If you are a new Reiki business a large part of your business focus will be on growing your practice to earn an income that supports you. If you are an established Reiki practice, you may feel your income supports you, however, you may have a vision to develop your business further. When you want to develop your business further, you may need to find additional business strategies and personal push to give your business a boost to the next level.

The first step you should undertake is to gather all of the essential information that will help you make informed decisions about your Reiki practice.

Information you will want to gather includes:

• Financial statements about your Reiki practice
• Client statistics to determine:
  • How many clients you see over a 6-12 month period
  • Your client demographics
  • Top 5 issues that your client consults with you about (eg. Pain, mental wellbeing, fatigue etc)
• Social media following across all platforms
• Newsletter statistics
• Website traffic
• Advertising spending and any correlating effect on income

There is a lot more information you can use to assess your current business operations, however, as a solo Reiki practitioner, it’s important to always balance undertaking tasks that can be completed in a short time frame vs not at all. The above information will get you started so that you can gain a basic understanding of how your Reiki practice is currently operating.

Below is a breakdown of what you should be looking for in each piece of information. Details on how to use this information to boost your Reiki business are further on in this article.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

• Analyze your finances to understand where you might be able to increase income. Are you able to increase your client work hours? Or do you have the physical space to introduce additional employees or contractors into your business?
• Understand how you can reduce or eliminate unnecessary expenses so that you can redirect any money to expenses that will help generate additional income, eg advertising etc

OPERATIONAL INFORMATION

Much of the information you will need to understand about your business falls under the operational side of your Reiki practice. This is all of the information (outside of financial information), that helps understand how your Reiki practice operates.

• Analyze your client statistics so that you understand whether your client workload could increase. Understand the common traits that exist amongst your clients. This might refer to the common issues that your client brings to your practice.
• Analyze the effectiveness of your social media platforms. Is there any single platform that works best for you? Could your social media presence be improved?
• Understand other avenues of how you communicate with your existing clients as well as any potential clients. Do you publish a newsletter that keeps your existing clients informed? Do you have an easy way for potential clients to contact you? Consolidate an understanding of how clients can communicate with you.
• Develop an understanding of how your website is attracting new clients to your practice. Is your website a static website that is rarely updated, or do you constantly add new content for readers to stay engaged with?

Above are some of the areas that you should investigate to get an understanding of how your Reiki practice operates currently. Use this information to inform your decisions on how you would like to grow your business. You may come to realize you have no room to add extra client work, but you might have the ability to add online courses.

You may also find you do not have an effective marketing strategy and that might help direct your efforts to develop a strategy that can help boost your Reiki business.

Each business will find different answers when analyzing their information as each business operates differently. If you find in this process, that the information you currently have doesn’t provide you with enough information to make informed decisions about your business, then this is a good time for you to put recording processes in place so that you can start collecting important data. You can then decide to revisit this analysis in another 6 months’ time when you have collected that information.

The methods you undertake to boost your Reiki practice will depend on how you envision your Reiki practice to develop over the future. When making plans for your business, it’s good to break your plans down into two distinct categories:

• Short term – this is your view of your Reiki practice over the next 5 years. This timeframe allows you the necessary time to take action on your plans and see them eventuate.
  
• Long term – this is the master view you have of your practice. This is the view you hold about how your Reiki practice will run until you eventually stop working. This might mean until you retire or until you decide to sell or close your business.

Your long term view doesn’t need to be detailed in plans as it remains further into the distance than what you need to focus on. However, you should always keep the long term view in your mind as it will guide the decisions that you make in the short term. For example, if you plan on selling your Reiki practice in the future, then you might make decisions about hiring staff in the short term that will make selling your business an easier prospect in the future.

Your short term view should be more detailed. Once you set your short term goals, you then set a plan of actions that will ensure those goals are achieved.

