Step by Step Guide To Starting a Massage Therapy Business in Florida

Starting a massage therapy business in Florida can be a rewarding and fulfilling career path, as it allows you to use your skills and expertise to help others feel their best. Whether you are starting a mobile massage business or opening a massage establishment, here is a step-by-step guide completed with the necessary must-have resources to help you accomplish this. Are you ready to open your own massage therapy practice and become an awesome healer, leader, and facilitator?

1. Get Licensed

This one may be an obvious one but we felt that we had to start here. In most US states, massage therapists are required to be licensed. To obtain a massage therapy license in Florida, you will need to complete 750 hours of approved massage therapy education at an accredited institution and pass a written exam. Read the requirements for becoming a Florida Licensed Massage Therapist on the Board of Massage Therapy website.

2. Create a Business Plan

A business plan will help you define your business goals and objectives, as well as outline the steps you need to take to achieve them. It should include information on your target market, pricing, marketing strategies, and financial projections. Many people make the mistake of thinking that business plan should be a complex document full of numbers and scary terminology. This is, however, far from the truth. The best business plans are simple, short, and achievable. A one to two page document which identifies your objectives will suffice.

To help you create a business plan, we put together some important questions to answer. The questions cover most of the objectives you must think about.

Massage Therapy Business Plan Questions

• What type of business culture/environment do I envision? (Spa, Energy Work, Sports, Medical, Corporate Office etc.)
• What services will I provide?
• What are the local legal requirements of starting this business?
• What equipment, supplies, software, and location would I need for this business?
• How much money would it cost to obtain all the necessities to set up such business?
• What is my starting budget?
• What bare minimum will I need to get started and fit into my starting budget?
• What is my target/optimal customer?
• How/where can I reach this type of customer?
• What will my starting monthly expenses be?
• How many monthly clients do I need and how much do I need to charge to make a profit?
  (Check out the next section which will help you price your massage services.)
• How will I retain customers (perks, referrals, memberships, affiliates)?
• How much money do I want to make in the future? Project how much you wish to raise your revenue by.
  Example: I wish to consistently expand and increase my yearly revenue by 15%.
• What can I do, in the future, to achieve that revenue increase?
  If this one is difficult because it feels like there are too many uncertainties, that’s okay, go ahead write down 2 to 3, birds-eye view ideas. Even if you’re not ready to make a concrete plan, writing down your ideas helps you visualize the future and provides you with some general direction to strive toward, even if at a subconscious level. These ideas can include things such as hire more therapists within the next year, put in new services, start selling products, or anything else that generally increases revenue but doesn’t solely rely on your own effort and time.

3. How to Price Your Massage Services

Pricing your massage services can be tricky. On one hand, you want to make it affordable. On the other, you don’t want work yourself to the point of exhaustion or worse, an injury. “Work smarter not harder” as the saying goes. This is true especially when considering how difficult this job can be on your body. Remember to value in your health and happiness when deciding on your rates.

HELPFUL MATH TO HELP YOU PRICE YOUR MASSAGE SERVICES:

1. First, figure out your expenses. To do this, tally up your fixed monthly expenses. (rent, subscriptions, supplies, marketing etc.)
EXAMPLE:
Rent: $400
Supplies: $50
Marketing: $50
__________
Total Monthly Expenses: $500

2. Now, figure out what revenue you need to make a profit for yourself. To calculate this, decide on your desired take-home pay, and add expenses the monthly expenses you calculated above. The result will be the minimum amount of revenue you will need as your starting goal.
EXAMPLE: $500(fixed monthly expense) + $4,000(your desired take-home pay) = $4,500(monthly revenue needed)

3. Break it down into smaller goals. Take your total revenue amount and break it down into smaller, weekly revenue goal. Thus, divide monthly revenue needed by 4 weeks to see what you need to make weekly.
EXAMPLE: $4,500(monthly revenue goal)/4(weeks) = $1,125(weekly revenue goal)
Based on our example you would need $1,125 of weekly revenue.

4. Continuing, go ahead and check out what your competitors are charging. Come up with a hourly massage rate you think would be reasonable, based on what you think competitive rate is.

