In this journal, we’re all about experiences, and learning experiences. This is true whether I’m talking about Reiki, or ghostbusing, or meditation. It is also true if I am talking about other, more mundane things like... starting a business.
Since completing my national boards for massage, I have been looking (and making strides) to starting a business. I have had a business license to do Reiki for a couple of years now, although the legality in Florida is questionable as it is the opinion of the Massage Board that Reiki and all energy healing is considered massage. (That is true through most of the country, and will even be encountered in massage text books.) Getting a business license for energy healing was not hard as there is no mandatory degree required by the state. Massage is a little harder. I guess the best place to start is at the beginning, and describe the process that I am going through. Many of you may know this well already, but for those that haven’t a clue (like me), I hope it will be quite educational.
With massage, once you pass the test, you wait. The score is forwarded to the Massage Board who get it five to 10 days after the test is taken. They make whatever files they need, and then assign a license number. This number is posted on the state Board of Health web site where one can search any healthcare professional registered in Florida. (If you are interested, the address is... http://www.doh.state.fl.us/IRM00PRAES/PRASLIST.ASP.) I went there last Friday, and saw that I had been assigned a number. Once the Board has done this, they send out a letter, which becomes the temporary license until a formal license is sent out about 6 weeks later. (A massage therapist must have their license posted where they ply their trade, even if that is in someone else’s home.)
Now, even before this was done (actually, I think it was the day after I passed the test), I registered a website name (CaringPalms.com), and rented hosting space. (Don’t go there until the middle of October as there is nothing there yet.)
My next step was to get a post office box number. The nice thing about this is that one does it through a company like Mail Boxes Etc. rather than the post office because it appears as a street address. In other words instead of your business address being P.O. Box 117, it is 1258 Main Street, Suite 4-425. In this case 425 is your box number. It makes a business look better to have it at a street address.
Since I want to create a company name, my next move was to create a fictitious name. That’s right, from now on you can call me John Smith. I had actually liked Englebert Humperdink, but it was too hard to spell, and it was already taken. (Hmmm, how about Carmen Miranda? Naw, than I’d have to do massage with a bowl of fruit on my head.) Just kidding. In Florida, one creates a ‘fictional’ name for their company so (in my case) they become Brian Dean DBA (doing business as) Caring Palms. That can be done online, and yes, it costs money. This is the state we’re dealing with here.
With all that aside, now that I have a license number, I can get insurance. As a healthcare practitioner, I need to carry liability insurance (and possibly malpractice). This is state mandated, and offered through the Florida State Massage Therapy Association and other places.
Once I have the temporary license in my hands, I can get what’s called an occupational license, or in simpler terms, a business license. You see, although the state has said I can practice, each county wants their pint of blood too. One needs a business license (whose cost varies with practice) to do business in that county/city. I will probably be working in two counties, so I will probably need one in each. The bad thing is that if I lived in that other county, and got my initial license there, I could work in this one because they co-op. It unfortunately does not work the other way around. What I am planning on doing is dropping my business license for Reiki, and doing it under the massage license.
Once I have a business (or occupational) license, I can open a corporate (company) bank account. The idea here is to keep the business as separate from my personal stuff as possible. There is enough of a possibility that someone could sue, and win, and take my house. (Not that I expect to do anything I cold be sued for, but stuff happens.) The joke is that I have to expend a bit of money before I can open a bank account to keep it. I guess its not supposed to go in there in the first case. Is it ever supposed to go there?
This has been (and is being) an educational experience for me, and I thought I would pass it on. I hope you don’t mind, and I hope you feel you learn something from it.
Take care all. Love and light.