To develop the plans for your future Reiki practice:

• write down the vision you have of a perfect day or week in your Reiki practice in 2 years, 10 years, and 15 years. These time markers will depend on your current age and how long you see yourself working in your Reiki practice.
• from this vision, identify the services and products you would be selling in your Reiki practice
• identify the infrastructure (building, website etc), and other resources (staff, money etc) that you would need to enact this vision
• from this list, identify what are short term and long term goals
• list your short term goals and then start to develop plans around achieving them

Below are some previous blog posts that will help you identify your Reiki business plans:

• 10 Steps to Set Up Your Reiki Practice
  
• 10 Ways to Increase Your Reiki Income
  
• 5 Easy Strategies to Increase Profit For Your Reiki Practice
  
• How Do I Create an Ecourse for my Reiki Practice
  
• How To Organise a Reiki Group
  
• Plan A Productive Year as a Reiki Practitioner
  
• Plan Your Marketing Strategies For Your Reiki Practice
  
• Planning Template for Your Reiki Practice
  
• Professional Networking for a Reiki Practitioner
  
• Recording Financial Information For Your Reiki Practice
  
• The Best Marketing Methods for Reiki Therapists
  
• Understand the Marketing Cycle of Your Reiki Practice
  
• When You Have No Clients Booked For Your Reiki Practice

Essentially all business activity comes down to two important parts of the financial equation:

• Increasing income
• Reducing expenses

These two factors constitute your financial data.

In addition to the financial aspects of your business, there is also a personal investment of time as a Reiki practitioner. As the owner of your Reiki practice, most of your time is typically spent on client work which derives your income. Your time is also spent on activities that make your Reiki practice function and these are the activities that typically drain the energy of most business owners. Most business owners don’t envision a working life made up of setting up social media accounts, creating ads, analyzing financial data, or contacting government departments to meet business obligations.

As a business owner, your time should be primarily invested in activities that earn income or develop ideas to earn future income. All other activities should either be delegated or set up as automated processes so that you spend minimal time on administrative tasks.

Below is a summary list of some of the most common ways you can boost your Reiki practice.

INCOME

• develop other sources of income
• develop a niche – educate
• network with local groups
• network with Allied Health professionals

Additional blog posts focusing on increasing income:

• 10 Ways to Increase Your Reiki Income
  
• 5 Easy Strategies to Increase Profit For Your Reiki Practice
  
• How Do I Create an Ecourse for my Reiki Practice
  
• How To Organise a Reiki Group

EXPENSES

• Analyze current spending and contracts to reduce spending
• Interact primarily digitally to reduce the costs of physical storage and management

PERSONAL EFFORT

• Boost Productivity
• Plan better
• Network with other professionals

Additional blog posts focusing on productivity:

• Productivity Podcasts and Getting Things Done (GTD)
  
• 10 Tools to Boost Your Productivity
  
• Productivity Tools: Stay Focusd vs Rescue Time

MARKETING

• Improve your website
• Improve networking
• Improve outreach
• Measure your current marketing
• Advertize on social media and Google
• Network with local Allied Health services

Additional blog posts focusing on marketing:

• Create a Free Offer to Build Your Email List
  
• Create an Annual Social Media Plan in 1 Hour
  
• Effective Ways to Network as a Reiki Practitioner
  
• Free Social Media Schedulers Review
  
• How to Build an Email List for your Reiki Practice
  
• Online Courses to Improve Your Marketing Skills
  
• The Best Marketing Methods for Reiki Therapists
  
• Understand the Marketing Cycle of Your Reiki Practice

The topic of this article is about increasing PROFIT which is different to INCOME.

Income refers to the exchange of money from a customer for the exchange of your products or services that you offer in your Reiki practice. If you are selling Reiki sessions then your income refers to what your client gives to you at the end of their session.

In business, you will also incur expenses, which are the costs associated with running your business. Examples of expenses are rent, advertising, internet, wages etc.

Now that we have a definition for income and expenses, you can calculate your profit which is what you have left after deducting your expenses from your income.

Now that we have these terms explained, the rest of this blog post will explain more about how to focus on increasing your profit. As previously explained, the calculation of profit involves both income and expenses. Therefore, to increase profit we need to adjust either the income or expenses in the equation to increase the profit amount.

