Today Body Elements/Physiofit Woman celebrates eight years of being in business. Eight years of challenges and emotions; of losses and victories; of perseverance and achievements and overall eight years of accomplishment and happiness. It’s not easy to start-up a business particularly at the start of a recession and keep it going.
First of all, I was trained to become a physiotherapist and not a business woman but I guess when you open your own clinic you just have to wear multiple hats and develop a new set of skills. So along with my work of being a physiotherapist assessing and treating several conditions and all the detective work and energy that involves, I also had to learn managerial, marketing, accountancy, people management and a lot of patience skills (this is still work in progress for me!). These new skills together with my principles and values are what set the ethos of Physiofit Woman.
After reading one of Seth Godin’s book I realised that I developed my “Purple Cow”. Not following any of the marketing principles and with very little experience in the Irish Market I just trusted my gut instinct and developed a business idea in what I considered a niche market: physiotherapy in women’s health.
It was a no-brainer really, considering I had ten years of experience in Portugal and after two years in Ireland developing and managing a business in the Maternity area, it was a “now or never” situation.
And it has paid off. Physiofit Woman is the result of a lot of hard work, faith and perseverance of people that believed in the project and whose values are aligned with the business’ core values. People who chose to become therapists by trade and are committed with helping others in achieving their health goals. And this is what Physiofit Woman is: a safe place where we combine different skills, different people and different services to heal your pain and discomfort; to make you feel better. You decided to take the first step towards your recovery, you decided to take control of your well-being and you have chosen us to become your health partner in this journey. A journey that can be challenging, with some ups and downs along the way but a very rewarding one in the end. For those who have the patience to read this post I know some of you are travelling back to memory lane and saying “yes, I’ve been there” but some of you are just starting the journey with us and all I ask is that you trust the process and us.
The range of areas that we cover is as broad as the services we offer. We see women that are in pain during pregnancy or after childbirth; women who suffer from incontinence and pelvic floor dysfunction and women that developed Lymphoedema after breast cancer surgery. Let’s not forget that we see women from all ages with the general back pain and sports injuries. We also see babies who were born with torticollis and are unable to turn their little heads to one side and babies who developed chest infections like Bronchiolitis and require chest physiotherapy. And in the last three years we have been seeing the husbands, fathers and brothers of our female clientele because we have no other option (women rule) and because I can’t say “No”!
Our Physiofit Woman community is growing strong year after year not only because I’ve broaden the spectrum of intervention to the extended family but also because my female population keeps getting pregnant; hence I’m still in business! 🙂
This year I have added the Yoga Samkhya to our repertoire and we will continue to add more services throughout the year. Today myself and my therapists, not only we have a fully booked schedule weeks in advance but we also have people waiting months to attend our physio-pilates classes.
We are this busy because of YOU, who I am forever grateful for attending my clinic and for spreading the word, recommending Physiofit Woman to the ones who are in need of our services. I am also grateful to have had my dad as my big supporter and whose energy still guides me, to my very good friends who believe in, encourage and cheer me up along the way and my team who are in this journey with me.
Whilst working on my next project I sincerely hope that Physiofit Woman will continue to serve you and your family for many more years to come.
So once again THANK YOU!
Deborah xxx