Ideal Practice
Ideal Practice
#61. Starting a Private Practice? Figure Out These 5 Essentials First.
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When you start your private practice, there are so many details to sort out that it can be daunting at first.
How the heck do you even know where to start?
Well my friend - I think I can help.
In this episode, we’ll cover 5 key decisions you need to make up front, the absolute core aspects of your practice that you’ll want to figure out first.
All of these come from my own experience, and all are critical to building a successful and sustainable practice.
And heck - even if you’ve been in practice for a while - it never hurts to revisit these concepts. Are you still clear on each? Are there areas where you might need to shake things up a bit?? If so, this will help you start that review.
You’ll also hear about the benefits of a Quick Start Consult for business coaching - it's a game-changer when it comes to taking action and propelling your practice forward. :)
Listen in as we explore how to think about each of these 5 essential areas and gain valuable insights to help you create the ideal practice you really want.
~Wendy
xoxo
P.S. Do you have a favorite episode of Ideal Practice? (or two?) If so, have you shared them with a friend? Posted a review on Apple Podcasts? Sent me a note just to share your thoughts about it all? If not, I invite you to do so. You’re such an important part of this community. Let me hear from you!
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MENTIONED:
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek.
- How Great Leaders Inspire Action: A TED. Talk with Simon Sinek
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COULD YOU USE SOME HELP?
If you’ve got a problem in your practice that you’re trying to solve, or an idea you want to try but don't know where to start - this could be just the thing. A Quick Start Consult gives you just what you need to jumpstart your progress. I'm serious about your success, so let’s work on it - shall we?
Click here for details >>> https://www.wendypittsreeves.com/consult
Wendy Pitts Reeves, LCSW
Host, Ideal Practice
Private Practice Coach and Mentor
www.WendyPittsReeves.com
Wendy@WendyPittsReeves.com
You're listening to Ideal Practice, episode number 61. Today, guys, we're going to go back to basics for just a moment and talk about five key things. You really want to get right from the beginning when you start a private practice And, to be honest, you kind of want to nail this stuff no matter where you are in your private practice journey. So stay tuned. Hi, i'm Wendy Pitts Reeves and, with over two decades of experience in the private practice world, i've built my six-figure business while learning a lot of lessons the hard way. This is the first podcast that shows you how to apply the principles of energy alignment and strategy to build a practice that is profit-centered, but people forward. This is the Ideal Practice Podcast. Hey guys, and welcome back. This is Wendy. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Ideal Practice Podcast. I love having you here. I love hanging out with you. This is my well.
Wendy:It's not my favorite time of the year not the summer, honestly but it's a great time of the year And I hope yours is going well. If you're here in the Northern Hemisphere, and I'd love to know, what are you doing Have you been camping? Are you going to concerts at your city park. I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but I got to see Yo-Yo Ma a few weeks ago, which was freaking unbelievable. I haven't gotten to go camping as much as I'd like, but I do have a really cool trip planned for later this fall that I'm looking forward to. How about you? Are you doing something fun? I'll tell you what. This is really kind of funny, but I posted a post on Facebook, on my personal page, this morning. That has gotten a fair amount of traction, honestly, and I was sharing with everybody that.
Wendy:I sort of had a bit of an epiphany yesterday, which is that I think everybody should try to learn an instrument, especially if you're older, you know, like forties and up, fifties, sixties, wherever you are. I have been taking fiddle lessons. You guys know that I talk about it from time to time And it dawned on me yesterday like that's like a natural antidepressant Every time I leave a lesson. It is such a hoot. Sure, it's been great because I'm making progress. I actually could play a song that sounded halfway decent. I could get a sense of what I actually might be able to do at some point, or it was terrible, it was awful, it was painful and really, really funny And I just laughed a lot the whole time. So I told her I said something on Facebook about that.
Wendy:I really think everybody should try something like this, because making a mess and trying something new at an older point in your life is really is just such a wonderful experience. It's both humbling and humorous at the same time. And it's been really awesome because the reactions I've been getting from people are great. Like I've had people saying, hey, yeah, i'm trying to learn ukulele and have been for a while, or maybe I should pick up my old flutes that I used to play. Like, people are saying that kind of stuff, which is kind of cool. And there were so many of those kinds of comments that I actually posted something where I said you know what, if we could put all of us together in a room, we could create a band and we could call it the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, having a good time band, don't you think? Yeah, i thought that was pretty funny, ah, yeah, yeah.
