The first thing that many aspiring therapists think about is having that ultra-lush therapy office that is so fabulous, you can’t wait to wake up and spend all day helping your clients process and heal. Figurately creating space for your client is what you do best, and of course, you want the physical space to match. The therapy office is where the tangible and intangible come together.
Yes, that’s all well and good, BUT how are you going to pay for this ultra-lush, swanky therapy space?
Here’s a few things to figure out before you start loading up your cart with comfy furniture, and therapeutic odds + ends to fill your future therapy office.
Create a Business Plan
Creating a business plan is going to help you establish short-term and long-term goals for your business, as well as ensure that you get off on the right foot. Having a viable business or as I like to call it legally and financially legit business and NOT an expensive hobby, requires a bit of elbow grease, and if you’re serious about sustaining a profitable business, then creating a business plan is NOT the step to skip.
Determine Your Ideal Schedule
Most of us have been socialized to work AT LEAST 5 Days per week. And most of us, work more than 40 hours per week. Is that something you want to continue in your new private practice? You’re the one that’s in charge, so you get the final say-so when it comes to your client caseload.
When thinking about what your ideal schedule would be, think about YOU and YOUR lifestyle FIRST, NOT your target client population. Why? Because you’re trying to build new habits and let go of toxic unlearned behavior, so creating a business that nurtures you as you nurture others, requires you to think about the circumstances in which you would be elated about. If you’re excited about the work you do, it’s pretty much a guarantee that your clients will feel that positive energy from you.
When contemplating your ideal schedule, this is not the time to limit yourself and your creativity, there will come a time for you to reality test, whether your desires can be realistically manifested.
Creative AND Realistic
Once you map out your ideal schedule, revisit some specific details from your business plan to determine if there’s cohesion between what you say you want and what’s possible.
If you want to work 3 days per week, see 15 clients per week, AND make 6-figures, how much will you have to charge per session in order to afford that lush therapy space?
Remember, your business plan is a roadmap, but it can also serve as a living document – it can hold you accountable AND adapt as you grow, in your business acumen, revenue, and capacity. Make room for your creativity to be reinforced by the details in your business plan.
Get creative and don’t hold back – you’re in the brainstorming phase, so there are no right or wrong answers here. When I’m writing my thoughts about business ideas and everyday musings, I remind myself that the page isn’t judging me, so have fun with it FIRST and then reel it in with data.
For more suggestions on what to do, BEFORE you launch your new private practice, click below to subscribe to the weekly newsletter – Private Practice Musings.
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