Starting a Specialist Hypnotherapy Practice

 

Points to Consider When Starting a Hypnosis Business

 

Where are you planning to practice? 

• Do you intend to buy your own premises? To purchase property will require a great deal of money and associated legal fees and ongoing costs, such as rates, or body corporate. 
• Or even rent your own rooms?  You will be generally required to pay a bond, one to 3 months, in advance, insurance, set the premises up and equip them with furniture, sign a contract with the landlord. Often leases with have an annual increase in rent built into the contract. Make sure you have a lawyer examine the contract before you sign..
• Work from home? If renting, it may not be permissible to work from home under your lease. Do you have an area that can be isolated. Do you have a quiet room do do your session, a waiting area for your next client and easy access to toilet facilities that doesn’t involve a client roaming through your home?  Working from home may have some benefits with regard to tax — but talk with an accountant as it can be a legal minefield. However, do you really want people knowing where you live and can simply turn up any time? 
• When starting off  it may better to rent a room on a session-to-session basis. Ideally it could be with an established hypnotist or someone that already has the set up the room with suitable furniture. They may even include that their staff take appointments and phone calls for you.
• Are you considering a visiting practice? Not a lot to set up, but do you really want to visit people’s homes and are the conditions within the home suitable?
• Teletherapy. This can be a very useful way to work with clients, and during the COVID pandemic was the only way people were able to consult. Skype, Google Meets and Zoom all have their pluses and minuses To avoid the client going to sleep make sure the chair is upright but comfortable and not too relaxing. And spend some time with the client explaining early on what happens should you lose communications or the client goes to sleep and make sure you have a plan if your client has an abreaction.

 

Insurance

One of those things we all prefer not to think about, so let’s get it out of the way early. Much of the insurance requirements will depend upon the country or state you live in. You might want to consider fire, theft, but a very important one you must not skip is Professional Liability Insurance. Professional liability insurance covers claims of actual or alleged negligence that arise from providing professional services, like giving incorrect advice, an omission, or failing to deliver a service. Usually coverage includes damages and defense costs up to your policy limits, regardless of whether a mistake was made. If you don’t have this insurance you could be bankrupted should a court decision go against you. One of the benefits of belonging to an Association or Guild is that they often arrange PLI on your behalf, and may even have it at a reduced cost. Contact your Association, or the check their website for more information.

 

What about Fittings and Equipment?

• Fortunately very little specialist equipment is required.
• An Intake form, which can be downloaded from your website and filled in prior to the visit.
• A  comfortable chair and footstool,  some mood lighting — maybe a blanket and definitely a box or two of tissues.
• Do you use background music? If yes, then you will need some sort of player – MP3 player and speakers or even an old CD player. 

 

Client Security

• It is essential to take Session Notes with each session. The recommendation is to take the session notes on paper, and then scan them onto a computer with OCR. If you only do paper, the notes must be kept secure and confidential in a lockable filing cabinet. If you scan them onto a computer, then you can shred the originals, but the digital copies must be kept secure as well.
• For everyone’s security it is probably a good idea to keep a recording of the session — just in case “something” comes up.
• Do let clients know you are audio recording the session,.  But a large or obvious recorder might put people off.  Use something  like this pen MP3 recorder, as it’s is unobtrusive.  Just start it and put it alongside the client. When the session has finished, connect it to your pc and download the audio file (and also the session notes) to a password protected Hard Drive , not just your laptop or desktop — in case the PC is stolen or HD fails.
• Backup Backup Backup!
  • Physical Backup. Make sure your hard drive is stored securely offsite or if onsite in a fireproof safe than can hold your laptop, or if you take it offsite with you or  fireproof box and is also locked in a desk drawer or lockable file cabinet so they cannot be accessed by anyone other than you. It’s recommended to buy as big a storage Hard Drive as you can afford. Now days, a 5 Terrabyte portable HD is quite affordable and available from Amazon. These are passwords protected, not much bigger than a pack of cards and cost around $100. Why 5TB? It can be used to back up all your important data, client data, financial data and also your website and is easily transportable.
  • Cloud Storage of files. While in theory, cloud storage like Dropbox or PCloud is secure, do due diligence when selecting cloud based storage. The big advantage of  with CloudStorage is it’s done automatically.

