How to Become a Mobile Massage Therapist

So, do you want to earn decent hourly rate? Be your own boss and decide your own working hours? Do you want to be able to pick your clients and only work with people who you get on with and who respect you? Do you want low overheads and not be tied down by paying rent or paying for a room to be converted, utilities and bills?  That is like having a job right? Working as a mobile massage therapist gives you freedom.

Expect to feel afraid, nervous and uncomfortable when you first start out. It is perfectly normal, but the only way to overcome that, is to go out there and do it! 

Don’t be put off by the thought of going to stranger’s houses. Talk to your clients before taking a booking, speak to them in a professional manner, using professional terminology  and you will get a gut feeling as to whether they are genuine or not. If you feel at all uncomfortable, do not take the booking.

There is only one thing stopping you from becoming a mobile massage therapist, being free, being your own boss and making a really decent living doing what you love, and that is you!

I want to help as many people as I can to become to be mobile massage therapists as I have become aware that the demand is high and increasing but there is a lack of mobile therapists about.  So this is why I have devised this basic guide to anyone who wants to go down this path. Also, to help get you started, I have just started a dedicated UK wide website directory purely for mobile massage therapists called In your Home Massage.

I am not particularly gifted, special, or unique; I am the same as anyone.  I fell into massage by chance, went mobile because that was the only option open to me, but I quickly became passionate about it and now I don’t look back and realise it was the best move I ever made.

I don’t profess to know all the answers, however, what I have done has worked for me so here are some basic points that should help you get your brain working on how you can do it for yourself.

Your Budget

Set yourself a budget and decide how much you need to set up. You will need to pay for a course, insurance and equipment. I would estimate you would need at least the following

1. Basic massage course to start with, such as Swedish massage – £400
2. Couch – £300
3. Towels, or sheets and fleeces – £100
4. Couch covers – £40
5. Suitcase – £35
6. Oils, couch roll etc – £3
7. Insurance – around £150
8. Electric blanket – £15
9. DBS check – £37 (optional)
10. First Aid course – £80 (optional)

Get Qualified.

 You can start being a mobile massage therapist as soon as you have a qualification in massage. Do a course that qualifies you and gives you the confidence to go out and massage people and that holds the correct accreditation to get insurance. For some people this may be a quick course that covers the basics online and has a few days of practical teaching. Or it can be a college course that involves many hours over many months and many case studies.  It depends on you and how confident you will feel at the end of it to go out and massage strangers.  Always be prepared to study on your own, be open to more learning and new ideas and prepared to take on more courses. YouTube is amazing for reminding yourself of techniques, studying others, their techniques, tips and advice.

Get insurance

I use Balens and I find them very reasonable. The guild of Holistic Therapists, Federation of Holistic Therapists and other similar organisations offer insurance for their members.

DBS check (optional)

To give your clients reassurance you can get yourself DBS checked – do this online and costs about £37. (Getting this shows your customers that you have taken responsibility in being transparent that you do not have any criminal convictions. However, I must say I have never been asked about being DBS checked.

Complete a First Aid course (optional)

Not essential but worthwhile. I had a client who fainted once and I was relieved that I had done the course.

Your brand

Choose your colour scheme that you like that is simple and stick to it. Make it your brand for everything – website, car stickers, business cards etc.

Choose a name and check if it has been used before and if it is wise to use again. It can be your own name, does not have to be fancy. It is more important that it can be remembered and found by clients easily. Google it to see what else the name is used for and that there are no embarrassing connections to that name. I found that there were lots of ‘Serenity’s, ‘Tranquility’s etc. You want something that does not have much competition, which is why I chose my own name.

Equipment:

Massage Couch – A couch that is light enough for you to be able to carry but good quality. I started out with a cheap couch from Amazon, but it didn’t last very long and was fairly heavy. I then opted for an expensive couch from Massage Warehouse – a UK company that has excellent customer service. I bought the wide Portalite Delta 2,  and have not been disappointed. It comes with a great carry case, it is light and supremely comfortable for my clients.

Workwear

Be professional – buy work wear – at least three tunics. I buy my tunics from Mirabella Workwear and have found them to the best value for money. I get black because it is the cheapest colour and does not show oil stains.

Carry case/bag

A suitable bag to carry towels, oils, paperwork etc. I use a cheap suitcase, one size up from cabin bag size. I also make sure it has a soft top, this makes it easier to fit in all my stuff when I carry sheets etc. I get mine from Matalan, a medium size IT case. You can wait for offers and get it for as little as £30. Please see my YouTube videos showing what I take with me.

Towels, sheets or fleeces, couch roll.

I started out using two large towels, a sheet and a couple of hand towels. It was too much to carry and my laundry bill was astronomical. I then went to using two single sheets, a large fleece and a couple of hand towels. But during Covid, I stopped taking my own sheets altogether and found that most of my customers were quite happy to provide their own towels. It makes life so much easier! After Covid, when customers were expecting me to go back to providing sheets etc, I decided to give them the choice. I needed to increase my process slightly as I was well overdue an increase an felt I was a bit cheap, so instead of putting my prices up I offered my clients the same price if they provided their own sheets, towels etc, of pay an extra £5 for me to provide them. Most of my clients choose to provide their own. I don’t use couch roll.

Massage oils.

