When you think of why you chose to offer energy healing services to the public, whether as a solopreneur or multi–person practice, you likely got into the field because you felt a “calling.” Being an energy medicine healer is a profession you feel is more an expression of who you are than a business service that you provide. A calling compels an individual to engage in an occupation that they feel intuitively drawn to actualize. With this in mind, you might not really think of your energy medicine practice as a career, let alone a business. You see it as an expression of yourself.

If you think this way, there is a great possibility that you have not spent time nor thought towards the components that businesses require. Do you see yourself facing this dilemma? If so, what can you do about it? Do you even need to do anything about formalizing your calling and turning it into an actual business? The answer is “Yes.” There could be a chance that if you do not act for the survival of your practice then someone or something could take it all away from you. But how do you go about turning your calling into a career?

First, don’t allow yourself to think your energy healing is not a business. This belief might have something to do with the way in which your practice began. Think back to how you started as a healer. You might have uncovered your unique talents when giving a family member a massage or compassionate touch. In discovering the connection that you felt with your healing had introduced you to a personal passion, you likely decided to learn more about your gift through formal or informal study. You might have continued to help family and friends through free sessions. Just because you didn’t charge, it doesn’t mean that your services didn’t have value. Do you see yourself in this picture? Many healers who decide to dedicate themselves to this profession start this way. Unfortunately, they might continue to think of their services not as an enterprise, but as a hobby. Quite the opposite is true. You just needed to take the mental and emotional transition and think of yourself and your talents as an actual business.

Personal Assessments: There might be some personal assessments to address as you formalize your practice. Questions might come to mind such as if you have the business savvy to run a successful practice and whether it is ethical to charge for healing services. Don’t let these worries derail you. Address them. Either learn the skills you need or get assistance to support you. Accept the talents gifted to you and the value you can give to others. Sharing the talents you have, actually broadens your reach and you end up helping more people.

Business Savvy: If you are not business oriented, take steps to learn about running a business or hire someone to run it for you. You could meet with a business coach as you get started with your business or help you to organize your current business. A mentor could also provide helpful insight as you would be getting guidance from a person you respect and from the same industry. Organizations such as chambers of commerce or professional affiliations like Energy Medicine Professional Association (EMPA) are excellent resources. Through them you can obtain information about managing a small business, and in the case of EMPA, you have access to resources on building a practice and marketing activities.

Charging for Services: One of the greatest hurdles in starting up a business or refining an existing one concerns money. Yet, if you don’t get paid, your services are not formally acknowledged nor rewarded. You are deprived of energy balance because the energy you put into the treatment was not reciprocated by the client. There is no acknowledgement of what occurred, and no energy balance for the practitioner. With payment, (the client’s acknowledgement), you and your healing are valued.

Setting and measuring goals is a way to monitor your success. Without these, you could become directionless and unmotivated. As you accomplish each goal, recognize your achievements and reflect whether you need to make any changes or identify a new goal. Maybe you will want to add a new modality or approach a new demographic of client. Keep a record of what you hoped to achieve and check this off when you accomplish it. This is tangible evidence of your success and a motivating activity. With this, you can remain purposeful and thoughtful in your progress.

There are numerous aspects to a business. There is the operational component which includes managing and protecting a business, then there is the marketing of the business to consider. You might be starting with a client base, whether modest or substantial, which offers excellent marketing potential; however, there are some critical business protocols to set up before you officially launch your enterprise. Consider prioritizing the operational side of your business first since you will want to start off organized and professional with systems, policies, and procedures in place. Among the operational necessities that you should set up, you don’t want to neglect protecting your business and your professional reputation. While you might not think risk management a necessity for an independent or small business, think again. The scope of risk might be narrower than for a larger business, however, you are the owner and any financial hardship from liability exposure could be potentially devastating. You can avoid this with liability insurance coverage. Any damages received from a claim against you, or your business would not come out of your personal pockets but from your policy.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you have liability coverage through your home or general liability insurance, because you won’t. Do yourself a favor by reviewing your policies to understand the full extent of coverage. Then compare this against liability insurance for an energy medicine professional. You’ll see that the energy healing policy specializes in protection unique for your industry and offers the kind of coverage your business needs including:

As you educate yourself about minimizing risk for your business, the importance of this coverage will sink it, and it will give you a sense of peace that you have taken care of an important component of your practice. Also, liability coverage costs less than you would think. In fact, depending on the type of coverage you purchase, annual premium rates are less than $1.00 a day. By familiarizing yourself about risk management, you’ll also learn more about managing other liability exposures. This is especially true in the collection and handling of your clients’ records. Document management is an important piece of smart business practices that you want to maintain for your business. Keeping records confidential and secure is essential to protecting your clients and acting as a responsible gatekeeper. There are several steps you will want to follow:

Have clients complete personal information, scope of practice and informed consent forms. Store information in a secure and private location.

Creating a recordkeeping protocol to safeguard documents could entail filing documents in a locked cabinet or locked office space. You might be the only one who handles the records or if you’re a small practice, you could delegate the responsibility to an assistant or office manager. The issue is maintaining confidentiality and privacy. This way, you can feel confident about protecting your clients’ sensitive information and in turn, your clients will have peace of mind about their privacy.

Our reasons for starting up a business are, at their core, personal. In particular, energy healers take it an extra step by possessing a special gift which they want to offer to others. While it might feel uncomfortable to monetize your talents, you do owe it to yourself and your clients to honor the gifts you have been given by doing everything in your power to thrive as an energy healer. In protecting your business and setting up systems, you will be better prepared with business protocols so you can focus on your clients and share your gift of healing.