When LMT Amy Bradley Radford wrote her Massage magazine article about looking at building an independent practice she touched on the pros and cons of going it solo.

The benefits Amy outlines fall in line with the some of the most important reasons people get into massage. First, you are in complete control of your time. Work/life balance is an important part of life today, and for massage therapists it is likely even more so. Surveys show that work/life balance scores high as a reason for practitioners getting into the art in the first place, but often this value is displaced by corporate values quickly when working for someone else. As a practitioner, you are the only one that knows your body—whether you can handle longer hours or when you need to make a change. Working for yourself offers that flexibility. 

Amy's next point moves toward the cons of being an independent practitioner. High on her list is the decision of where to practice. Working from home can mean you feel like you never leave work and firm boundaries are required to ensure personal space and professionalism.  Renting a space incurs new risks as you deal with fixed expenses and additional costs such as cleaning supplies, office supplies, utilities, and more. 

What Amy doesn't know about is WellSpace. This new model of flexible rental space takes a lot of the risk out of the equation and supports massage therapists with amenities such as security, linen service, marketing support, and most importantly flexible, no-lease rates. 

Amy's article does a great job of breaking down the benefits and challenges of being an independent practitioner, but with WellSpace working to support massage therapist's solo practice needs, it helps make the decision to go solo even easier. 

Read Amy's article at https://www.massagemag.com/the-mts-guide-to-an-independent-massage-career-an-exploration-of-the-3-main-types-of-practice-129837/.