Depending upon your earnings, you may be required to make a payment for your National Insurance Contributions.

If you are self employed you pay two types of NIC - one is a weekly stamp (Class 2) and the other is based on the level of your profits (Class 4). You can also pay voluntary NIC (Class 3).

So your client has cancelled the day before her appointment; you've already arranged your day around that one booking - will you lose out? This may depend upon whether or not you have communicated and agreed a clear pricing structure.  Making things transparent from the outset can help to avoid uncomfortable situations when cancellations, for example, occur.

An example of a pricing structure may be as follows...

It's not just Therapists who have a tale or two (not to tell) - clients have their own stories of woe..

These are the top 10 tales of tragedy from clients who have suffered at the hands of therapists needing a refresher on therapy etiquette - enjoy! or rather...beware...:)

“What guff – she clearly has a narcissistic personality disorder!”  This outcry came recently from a renounced Therapist friend whilst we sat watching a well known criminal investigation programme.  'I thought you were done with Therapy' I asked.  “I am, but try telling that to the human psyche instruction booklet imprinted in my brain'.

Professional Membership for Therapists helps to protect you and your client by ensuring that a code of practice is observed and practised by its members.  Clients increasingly ask about professional membership to ensure that they are seeing a suitably qualified and experienced Therapist.  Here is a list of recognised Professional Bodies.

As an employee, all the 'tax stuff' is dealt with by your employer - not so, for the self-employed individual - and this is what puts many people off in the first instance.  However, the Inland Revenue have made their best efforts to make it all quite easy for you  And as with all things, if you're organised from the outset, it needn't be a worry!

Ever considered working from home? When weighing up the pros and cons of taking clients into your own house, the following points are worth considering...

1. Money

FOR : It's not just the cost of the room hire you're saving if you work from home. You will most likely also have to spend on travel, parking, and if you're not conscientious about your timing, parking fines. These costs are diminished if your workplace is in the home.

Before you go down the route of filling in forms and looking out logos, it's important to consider the time it can take to build a clientbase and the impact that may have on your financial security.  However, there are ways to gradually 'wean' yourself from full-time employment to self employment as a Therapist...

Professional Membership for Therapists helps to protect you and your client by ensuring that a code of practice is observed and practised by its members.  Clients increasingly ask about professional membership to ensure that they are seeing a suitably qualified and experienced Therapist.  Here is a list of recognised Professional Bodies.

So you're all set up - self employed (you Maverick, you), Diploma hanging nicely on the wall, all your paperwork, insurance etc in the right place- but where will you be seeing your clients?  Whilst being a good therapist will maintain your relationship with clients, providing the right environment will ensure that they are happy to come back and see you...