How to market a private practice, ditch insurance, schedule private pay clients, and be happy in a counseling practice. Free education for therapists offered here.
I know… I know… your money issue is that you need income coming in… But, is that it? Whatever issues you have with money in your personal life, in your business finances, and your business plan- those patterns tend to track to any new venture including one relating to passive income.
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Last week we talked about the idea of Passive Income to start building up income that doesn’t require you to directly work. I know you are VERY excited about creating passive income that could take care of your living expenses without seeing a bajillion clients a week, but before you do that- you have some work to do…
If you have been following us for awhile, you may have realized that Kelly and I don’t gloss over the tough stuff. There is no fast forward button or magic wand when building a profitable, sustainable business. Why? Because the things that you try to avoid now will come back to bite you on the tush later!
Yes, sometimes people seem to grow faster than others, but often you don’t see the work, research, planning, and implementation that came before what looks like an “overnight success.” Anybody who has been through our Business School Bootcamp for Therapists can tell you- it works- but it is NO magic wand! It really is a bootcamp!
You need passive income so you can see less clients, and have more time. But, you also need time so you can create passive income, and see less clients! It can feel frustrating when you’ve been overworking for so long and you need something to change right now and realize that there isn’t an overnight fix. The reality is most therapists don’t have the time to implement a passive income stream successfully.
The most classic example of passive income is rental property. Buy a property, rent it out, the rent check covers the costs and then some and poof- you’ve got passive income. But what came before that… or during that “passive income” stream?
Have you ever purchased a piece of property? Think about the amount of time you spent researching, negotiating, signing papers, making sure the space was ready for move-in.
Ever looked for rental occupants, “marketed,” your rental space? Or managed a rental property , otherwise known as provided ongoing customer service? It is seldom initially a completely passive process. And, this doesn’t take into account all the “time” that was invested previously saving up that money to invest in a down-payment or closing costs for the property.
That ebook, or ecourse is not much different. There is research involved, paperwork, moving, marketing, customer service. You need time to research plan, create, and implement that passive income that you so need.
I know you- you’ve listened to all the podcasts, watched the YouTube vidoes. They make it seem like you can create a magical income stream in just a few hours. Some of the trainings almost make it sound like you are stupid if you don’t already have a passive income stream.
But, most people find that creating and launching a passive income stream takes a LOT of time- much more than they were prepared for! If you don’t create the time for passive income you can end up spending more time, spending more money, and WASTING time for a project that would be a great idea but it never gets launched at all. Or, it gets launched in a way that doesn’t allow it to actually bring you in income.
You wouldn’t expect to spend 10 hours one weekend buying a house, getting it ready to move-in, finding renters, and setting up processes to make sure your rental gets taken care of. You can’t expect to spend 10 hours one weekend building an entire new arm of your business that will support you from scratch and have it start bringing you real income.
Erika, a psychologist in Florida, and one of our My Awesome Year coaching clients had this to say about passive income: “I thought launching passive income was gonna be easier than starting a business, but really it’s just as difficult and time consuming because now you have 2 things to juggle 😫. You have to have a solid business with consistent referrals and systems before venturing into a passive income stream, and an assistant you can delegate to.”
Ok- you can’t really “create” time, but you can definitely take back time. It is important to assess how you are spending your time right now. Both our bootcampers and our private coaching clients consistently find that without addressing this issue, they end up getting distracted from the projects, passive income streams, etc. by the reality of running a business and living life. Here are some questions to explore:
What am I doing right now that isn’t actually helping my business that I can let go of?
What am I avoiding right now that needs to be done to keep my business running smoothly?
What am I doing (or avoiding) that could be automated by software?
What am I doing (or avoiding) that could be outsourced to an assistant?
Can I batch any activities to free me up for a few months? (Set 6 months of blog articles to drip out for example so the marketing continues while you shift your focus to another project).
Is there anything in my business that I could change to free up my time or make my life more streamlined? (Dropping an insurance panel, letting go of a contract that takes a lot of time, etc.)
