It’s been quite the slog hasn’t it, this Covid thing? Quite. The. Slog. Thankfully we, at Hypnotic Universe, are in a much better position now- because we discovered something important, early on in the pandemic.
This post asks some questions which you must consider, to make your business more resilient. So, this is what Covid taught us about running a business.
1. If I was suddenly unable to see clients in person, for an extended length of time, how could I adapt, to make an income?
This situation arose early in the Covid-19 pandemic, so was a realistic issue for hypnotherapists all over the world. It is important to also ask yourself in what ways are you willing to adapt? This distinction is important because, it’s likely that some of the changes you could make will not suit your circumstances or desires.
2. What if I suddenly had to ‘go mobile’, moving into a relative’s home, hotel or shared meeting rooms for an extended period?
This exact scenario happened to a friend, whose house burnt down, requiring extensive repairs taking over 12 months. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking it won’t ever happen to you, because you never know. You can adapt your business now by taking a few simple steps:
- Introduce an online booking system for your clients.
- Introduce ability to see clients online.
- Zoom, or Microsoft Teams are 2 platforms which have been successful for us.
- Consider seeing some client groups at home.
- If your practice accessibility is not of an adequate standard for your disabled clients, see local clients with disabilities in their own home. Or offer the ability to have online therapy.
- Clients who are unable to leave the home (for example, in terminal stage of an illness, or early treatment for agoraphobia) can also benefit from home visits.
- Children often do better when hypnotherapy is delivered in their own home too.
3. What if my country/state introduced new laws, meaning I could no longer operate my business (in it’s current form)?
This is a potential issue for anybody living in a country where hypnotherapy services operate outside of mandatory registration or licensing. Many parts of the world (UK included) still exist, where hypnotherapy remains unregulated. Some insightful questions are:
- If I had to complete an official course of study, am I in a position to do that? More importantly, would I want to?
- If I had to jump through all of the necessary hoops to get validated/accredited (or similar), am I in a position to do that? Am I likely to be successful? Is anything required to improve my chances of being successful – such as further training? Do I even want to do that?
Your answers to these questions undoubtedly influence steps that you take in the future.
4. What if I had to change my niche, because hypnotherapy services became newly regulated within this niche?
Related to question 3, you may end up in a situation where only certain parts of hypnotherapy fall into mandatory regulations. However, you still have options, which might include:
- Move into a different niche
- Generalise, or
- Add income streams which don’t require you to see clients for live therapy.
- You could change the way that you offer your services. For example, face-to-face, or online.
- You could change your delivery method. For example, live therapy, versus something more pre-made, delivered via CD.
5. What if it wan’t possible to operate my business at set hours, due to a change in my life circumstances?
For example, you begin caring for a relative with dementia. Your relative randomly goes wandering around the neighbourhood, day and night. And what’s more, they always seem to do it 2 minutes before a client arrives. Before you say it’s an unlikely scenario, it happened to myself. Furthermore, the police once turned up at my door to ask if the confused person they’d just picked up off the streets was my elderly relative. Spoiler: it wasn’t.
In this particular case, switching to a different income stream can help, even if only temporarily. Non-live therapy is a good option in this scenario.
6. What if I had an accident and suddenly became disabled. Or what would happen if it became difficult to work consistently?
In this kind of situation, consider non-live therapy delivery formats. These don’t require you to be in a certain place at a certain time, so offer flexibility. You could also add other income streams related to this, such as:
- Sell self-help audio tracks – targeting the most common reasons that people have hypnotherapy.
- Sell e-books
- Offer a stress management course, delivered by video.
The take-away?
Whatever the problem, the solution usually boils down to this…
Adapt your business and add income streams.
You can’t depend on 1 income stream, such as live therapy sessions with clients. So, you must do everything you can to future proof your business, while you still can. Don’t wait for a pandemic or other disaster to occur, before doing this.
Next steps
We offer hypnotherapy:
- Online and face to face
- Live
- In your own home, if you’re a blue badge holder living within approx’ 10 miles of WF14 9ED.
How to book
Send us your availability for the next 10 to 14 days and we’ll set up an initial consultation. Following this, we send you a suggested plan and associated costs. You may contact us:
- Via our online contact form.
- Via text/SMS to 07808 931714 if you’re inside the UK, or +44 7808 931714 if you’re outside the UK.
- Via e-mail – hello@hypnoticuniverse.org.
- Via messenger services on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
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We do our best to provide suggestions based on our experience as hypnotherapists and using nationally recognised good quality health education material, such as that provided by the NHS (UK). Information contained on our site does not constitute medical advice and is not intended to replace medical advice. You should speak to your doctor about any health concerns that you have and before making any radical changes to your lifestyle and health and fitness goals, including your quest to reach those goals.
