Private Practice Success: 10 Essentials for Starting a Practice

As a counselor, therapist or healing professional (massage therapist, physiotherapist, alternative health practitioner, etc.) it is quite likely that you did not chose your profession because you wanted to be a business person. As a result, it can be challenging to go into business for yourself and be successful. Taking time to prepare and plan as you build your private practice will help you avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes. Below are ten areas to address to help ensure your success.

1. Get Your Life in Excellent Shape

Counselors, therapists and healing professionals know that our personal lives affect our professional lives, yet many who are struggling to market a private practice fail to take this into account. Look at all aspects of your life and determine what seems to be working for you and what needs to change. Determine any activities you need to reduce or eliminate in order to have the time and energy to market your practice. Examine your lifestyle and personal work habits and see where improvement needs to be made. The more your life is on order, the more time and energy you will have for marketing and building a practice.

2. Develop a Financial Plan

Before you start your private practice, assess your financial situation and make a financial plan. Make sure you have funds from other sources until your practice becomes established. Do not put your self in a position where you are desperate to secure clients in order to pay your bills. Potential clients may sense your desperation and may not be eager to hire you. Feeling secure financially will allow you to market and build your practice with greater confidence and ease.

3. Know that You Are a Business Owner

It is essential that you start seeing yourself as a business owner if you haven't made this mind-shift already. You must pay careful attention to all aspects of your business--your revenue and expenses, how you spend your time, methods of attracting clients, and developing operating systems that allow your business to run smoothly.

4. Develop a Vision for Your Practice

It's difficult to get somewhere if you don't know where you are going. Develop a detailed vision of what you want your priavte practice to look like in 6 months, 1 year and 5 years and write it down. How many clients do you want to have? What days and hours do you want to work? How much income do you need/want? The more clarity and specificity you have, the more likely you will turn your vision into reality.

5. Develop at Least One Specialization

Helping and healing professionals new to private practice often fear that if they are too narrow in the type of services they offer, they will rule out many other potential clients. The opposite is actually more often true as people tend to want to hire specialists. The more targeted you are in marketing your practice, the more you will stand out from others and become known for your expertise. In addition, it's easier to market your practice to a particular group if you know where to find them.

6. Determine Any Negative Attitudes and Fears You Have About Marketing

Many counselors, therapists, and healing professionals are uncomfortable with the marketing aspect of being in private practice. They see their role as to be there for others and not to promote themselves. Our repeated exposure to negative and manipulative types of marketing further contributes to the belief that marketing ourselves is somehow inappropriate. Any negative attitudes and fears you have about marketing a practice need to be eliminated. You can and should find ways to market with integrity and authenticity. Be proud of your services and have confidence that you have something to offer people that they need and want.

7. Develop a Marketing Plan

In order to market your private practice successfully you must have an integrated marketing plan. One of the most common mistakes helping and healing professionals make is trying a few methods of marketing your practice haphazardly, and when the results are not immediate, they erroneously assume the techniques don't work. Flourishing private practices are frequently built upon a number of marketing strategies that work together over time. To market effectively you must make yourself repeatedly visible to potential clients and referral sources so that they get to know and trust you.

8. Choose Marketing Methods That Excite You

Take some time to explore and develop marketing methods that suit your unique talents and interests. There are numerous ways to promote your practice. To get ideas, read books, take courses, ask other professionals how they built their practices, or hire a marketing consultant or coach. Marketing can be an enjoyable and creative process that provides a balance to the work you do with your clients. Find a way to take pleasure in this aspect of your business and you will be more motivated to do it.

9. Make a Commitment To Build Your Practice

Typically it can take anywhere from 1-3+ years to build a full practice. Exactly how long will depend on several factors including the size of your current network, how effectively you market, the demand for your area of expertise, and how much time you spend developing your practice. Make a commitment to take action steps on a regular basis. It's best if you set aside a specific amount of time on a weekly basis for marketing your practice, and try to stick to this schedule even when you become discouraged or become tempted to allow other things to take priority.

10. Get Support

Because you will be primarily working alone, you may feel isolated and discouraged at times. It's important to have people and resources you can access for support. Most successful people have consistently had other people helping them. Whether you get expert guidance from a professional business coach or consultant, or get help from your colleagues and friends, getting support, guidance and feedback on your ideas and goals is essential. The more support you get, the greater your chances of success with your private practice.

Many professionals who are having difficulty building their private practices tell me the reason they can't get clients is either because there is too much competition or because of tight economic times. While it may be true that competition for clients has increased and that financial resources are limited for many people, there will always be those professionals in your particular field who do have a full practice.