Wendy:Anyway, as I was thinking about that and getting ready to record this episode, it occurred to me that starting a private practice is a little like that You're learning new skills that you aren't familiar with. You're trying on new ways of showing up in the world that sometimes fit, sometimes don't. It can be kind of crazy and chaotic. There will be days when you feel like you have got this, you are having a good time, you are not going to go to the park, and there will be other days when it is really daunting and you're wondering if you're cut out for this at all. Well, sweetheart, you got company, because we all we all feel like that. We all deal with that all the time.
Wendy:That said, there are a few basic things that I want you to figure out right from the start, a couple of things that I think it's worthwhile to put some thought to before you take on even your first client. And actually, even if you've been in practice for a long time, like I have for years, it doesn't hurt to come back to these five key aspects principles, whatever you want to call them on a fairly regular basis, just to kind of make sure you're still clear about them. So let's talk about that. I'm going to run through these And, as I do, i want you to be thinking about how clear you are about these five things. So, where you always want to start with anything important. I think in your life, anything big, any big step you want to take is start with why. Why do you want to do this at all? Why do you want to step into this world? Because I will tell you, it is not for the faint of heart.
Wendy:Many of you have y'all heard of the book called Start With Why by Simon Sinek. He's got one of the most popular TED Talks that have ever been out there on this topic. That, i think, kind of catapulted him into worldwide fame. That could be because he's really good looking, i don't know, but that book is a great book. If you haven't read that Start With Why, i'll try to link to that in the show notes below. It was a wonderful book And his point was that the most successful businesses, who stay successful for the long term, always remember why they're in business at all, like what their core mission is, their core principle, their number one reason for being So.
Wendy:I want to ask you if you're thinking about starting a practice or you're still in practice. You might need to reconnect with this. What is your why? Now I want to say I think it's important that it's not just about what you don't want, for example, i can remember I can still remember this when I was in my first job right after graduate school. I was driving like 30 minutes to a local mental health center, a small clinic in a rural county, and I had to be there at 8 o'clock in the morning. I was a decent drive, so I had to leave my house like 7.15 or so to get there. Give or take. And I can remember driving that long drive and thinking you know what, when I'm in private practice, when I have a business, i'm not going to do this, i'll never do this, i'm not going to start till like 9 o'clock in the morning. Yeah, that's how I'm going to do it.
Wendy:Well, years later, when I did start a private practice, by golly I'd see you at 7 am if you'd come in, like I would see people at any time of day or night. I tried to see people on holidays. I would see people in the ice storm. I would see people any time they could get to me. Obviously, this is before the internet, but even if I'd had internet access back then, i probably would have done the same thing. It might have been on Zoom instead of in person.
Wendy:But the truth is, when you run a business, your time isn't gonna be like. Eventually you will get there, but you're not gonna start there. It's not necessarily about working less at least not at first, and I think it's important that you don't do it just because you don't like other people telling you what to do. That makes me think about a job I had once in a different place, another mental health center, where I had to account for literally every 15 minutes of my day. This was crazy. We actually had a type of board. Today This would all be digital, but back then we had like a physical board. It was almost like like think about a legal pad turned sideways So it was landscape, and we had a form on that board that was torn into little strips where we had to write in 15 minute increments what we were doing during the day and tear off those strips and put them. I forgot what we had to do with them, what we had to do something with them. 15 minutes every 15 minutes for the day. I thought that was insane And I would be like you know, when I run my own practice, i'm not gonna do that kind of stuff.
Wendy:The truth is, when you start a practice and you become your own boss, at least at first, a lot of you will be the worst boss you've ever had. You'll be like me, working at all hours of the day and night, and if you were like me and I pray that you're not you might not be bringing in a whole lot of money. You might be losing a lot of money because you're making all kinds of mistakes, like you were like. We don't start off good at this stuff Usually. I hope you're the exception, but I sure didn't.
Wendy:So don't make it just about what you don't want. I want you to make it about what you do want, because where your focus goes, energy grows. Have you heard that before? Let me repeat that Wherever your focus, your attention goes, that's where energy grows. So if you are focusing on I don't wanna work as hard, i don't want people telling me what to do You'll actually get more of that rather than less. On the other hand, if you focus on things like what is your overall purpose? What's calling to you about this? Not what are you pushing away from, but what are you reaching for? Why do you want to move into the role of being a business owner at all, not just a clinician, not just a healer. Why do you actually want to run a business? Because there are lots of ways to get where you wanna go y'all. And if it's because you wanna serve a certain population or you wanna work in a different environment or you wanna make different money, there actually are job opportunities that you can explore to do that kind of thing, why do you want to run a business? Why do you want to be in private practice? And a good way to think about this is what do you want to be possible in your life? because you run a private practice? I always.
