London, massage therapists need to comply with the London Local Authority Act 1991 – Special Treatment Premises.

For further information about the need for your premises to comply with Health and Safety legislation, or for details of who to contact for further information regarding licences or permissions to practise, see Chapter 4.

Access for disabled clients

Wherever you choose to locate, it is important that you review how accessible your premises are for anyone with a disability. Can a wheelchair user, or someone with restricted mobility, access your services? From 1 October 2004, access will include access to toilets, car parking and information, and not just the ability to access your practice rooms. A service provider cannot claim exemption from these provisions of the Act on the basis of the small size of their practice or business – it will affect everyone regardless of size.

The DDA currently requires service providers to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for disabled people, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services. If you are already occupying rooms with limited access, or this is all you can find or afford for your first year in practice, you will need to take some commonsense steps to overcome any access difficulties. You could consider the following:

• locate your practice on the ground floor
• provide a wheelchair ramp if necessary
• be prepared to assist a client with disabilities
• consider offering a home visit if this is suitable.

Whatever steps you take to make your service more accessible to people with disabilities, you must keep in mind that you are not allowed to offset the costs of any changes by charging a disabled client more for your services than you would anyone else.

If you are still in less than accessible premises after 1 October 2004, you will have to consider making ‘reasonable adjustments’ to the ‘physical’ features of the premises in order to overcome any physical barriers to access. Obviously, if you are operating out of your own premises, you will be responsible for any adjustments. If you are renting premises which have little or no suitable access, then write to your landlord and ask what provision they are making for access for people with disabilities. But don’t be complacent, start to look around for other more suitable premises. If your rooms are part of an office block, then it is best to co-ordinate this action with other interested tenants/licensees, as a joint effort will generally gain more attention from your landlord.

Reconciling all of this is currently a difficult issue in the complementary therapy world. Many people are operating out of their own homes, or rented offices, most of which have little provision for access for clients whose mobility is impaired. As with most Acts, the provisions of this particular piece of legislation need testing before it becomes clear how these provisions will be interpreted and applied. However, I don’t think any one of us wants to be the first test case.

If you would like further information about the provisions of this Act, see Chapter 12.

The practice environment

Wherever you choose to work from, you can help to make your practice a success by carefully considering the environment within which you work.

Check the following:

• the noise levels in your work area
• the heating and lighting
• how your rooms are decorated
• the general comfort level for both you and your clients.

Noise levels

Check out the external noise that you will be subjected to as you work. If you are working from home you may need to block out sound from noisy teenagers, and if you working within a practice, the noise of other people working, talking in the corridors or having loud mobile phone conversations outside your door. Unless you can come to some other arrangement, you may need to invest in some degree of soundproofing. This can be quite simple. Draughtproofing doors, placing a thick rug in the room and using material wallhangings can all help to reduce noise considerably. Noise can also be reduced by taking account of where the room is situated, for example, if you are located on a major road, then it might be best for your practice room to be at the back of the building away from the traffic noise and police sirens. You could also try playing some music quietly in the background to take the edge off any other sounds.

And while you are checking out the noise levels, check to make sure that you and your clients cannot be heard outside of your practice rooms. Most therapy work involves a high degree of confidentiality, so make sure that your clients’ conversations and personal information cannot be overheard.

Heating and lighting

Wherever you set up, make sure that you have some individual control of the heating. If your clients are sitting or lying still for any length of time they can start to feel cold even if the room is heated to the usual 21°C. This is especially important for anyone involved in body work where clients are required to remove some of their clothing. If you can’t set the heating for the levels you require you may need to invest in a thermostatically controlled electric heater.

What is the lighting like in your rooms? Do you need to have the room well lit for your work, or would it benefit from more subdued lighting? Again, if the lighting doesn’t suit your purposes you may need to invest in some table lamps or uplighters which will shed a softer and more comforting level of light, or some spotlights for key work areas.

Decorations

Check out the standard of decoration in the rooms. Is all bright and clean, and are any floorcoverings fit for your purposes? If not, this may involve you in extra expense. What colours are the rooms decorated in – are they fairly neutral and light, or dark and womblike? Which would you prefer if you were the client? And how much will it cost to make any necessary changes?

Personal comfort

Wherever you choose to set up, the basic criteria must be that of comfort for both yourself and your clients. Would you feel comfortable as a client being asked to undergo counselling, or a head massage, or whatever else it is that you do, in your practice room? If not, why not? And once you know why not – make those changes. If you don’t feel comfortable with your work area then some of your frustrations may become apparent to your clients. In any case you will waste energy by endlessly thinking about how things could be, or maybe by working in a very inefficient manner because you don’t have the appropriate equipment for your work.