Do I have processes and systems in place that make it easy for me to delegate tasks, oversee big projects, and move my focus away from my business without my income dropping?
These questions may seem easy on the surface. We know they aren’t. It is really easy to get mired down in the way that things have already been done. Before you move to creating a new business or income stream- make sure your current business process is truly running as efficiently as possible. If you don’t, it could easily keep you from ever getting a really great passive income project off the ground. OR, you could take the same inefficiencies that keep you busy in your business as is and replicate the same problems in a new area of your life.
One of the best pieces of advice that we can give you is to have an outside person really look at what is happening in your business. It is uncomfortable, it is vulnerable, but it is incredibly powerful. It doesn’t have to be a business coach, but it does need to be someone who understands your field, and that knows how to create something that is streamlined and that meets your needs.
You love your work. You love helping people. But, you’ve realized you can only see so many clients and do really great work. Or, maybe you’ve realized that the kind of work you’ve done for so many years is starting to wear on your body in a way that you need some time to recover. Or, maybe you just want to live debt free or send your kid to college. Whatever the reason, you are searching for how to make more money, or passive income ideas, or passive income for therapists for inspiration and how-tos.
Read MoreThis interview was a tad vulnerable for me. I'm introducing my husband for the first time to our community. He's a gem. Patient, calm, and generally quiet, I was able to get him to share his experience of watching me build my practice. We also talk about what it's like for me to be on the other side, watching him in his new endeavor of running a bookkeeping business.
Read MoreThis conversation is from our Business School Bootcamp. We've been opening up the conversation about diversity in private practice, Dr. Joy offered to start the conversation for our bootcamp community and now we want to share it with you. We are grateful to learn from her. You can check out Joy here.
Read MoreDo you ever feel like you just want to get out of the box that you are in? We've all been brought up with certain norms in our industry. Some of these have been great and some of these have limited access and care of our communities. Today's podcast is all about innovating and being on the precipice of change in our industry. Listen in as Katie and Curt share what motivates them to push for change through discourse amongst people who are on the cutting edge in our field.
Read MoreAs a therapist in private practice or starting a counseling practice you are on the front lines with clients. That gives you a unique window into seeing what is, and is not working with clients, and noticing themes. You may at one point consider confirming some of these hypotheses through research. While performing research while in school isn't easy, there is a LOT of support.
Read MoreWhen you hear the term brand, what comes to mind? Color, fonts, and website are often top of the line. Today we have Samara from the BeBrandConfident sharing her thoughts on what makes a brand, why you need a brand and how to get started. Her joy and passion about branding is contagious. Take a listen!
Read MoreWant to avoid the common mistakes most clinicians make in private practice? Wonder what those mistakes are?
When we first started in private practice over a decade ago, there weren’t a lot practice building resources at the time. We were forced to learn everything the hard way and made a ton of mistakes along our journey growing our private practices to 6 figures in less than 2 years.
Read MoreThis is the end of our When Life Happens series and we are closing out with a beautiful, vulnerable interview with Dr. Jared as we talk about fatherhood and private practice. We cover what it was like before pregnancy, during and after. Take a listen! Dr. Jared DeFife is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Atlanta, GA.
Read MoreIt's common and yet we don't talk about. That's why I am thankful Dr. Jean braved the podcast to share her story about divorce and its impact on her private practice. She shares her advice on what to do if you are facing the divorce process and I really appreciated her openness to all of my questions. Check it out!
Read MoreBeing single, running your own business while still holding hope for finding your person to share all of your ups and downs with can be a challenge. Aprile, D.M.F.T., LMFT, is an online therapist and mental health advocate in South Florida specializing in trauma, anxiety, grief, depression, and burnout. Her aim is to bridge the gap of access to mental health care and support services in today’s modern age, and create technology and online platforms to work for these things.
Read MorePrivate practice marketing for therapists, counselors, helpers and healers. We are two therapists who provide coaching to help you build a successful private practice and a life that makes you HAPPY.
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