Hello Everyone
Welcome to my 1st blog on my website. I thought I would let you all know how things have been going in my first 3 months since starting up my mobile foot care business in and around Felixstowe, Suffolk.
Background
As many of you know I had been a fully qualified dental nurse for many years prior to setting out on my own venture. I had been working in a dental practice in Felixstowe for several years. In fact I had been a dental nurse for over 20 years.
I think this medical training helped me a lot. I had previously successfully completed a Chiropody training course way back in 2003 but unfortunately wasn’t able to complete the practical element of the course at that time so my diploma sat in a drawer. In 2017 I began my footcare training in earnest again and this time I was able to complete all practical training and got the full diploma in foot health practice from the college of foot health practitioners in August 2017.
Now that I was a fully qualified foot health practitioner I started to set up my foot care business in Felixstowe. I wanted to start my business as a domiciliary (visiting patients in their own homes). I knew a lot of people with foot problems often found it difficult to actually walk to a foot clinic and therefore would appreciate someone coming to them in their own home.
I spent the first few days ordering the equipment that I would be needing. Obviously I had to build everything up from scratch and had to make sure I would be able to carry it all around with me. This gave me and my bank manager a heart attack as this came to several thousand pounds, it is amazing how much equipment is needed to set up as a mobile foot care practitioner.
The Name
I thought long and hard of a name for the business, but nothing was standing out. Then my partner’s son James suggested Heel The Soles. That was it!. I owe him free foot care for life now lol!
Prosper Sites Help
Keith, my partner, runs his own website and social media business (prosper Sites) so he kindly helped set up my website, designed and produced my leaflets, business cards, stationery items etc. He also headed out and delivered over 3000 leaflets in and around Felixstowe to help get my name out there. I also advertised in a local magazine and also the old Felixstowe community association newsletter, but, initially, a lot of my custom came from social media ie Facebook for which I set up a heel the soles page. I also began to get word of mouth recommendations. and thankfully the phone kept on ringing!
I enjoy being my own boss, emphasising that “the flexibility is great, the work is very rewarding, and at times it has been quite an eye-opener. When you see and treat all types of foot conditions, you wouldn’t believe what hides behind a pair of socks or in people’s shoes! I think that feet are like marmite and you either love them or hate them – I love them.