5. Now, calculate how many weekly clients you will need to achieve your desired revenue goals based on your hourly rate. Take the weekly revenue goal and divide it by your hourly rate.
EXAMPLE: $1,125(weekly revenue goal)/$80(charge per hour)= You will need approximately 14, 60 minute clients per week.

6. Reevaluate the plan to come up with the final rate. If you’re not happy with the number of customers you will have to take, believe it is unachievable or unsustainable, consider either increasing or lowering your hourly rate.

3. Create a Marketing Plan

Marketing is an important part of running a successful massage therapy business. Traditional marketing tools include signs, word of mouth, business cards, and networking with other professionals. Some awesome digital tools we highly recommend are digital business cards, a professional massage therapy website, appointment scheduling software, social media scheduling tools, directory listings, blogging, guest blogging, advertisement in publications, and social media.

Here are a few absolute must-haves to start:
1. Physical and digital business cards
2. Website
3. Online Business/Directory Listings: Google, Yelp etc.
4. Appointment Scheduling Software
5. Several Social Media Accounts on platforms of your choice
6. Business opening Special/Deal to get new customers in the door

4. Fulfill The Legal Requirements To Form Your Business

Many individuals get intimidated by this step, and understandably so. To help make it easier, and cut through the confusion, we’ve provided you with the necessary steps and resources to help you complete this process! We suggest to follow the steps in the order they’re listed.

STEP 1 – REGISTER YOUR BUSINESS AS AN LLC OR CORPORATION
Special Consideration: If you wish to be self-employed without any employees, you can skip this step entirely and head to STEP TWO. Alternatively, you can do this step but skip STEP TWO entirely (more on this in step two). In most circumstances, you can omit either step one or step two.

Register your LLC or Corporation. This step is OPTIONAL if you are planning to be a sole-proprietor (aka you will be self-employed and are not planning to have any employees anytime soon). Registering and LLC or Corp helps you divide your personal assets from your business assets. If you do not know which legal business structure to choose (sole proprietor, LLC, or Corp), read this easy to understand article which describes the difference between the legal structures.

Where to file for LLC or Corp?
FILE AN ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION FOR FLORIDA PROFIT CORPORATIONS HERE.

What is the fee for filing an LLC/Corp in the state of Florida?
The 2023 fee to from an LLC in Florida is about $138.75 (See fee schedule here), and for Corporation it is $150 (see fee schedule here). (Renewed yearly by filing “Annual Report” May 1st).

Where to renew/ file my Annual Report on my Florida LLC or Corp?
Every year, from January – May 1st you must file a renewal/annual report HERE. Current late fee for filing after May 1st is about $400, so you do not want to miss this!



STEP 2 – FILE YOUR DBA
Special Consideration: If you have already registered an LLC/Corp with this name (in Step 1), this step is OPTIONAL and is only useful when the name of your massage business is different than the name of your LLC/Corp. Otherwise, if your LLC/Corp name is My Cool Business and you want your legal business name to also be My Cool Business, you do not need to register your DBA. You will need to file a DBA If the name of your LLC is My Cool Business, but the name you want to go by is Some Other Massage Business Name, OR you’re planning on skipping STEP 1 entirely and want to be self-employed/sole-proprietor. Consider the costs and the benefits of each. Registering an LLC/Corp is about $140 per year, and DBA is about $50 every 5 years.

File your Fictitious Name, DBA (stands for Doing Business As), which is the name your business will go by (example: My Cool Massage Business). As stated above, if you have already registered an LLC/Corp with this name, this step is optional and is only useful when the name of your massage business is different than the name of your LLC/Corp. On the other hand, If you chose NOT TO register an LLC/Corp and wish to remain a self-employed sole proprietor without employees, you can take this step as your first step to forming your business.

Where to file my massage therapy business DBA?
Sunbiz is a place where you will file most things regarding your Florida Business. FILE A DBA FOR YOUR MASSAGE THERAPY BUSINESS HERE.

