As the world grows more and more fast-paced and demanding, a local family orientated business has launched with the purpose of helping people of the North East to prioritise their health and wellbeing, offering a diverse range of traditional treatments.
Located in Hebburn, Thai Therapy Body & Mind promotes helping the body heal naturally through traditional and holistic therapies. Founder, Suphotjana Phirom (known as Rose), started Thai Therapy in June of this year to give herself the freedom to form closer ties to her customers, catching up with them after their treatments to find out how they were feeling. Over the summer, the business has gone from strength to strength.
We spoke to Rose and her business partner Kevin Kirkcaldy to find out more about how their business is going.
Holistic healing in Hebburn
Being close to her customers was one of the main reasons Rose decided to take the plunge into the world of entrepreneurship. She explains:
“For me, going it alone was a big decision, but I wanted to create a business where I could really care for my customers. I like to follow up with my clients after treating them, but in my previous employment, I was unable to do this. I realised that the only way to follow up with my clients’ journeys and truly give them the long term healing they were looking for was to open my own business.”
Rose explains that running “the business side of things” was a major concern for her when launching the business, but the results of her efforts have been fantastic. Outlining the broad array of treatments available at Thai Therapy Body & Mind, Rose says:
“While we specialise mainly in traditional Thai massage, we also offer a range of sports massage and beauty therapy options. We provide a diverse range of treatments aimed to relieve pain, stress, and tension, healing both the body and the mind. All of our professional massage therapies are available to people of all ages, hence why we consider ourselves to be a family orientated business.”
That’s not all. In just a few months, Thai Therapy Body & Mind has exceeded its founder’s expectations, and as a result, Rose and Kevin are already planning on extending their premises and have started work on an upstairs area. They are hoping to have three brand new therapy rooms opened by September.
North East business support
This remarkable success was made possible by the support Rose received early on. Rose received help setting up and growing Thai Therapy from the North East’s TEDCO Business Support, who directed her through the Start Up South Tyneside programme. Funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, this programme aims to support local residents with aspirations to start up a business venture.
Rose says:
“The North East has proven to be a fantastic place to start a business thanks to the amazing local people and the massive amount of business support on offer. With TEDCO, I felt so much less anxious about making my business dreams come true. The mentoring we received from Allison [Nicks, Business Advisor at TEDCO Business Support] has been invaluable for us on our journey, and her guidance on business planning and funding has massively increased my confidence. I can’t recommend TEDCO’s support enough.”
TEDCO Business Advisor, Allison Nicks, adds:
“Working with Rose and Kevin has been an absolute joy, and it’s incredible to see how far Thai Therapy Body & Mind has come in just a few months. At TEDCO, we pride ourselves on helping entrepreneurs like Rose access opportunities and knowledge to make their ambitions a reality, and I’m thrilled to have assisted Rose and Kevin in bringing traditional and holistic therapies to the people of the North East. I can’t wait to see where Thai Therapy Body & Mind goes next.”
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