Below are a few ways you can increase your income:

• Diversify your income – introduce new types of products or services. If you currently sell Reiki sessions, you could offer group sessions, workshops, Reiki training sessions, ebooks, physical products, or products associated with Reiki.
• Seek new clients – finding new clients can involve exploring new networks for referrals. You should understand how your current clients found your Reiki practice and pursue those pathways to find more clients.
• Seek new markets – if you only work with individual clients currently, you may want to provide group Reiki sessions, or undertake corporate and community based wellness sessions.
• Increase your prices – determine if your pricing for your Reiki services are reasonable. Maybe you are undervaluing your work and can look to increase your session rate. If you’re not comfortable increasing your session rates, you could raise your rates for after hours work or charge premium rates for specialized services eg. corporate.
• Eliminate unprofitable products or services – eliminate any products or services that are not profitable from your Reiki practice. For example, if you currently offer night sessions but have to pay higher rates of childcare or costs to keep your office open, then this time slot may not be profitable. You might consider removing the after hours service and use that time to develop other profitable products or services.
• Improve your client experience – this can include offering flexible payment options, car parking, flexible hours. All of these things may keep your clients coming back to you as well as result in word of mouth referrals that bring you more clients.
  Collaborate – consider collaborating with other Reiki practitioners or wellness professionals to offer workshops.

Below are a few ways you can decrease your expenses:

• Review all expenses – set a goal to achieve a 5-10% reduction. Some examples:
• Review merchant fees on credit card processing
• Review insurance requirements for office equipment and consider raising your excess to reduce premiums
• Review any salary related costs eg. Insurance, retirement, health insurance etc
• Review any monthly subscription costs and decide whether an annual payment will save you money or whether to cancel or suspend the services for a specific period. You can subscribe again when your profit improves.
• Review ongoing admin costs such as rent, internet, communications, cleaning, office supplies etc.
• Call all of your suppliers to negotiate costs or ask for early payment discounts. You won’t receive unless you ask!
• Redesign workflows – review the process of how you book a client. Is there a way to save your time or staff costs? Any time saved can be directed to tasks that will produce additional income.
• Eliminate tasks – Examples include running your business electronically, and save printing and paper costs. This is especially relevant if you print receipts, invoices, or intake forms.

Trying to improve your business profit can feel like an overwhelming task when there are so many components to managing your Reiki practice.

If you have an office manager or other staff member, you can share some of the tasks mentioned above to help increase your income or reduce your expenses. If you are a sole practitioner with no staff assistance, then the task of improving profit levels rests with you.

As your time and energy are limited, you should plan to review your income and expenses strategically so that you can make the most significant impact on your profit in a short period of time.

If you have a set of financial statements work through each item on your profit and loss statement and write a priority number against each expense or income item that you feel contributed the most to your profit levels. The priority number you allocate should be based on both the financial impact as well as the ability to improve the item. An item might have a significant financial impact, however, you may not be able to make changes to the cost of an item and therefore that line item will remain a low priority.

A simplified example is shown below with the priority number written in front of the item name (1 being the highest priority) :

INCOME

• (7) Client sessions – this item was prioritized as low as the Reiki practitioner felt they had already reached their maximum load of clients and their rates were already reasonable. Even though this item is rated as a low priority to make changes, the business owner should still review if any smaller changes can be made such as ensuring no money is outstanding from client work.
• (1) Group work – this item was prioritized high as an additional income stream. Set a goal to add one group Reiki session per month and build upon this depending on the impact to profit in 6 months.

