Author: Apolonija Brin

It can be awfully difficult to find a suitable room for your business, no matter if you are a massage therapist, a psychotherapist or a nutritionist. How would one decide as to which room is suitable and if it does make sense at all to rent?

You might have questions about the membership fee, the location of the room, the atmosphere and equipment of the space and of course about the terms of use.

Many of you will say, well, there are so many things to think about, I’d rather work from home then. Working from your home does bring some benefits of course, as you don’t need any agreements, checking of schedules or of course paying for the use of the working space.

But, as nice as working from home sounds, there are some really important things to consider, because your clients will definitely shape their opinion about you and your business based on the following:

• Does the therapy room looks professional
• Does it make clients feel comfortable and relaxed enough to participate in the session
• Do the clients feel welcome and well taken care of

Think about how you shape your opinion about someone or a service

Especially when you are just starting your business it’s of utmost importance to think about the first impression your future clients will get. What do you want them to feel when they step into your space? What should their first thought be? For sure the room needs to be quite and not allow any disruption in form of loud noises or even people entering the room.

Let’s see what the things are to take into account when you decide about where you want to run your business.-

• Welcome area

As we said before, the first impression is the most important one. If there is a nice person waiting for your client to welcome them, maybe even offer a tea or water, they will feel comfortable immediately and enjoy sitting down while waiting for you to invite them in. You have to remember that depending on your area of expertise, some people might be a bit anxious of going to a therapist, so a nice area before entering the actual therapy room could help clients relax faster.

• Noise is annoying

You need to avoid any kind of noise disruption at any time during the session. Surely you have noticed at home already that good soundproofing cannot be guaranteed just like that, so making sure a room is soundproof can cost quite some money. With rented rooms or meeting spaces this could be one worry less, as many of them already come with this particular equipment. There is quite some work behind making a room really pleasant and to ensure that sound is being absorbed. There is nothing worse than being in the middle of the therapy session and your client cannot relax because of noises in the neighbouring rooms or the fear that someone will suddenly open the door, which can happen if the therapist works from home for example.

• The eye candy

To make a working space look professional yet inviting and cosy, can be quite some undertaking. When renting a therapy room, you can choose from pre-decorated spaces with the design style you like most.

• Business mingling

While sharing a room with other consultants, personal coaches and alternative medicine practitioners, this could mean you get to know potential new customers or partners for a business collaboration.

• Staying connected

Professionally equipped working spaces usually come with a fast and stable connection, which can ensure a successful high-quality online therapy session.

There still might be some hesitation …
Usually, when you think about renting a space, the first thing that comes to your mind is obligations. This means you need to sign a contract and decide for how long you want to rent, plus the rent stays no matter how many clients you have or how much income you make. With this in mind, you probably cannot focus on the quality of the therapy and it might get stressful for you. The news about platforms which offer working spaces that you can book per hour, bring a lot of relief to the therapists, coaches and consultants. This flexibility enables you to really get the most out of your income, while investing more time into generating business and acquiring more clients.

Sometimes it might happen, that professionals working from home get extremely lonely and they really crave some company of other coaches, massage therapists, medical practitioners or psychotherapists. Renting a room also makes you part of something bigger, like some kind of a community and you get to know other professionals, like you. Thus, you can go out much more, take part in events, maybe create new business models with co-therapists, or just make new friends. Going out, while still enjoying comfort and productiveness, can open up a whole new world for you. 

In times of great uncertainty, we are facing challenges on a daily basis. The novel coronavirus has turned our lives upside down basically overnight. As a society, we had to adapt to the new normal and the whole situation has had a negative impact on businesses all over the world.

Most companies were forced to change their business practices and implement massive organisational changes. We limited in-person meetings and all of a sudden video meetings have become an essential part of work. Despite the fact that this method of communication has quite a few advantages, there are many professions that cannot fully perform their services in the virtual world. Lots of therapists, healers, masseurs, and counselors still need a safe space to work.

The chaotic situation we found ourselves in has caused fear among many people. As a result, there is less demand for therapeutic services, which greatly jeopardizes the liquidity of companies. Many opt for drastic steps, such as closing their premises. On one hand, decisions like that are understandable, but in most cases unnecessary.

There is a wonderful and practical solution that will delight everyone who wants to continue to use their therapeutic space, ensure business growth, and get rid of financial problems.

IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO GAIN CUSTOMER TRUST WITHOUT PERSONAL CONTACT

Video conferencing is a great choice for meeting purposes. We save time, money, and also reduce our carbon footprint. However, if we are dealing with alternative medicine, massage therapy, or healing services, personal contact is indispensable. The same goes for psychotherapy and counseling, as we all know that the key to good results is gaining your client’s trust. This has proven to be easier to do live than through the screen, so it’s really important that we still see customers in person.