Competition is not going to go away and you have you don't have control over the economy. You need to find a way to develop and sustain a private practice in spite of these apparent obstacles. If you act on the above ten guidelines on a consistent basis, you should have a thriving practice within a few years. Be persistent, believe in yourself, learn from your mistakes, and most importantly, get out there and market your practice.

© Juliet Austin

Bio of Author

Juliet assists helping and healing professionals (coaches, therapists, counselors, massage therapists, chiropractors, etc.) who are struggling to build their practices. She helps her clients overcome resistances to marketing, learn no or low-cost marketing strategies, create compelling promotional materials, and write effective website copy.

A graduate of both Coach U, The Institute for Life Coach Training and member of The School of Coaching, Juliet has been a practicing coach for almost 7 years. Juliet is also the Director of the Canadian Office of The Institute for Life Coach Training, a training program for therapists wanting to become coaches. She is former member of the founding board of the Vancouver Chapter of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and a current member of the ICF and Coachville.

Juliet can be reached through her website at: http://www.julietaustin.com or through her marketing blog at http://www.marketingaprivatepractice.com

---

Want a Web Site that Turns Lookie Loos into Buyers? Seven Passion Copywriting Tips

Web Site Blues? Need one, don't know where to start?... Read More

7 Reasons You ARE Your Own Best Product, or Lessons From the 2004 Presidential Election

The 2004 election is over--at least in the minds of... Read More

10 Reasons to Use Online Banking

With today's technology and people's need for more information it... Read More

Top Seven Reasons to Publicize your Business with Articles

Do you want to be #1-10 on Google and other... Read More

The 10 Benefits of Cross Cultural Training

Cross cultural differences can and do impede upon communication and... Read More

Are You a Project Manager Or a Project Mangler?

Which one are you? An effective IT project manager, able... Read More

Top 10 Items For A 21st Century Toolbox!

Skilled workers of every age have prized their tools. I... Read More

Business Profitability - 10 Ways To Boost

10 Ways to Boost your ProfitabilitySo many business owners work... Read More

10 Incredibly important business basics EVERYONE needs to know BEFORE they start a business!

In my career, I have had a total of 3... Read More

Ten Tips for Working at Home

1. Maintain regular working hours and stick to them.2. Get... Read More

Ten Ways to Manage a Rapidly Growing Business

While some new business owners face the issue of not... Read More

How To Use Bartering To Gain An Advantage Over Your Competition

If you have a business on the Internet you should... Read More

Entrepreneurs - 7 Business Mistakes You Must Avoid

Many mistakes can be made in business and if you... Read More

How To Take Daily Big Rock Actions To Jumpstart Your Business Into Massive Momentum

Do you know exactly what actions you need to do... Read More

Top 7 Ways to Profit from Foreign Trade

Here are seven excellent ways to earn income from international... Read More

10 Budgeting Tips for Business People and Small Companies

It is possible for small companies and individual business people... Read More

7 Reasons You Want Referral Business and How to Get Them

Studies have proven that there is one reason why people... Read More

Yummy Yummy: Top 7 Business Lessons from the Wiggles

At Macquarie University in the early '90s, three Australian early... Read More

How To Make $20.00 For Every $1.00 Invested

It has been said you can lift the Rock... Read More

Why Dont They Just Get It Done: 7 Performance Tactics for CEOs

Buckling under the weight of chronic corporate restructuring, and frustrated... Read More

7 Tips for Home Business Start-up Success

1) Prepare a realistic business plan.Think of this as your... Read More

I WANT IT NOW - 10 Tips for Freight & Drayage at Trade Shows

Gas prices continue to go through the roof and increased... Read More

Seven Ways to Improve Your Results with Follow-up

What follows is a bold statement, but sometimes it takes... Read More

Seven Keys to Get Out of a Rut

Rut -- a routine procedure, situation, or way... Read More

The Top 10 Reasons Businesses Succeed

Only one of every 5 businesses makes it to its... Read More

Ten Reasons to Implement Choice Theory in Your Organization

What is Choice Theory (CT)? CT is a theory of... Read More

Shaking Your Money Tree: Seven Ways to Make Quick Cash

Does your business have a money tree you can shake... Read More

10 High-Impact Viral Marketing Strategies

Viral Marketing is allowing people to giveaway and use your... Read More

How to Apply the 12 Steps for Managment Conflict and Resolution

1. Admit there is a problem.The very first step in... Read More

10 Things To Do When Business Slows Down Over The Holidays

I'm sure you've seen it happen every year: your business... Read More

10 Compelling Reasons Not to Downsize

Almost daily, newspapers, business magazines, radio and television carry reports... Read More

7 Super Ways To Drum Up More Sales

1. Use subheads throughout your ad copy.Subheads are great to... Read More

The Top Ten Qualities that Allow Business Operations to Grow Easily

My husband and I were enjoying our dinner meal one... Read More