EXPENSES

• (6) Internet – this item was ranked low in priority as it was recently reviewed and had already been changed to reduce the costs.
• (2) Rent – this expense was the most significant cost. Ideas to reduce rent were to rent out any unused space to other professionals. Review commercial rents in the surrounding area as a comparison and use this to negotiate the next lease.
• (3) Insurance – even though the cost of insurance wasn’t high, this item was rated as a high priority as the amount could be reduced by paying an annual premium (discounted rate), increasing their excess/deductible and decreasing their coverage.
• (4) Software subscriptions – this item was ranked in the middle as the cost could easily be reduced by paying annual subscriptions and cancelling some subscriptions.
• (5) Advertising – this item was ranked low in priority as the current advertising spending was accurate. A review can still be conducted to determine if any improvements can be made.

Once you have ranked the priority of each item, you can set a goal over a month and review one item at a time to see if you can make any improvements to your profit.

As a business owner, the above process of reviewing your income and expenses should be done on a regular basis. At a minimum, an annual review is suggested, however, quarterly or semi-annual reviews provide you with an opportunity to make changes sooner.

Most Reiki therapists will earn their main source of income from direct client work for Reiki services. In addition to client work, there are are a variety of ways that a Reiki therapist can increase the income that they earn.

As a Reiki therapist, your income mainly depends on using your time directly with clients. This can be significantly impacted if you were to get sick or found yourself unable to provide face to face time with clients.

In addition to your own personal circumstances, changes can also occur within your location that impact the accessibility of your clients to your Reiki practice. Furthermore, your professional interests may develop over time. You may also want to take some time off work for a period of time. All of these factors can impact your income from your Reiki practice.

Developing additional income sources gives you the flexibility to earn income in addition to your primary client work. Some of these income earning methods may still require your time through the delivery of services, however, you can also introduce more ‘passive’ earning income strategies.

Passive income doesn’t mean you don’t need to work to earn your income. Passive income means that you can create one product and then resell it multiple times. The most common example of this is writing a book. You write one book and sell it multiple times.

In this article, we’re listing 10 ways that you can increase your income as a Reiki therapist. Some options include using your Reiki knowledge, and other options involve using your overall knowledge of wellness practices that can help the general public. You don’t need to implement all of these income earning strategies. Initially, you can focus on one new income stream at a time. This will allow you the time and energy to develop your ideas and delivery methods so that you can earn your new income on a consistent basis. Once you’ve established a new income earning strategy, you can look to implement additional strategies to build on your income.

As you reflect on the income earning strategies that interest you, it’s a good idea to consider what income strategies might complement each other so that you can capitalize on your ideas.

For example, you can write content for an ecourse which you can then turn into an ebook. You might also want to develop a 1 day workshop based on the same content. You can also offer audio files for sale using the same content. You can use your one idea and it’s content to develop multiple ways to earn income. This allows you the ability to earn additional income, as well as provide opportunities for your customers to purchase your products and services in a variety of ways. You may have clients who can’t attend an in-person workshop but would like to purchase an ebook instead.

1. TEACHER – teaching other Reiki practitioners

2. CONSULTING – providing consulting services to community groups on complementary health and general wellness topics.

3. TRAINING – providing training to community groups and organizations about Reiki or relaxation techniques.

4. E-COURSES – developing e-courses for other Reiki practitioners or clients based on complementary health courses.

5. EBOOKS – writing ebooks for other Reiki practitioners or clients based on complementary health courses.

6. WRITING for online publications – writing for other publications about Reiki and general wellness topics.

7. PUBLIC SPEAKING – speaking at conferences, community events, government departments and corporate events.

8. CONTRACT WORK for other practices – work as a Reiki practitioner in another practice part-time or to cover the absence of a therapist due to maternity leave, carers leave, or sickness etc.

9. REIKI PRODUCTS – sell products that suit the Reiki field or general wellness industry. You can resell or create your own products to sell.

10. AUDIO FILES – audio files can be useful for clients who like to have access to tools at any time. Examples of audio files that can be sold include meditations and relaxation focused topics.

As a therapist running your own private practice, you are required to record financial information to determine your tax obligations each year.

In addition to calculating your tax obligations, you can also gain ins=sight into the profitability of your practice through your financial information. You can analyze your business income and expenses and make decisions about your business that will help your private practice become more profitable.

