Continuing education (CE) is necessary, important, and required—it allows you to expand your skill set and is needed to maintain and renew your license. However, when used correctly, CE can also help boost your bottom line. By selecting the most appropriate course for you and your practice, you may be able to find ways to strengthen weaknesses and increase the amount of money you make on a regular basis.
Here are three basic guidelines to help get you started on the path toward enhancing your income via home-based continuing education.
1. Find financial leaks
There is a lot that can get overlooked in a busy practice, including things that carry financial weight. Before you can work toward increasing your income, you need to find any areas where you may be losing money.
Often, this issue pertains to accounting procedures, such as making sure clients are paying on time and keeping track of business deductions. If you feel this may be an issue in your practice, consider taking a CE class that can teach you business and accounting skills, which, in the end, can make or break your bottom line.
2. Look for missed opportunities
Take a look around your practice and search for areas where there may be a missed opportunity for income. For example, if you feel that a decent number of your clients have been or might be interested in purchasing products, such as relaxing music, lubricants, candles, aromatherapy oils and massage tools, then a home-based CE class focused on selling retail within a bodywork practice might be a great bet for boosting income. Such a class could teach you:
- How to set up a partnership with various product manufacturers
- How to determine the number of items you need to order based on the estimated demand
- How to set prices for products to ensure they are affordable to the clients but also produce a profit for you
Along with these core lessons, you may also want to learn more about sales and marketing techniques to get clients interested in purchasing your products and services.
3. Listen to your clients
Do not disregard your clients’ complaints—if they are noticing specific issues, take note and investigate for yourself. Similarly, if you hear clients mention services you do not currently provide or physical issues they regularly face, consider learning more about those specific topics.
For instance, if you find that headaches are a common issue among your clients, see if there are any home-based CE courses available that focus on teaching massage therapists and bodyworkers effective techniques to help alleviate the strain patterns that could be contributing to the headaches.