How much is it to register a DBA in Florida?
(2023) DBA Registration rate is $50, renews every 5 years.



STEP 3 – GET A TAX PAYER IRS EIN NUMBER
Think of the EIN (Employer Identification Number) as a “business social security number”. This is completely free and easily filed online. You may need your Social Security Number, DBA or LLC/Corp Document Number to get your EIN.

Where do I apply for my massage business EIN?
APPLY FOR YOUR EIN NUMBER ON THE IRS WEBSITE HERE.



STEP 4 – GET A LOCAL BUSINESS LICENS
Get a Business License (Tax ID/Business Tax Receipt) from your city/and or county. For this one, we do not have a specific resources as you must get this information from the Business Division Office OR Tax Collectors office located in your city. Each city and county has their own rules and registration procedures.

Thankfully, most of this information can be found online. Google the term ‘[City Name] file for Business Tax Receipt’. Be sure to look for search results from the official county/city website, as you may encounter many legal advertisements/money-grabs in the process. Alternatively, you can contact the Tax Collectors office nearest to you so they can point you in the right direction.

If your goal is to start a mobile massage therapy business, this will be your final step. If you are renting an office, you must satisfy additional zoning requirements set forth by the Board of Massage Therapy and your county. Fees for Business Tax IDs vary but range from $50-$125, depending on your county and business. Your business license is renewed yearly, most often in September.

Check out this resource by Florida Board of Massage Therapy on massage establishment rules, fees, and regulations.

To get your local business license you will need to supply the business department with all the documents from the steps above (LLC/Corp Document, DBA, and EIN), plus your current and valid massage therapy license from the Florida Department of Health.

CONGRATS, YOU’VE NOW SET UP YOUR LEGAL BUSINESS!

Now, let’s go over the step-by-step process again to starting a massage therapy business in Florida completed with all the resources you need to get it done:

1. Register an LLC or a Corporation. Optional if you want to be a sole proprietor without employees. If you choose not to complete this step, start with step 2. The current fee to from an LLC or Corporation in Florida is about $125. – FILE AN ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION FOR FLORIDA PROFIT CORPORATIONS HERE
2. File your DBA (fictitious name). Optional if you registered an LLC with this name during step 1, in which case you can save yourself some money and go on to step 3. The current fee to file a DBA in Florida is about $50. – FILE A DBA HERE
3. Apply for a EIN number from the IRS. This is completely free. – APPLY FOR EIN NUMBER HERE
4. Get a Business License Tax ID from your county and/or city (sometimes both, especially if you are doing mobile massage).

Lastly, check out this Florida Division of Corporations website article that describes concrete steps to legally forming your business.

5. Set Up Your Massage Business

Once you have a business plan, a budget, a marketing plan, and all the legal requirements in your hands, you can begin the fun part of setting up your massage practice. This will involve finding a location, purchasing supplies, equipment, and setting up your billing and record-keeping systems.

6. Stay Up to Date on Massage Therapy Industry Developments

As a massage therapist, it’s important to stay current with the latest techniques and best practices in the field. In Florida, this involves obtaining 24 hours of continuing education courses, attending workshops, or conferences, every two years. Furthermore, you want to be aware of any changes in laws, technologies, and other interesting developments.

7. Summarized List of Helpful Links For Starting a Massage Therapy Business in Florida

1. Massage Therapist Licensure Requirements, Department of Health
2. Florida Articles of Incorporation Filing (LLC or Corp), Florida Division of Corporations
3. Florida Fictitious Name (DBA) Filing, Florida Division of Corporations
4. EIN Number, IRS
5. Massage Establishment Rules and Regulations, Florida Board of Massage Therapy

Many massage therapists choose to be solo entrepreneurs and that’s an amazing thing. Thankfully, you do not have to do it alone. If you are new to working for yourself, it may be easier to begin as a contractor for another company, like Massology Wellness or another supportive business, to get yourself comfortable. We hope these tips helped you understand the basic but detailed steps to starting a massage therapy business in Florida. Enjoy your new entrepreneur journey, join us and network with other wellness professionals by following @getmassology on Instagram.