Some of the most common types of financial information you need to record are:

• Income
• Expenses
• Assets – furniture, equipment, property etc
• Liabilities – loans, leases
• Salary
• Retirement – Superannuation, 401K etc
• Taxes

The information that you are required to record is based on the country where you are operating your private practice.

The most common software that is used to record financial information is Microsoft Excel or purpose built accounting software. Below is a list of advantages and disadvantages of both Excel and accounting software. It’s important to remember that you can change your system at any time so you may choose to use Excel in the initial stages of building your private practice and then upgrade to using more sophisticated accounting software.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EXCEL

Below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of Excel:

ADVANTAGES:

• Excel requires fewer upgrades
• Excel is easy to edit data due to less compliance and auditing features (see disadvantage also)
• Easy to send an Excel file to your accountant
• Lower ongoing costs
• Excel can be a more simplified way to record data
• Excel is a commonly known program that most people are familiar with
• You can create spreadsheets and reports that are specific to your private practice needs
• Download free templates available to suit your business
• Quick learning curve as most people are familiar with Excel
• Easy to integrate with other software

DISADVANTAGES:

• Working with excel formulas may be challenging for some people
• Using Excel formulas can increase the chance of errors
• Data is easily changeable with no accounting compliance or auditing features
• Managing multiple spreadsheets or files can be onerous
• Errors may occur due to multiple versions when sharing an excel file
• May need to create financial documentation that 3rd parties may require eg. Invoices
• It can be time consuming to update spreadsheets for any significant changes to your business operations
• More time consuming to produce tax reporting requirements
• More time consuming to create reports

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE

Below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using either installed or cloud based accounting software.

ADVANTAGES:

• Central file is maintained which reduces the risk of version control problems
• Accounting compliance and auditing requirements
• Integration with online banking to record financial information automatically
• Easy to produce tax reports
• Easy to use built in reporting
• Includes payroll systems

DISADVANTAGES:

• Increased learning curve due to the uniqueness of software
• Software should be updated regularly which can involve additional costs
• Data entry and reports can be too general and not specific to your private practice
• A difficulty with integrating data with other software

The use of cloud based software is becoming more popular. One of the benefits of using cloud based software is the ability to access the program and your data from anywhere using mostly any device, as long as you have an internet connection.

This portability of your data means you can provide access to your financial information to a 3rd party such as a bookkeeper or accountant. Cloud based software also offers multiple user accounts (usually for an additional fee) if you wish someone else with access on an ongoing basis.

Cloud based software generally involves less manual upgrades as the software you are log into is the most updated version. Cloud based software also means your data is regularly backed up on a 3rd party server which means you can still access your data if your computer or device becomes damaged or lost. The downside of these features is that you have to pay an ongoing monthly or annual fee to access your data. Cloud based systems are also susceptible to hacking of your data and your password details.

Using cloud based software means you need an internet connection to access your data. This is not a significant problem given our access to the internet, however it can have an impact if the cloud based provider is offline or has an outage. This can create some business disruption which is important if you are generating invoices for payment from cloud based software.

Using cloud based software is a commitment to using the services from that company. If you decide in the future that you no longer wish to use their service, you will need to export your data to use in another service.

Using installed software is not as portable as cloud based software. Additionally, installed software is updated on a less regular basis compared to cloud based software, however, the potential to being hacked is reduced as you work in your software offline.

Using installed software provides you with more control over the total cost and ability to access to your data, however, cloud based software can provide you with various ways of accessing your data with your data being regularly backed up. If you use installed software, you will need to ensure that you back up your own data regularly.

The program that you decide to use will depend on the stage of your private practice. Initially, you may be focused on controlling costs. You may already have access to Excel and can easily keep a list of income and expenses in a spreadsheet.

As your practice grows and becomes more complex with additional services, products, and possibly other staff, you may want to transition to an accounting software package that incorporates invoicing, payroll and comprehensive reporting.

Your choice of what software to use and when will be based on your budget, your technical skill level, and the complexity of your financial requirements.