How to Treat Everyone (and not go broke)

published 1 YEAR AGO | 5 MINS READ

In last week's newsletter, we talked about some of the advantages of raising your prices and charging more for your acupuncture treatments.

But many people people got into this profession because they want to help everyone.

So how do you offer affordable care to the people who need it most while still having enough money to buy food, pay rent, and pay off your student loans?

Here's a few ideas.

The Tesla Model

Don't worry, I'm not an Elon Musk fanboy; this is just a common name for this business strategy.

Tesla didn't get their start by selling affordable cars to everyone. They started by selling luxury cars to rich people.

By selling a more expensive product, they were able get higher profit margins. They used those profits for more product development and to set up infrastructure. Once that was in place, they were able to make more affordable cars (at a higher volume but lower profit margin).

Maybe you can take the same approach with acupuncture.

Start your practice by selling luxury services to wealthier patients. Charge a high price for cosmetic acupuncture. Create expensive packages for cross-fitters and athletes.

Don't worry, you're not doing this forever -- you're doing this for a season.

You're doing this to build up a reliable revenue stream. The higher profit margin will let you get ahead, put away some savings, and pay off your student loans.

Then, when you're ready, you can switch to offering more affordable treatments to the people you really want to treat.

You're a modern day Robin Hood.

Side note: crossfit people and athletes make great patients:
  • They're very accustomed to paying people to tell them what to do.
  • They're very accustomed to spending money on supplements and taking them regularly. In fact, the worse their herbs taste, the more hardcore they think it is.
  • They're constantly injuring themselves/trying to improve their performance.

Tiers of Service

Another option would be to have different levels services and different price points to accommodate your patients.

This is pretty common in the personal training space. For example, a trainer might offer:

  1. A premade workout plan/template that you can download
  2. Online coaching with weekly check-ins on zoom
  3. Small group training with 3 other people
  4. 1-on-1 private training

Each level would be more expensive because you're offering a more personalized service.

Maybe you can do a similar thing with your acupuncture practice.

You could offer:

  • Community acupuncture (30 min.)
  • Standard treatment (45-60 min.)
  • VIP treatment (90 min. acupuncture + massage + champagne🍾)

That way, if someone can't afford your standard rates, they still have an option to get treatment. Or if they're just not sure if acupuncture is right for them, they can get their feet wet with the cheaper option and upgrade later if they feel like it.

This gives you the option to upsell or downsell patient into different tiers. The more expensive tiers are helping to fund the less expensive tiers, so that way everyone gets treated and you still get paid.

Alternate Sources of Revenue

A final option would be to have something other than acupuncture treatments that make you money. That way you can keep your rates affordable, and that other stream of income will ensure that you can still pay your expenses.

Now I suppose one option would be to be to do charitable acupuncture during the day and drive Uber at night, but maybe there's some alternatives:

Write a book or sell a course:​ Package your knowledge on fertility, weight loss, immune support, allergy management, stress management, feng shui, or whatever you like and sell it as an eBook or an online course. This is something you create once, then you earn passive income for as long as you sell it. With that side money coming in, you can afford to offer your acupuncture treatments for less.

Sell physical products in your practice:​ In addition to acupuncture treatments, you can sell products such as Evil Bone Water [affiliate link], Dragon Blood Balm [affiliate link], Emily Skin Soothers, Yunan Bai Yao, or other supplements. Profits from these sales can let you keep your treatment prices more affordable.

Run High-Ticket Events: ​Once a quarter, run a high-cost special event. Acupuncture plus yoga. Reiki training. Basic massage for couples. Cooking in accordance with the season. Spend some time building hype for it, make it exclusive, and charge a higher price. That can carry you through the rest of the quarter while keeping your regular treatment prices affordable.

For me, I got tired of doing massage, so I just raised my massage price. Charging more for massage meant I had to do it less, but the price increase meant I could afford to give others discounts on acupuncture.

Conclusion

So if you're passionate about helping people, and you want to make it so everyone can afford your services, maybe those are some ideas you can use.

But remember, you don't have to be a monk. You offer a valuable service, and charging patients a higher rate doesn't mean you're taking advantage or them.

Do what's in alignment with your values.

Nicholas