Advanced Business Strategies: How To Sell A Massage Business

(Massage Magazine Column: "Advanced Business Strategies" April 24, 2023; Author Amy Bradley Radford)

Until a few years ago, I had only met a handful of therapists who had successfully sold their existing massage practice to another therapist. Most solopreneur massage therapists I knew had attempted to sell their clientele list to whomever was willing to buy it—and when that didn’t happen, they simply shut their doors and walked away from their practice.

How to Sell a Massage Business

Selling a clientele list can be complicated due to many factors, including the differences in massage therapy training from school to school, skill level, personalities and work ethics.

Transitioning clients from one therapist to another sometimes does not even work when you give the names away for free. I have observed therapists gifting their clientele lists to a new therapist and then that new therapist commenting that hardly anyone responded to marketing efforts they did.

Most dedicated and caring therapists want to see their clientele taken care of after they have quit massaging, and feel obligated to find someone for their clients to schedule with. The struggle is real when wanting to create quality referral options, because many therapists are already so busy and availability is low. (read more here...)