 

A quick discussion about using & recording music:

• There is a range of music available, that is suited for hypnosis such as reiki, or massage or ambient music. This music is considered the world’s most relaxing music!) Important: most of the music purchased at places like Amazon is copyright and using it in you business may technically  *infringe* the law. If you do intend to record your sessions and to use music,  you might want to check out the use of copyright free or royalty free music. You will find some useful tips on copyright on this page about hypnosis recordings & scripts.

 

Are you planning to employ staff?

• Some parts of the world require that employees receive an award or minimum wage; overtime, work insurance, maternity leave, annual holidays, and you pay into an employees pension plan.
• While starting out consider asking an older relative to come in and answer phone calls for you as a favor. Sometimes they are happy to help out, at least for a while.

 

How are you planning to charge clients?

• It is highly recommended that you never offer anything “on account”
• Always get paid “on the day” — best time is before the consultation — just in case the client, “forgot” their wallet or purse
• Ask people to prepay with Paypal
• Will you be cash only?
• Will you accept checks, or credit cards, American Express — each comes with a cost and risk.

 

What are your rates?

• Will you offer a free initial consultation
• Or the initial 30 minutes free and then start if they choose to continue
• Hourly rate — can be tricky if you run under or over time
• Session rate — Each session is “around an hour” generally preferred as you may need to go over the hour or finish earlier than an hour (allow 90 minute time slots with 60-70 minute appointments)
• Package rate — This is highly recommended way to work with clients. Offer a decent discount. ie 4 sessions for the price of 3 — for “Weight Loss” or “Quit Smoking” Packages
  • Get paid for the package ‘up front’
  • Make sure you put a time limit on a package — say 4 sessions over 6 or 8 weeks – if for weekly sessions, less if 2 x weekly.
  • But be flexible if a client calls for an appointment in that 9-12th week.
  • If the issue is resolved early the client might not come in for the last session, thereby giving you the equivalent of full price. 
  • If the client does not show, or advises you at the last minute — you can deduct one session, but be careful on this, people can get cranky if you try to enforce it.
  • If the client wants to continue you can offer another package or work via sessional rates.
  • Are unused sessions able to be transferred to someone else? The recommendation is no, but instead offer a discount for referral (see below)
  • Whatever you go about packages, tread carefully and think twice before deducting a session or not seeing a client when just out of allotted package time. It’s much better to have someone singing your praises, and recommending you, than going online and cursing you on Yelp and other platforms. It’s just not worth the hassle for $100.

 

How to attract clients and what is the “20:80 law”?

• 20% of your clients will be responsible for 80% of your referrals.

 

There is a way to encourage your existing clients to refer you new clients:

• Word of mouth referrals is the single best method to get a new client.
• With each new client,  give them 3 appointment or business cards (or you might like to get special “Referral Cards” printed)
• Make a note on the card who you gave it to and date the card. 
• Tell your client that should they refer a new client within 3 months (you can set the time period) and present this ‘special referrer card’ a new client will get “$25 off their first appointment”
  • Don’t get too hung up on the date – it’s dated to get it out of the person’s wallet and into a potential clients hands. If someone turns up a year later —  honour the card.
  • Make it a fixed amount rather than a percentage. ie If your fee is $100 and you have 25% off, your fee would be $75 dollars. In 3 years time your new fee might be $200, and 25% would .be a reduction of $50 and fee of $150 fee, rather than $175 that $25 off would give.
• When a new client arrives with the card, make a note of who it originally came from. When someone is referring you multiple clients you have a “20 percenter”
• When you identify a 20 percenter, nurture them! Their word of mouth referral is worth more than money spent on advertising, so spend some of your advertising budget on them.
• Some ideas to nurture a referrer:
  • • Go to a Dollar Store and but a box of Thank you cards and envelopes (and stamps) 
    • For the first referral, send them an old style thank you card in the post — with some additional referral cards.
    • For subsequent referrals, put a scratch lottery ticket or a gift card in with the thank you card — with some additional referral cards.
    • If a particularly big referrer, put in a voucher to a local restaurant — with some additional referral cards.
    • DO send them a birthday card and Holiday card (especially Thanksgiving in the US or Canada) and include the restaurant voucher, or 2 tickets to a play or movie or something similar — with some additional referral cards.
• It’s simple way to get new clients and it works.

