Pricing your services can be tricky when you're just starting out in the field of natural medicine because you don't know what other natural health practitioners in your area are charging. In this article, we show you how to create a pricing structure for your natural therapy services, which covers daily expenses and makes you money, so you can help as many people as possible and also take care of your family and yourself.
Why is it so hard to ask the price you are worth?
The answer to this question is because most natural therapists don't know how much they are worth, not just in financial terms but in what they deliver to their clients.
Value = self esteem. Take a look at that equation and have a good think about it.
Does the amount you charge for your service match your self esteem? Are you proud of the amount you charge or do you resent your clients because you don't feel you are being paid what you are worth?
Your fees shouldn't replicate what every other local therapist is charging; they need to reflect the value YOU are providing to your clients. What is it worth to them to be able to move freely after a car accident, to recover from a sickness, to overcome depression, or to reduce their stress?
People respect quality, and in our society part of the way we determine quality is the amount you pay for something. If diamonds cost five dollars, would we all want one? No, because they wouldn't be special or valuable.
This is how you need to think of the natural remedies that you provide. You ARE special, you ARE valuable and there aren't many other people out there who can do what you can do - that's why clients are coming back to you, because they NEED your service, they NEED you to heal them and they are prepared to pay for that.
What factors affect pricing natural therapy services?
Pricing for complementary medicines can vary widely from place to place, so it's always a good idea to have a conversation with friends and family members who are also in the field of natural medicine. Sometimes pricing will be posted online in public places like Facebook groups, where other health practitioners share their rates - don't just trust these numbers because sometimes they're not accurate or up to date. It's best to get pricing information from multiple sources before determining what pricing makes sense for you.
There are multiple factors that go into pricing your natural therapy pages. Of course it will vary depending on where you live, what type of complementary therapies you offer and how long each treatment plan takes.
When pricing for your natural therapies, you also need to take into consideration the following:
- The cost of supplies such as herbal medicines, supplements or essential oils.
- Labor costs such as your time and effort, plus any additional expenses related to the treatment (rental space, utilities if applicable). The more time you spend with your client during a session, the higher your pricing will be because you're recuperating the incremental cost of electricity, supplies, space, etc.
- Marketing and administration fees, including phone bills, online advertising, website hosting etc.
So how do you discover what you are worth?
Perhaps you've seen some pricing guidelines online or offline for massage therapy, herbal remedies, physiotherapy consultations, naturopathic medicine, osteopathic manipulation and whatnot. Don't let these deter you from setting your own rates for your wide range of health services.
Other health practitioners provide rough estimates to give potential clients an idea of what to expect when they come in for a treatment session. There's no way an exercise physiologist will charge $70 for treating a sports injury through exercise, massage therapy and hydrotherapy. Considering everything involved in carrying out this combined treatment, it surely costs more.
Pricing varies so much, depending on the severity of the joint issues you need to fix or the length of your nutrition advice or the cathartic experience your exercise classes provide or the life-changing effects of your speech therapy consultations. Unlike a conventional treatment that follows a set formula regardless of the client's health condition, complementary therapies are tailored to the client's individual needs.
Whether a client complains about physical issues or psychological ones, health professionals who specialise in complementary therapies use a holistic approach, which includes mind, body, emotions and spirit. Simply put, you are not a medical practitioner who prescribes medicine and hopes the patient gets better. Regardless of whether or not you are performing complex treatments, you see each patient as a whole person to ensure their overall wellbeing. That alone is reason for you to charge as you see fit.
Below is a very simplistic way to discover your worth on your own, but if you have a mentor or coach, this would be a good topic to cover with them to really discover the truth about you and your business.
Emotionally
- Write down the wide range of natural therapy services you offer your clients
- Write down the solutions you provide to your clients such as smoking programs, weight management programs, healthy living programs, etc.
- Write down the benefits of the restorative treatments you provide to your clients
- Really think about what makes you different from other health professionals
Financially
- Decide how much you want to earn per year
- Divide that by how many weeks you want to work per year
- Divide that by how many days a week you want to work
- Divide that by how many hours you want to work a day
- Now you have an hourly rate that you can convert into a per session rate.
Then start playing around with the two; compare the dollar amount with the value and see if they equate; adjust where necessary and you've got a new rate to charge.
A rate that truly reflects your worth.
Originally published on Dec 13, 2012
