Hourly rental fees for physiotherapy space

Hi,

I'm after more advice. Having established a business plan I now need to negotiate the cost of renting the physiotherapy space that is available to me.
The space is used during the day for physiotherapy treatments and has 'all the kit' that a physiotherapist would need for a selection of treatments. I should explain that I would only be able to rent the room on a relatively flexible arrangement during evenings and weekends.

In trying to negotiate a hourly rental fee I am worried that the place I want to hire it from will ask too much and leave me short (or with little money left before tax) after each paid treatment session - which maybe an hour or just 30 mins.

Unfortunately I have little knowledge of renting physiotherapy premises and so thought I would ask on the forum - does any one have a sensible suggestion of hourly rental fees.

I believe the initial figure they threw at me was £30 per hour......... but I believe that a fee of that price would leave me with nothing once the tax man took his chunk aswell.

Thanks very much,
Wriggly_b

Hi Wriggly_b,

There's a big difference between renting an empty rooms and one with all the kit in their ready to go. Someone paid for that kit (or is paying off a lease on that kit) and you are getting it thrown in with no financial outlay. That is therefore a great deal.

Think about it this way. Your a private practice owner and employ a few physios. They are well educated and quite senior so you pay them 40% of their income. Now let's say the hr session costs £60. You therefore pay them £24 and they are taking £36 to offset the room and all the kit and all the utilities etc. and still have to make a profit.

If they only took £30, then they have even less to do this so this would seem a good deal for you.

Prices vary in London from about £20 upwards and often include vat in addition to the fees. Negotiating for a full week is always a lower hrly rate so sometimes it's an idea to team up with a few people to secure a space for a longer time each week.

I suppose the other point to make here is that private practice owners aren't always making the money everything thinks they are, expecially if they are paying their staff to much (which is often the case). Getting a room kitted out and ready to go with no cash outlay and only £30hr is a pretty sweet deal for someone starting out and building a list. In time you can then get your own space at a lower cost and perhaps rent the half days you're not there to someone else :)

Best of luck

Thanks very much for your reply and yes, it is a really great deal, but at the moment it will just be me on my own, so one hours usage of the physio space will only bring in one hours worth of payment.
Because the space is located in a college it lays dormant and empty each night and weekend - hence prompting me to try and rent it at a reasonable rate, because to the college (which is also a charity) any payment for the usage is more than what they get for it standing empty.......I am also aware that they rent their pool and changing facilities out for £25 per hour.
I worry that if I charge £50 per hour to my physio clients, and I am charged £30 for the room by the college, that leaves me with £20 - and once the tax man has taken his sum (and because this would be a second income they will take more) - I am left questioning whether its all worth it :o(
But I also think, if I want to set up a private physiotherapist I have to start somewhere.... and maybe it is reasonable to take home very little money for the work initially in the hope that business booms, reputation spreads and it will all become more finanically beneficial.
Its all good fun though!!
Wriggly_b

Hi, I have recently set up in a spare room in a podiatry clinic. We were unable to guarrantee the work initially and therefor renting the room for a set number of hours a week was going to be difficult. We then arranged to pay a percentage of each patient. It means that if we are quiet, we dont lose out financially due to rent. It also means that our podiatrist landlord is really helping to spread the word about us as the more patients we see, the more money he gets!!

Hope that helps