 

Are you thinking of forming a company?

• There are lots of reasons to form a company. While they can cost a little more to run, there is often a lot more legal security for you in doing so. Have a talk to your accountant for the pros and cons. 

 

Are you going to Register a Business Name?

• Many people use their own name in or as a part of their business name. Again, talk to an accountant or lawyer for the pros and cons of doing so. Personally, I would highly recommend you do NOT use your own name. While it might be good for your ego, at some point you may want to sell your business. It is a lot easier to sell; “A Hypnotherapy Business” than “Your Name Hypnotherapy.” If you are planning on staying in one area for a while, the “Region name (ie Town, Suburb, City) Hypnotherapy” — e.g Brighton Hypnotherapy or Minneapolis Hypnosis could be a good choice, but if you move location, your business name might not be appropriate anymore.
• Ideally build your brand: Co-ordinate business name, website name, gmail and social networking names. 
  1. See if The Business Name is available with your government authority. There is usually a search facility on the government website
  2. See if the name you choose has The Business Name .com domain name available — thebusinessname.com — See Register a Domain Name below
  3. If the “dotcom” is not available, search for another business name where the .com is available. Preferably do not use the .net .org .biz .info as people tend to type .com into URL . (And when you purchase the .com, there is no need to buy all the others if offered – Godaddy is particularly aggressive with this. (Also – see point 4)
  4. If outside the US,  and you want to use your country specific URL —  thebusinessname.co.uk or thebusinessname.com.au — attempt to also get the .com if it is available.  See Register a Domain Name below
  5. Consider a gmail address: thebusinessname@gmail.com — useful as a back up to contact@thebusinessname.com or your onsite contact form that might not function for certain people. 
  6. Do NOT use your Internet Service Provider as a business email. If you leave the ISP you will lose the name.
  7. And any social network sites you might use has the name available, such as twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc etc etc
• Once you have your business name, it is usually fairly straight-forward to register a business
  • Make sure you note on a calendar when the business name / website registration – (always choose auto renew for the website – see cybersquatter below) etc expires and pay it at least 60 days before the registration expires.

• A useful alternative is to just having “The Business Name”, thebusinessname.com , but also register regionnamehypnosis.com. 

 

Banking

• It is highly recommended that you separate business expenses from personal expenses by getting a separate business account — even if you don’t go into a Company or LLC. See your bank and ask for a business check account and card, even if it is “Your Name” Business Account.
• Do make sure you ‘pay yourself’ by transferring money to your personal account for personal use. 
• Having separate accounts will definitely save you time with book keeping and also save you money at tax time.
• It is also highly recommended that you have an accountant to do you annual tax return for the IRS.

 

Building a website

Also see: How to make money from your website.

 

Q. When do you build an hypnosis website for your business? A. Start sooner than later — the day you decide to become a hypnotist.

Even as a student, it is possible to start putting it all together. First, you will need content about hypnosis. Some things will be straight forward, others might require more time. As a student you can reinforce your knowledge by creating web pages.

As mentioned above,  start to think about business names and domain names early. You will have to pay to register a Domain Name could host with some free resources. Google and other search engines like longevity, the longer it is up the better. Regularly adding content is important. Remember it doesn’t have to be perfect!

 

Q. How do you build a website?

A. It is easier now than it ever has been. If you can use a word processor to create a document, you can build a website. In most cases it costs money, much less than it used to, but it is possible to do it at very little overall cost. See: free online resources

 

There are 3  essential points on building a website.