Wendy:When I think about this, i always remember a young clinician who came to join my group practice many years ago who had a full-time job at a local agency but had been recommended to me. Somebody recommended that. She talked to me because she was beginning to think about maybe starting a little practice on the side and she had small children at the time. And when I was asking her that question what do you want this to do for you in your life? What's your purpose here? Why do you even wanna do this? She said you know, it's not like I expect to make a whole lot of money or anything like that, i just wanna make enough that maybe I can take my family, maybe take my kids, to Disney next year. That would be awesome if I could pay for that. I love that, like that's fine. If that's what gets you started, that's fine. But I also hope that you have a bigger vision than that. I hope you want your practice to support your life, not the other way around, and I want you to just spend some time thinking about what does that mean, what would that look like? So that's your why.
Wendy:The second thing I want you to get really clear about is who do you see and who do you not see? Who do you work with in your practice and who do you not? Don't tell me that you work with anybody who can pay you, because that's not true. Okay. Now I do want, like it's okay, to explore this a little bit, because this will change. This will evolve over time. The longer you are in business, the more likely that is. It certainly has for me, but it will help a little bit If you spend some time on the front end trying to identify who do you really wanna work with, who are they, what's bothering them And, in particular, what makes it such a joy to work with them.
Wendy:Is it something about their personality? Is it something about the problems that they have that you just have a real heart for trying to help with? Is it something about the way they approach the work, their attitude about working with you? Is it something else Like, what is it? What is it about the people that you, like you know? if I could only see I don't know five people a week, i wish they would all be like this. If I saw 50 people a week, it would be awesome if they were like this Don't, but don't see 50 people a week. Yeah, don't do that, but takes like.
Wendy:When I first started my practice, honestly, i was so desperate and scared I was excited. Those two feelings often feel the same. I was really excited about getting into it And, but I was really eager to prove I could do it, and I was so afraid that I literally took any referral I got. It almost didn't matter if I knew anything about whatever they need help with or not. I used to say, if you can walk, i'll see you, and maybe even if you can't, you know, it was just like I was so nervous about it, which means that sometimes I got into cases that were over my head. Now that's okay. I don't really think that's a bad thing if you are self aware enough to know that and you do what you need to do to get on top of it. So I did pay for extra supervision and consultation anytime I needed it And eventually I became part of a consultation group which really helped with that kind of thing.
Wendy:So I don't want you to be afraid to take on a case. That might be a bit of a stretch for you, but I do want you to think I love working with this kind of situation or these people, and sometimes it might be easier to say what kind of client you know for a fact you don't want to work with first. Okay, if you're not really sure, if it is like I don't know, wendy, i think I could help anybody. Maybe you might want to think about well, anybody, is there anybody out there that you're like, yeah, actually, no, i don't think I would like that very much. Spend a little time getting clear about that, because that's going to help you on down the line. So if your first thing is why, why do you want to do this, your second thing is who do you want to see and who do you not want to see? Your third thing is what do you actually do and what do you not do? So, for example, in the mental health world and I know not all of you are therapists, but that's always my default place to come from I the one thing I used to say it was easier to say what I didn't do than what I did, for I have never worked with eating disorders.
Wendy:I don't have any training in that. It wasn't an area that I wanted to get into. I felt like it was really, really important that you knew what you were doing with that. I have, over the years, had a few clients who really just sort of basically said please, please, please, work with me anyway And I have you know when it wasn't a critical part of the work. I have taken on a few folks like that, But that's never been an area of specialty for me, so I tend to not do that. On the other hand, i've done ton of work, a ton of work with addiction related items. Back in the day I used to do a lot of trauma work and domestic violence work.
