What if I told you that you’re likely working harder and not smarter in your private practice? Many massage therapists we speak with are amazing at their craft, but struggle on the business side of things. In this blog, we will review 5 of the best tools for managing a massage practice, including:
- Budgeting Tools
- Financial Analytics tools
- Marketing ROI Tools
- Web Analytics Tools
- Other Tools
1. Budgeting Tools
Do you have a budget? Do you have a budgeting tool? Many mental health processionals operate their spending on the FBN system. What is the FBN system? Fly by Night… a.k.a Seat of the Pants budgeting. Having a private practice budgeting tool allows you, the business owner, to have a realistic view of your future spending.
Here are some great budgeting tools:
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Excel (or similar): The most common and easiest to start with is a simple spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel is a great starting point when used correctly. You can download this free budgeting tool in Excel
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Quickbooks (or similar): The great thing about the accounting software tools is that they likely have a budget tool built in.
2. Financial Analytics Tools
Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, are important for therapists to create and track because they show the performance of your practice and help you improve. Most of the KPIs, you will be spending your time on are going to be financially related in some way. This is where the Financial Analytics Dashboard Tool comes into play. A financial analytics dashboard will help you \see trends in your revenue and expenses, among other things, over time. The importance of visualization, hence the dashboard, is hard to quantify. Having something as basic as color coding your KPI’s (i.e. Green for good, Red for bad) empowers you to gain critical business intelligence at a glance.
Examples of Financial Analytics Tools
- Web-Based Financial Dashboards: Web-based financial dashboards are excellent tools to use in your private practice. They allow you to automate the data into the dashboard, have real-time updates, and package everything up in a nice KPI dashboard.
- Excel Dashboards: Excel is the starting point for most financial analysis and financial dashboard creation. Financial statements and data are incredibly customizable in Excel in addition to being easy to forecast in and create visuals in. Financial Dashboards in Excel are a staple that every business should have access to. They give you one place to handle your income statement (or any other statement), your future projections, and the summary of it all in a nice visual.
Whether you want a web-based dashboard or an Excel dashboard, Pineapple is a trusted partner of ours to help you.
3. Marketing ROI Tools
A return on investment (ROI) tool can help you decide if your marketing efforts are worth the cost. This helps you focus your efforts on those actions that produce the most return. Conversely, it allows you to identify what is costing you more than it is bringing in as a means to find savings within the business.
You can get a professional Marketing ROI tool from our friends at Pineapple Consulting Firm.
4. Web Analytics Tools
Web analytics can help you track incredibly important metrics about your customers and potential customers and how they interact with your website. Your website is the core of your marketing efforts, everything points to your website. If you set up your website with a strategy with a goal of booking sessions, you can track things like:
- Where your bookings came from (such as Facebook or Google)
- How much you spent to get each booking (if you are advertising)
- How many people visited your site, and from where
- Which devices your booking clients came from (did they book on a phone, a computer, a tablet?)
- Where you should focus your efforts for future marketing
- and much much more
Web Analytics, can be set up into a beautiful dashboard. Our friends at PineappleCF.com have you covered.
5. Other Convenient Tools for Your Practice
Here are some other powerful tools you should consider in your massage therapy practice:
- Booking Tool: A booking tool can help you get more bookings by allowing potential clients the ability to sign up online for your sessions. Many clients appreciate online booking tools for their convenience. Similarly, many massage therapist business owners love them for their convenience to receive new bookings without having to spend time on the phone. Calendly.com is an example of a booking tool you can use in your practice.
- Marketing Communication Tool: An email marketing tool can help you stay in contact with clients and reach out to potential clients.
- Massage Therapy Management Tool: Want an all-encompassing option to help you manage your practice? A massage management tool can help you accomplish that. 1 that comes to mind is massagebook.com.
- Worksheets for Clients: Worksheets and Intake Forms can help you standardize your practice.
Final Thoughts on Tools for Managing Massage Practices
Thank you for reading our blog on 5 of the best tools for managing a massage practice. We are MassageByPro.com, a directory for massage therapists. You can join our directory and be found by potential clients online.