I use Salon Services or Capital and Neal’s Yard. Neal’s Yard is lovely but very expensive and their oil does not go very far, it absorbs easily. The basic massage wheatgerm and soya oil, called Body Care, from Salon Services or Capital is light, but personally I prefer the slightly more expensive one called SkinTruth.  As soon as you have a certificate in any sort of massage or beauty you can open a trade account with a trade shop, and there is usually a Salon Services in most towns.  I decant my oil into small travel bottles that you can buy from Primark or Home Bargains and use a nice washbag type bag that I bought from Primark to carry them in.

Consent forms – you can design and print them yourself and or get some printed. I used Excel and made my own form. Some therapists use digital booking systems and forms, I cannot advise on those as I don’t use them. But if you sign up to my support group on Facebook – Mobile Massage Therapists UK, you can search the posts and find out what others recommend.

How to take payments.

I accept bank transfer, cheques and cash. I no longer take credit/debit card payments as I found that it was so infrequently used and the commission was too expensive. If you want to take card payments then shop around and check how much they charge – they all vary a lot. I don’t have a business bank account; it is not necessary and you get a lot of charges. A personal account is just fine, but the choice is yours.

Pricing

Choose your pricing carefully – make sure that you are competitive but not working for nothing.  Keep your pricing simple so you are not confused easily when taking enquiries and always sound professional.  Work out what you need to be paid for travelling. Cheap is not always the best way to go – you will get better clients and work better by charging what you are worth and that will not necessarily be the cheapest. Remember you are providing a convenient service and have to take into account your travelling so don’t try and undercut salons – have confidence to charge a decent price.

Advertise yourself.

1. Make full use of social media – I have a Facebook page, Instagram account, Google My Business, LinkedIn and Twitter. Be active on all as much as possible. A great way or doing this as easily as possible it to use a free app like Buffer. Google My Business is essential – literally puts your business on the map! Check out my article on how to put your business on Google Maps.
2. Get a decent website or, if you prefer not to outlay a large sum of money straight away, sign up to my directory website. In your Home Massage, this gives you a website like landing page. You can use the URL from your business listing as your website. Check out the pricing plans here.
3. Be contactable on the phone, text and email.
4. DO NOT advertise on Gumtree as it will lead to a lot of inappropriate phone calls and texts. I had loads of problem calls and texts after advertising on there only to be told later by a male friend that Gumtree has a reputation of being that place you go to for that other type of ‘massage’.
5. You do not need to spend money on expensive leaflets – a simple business card will do, I use Vistaprint – they are very reliable and extremely helpful. Look out for good deals – they are always about.

Booking clients.

Choose a booking system that suits you – there are many out there e.g  Fullslate, Mind Body Online. Personally, I use Google Calendar as it is the simplest way of organising both my personal and business appointments in one place. You can colour code everything – so all my massage appointments are in blue, my social engagements are in green and my own appointments like doctor etc are in red and so on. You can write notes on the appointments and the whole thing syncs automatically across all of your devices, best of all it is free! Decide how many clients you can comfortably see in a day and what hours you are prepared to work. Also- decide how many you aim, on average, to see in a week to meet all your financial needs. Then make time for yourself and make sure you don’t overwork. A tired therapist is not good and if you overdo it you won’t get clients re-booking. I make time for yoga twice a week and a chiropractor appointment once a month to make sure I stay strong and fit and I write these expenses off in my business.

Tax and accounts

 – check out my article on how to manage this area of your business.

Keep good records – keep receipts and invoices for everything you buy for your business. Keep a record of your income from clients. Again I use a simple Excel spreadsheet – expenses in and out. There are lots of simple accounting books and YouTube videos to help you.

 You do not need an accountant to start off with unless you really do not feel confident doing it yourself. To keep costs at a minimum when you start off you can just work out what you pay out against what you pay in. Decide on the date you start your business then work out what your tax is for the tax year by working out your outgoings and income for that tax year. You can use a spreadsheet. You can get all the advice you need on the Gov.uk website. Register for online self assessment and do your self-assessment tax form online there. They have lots of online help and you can find out how much you should be charging for utilities and phone etc on there. Check each year as this can change.

1. Keep a mileage book and fill it out every time you use your car for your massage business. That includes going shopping for supplies. If you keep a mileage book you claim a set price per mile for all your motor expenses and do not have to keep fuel receipts, take into account service and maintenance costs etc.  This price covers it all and is set by HMRC and can change to check what it is before doing your tax returns.
2. Invest in a lockable filing cabinet for your client consent forms – I bought one of Amazon, it wasn’t expensive.

Stay safe!

Be safe and selective! Be selective when taking bookings. Do not be afraid to turn down work if you are feeling in any way uncomfortable. Listen to your intuition and gut instinct. If you turn one down there will always be a decent client to take their place. If you are concerned tell someone when you are visiting a new client – their name and address, when you expect to arrive and when you expect to leave. Text your friend when you get there and when you leave. See my article on staying safe.

Lastly go out there and do it! Don’t wait until you are perfect – maybe offer a cheaper rate to family and friends to begin with to gain more confidence and ask for positive feedback. Do not give your services away for free – this undermines you as a therapist and undermines your skills. The more you do the better you get.

I hope this guide has been helpful.

Now go out there and do it! Good luck.

All the best,

Claire

Further reading:

In Your Home Massage – Articles

My website- Claire Masser Mobile Massage

Watch:

YouTube – In Your Home Massage

YouTube – Claire Masser Mobile Massage