Working in the field of hypnosis is very rewarding, having a hypnosis business is nice. I've been doing it for over 10 years now and have had some amazing results both for others and myself personally. Both my children were born using hypnosis! Some say it is like a calling. If you've had the opportunity to be exposed to it and felt the success from using it, it can build a desire to want to do more with it. This is why many coaches incorporate hypnosis in their tool kit as it can greatly increase the results they get with clients. Once you've felt the positive impacts, you'll be unable to sit still, looking for ways to do something with it.
Once you master the process of hypnotic phenomena, in friends or clients, you become almost shocked at how effective it is. Most of us can never go back to old ways of thinking and being. You change. For years I have been saying learning hypnosis is not about going into trance or crude stage shows, it's about waking up! The curious thing is not everyone gets it or can see the magic. For those that do get it, it's a special gift.
Did you have an aha moment like I did around hypnosis? In this blog my goal is to help you find the magic in hypnosis, either to sort out a negative personal habit or to add another tool in your professional kit, by providing information and case studies of things that I've experienced in my coaching career or questions that others have asked, to help pique your interest or further develop your coaching/management business.
Since 2006 I have been teaching and seeing clients as a coach. I've had the privilege of teaching hypnosis and seeing many people inspired to get into this field. I have also seen what works and what does not work. Both from a marketing point of view as well as a business model point of view when it comes to hypno/coaching businesses.
You may be surprised to learn that, what I did in my business actually put me in the black in only six months! This was working only 2 days a week and running some weekend workshops, accompanied by some 7 day trainings. So maybe some of what I implemented could help you too.
This was from April 2006 through to October 2006. Now I didn't say I was very far in the black, but I was in the black. I had added all that I had spent on my personal development and education to find my break even point, which was $30,000 rounded up! My former experience in business didn't even see the color black for over a 3 years! In fact I lost well over $500,000. This was why I had invested heavily into my personal development. But that's another story.
So without further background and discussion, let's just get right into some of what I consider to have helped get my coaching business start on the right foot.
Learn How to Run Your Office AND Be a Hypnotist
Most hypnotists start out with more training in session work than in setting up and running an office and/or business. To me the running the office part of having my own business was confusing, overwhelming and frustrating. I had already showed I was not good at it from my previous business. If this sounds familiar to you then the first thing I suggest you do is to invest in some sort of business building training that includes information on automation.
These days with the drive to put more support into small business and start ups you will be surprised as to what free support is available to you. Do some research and see what resources are available for small business start ups.
There are also Business Information Packs that you can find or buy. For my Australian friends a good place to start is here
http://www.business.gov.au . I can tell you I had only wished I had a greater desires to learn the "right" way from day one. Learning on the job is by far one of the best ways to get the lessons. But sometimes those lessons are very expensive. My systems are now mostly automated and organized. I don't have to worry about how to get results with selling on the phone, collecting money, scheduling, filing etc. because I have a system that works easily, smoothly and is all automated. NOW I can really concentrate on what I love most which is working with clients and growing as a hypnotist.
With the knowledge I gained from my business experience and the training I went through I can almost book every phone call into an appointment. One of the first lessons was to get money for several sessions UP FRONT and I have a tested way to be certain that my clients show up and come back. Taking credit cards, and not having to work nights or weekends was important when I started out as I was still running my retail SCUBA diving business. Take my word for it, spend some money and spend some time in the non-clinical part of your practice to get it set up right from the start.
Starting out just by having an automated booking system and email auto-responder system for inquiries and to manage your clients can be a very good time saver. You're also creating a very good consistent process so that every client is part of the same process and gets all the information necessary. This can help you qualify the client before the call, confirm the upcoming session, ensure they get any guarantees and paperwork they need, ensure payment is received and place the booking in your calendar. This can ALL be automated! Nothing is more important than talking to the client in person so never replace that, however. having systems and processes in place so that nothing is forgotten or lost makes you look very professional and provides great customer service.
I've had great feedback with people thanking me for the pre and post care service I offer and the follow up information I'm able to give due to automation.
Next post will be about finding a place to see clients, be it home, rented apartment or office.
And don't forget to focus on what you want!