1. You need to register the URL website / business domain name.
2. You need the website host
3. You need to build the website

1/ Registering a Domain Name

• First, see the tips above: “Are you thinking of registering a Business Name”
• Register a domain name and get domain name privacy, particularly if you need to register using your home address.
• Make sure it’s on auto-renew – if it’s not renewed you could lose the name to your competition or have it snapped up by a domain name cybersquatter who wants to sell it back to you at an outrageous price.
  • For great value and include free domain name privacy see:
  • www.namesilo.com 
  • www.namecheap.com 
• If your first thought is to register your country domain name: thebusinessname.co.uk or:  thebusinessname.com.au  also register the dotcom :  thebusinessname.com – if it’s available (Don’t worry about the net, biz, org, info or any other.) Redirect the dotcom to your main site. Why? read the true story below:
  • A masseuse registered “Her Name” at her local country domain. It was noticed that the generic “dotcom” was not registered and while she was advised to register, she decided not to as she only worked in her country. A few months later the dotcom name was registered. As it so happens, by another “masseuse” … the ones that give full and intimate body to body ‘massages’ that usually end with a “happy ending.” Even though the two were not similar to look at, it created a great deal of embarrassment when people were visiting the first masseuse’s website and forgot to type the local country domain suffix.  At the website you had to be 18 to enter and it was also labelled “escort service” Eventually the owner of the dotcom “retired” and the dotcom name became available again. This time, she registered it and now redirects it to her main site. 
• When you register your domain name, you then “point it” to where your site is hosted. Ideally, do not use the same company for domain name registration and webhosting.

2/ Hosting a Website

A web host is where you put your website. Do not confuse it with domain registrar – where you register a domain name. 

• Host your site somewhere different to where it is registered. This is called self-hosting.
• Self hosting can be quite low cost for a simple site.
  • Shared hosting is fine for a small host. It can cost as little as  $1 / month 
  • Make sure you receive secure SSL (https) with your hosting as some companies charge large sums to provide it. Look for: “Let’s Encrypt” as it is provided free by many web hosts
  • You might also want email: name@yourbusiness.com
  • When self-hosting, make sure you back up your site. Many webhost will provide it as a part of their fee.
  • Make sure the web host has good uptime, and support. 
• Hosting and web site building can also be free. See: See: free online resources
  • However, free sites often keep the ‘free’ branding or have ads; may have limited functions and they will want you to upgrade — usually at a more expensive price than can be found elsewhere.
  • You might not be able to monetize a free site.

3/ Building a Website

• Find a friend or relative who knows what they’re doing and do it for free
• Pay someone who knows what they’re doing
• Build it your self. Many site builders  are quite simple to build, similar to using a word processor.
• When you build it yourself, do you use?
  • A program on your computer (Also called offline). 
    • A little more complex and requires knowledge on how to upload files to your web host, but fairly straight forward.
    • The sites are do not usually have a database, so less can go wrong
    • Backup your files on you PC and that is taken care of. Remeber the 5 Terabyte Hard Drive for backing up client files? Store you website backup files on this as well.
  • An online web builder
    • Be care about using the web hosts site builder. Often they are not easily transferred to another web host, should you decide to move
  • A Content Management System (CMS) Consider ‘WordPress’ as it is the most popular
    • As it requires a database it is able to do a lot more fancy things and will also allow for members

 

Which ever way you go remember YOU will still be required to provide the text content. If you have brochures & handouts they can all be used for content.

 

Tip: Site Design

Make sure that the design is “Responsive” — it should  change shape and size and be easily read whether on a wide-screen PC or small Smart Phone

Tip: “About me” 

If you’re writing an about me, don’t write it in the third person — as if it’s been written by a journalist. It looks and sounds wrong when it’s on your site. Unless it has been written by a journalist, then seek permission to use it and add in the journalist’s name and photo.

Tip: Images 

For pictures — do NOT ever consider just taking images off the internet as most are copyrighted. There is software that looks for stolen images and lawyers who will chase the thief, like a hungry dog chases a bone. There are plenty of places you can get copyright and royalty free images. See: See: free online resources

 

Disclaimer: None of this is hard advice. Consider it as suggestions and ‘food for thought’ . IMPORTANT: Before commencing any venture you should consult with the relevant professionals.