7 Common Mistakes Professional Reiki Practitioners Make When Starting.
In this quick-fire article, where I list 7 common mistakes Reiki practitioners make when starting professionally offering Reiki treatments to the public. I have also added a tip to avoid each of these mistakes for you.
This article is a very brief summary of a webinar I delivered on this topic for the Jikiden Reiki UK Association (JRUKA). The full webinar is available to view for members of the UK Jikiden Reiki Association (in the webinar archive section of your member resources). All the points are little snippets that come from my home study Reiki Business and Marketing courses. For more detail and further guidance on any of these points, see my ‘How to Build a Successful Reiki Business’ & ‘Effective Marketing for Reiki Practitioners’ courses.
Common Mistakes New Professional Reiki Practitioners Make
1. Not assessing the viability of their business when starting.
It is common New practitioners to just start offering Reiki sessions, without a clear understanding of the required volume of sessions, the financials (factoring in any launch or block promotions on lowering effect on average session earnings) or the amount of new clients they need to generate each month for this to work and what that means in terms of how many people they need to speak to month to promote their service.
Tip- Do a proper viability check: financially, time and energy before you start. What does your Reiki business need to make in terms of revenue & profit to be viable? How much time and energy do you have to devote to this? How much time do you have to get this up and running? So, at a conservative estimate, how many sessions do you need to sell & deliver at some broad expected price ranges you expect to charge for this to work? There are additional important questions to ask yourself, but just start here at least, please. You may quickly realise your initial plan is not viable and needs a rethink, but at least figure this out before you give up your job and launch a Reiki practice. My ‘How to Build a Successful Reiki Business’ takes you step by step through my comprehensive viability checker, if you want help with this. You might find it helps to calculate and track what you need to do in terms of the number of session sales a month you need (once you have an estimated average earnings per session number calculated).
2. Overestimating demand for Reiki in an area, or an over-reliance on existing demand for Reiki.
Most overestimate existing demand in the marketplace for Reiki treatments. There will be some, but there are also a lot of therapists and other services out there.
Tip- Approach your business as if you need to create most of the demand yourself, like 80 % of it. Don’t solely focus on existing demand; spend most of your time marketing to create new demand.
3. Take too long trying to get everything just right before moving forward.
The reality will be that you have a certain amount of time to make this work. In the space of most small start-ups, there is an observed, almost a law, that you can see everywhere. Those who move with speed tend to make it; those who take too long to move tend not to.
Tip- ‘Aim, fire, ready’ (a phase over used in the personal growth space, but useful here). I would encourage you to move forward in a low-risk, low-cost, fast way, then review and repeat. Note: progress in a way that is risk and financially OK for you and your situation. This might be doing something like a Reiki day on the weekends and keep main job to start, then maybe reduce hours at main job and do more Reiki, the point being it’s not doing nothing for 5 years, then when you think everything is ready, leap (as things you thought were true would have likely changed by then). ‘The universe rewards action’ is a nice phrase one of one of my previous business mentor's.
4. Underestimate the amount of marketing requiredat the start
It is common for new practitioners to underestimate the amount of marketing required to build a Reiki practice, let's say, to get to the point of being established.
Tip- Think rocket, 90% fuel to get off the ground, 10% to get to the destination in space. Be prepared to be doing 70% of your time on marketing activity in the first few months.
5. Overreliance on a specific marketing approach to fix everything.
It is common for Professional Practitioners who are looking to build their Reiki practice to ask me about this or that marketing approach, or what marketing approach I have used. My point is its to only to question what they ask.
Tip- Focus on the fundamentals of your business as much as any marketing method. Is your business and pricing model solid? Have you built your Reiki practice to your strengths? Does it match the needs of those you wish to serve? Are all costs ruthlessly under control? Individual marketing approaches on their own will not save it alone. A bit like having a small bucket on a boat with a massive hole in the bottom.
6. Over-focusing on developing Reiki skills over business skills.
We all like Reiki, that’s why we do it, but all too often the balance of focus, time, energy and financial resources is way off when trying to build a Reiki practice. Develop your skills and practice with Reiki, but it’s not the time to do every course and event going on at the neglect of the business. Think of your Reiki business as a little puppy (or a plant); it needs a lot of focus at this early stage in its life.
Tip- Focus on business skills over Reiki skills at this point- Reiki skills will develop by doing. Get good Reiki training, practice, and get to a point of a good base level of proficiency, then focus on the business side for the first 1-3 years.
7. Base decisions on what other Reiki practitioners are doing.
All too common is for new practitioners to look around and base their business decisions on other practitioners’ businesses. The most common example is in the area of pricing, where a new practitioner sets their pricing, usually based on what the going rate is in their area from a quick Google search, then go 25% cheaper because they are new to this. Not a great approach.
Tip- Base business decisions on your own business, not other people’s businesses. They are at a different stage of their business and are already likely established. Your needs will be different.
I hope these points have got you thinking and given you a few points to consider to help you avoid these common mistakes. If you would like further information on any of these points, or guidance on what to do to avoid these mistakes, or get support in becoming a successful professional Reiki practitioner more generally, see my self-paced home study Reiki specific Business courses: ‘Building a Successful Reiki Business’ & ‘Effective Marketing for Reiki Professionals’.
I am mainly known nowadays for my work with Reiki, as a specialist in authentic Japanese Reiki. I am an experienced, Reiki teacher and practitioner with a proven track record of results. I offer Jikiden Reiki training courses, promoting authentic Japanese Reiki teachings. I am based in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, in the UK. I have a background in coaching and training in the areas of exercise coaching, holistic lifestyle, fitness, and performance coaching. I also have a BSc.(Hons) degree in Sport and Exercise Science, for more information visit: www.shaunmckeown.com
The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article. Shaun Mckeown, disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article.