Security and safety

Wherever you decide to locate the chances are that you will, at some time, need to work outside the usual 9–5 hours, even if this isn’t a regular feature of your work. Therefore it is important to check how secure you feel in the premises you will be working from. If these are shared offices in one large building, how will you ensure that your clients have access to the premises whilst maintaining a secure environment? Do you have an intercom security system, or security guards, or a staffed reception area that operates ‘out of hours’. If not, you may need to adjust your working hours.

Before you decide on your premises, do a bit of fact finding. Find out whether your premises comply with local fire regulations, and explore the existing fire exits – are any kept locked, are they all fully accessible or do you need to remove rubbish or equipment to get out? Do you know who to contact in the case of an emergency? Does the landlord have an out of hours number for the caretaker, or will you be expected to cope with any crisis on your own? What if one of your clients is taken ill and you have to call for an ambulance? Does the switchboard operate out of hours, or will you need to carry a mobile phone? And how confident do you feel about coping with any of these problems on your own in an otherwise deserted office?

Also, take a look around the local area. How secure would you feel walking to the train or bus links, or making your solitary way across the car park? What will it feel like doing the same journey on a dark winter night? These are all factors which can have an important effect on your overall security and that of your clients, and will ultimately affect your business for good or bad. Taking some time to review this issue now will save you time and money in the long run, and substantially reduce the potential problems and emergencies you might otherwise face.

Transport links and parking facilities

Where you choose to locate is very important as this can effectively make or break your practice – the better the access, the more clients you will be able to attract. If at all possible, locate as close as you can to existing rail, tube or bus links, and investigate what provision there is for parking outside or adjacent to your rooms.

Where you locate will also have an influence on the hours you are likely to work. If you choose to locate near a heavily used commuter link such as a tube or rail station, you are in the best position to take on clients who can make either early morning or evening sessions. More and more people are working flexi–hours, and such a location will allow you to catch the commuter flow. And, if you can manage to locate yourself in a major shopping area, whether the local high street or close to a major supermarket, you are more likely to pick up lunchtime and weekend trade from workers in the local shops as well as the shoppers themselves. In such a location, a well-placed advertising board outside your premises could significantly boost your marketing and the take up of your services.

Clients do pick therapists according to many personal criteria, and a therapist who can fit in with their working hours and who is located close to transport links, or a shopping centre, is likely to score quite high on the criteria list – even though this may seem to you a highly subjective way of choosing a therapist.

Working on your own or with a colleague

Another point to consider when you are first starting up is whether you will be working on your own or with a friend or colleague. It is best to decide on this issue as soon as possible as this may affect the size of the premises you require, especially if the intention is that both of you will be working in the practice at the same time. Also, you will both need to agree, or at the very least compromise, on where you choose to locate and what the implications of this decision are for your own personal time and working arrangements.

Many therapists choose to work on their own as sole traders because of the freedom this allows, and because it is usually the cheapest and quickest way to set up a business. Working on your own gives you total freedom in how you run your practice, and you get to choose the direction in which the practice grows and develops. And, of course, once all the bills are paid anything left over is yours.

Working on your own can, however, be quite a solitary existence. There is no one else to help you out in an emergency and no one to whom you can immediately turn for support and advice. It is, therefore, important that you put together a good network of friends, colleagues, tutors, mentors and general advice contacts for help and support before you set up in practice. These are the people who will help, guide and encourage you through those difficult first years and they will quickly form an important feature of your working life.

The pros and cons

There can, however, be some benefits from joining together with a like-minded colleague or friend:

• you can share the ongoing costs of the practice
• you may be able to afford better located or bigger rooms
• more than one therapist in a practice will give the practice a more ‘established’ feel
• you might be able to offer more than one therapy
• you have a second pair of hands to handle telephone calls and take bookings
• you may be able to cover for each other’s holidays.

Despite these benefits, you do need to do some initial soul-searching. If you are both friends as well as work colleagues how will you maintain those boundaries? Sharing with another therapist friend can be helpful, but do ensure that both of you treat this arrangement as a formal business contract. Make sure you have discussed and settled the many issues that such an arrangement can raise before you set up together. In this respect you may find it helpful to formalise the arrangement by having a short legal contract drawn up by a solicitor.

Travel costs and personal time constraints

Locating your practice within your local area can save you both time and money. If you can walk to work you will have no reason for being late, and will not suffer the frustrations of late-running public transport or traffic jams.

As in every business, time is money. So if you decide to do home visits or work from different premises at different times during the week, you will need to take your travel time and costs into account. You will also need to consider the equipment which is essential to your business, whether this is portable, and if so, how much you can personally carry and how much may need to be carried by car. If you can’t personally carry everything you need, make sure that you have parking facilities close to the premises.

Also, don’t underestimate how tiring travelling to different venues can be. Your travel time forms part of your total working hours, so arrange visits or travel as efficiently as possible. Otherwise you will clock up a lot of unpaid overtime, which is ‘empty’ time for your business and which could perhaps have been better spent working directly with clients or marketing.