Before you begin your practice, you should write a massage therapy business plan. Why? Because you need to know what you want from your practice and how you are going to get it.

This is like a map or a set of directions for you to follow. It is important for you to know where you are going and how you will get there.

The map can change as you move along in your career. Change can be good and if you find a better path, follow it. Just update your map as you find new direction in your life.

You will start to formulate your business plan by answering questions such as:

What licenses do I need to start?

What types of insurance do I need?

What equipment do I need to buy?

Will I rent office space, use a room in my home, or have an outcall practice?

What will my legal structure be?

What services will I offer?

How much will I charge for each service?

How much do my competitors charge?

What days and hours will I operate?

Who is my target market?

How am I different than my competitors?

How can I market my business?

Start formulating your map prior to finishing school if you can. If you have graduated and still have not written one, it is not too late. Begin today so you can have clear directions as you build your practice.

Do you want your own business? Then create a massage business plan. Don't just hope that you will blindly get clients. Do some planning.

First, get yourself a daily or a weekly planner. You can find a nice one at Wal-Mart, an office supply store, or you can get a cheap one at a dollar store. Fill it out each day and use it. Carry it with you wherever you go.

Treat your free time as business time. Write down any scheduled massages (if you already have some clients) in your planner. With whatever time is left, schedule business planning time in your planner.

Make a list of all of the equipment you will need for your practice. Write down the cost for everything and how you plan to pay for it. Will you take out a loan? Will you use business or personal credit cards? Will you buy as you get cash? Plan it all out.

If you want an office, begin looking around for one. Record all of the information you obtain.

Get liability insurance if you have not already done so.

Purchase a cell phone that is just for your business. Prepaid phones are the way to go if you do not want surprise high bills.

Get business cards printed and begin handing them out everywhere to let people know that you are a massage therapist.

Make advertising part of your massage business plan. Begin to advertise by word of mouth and through family and friends. Allow those friends and family members who are willing to hand out your business cards.

Next in your massage business plan, get a notebook and write down how you want your business to be in about a year.

What days and times of the day do you want to work? What days and times do you want to keep for you and for your family?

How many clients do you want to see each day? Will you give table massage, chair massage, spa treatments, or a combination?

Will you have an office or will you have an outcall practice? Will it be a combination of both?

How much will you charge? Make a list of all of the services you plan to offer and how much you will charge for each. Make this a part of your massage business plan.

Build a massage web site to establish an internet presence in your community. A web site will allow those in your town to know you are there. Schedule time in your planner to build pages for your web site.

Stick to the schedule in your planner each week as much as possible. Things won't always go as planned, but once things are in writing, you will find your massage business becoming a reality for you.