Hypnotic Universe

Everything you need to receive hypnotherapy, learn about hypnotherapy, or run a hypnotherapy practice

Aspects of running a small business

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Who may benefit from this article

managing a small businessThe purpose of this post is to provide a high-level view of the key aspects of running a small business or hypnotherapy practice. We’d like you to consider this a starting point, before conducting further research on these points.

A few groups of people who may find this information useful. These are student hypnotherapists, new hypnotherapists and those who have a practice, not meeting its target profit. However, running a business doesn’t always come naturally and it is these businesses which may benefit from the information we’re sharing today.Having said that, there are aspects of running a hypnotherapy business which also apply to running any small business.

When you first start your business, it’s a really exciting time and it’s easy to get carried away planning, developing and building things. You know the feeling? Your passion is high, excitement off the the charts and you’re dreams even bigger?  Well, we’d like to help you convert that enthusiasm into a thriving, successful business.

1. Tax Returns

The legalities involved with running a small business vary by country and can seem totally overwhelming at first, but it does get easier over time. However, our first recommendation is that you get yourself a good accountant.

If you’re UK based like us – and you have an accountant – your responsibility is essentially limited to just noting down (in a structured way):

  • What you spend on your business. This includes things like consumables (e.g printer paper), capital expenditure (e.g equipment such as laptops and projectors etc), utility bills (e.g gas and electricity). This is where an accountant comes in handy, because in the UK, only part of your utility bill costs and vehicle running costs can be included (or ‘counted’) in the tax return.
  • Other outgoings, such as buildings and contents insurance, or professional liability insurance.
  • Money which you take out for wages.
  • Your business earnings. For hypnotherapists, this includes money received for your client’s sessions and items which you sell directly to your clients, such as back up CD’s.
  • Dates.
  • Types of expense, such as IT capital expenditure, IT consumables, utilities etc.

We cannot stress this enough…we highly recommend that you get an accountant because it will ultimately, save time and effort in figuring this out for yourself.

In the UK, HMRC require a statement of your expenditure and income  on 31st January each year. This covers the previous tax period. So for example, your accounts for the April 2021 to April 2022 financial period will be submitted to HMRC on (or before) January 2023.

If you are registered with an accountant, they will request your financial records ahead of the HMRC submission dates. Bear in mind that they may require additional information in order to submit your accounts, so don’t leave it until the last minute! We recommend submitting your financial record to you accountant no later than one month before the HMRC submission date.

Your accountant will use your income/expenditure information to calculate how much PAYE (Pay As You Earn) and National Insurance must be paid.

Depending where you live, your legal financial obligations will differ from those stated here, therefore we recommend contacting an accountant that is based in the same area as your business.

2.  Facilities Management

All businesses need somewhere to call home, whether it’s a large business with a head office location, a small business run from your home, or an office/treatment room based in a wellness centre. Whatever and wherever you call ‘home’, it will attract a fee of some kind. This fee (or at least part of it) may be applied in the ‘expenses’ part of your profilt and loss tracker.

If your business is based at home, you are unlikely to attract any additional expenses in terms of business rates and such, but if you operate your business from commercial poperty, then it is likely that you will be required to pay some kind of business tax. Again, having an accountant can be really helpful in choosing where to operate your business.

If your business does operate from commercial property of some kind, there will be maintenance costs, cleaning costs and possibly shared utilities and other costs levied by your landlord (or similar). With respect to facilities management, some of this can be outsourced e.g, cleaning offices and client spaces. Costs can be reduced if you do some of the work yourself, but if you find yourself turning down work because you need to perform cleaning and maintenance tasks, then it’s time to look at getting help.

3. H.R (Human Resources)

Small, new practices are unlikely to have H.R needs, such as a wages department, but larger practices with more than 1 employee will likely have some kind of need for H.R services. However, as business expands further, it may become necessary to develop policies and procedures for various functions.

4.  Website Development

Your business website is essentially the ‘face’ of your business and it is often the first thing which your (potential) client sees when carrying out their search for a provider.

It helps you recruit and retain clients if your website is easy to use, has a logical layout and is easy to navigate. You should invest in a good analytics provider, who can help you understand more about your  visitors.

If designing websites isn’t your ‘thing’ then bear in mind that it can be a very time-consuming process and there are certain essentials that must be met. For example, fonts must be easy to read, with sans-serif fonts being the most easily read.  This is another area where (althou expensive) outsourcing the task could ultimately save you a lot of time and money.

Whatever you do, make sure that you have a plan for keeping the information on your website current and up to date.

5.  Social media management

It is likely that small businesses will be carrying out their own social media posts and other interactions. in which case, we highly recommend that you either get some training on how to do this effectively, or outsource this to somebody who has the ‘knowhow’ and can put the time into it. We have known people pay older teenagers to do this, quite successfully.

In the longer term, we do recommend outsourcing this too, or employing somebody to do this for you.

6.  Search Engines

Although many business are recommended to friends and family, hypnotherapy businesses are often not given this same kind of exposure. That’s because of the personal reasons for which the clients are seeing you. For example, somebody with a sex or gambling addiction is unlikely to tell everyone far and wide about this fantastic hypnotherapist that they’ve just seen. Therefore, it is a business which often involves some degree of understanding regarding search engine optimisation and advertising.

We do recommend submitting your site to the key search engines, such as Google and any hypnotherapy listings. For example, we have 1 year advertising subscription, which adds you to our find a hypnotherapist page.

Search engines can be a blessing or a curse, depending on what kind of information is floating around cyber-space regarding your business. Always than people for their feedback, when you find it, and make sure you tackle any negative reviews.

Many people don’t know how to deal with negative reviews, but we’ve noticed that the following often helps:

  • Apologise for any shortcomings and misunderstandings.
  • Explain that you’ll make some enquiries into what happen and that you’ve heard their complaint.
  • Promise to re-train any staff, in the event of an error.
  • Accept responsibility if it is your fault.
  • Ask how they would like the situation resolving (this can sometimes reveal the motive behind the complaint too).
  • Explain what action(s) you have put into place to orevent the same issue arising in future.

7. I.T (Information Technology)

If you are highly computer literate then you might be able to set up and manintain your own computer and data network. However, most people aren’t in a position to do this. In that case, it can be preferable to outsource your IT to somebody (or a company) who can help. Always try to check reviews for a person before you hire them, or use word-of-mouth for a recommendation.

If your business operates with restricted hours, such as Monday to Friday, 9am til 5pm, you may also wish to a 24 hour message-bot, which will answer messages during your closure.

We hope you find these useful in meeting your business goals and would love to know your thoughts. Just leave us a comment.

 

Next steps

We offer hypnotherapy both online and face to face, as well as in your own home, if you’re a blue badge holder living within approx’ 10 miles of WF14 9ED.

To book, just send us your availability over the next 10 to 14 days and we’ll set up an initial consultation, to see how we can help you move on with your life:

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About us

We are Hypnotic Universe (formerly Mirfield Hypnotherapy Centre) and we help you use the power of your own mind to achieve your goals, and live the life that you want.

Disclaimer

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.