A colleague mentioned that the market saturation of massage is a myth. Market saturation isn't a myth, but rather an economic concept that is centered around supply and demand. Our profession certainly has been affected by it, but whether or not a certain market is saturated is a little more complicated.
Being the eldest child growing up in a family where survival was a concern, the possibility that there might one day not be enough clients for me to survive has always whispered in my ear. But that is something internal, something that sneaks up behind me when I'm not looking, something that I will probably deal with the rest of my life. But, funny thing, it's not necessarily related to reality.
What I have found over the many years of my career is that as massage therapy has become more popular and more massage therapists have come into the market, the flavor has changed. No longer do people tell me that they're thrilled Atlanta has a massage therapist. They now tell me about all the other therapists they have been to around the corner and amongst their family and friends. Yet they still come.
Okay, so I'm no longer exclusive. Now I am competitive. That in itself' is not a bad thing. Now I can justify the decoration and equipment and, of course, the additional training to make myself a better practitioner and improve my professional image. Oh wait, a better practitioner with a more professional image. Now that's not only competitive, but also something I always wanted to do anyway.
Then came the massage schools. Georgia has grown from the one school I attended to over 30, with at least six within a mile of my office. Now they're punching them out like Detroit used to punch out cars. And, now they're calling me every week looking for a job. But I'm established and experienced and pretty good, so that hasn't had a big effect.
Now comes the Wal-Marts, a.k.a Massage Envy, which has opened within a mile of my office and on my street. Funny thing, from the time the sign went up, and before they even opened, I have had a surge of clients calling. I think the sign actually served as a reminder that they were overdue, probably something I should have been doing myself, since the city won't allow a sign
in front of my building because my landlord has taken on city hall a few times too many.
I don't think massage saturation is a myth, but that the market will always right itself. More practitioners have left massage because they can't get a foothold is probably true. The Massage Envy's have given them a chance, though at a lower wage than former entry level opportunities, which means that a few more cannot afford to pay their dues in that way. But practitioners left in earlier days because they couldn't fill their schedules and Massage Envy supposedly supplies the expertise to fill those schedules, so the net earnings for a new practitioner might just be about the same or even better. Meanwhile, massage is becoming more and more popular and it's so flexible that it can adapt to many market demands. Relaxation, papering, sports, clinical, bodywork, energetic, spa. There are so many reasons to get a massage that it continues to appeal to a wider and wider spectrum of consumers.
I suppose we'll go the way of other services, that we'll have to become more efficient or more specialized, build a more solid reputation as a practitioner, or find a new market to survive. Those looking for training will eventually come to understand that not all schools are alike, and some will close. And, alas, we'll have to do a better job of marketing and managing our businesses. One possible benefit from folks who hire us is that they will have a more and more hungry short list of practitioners to hire. Hunger might breed better employees, better practitioners more prepared for an eventual independent practice.
