u/tjd1996

I'm looking for advice from other massage therapists who have reached the point where they're consistently booked out.
For the last three months or so, I've been booked solid about a month in advance. I haven't raised my rates in about two years, and while I'm incredibly grateful for a full schedule (it's been a huge relief after the stress of building my practice), I'm trying to figure out what the next step looks like.
I'm curious how those of you with established practices have handled this.
Did you raise your rates once you were consistently full? If so, when did you know it was time?

How do you leave room for existing clients who need a last-minute appointment or are in acute pain without sacrificing income?

Do you intentionally leave openings in your schedule, keep a cancellation list, reserve emergency appointments, or do something else?

How do you balance taking care of loyal clients while also accepting new clients?

Looking back, what do you wish you had done differently when your schedule first became consistently full?

I'm a medical/therapeutic massage therapist in Oregon, and I have quite a few clients who occasionally have flare-ups and genuinely need to get in sooner than their regular appointments.
I'd love to hear what's worked (or hasn't worked) for you. Thanks in advance!

I’m a massage therapist renting a commercial office space in Oregon under a 3-year lease with a 3-month buyout clause.

The space was described to me as “quiet”- where I even have emails from the owner stating it is, and I was told things like “you may hear the upstairs neighbor from time to time.” I was also told the first couple offices were used for speech therapy, but there was no indication that this involved working with children throughout the day or the level of noise that comes with that.

In reality, the space has constant noise:

- children screaming daily (sometimes for extended periods during sessions)

- frequent interruptions from shared traffic (bathroom every ~5–15 minutes)

- consistent overhead noise (this one I understand and it was a clear issue presented)

This makes it extremely difficult to run a massage practice, which requires a quiet environment…

I’ve tried to make it work (sound machines, adjusting schedule, etc.) but it’s still disruptive and not functional for my business. I’ve also been told by one of the neighboring therapists that the previous tenant had similar complaints about noise. Ive tried sound proofing and trying to negotiate with him where he says, “…I told you it was quiet, not silent…”, which is arguable and I’ve even had parents of the speech therapy kids say it’s definitely not even a quiet office to me in passing.

Now my landlord is pointing to the lease and saying I owe the full 3-month buyout if I leave, and I understand that’s what I signed. He is also claiming that he told me about the presence of children and the nature of the noise ahead of time, which is not accurate. To me, it’s very obvious that if I had known that there would be constant child-related noise, screaming, toys with bells, or even kids trying to get into my room, I would not have signed the lease. I love kids and don’t blame them or the speech therapists at all, and I can tell they’re frustrated that I’m there at all.

I feel taken advantage of and stupid for being in this position. I don’t want to fight him legally or anything, I just want to negotiate a better exit plan. And if I had known all these things, I wouldn’t be in this position in the first place. I’m not one to complain, I’m very sensitive to this whole and take pride in my business. I’m tired of crying every day about this, and don’t look forward to a job I love and am very passionate about. The stress it’s putting on my mental health is not sustainable.

Do I have any legal ground here to avoid or reduce the buyout? Or am I basically stuck with the lease regardless of the conditions?

EDIT:

After hearing everyone here and going from my own gut and trying to talk to him, I don’t believe I’m going to pay him the 3 month unless he hunts me down in court.

My bigger concern now, is that he’s emailed me saying he communicated things that he didn’t. Luckily I have texts to clients and friends that clear things up for me. But I also want to respond to him to make sure that if he does take me to court, my end is clear. How do I correct what he’s claiming?

He states… “- I explained it isn't a silent space. Further, I explained that another tenant sees kids exclusively as part of her speech therapy business and if you needed something really quiet, you might want to keep looking. I offered to have you spend a few hours during a weekday in the space to gauge the noise…”

He told me the first two offices were speech therapists. That’s it. That’s all that was said and he didn’t mention them having kids exclusively, or I wouldn’t have signed. Additionally, he only said I could sign the lease early and get prorated in. And like I mentioned before, he said in an email that it’s ‘a quiet office- not silent’. How do I correct this appropriately to where if he does take me to court, I’ve cleared this up?

Location: Oregon

Clothes

Business Advice