Starting your own Sessions house
One of the very first things to do (before actually opening a Sessions House) is to do a lot of research. Once this done, go back over your research notes looking for holes and errors. Finally, consult with an attorney and have him go over your decisions.
A couple of basic rules.
- Do not pick anyplace:
- where you will immediately run afoul of local or state laws
- within sight nor sound of any school or church
- next to a retirement center where everyone has time to sit around and watch the front of your house
- where parking is going to cause problems with neighbors
- on a cul-de-sac or any place where an extra car or two would be noticed.
- where the color of the building stands out amongst your neighbors
- where the sounds of your sessions will carry to your neighbors house. (Or through a common apartment wall)
- Have all your sessions people wear street clothes when entering or leaving the building.
- Don't put a sign reading "Mistress Mathilda's House of Dominance" on the outside.
- Have your clients call from a remote phone booth to confirm appointments before showing up at your front door. This will also avoid a client ringing your doorbell while you are in session, and avoid you answering the door in your negligee.
- Be very aware of how, when, and where you advertise.
- You may wish to visit potential neighbors and advise them that you have a small home business (tax preparer, computer consultant or the like) to explain away any visitors.
- In your Rolodex, Palm Pilot, etc, add the names of several scene-friendly doctors, chiropractors to whom you can refer a client with special needs.
- Choose an attorney wisely! Does he fully understand local Penal codes? Is the advice he is giving you valid or is the advice he is giving helping him gain new business?
Basic Costs
To set up a basic sessions house, you will need a stand-alone, single-family residence. You will have to open the house and maintain it for about two months before you can even begin to have an established clientele. With that in mind, here are the monthly costs:
$2,500 Rent or lease payment $ 750 Utility bills (Phone, gas, electric, insurance, water, and sewerage) $ 750 Advertising costs ------ $4,000 per month operating costs
Add startup costs to your operational costs:
$2,500 Security deposit (or last month's rent) $1,500 for furniture, toys, etc.
So basically, if you have several people already trained, it will take a $12,000 bank roll just to get the doors open and become operational. If you are charging $150 per session, you will need to do over fifty sessions a month just to break even each month, and that does not allow anything to recoup your startup costs. Two sessions per day average sounds like an easy task, but you will be amazed how many phone calls it takes just to get one session.
If you place your ads in a adult newspaper today, you can expect that the won't be printed and available for at least two, and probably four weeks.
If you plan to advertise in a quarterly magazine, you need to remember that they work on a three quarter cycle. They are working on the ads for the magazine this quarter, they will generate, print and distribute next quarter, and finally be on the stands during the third quarter. With luck, an ad placed today will see the streets in six months, but it could be as long as twelve months. Unfortunately, the magazines will still want you to pay for the advertisement when it is placed. If it is going to be least two issues before client sees them, well, you can do the math.
BackDrop Sessions Staff
| "Stagecraft" articles |
|---|
|
A Personal Note from Robin
You may want to read the BackDrop Sessions Staff article for some handy notes if you are going to work with other people. See also [ BackDrop Sessions Staff ]
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root