THE SOLUTION IS SHARING YOUR THERAPY ROOM WITH OTHER THERAPISTS

Instead of working just to pay your rent and cover your overheads, rent out your well-being space. Let the room earn money for you. Offer available space to other therapists when you’re not using it. You can rent out your therapy room for a short period of time (a few hours, a day, or a week) or dedicate them entirely to others. The decision is all yours.

We recommend that you meet up with new clients in your therapy room and have your online meetings with clients that you already have a great relationship with. If that’s possible, of course. This way you will help the customer with your service and generate revenue both through your own work and by renting out your therapy room.

YOUR SPACE CAN BE AVAILABLE FOR BUYERS IN A FEW MINUTES

Finding verified and trusted customers is a time-consuming process. You can spend a lot of time organising and planning appointments, which takes away the focus you would otherwise spend on your business. Fortunately, you do not have to do this as we offer a very simple, efficient, and affordable solution. Opti.Space is a digital platform that gives you access to customers looking for space for occasional use.

More than 70+ companies already trust us, as our system is state-of-the-art and provides an excellent user experience. The platform has automated (co) use of premises. We’ve included all the important features you’ll need: calendar, room availability, reservations and cancellations, communication, and billing. You will have control over everything and management will take you very little time.

All you have to do is provide an attractive and accurate description of your therapy space, a competitive price, beautiful photos, and available times and dates. In a few minutes, your space will be available to customers, and soon you will connect with a group of therapists and counselors willing to practice shared use of space with you.

For more information, visit our website https://opti.space and become part of our community.

Just remember, that a global crisis doesn’t have to impact your business and finances.

You can still run your business, look for new customers, and grow. With the help of the Opti.space platform, the path to greater success and financial stability will be significantly easier.

When you hear the words »rent out« and »space sharing«, you probably think of coworking spaces, where freelancer can rent offices or spaces. Probably you think that those have to be some special kind of spaces that are being rented out.

Exactly now is the time where flexibility has become even more important, companies and entrepreneurs have to change the way they think and adapt tu the current circumstances.

Maybe also your business is greatly affected by the current crisis and you have to find a way not to let your offices and spaces stand empty. It might be that many of your employees are working from home which means that a lot of spaces and offices, which have been previously used on a daily basis, are now empty. But the costs for rent or maintanance remain. What could one do to bring those spaces alive again and to make sure the costs are covered, or even making profit? 
There are many experts whose work relies on one on one sessions, like therapists, coaches or consultants. They are working remotely online now, but they will want to return to those individual sessions as soon as the situation improves. Because a part of their work will still be done online, they will not want to commit and rent or purchase whole offices or therapy rooms. The idea of space sharing therefore gains a lot of sympathy, because you need to pay the space really only when you need and use it. This saves costs for the tenant and also enables the landlord a flexible renting strategy, where there is no need to commit to just one client, but instead the empty spaces can be utilized to the maximum with the help of space sharing.  
The offices and spaces, which are now not being used and which due to a modified work process organization might not be used as much as before in the future, can bring you quite some income. The important thing is that you need to think about the needs of your potential tenants and adapt your spaces to them. This means that if you want to successfully rent out your spaces and offices, you need to think about all the furniture and equipment that for example a therapist would need, or the atmosphere that would be needed for a cozy and pleasant session, without noise or other disruptions. 
Opti.Space enables flexibility to utilize your spaces to the maximum and still use them when you need them. Instead of renting your offices out to just one client, you can rent them out per hour or per week, which doesn’t bring you only additional income but also minimizes the potential loss of last minute cancellations. This way you can put your available office or space quickly online and enable last minute bookings. Opti.Space offers a simple renting out process and a perfectly maximized use of your offices and spaces.

Do you have a therapy room that you’re not using regularly? Make it earn money for you!

In the last year, many businesses have moved their meetings online, and a lot of therapists are feeling stressed as the coronavirus pandemic decreased the demand for their services. As a result, therapy rooms are often empty, but fixed costs still have to be paid, which often leads to financial distress. Fortunately, there is a very effective solution to avoid these kinds of worries.

You can offer your therapy space to other therapists and counselors when you are not using it yourself. You can opt for an hour, a day, or a week.

Finding customers won’t waste a lot of valuable time if you use the Opti.Space platform. It provides an automated system that includes calendar, space availability, confirmations, cancellations, and other key information. In fact, Opti.Space removes the need to have to deal with the organizational and managerial processes, therefore you are able to focus on your business.

OUR CLIENT’S REMARKABLE SUCCESS STORY

Renting out your therapy room can help you generate revenue very quickly, which can be confirmed by many of our clients. One of them experienced a breakthrough in the second month of co-sharing their well-being space, as they covered all costs and even made a profit. Since then, they generated a profit of 300 euros a month and the profit it getting bigger each month.

Why is sharing the room the best way to make profits?

For example, let’s look at a therapy room in Ljubljana, which the provider markets for € 260 a month.

If they rent it out for only 2 hours a day and charge € 7 per hour (which is a competitive price), they earn € 70 per week and € 280 per month.

If they rent out his space for 4 hours a day, the room is making them € 560 of income per month. In this calculation, we only considered working days, and we all know that therapies and counseling are also provided on weekends.

The advantage of sharing space is also the fact that if one customer cancels their hourly lease, you lose € 7, but if you rent to only one

subtenant for a whole month, you would risk losing a full month’s rent.

You too can experience such success, but first, you need to convince the customers that your well-being space is exactly what they need.

Here are some amazing tips:

NICE AND SUITABLE EQUIPMENT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

You will definitely get more inquiries if you ensure them a tidy and beautiful therapy room. Make sure the furniture is clean and preserved. It should be evident that the furniture is intended for therapists and counselors. It is desirable that the therapy room contains a sofa or armchair with a table, cupboards, drawers, flowers, and a few nice elements, that will make the room even more attractive. With small changes and adorable details, you can create a beautiful and comfortable space that your tenants will enjoy. Also, you will have an advantage over others if the room includes a massage table, or at least offers enough space for it.

TAKE BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS OF YOUR THERAPY ROOM

It is extremely important to use quality photos of your space, otherwise your customers will lose interest. Make sure that all the advantages of the room are visible in the photo. We suggest that you add a bouquet or a nice decoration to let your customers know that their opinion and comfort are important to you. We buy with our eyes; therefore, the photographs must be beautiful and realistic.

THE DESCRIPTION OF THE SPACE MUST BE DETAILED

When describing your therapy room, be precise so that customers know exactly what it has to offer. Highlight its benefits and features and describe all the purposes for which it can be used. Include all the important information you think they need to know. Describe in detail how the customer can get to the therapy room location the quickest, which public transport they can use, and what are the parking options. Honesty will definitely be rewarded.

DECIDE ON A GOOD AND COMPETITIVE PRICE

Price plays an extremely important role when it comes to renting out a therapy room. Explore the market and decide on a competitive price. If it is too high, you will immediately drive away from most customers. Let it be auspicious to fill most or even all vacancies in your therapy room and make a profit. If you set a lower price, you can generate high revenue. On the other hand, an empty room can’t work for you.

SIMPLIFY YOUR LOGISTICS

Make things easy for your customers. Write them simple instructions and make sure the keys and other necessary things are available whenever they need them. We suggest you make a new set of keys for customers. The cost of production can be borne by the customer, but it is very important that you inform them at the first meeting. Also, include this agreement in the contract for the use of space. However, you can also charge a deposit for the keys.

If customers have a good experience with no complications, it is likely they will return. We also recommend that you bill your regulars on a monthly basis.

Never underestimate authenticity and kindness. In a very short time, the whole process will become a simple routine.

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Sharing a therapy room can be a great way to cover overheads and even create a profit. 

Especially in this day and age, a lot of therapists are facing a reduced number of appointments or they transferred a part of their business online. Their well-being rooms are often empty and renting them out is one of the best solutions, even if it’s only for an hour at a time, a few hours, or a week. 

However, a lot of them are reluctant to share their space with other therapists simply because they know how much work and time it requires.

Just imagine what you would need to do to get renters and also ensure smooth managing and administrative processes. You would need to build a website, make several phone calls, answer tons of emails, and maybe even spend some money on advertising. Also, billing your renters would take up so much of your time. Honestly, dynamically sharing one therapy room with more than three people can become extremely complicated.

Let’s face it, most therapists and healers don’t want to become administrators for other therapists. They want to focus on their clients, do the job they love, and grow their business.

The good news is that it’s possible to do both! You can focus on your business and rent out your space without wasting your precious time. The solution is a software system that automates the sharing of spaces. The Opti.Space platform is a big game-changer in the shared use of therapy space. We created it because we understand the challenges and opportunities in renting out therapy rooms.

We thought about everything. This software enables sharing therapy rooms and well-being spaces among 10 professionals or even more. 

The best thing about this platform is that it provides an excellent user experience. It’s easy to learn and understand, and it won’t take up a lot of your time. 

You won’t have to worry about dealing with reservations of space because they are automated and synced with calendars and information about space availability. Cancellations are also automated. Also, we have a unique closed ecosystem of reservations and users. Once a therapy room is fully booked by an existing circle of customers, it can go into “invisible mode” for others but current users continue to use it in our system.

Billing is also managed automatically, either monthly or immediately, therefore customers don’t have to manually prepare billing for every time they use the flexible therapy space.

All you have to do is create a profile of your therapy room, write a detailed description, and some general information (how to access it, where to get the key…), upload attractive photographs of your space, and decide on a competitive price.

After that, your only duty is to share the available dates and hours. 

The rest is taking care of it. Soon you will get new customers and your space will start creating income or even profit. 

You will still use your therapy room every time you want but at the same time, you will get rid of some financial burden.

We assure you, Opti.Space is a great platform that will help you populate your therapy room with some fantastic therapists.