Wendy:What do you do? Is there a particular type of issue or problem or symptom or situation in your clients lives that you know you are suited to work with. You know you have the skills to work with or you can get the skills and you really want to do. Also, think about what do you not do in terms of the services you provide. Right? Do you work with children? Do you work with couples? Do you like a grumpy teenagers or thank you. No, you know what is. What is that? What do you actually do? A lot of my clients, a lot of people I coach they don't always see it at first, but as we get going, a lot of them will recognize that they have something really unique that they bring to the table. I bet you have that too. It might be something about the way you frame a problem. It might be something about your personality and how you approach things. It might be about a particular skill set that you have or training that you have. It may be about a methodology that you have, but what you do, how you do it and what you don't. That's an important part to get clear on, because you'll need to be able to talk about that with your potential clients. So why, who and what I want you to get really clear on those things. The fourth thing I want you to figure out is when you're available to see people and where you work, for example. It's so funny that I think about this.
Wendy:When I first got started again, i came from that desperate place. I really and I worked with a lot. I worked a lot with kids back then. I would see kids, especially teenagers, at seven o'clock in the morning before they went to school. I often would also see adults at that time because I could see them before they went to work And I, one or two nights a week, i would work late, like till seven o'clock or eight o'clock, which is nuts. When I look back on that now, i think why the heck was I doing that? I didn't have kids of my own at the time. It didn't really matter that much if I made it home at least once or twice a week. That was kind of okay. When my kids came along, i started. I slowly cut back and eventually quit doing evenings. But how about you? Do you do evenings And if so, which evenings?
Wendy:There was a therapist in my group practice who moved to us from out of state and had a really kind of a cool approach to things from the very beginning. That was a little bit different, and one of the things that she wanted to do was see people on Sunday afternoons. And when she told me that, i was like, really, you want to work on Sundays? And she was like, yeah, i kind of do. She would rather have had a day off during the week. So I have forgotten what her actual schedule was, but I know she worked Sundays. Maybe she took Wednesday and Saturday off, or maybe she did Friday and Saturday. I bet it was that. Actually, when I think about it, i can't remember now, it's been a while But she immediately began to advertise that she had openings and that she was seeing people on Sunday afternoons. Well, of course, that time filled up first, she had no trouble getting new clients.
Wendy:Now, i have no interest in doing that, but how about you? All right, and where are you going to see people? Are you working virtually or in person, or both? Because that's going to make a difference too. So get clear about those kinds of things.
Wendy:And then, finally, the fifth thing I want you to get clear about is how you get paid. Probably should have put this first. Are you going to accept third party reimbursement, depending upon the industry that you're in, you may not. They may not be an option. If you're in psychotherapy, it is. You can do that. You can take insurance. Unless you're pre-licensed, you can't, though, if you're a yoga teacher, that's not really going to be an issue.
Wendy:So how will you get paid? Is it cash only? Is it insurance or a blend? Will you offer packages of some sort, which I'm a huge, huge fan of? Do you require payment in advance or the day of? Do you have payment plans? What are your options? What are the options for how people can work with you?
Wendy:How much are you going to charge, and when or how often will you raise your rates? No one ever told me this, but I wish I had known from the very beginning. It is important to be thinking about how often and when you'll raise your rates, because I know you guys, your tendency is not to do that like ever. But the real world doesn't work that way. Prices go up no matter what, and every two, three years you need to be thinking about raising your rates. I heard a psychologist say once that he thought you should be raising your rates twice a year. I don't know about that. That's fine If that's what he wanted to do. I don't see myself doing that, but it does need to be on a semi-regular basis. So how are you going to get paid? What different kind of options do people have for working with you and paying you? What are the requirements you're going to have around payment? What do you charge For? what different kinds of services? Do you have different rates for different things? Think about that. Keep it simple, don't get too complicated. But you might have a few variations on that, and how often are we going to raise your rates? So think about that as well.
Wendy:So here's a journal prompt for you, or an exercise. I'd love for you to take out a sheet of paper and list your answers to each of those questions or points I've raised today. Can you write this down clearly? Can you tell me what your why is, why your business exists or why you want it to, in terms of its impact on the world, but also in terms of its impact on you and what it's going to do for you? Can you tell me who you see and who you don't want to see, who you serve and who you don't? Can you tell me what you do? a little bit more about what you do, how it's kind of cool, how it's a little different, and what you're not, what you really don't do. Can you tell me when you're available, what kind of hours you might have available and where you work, and can you tell me a little bit more about how you get paid and what you require? For if I wanted to work with you, what would that entail?
Wendy:If you can write an answer to all those things crystal clear and fairly quickly, you are in good shape and you're really gonna like what we're gonna do next week. If you're not quite sure or some of those are a little bit fuzzy or you find yourself hymning and hawing a little bit, i think you've got a little work to do. All right, next week, i'm going to tell you how to take some of that, as well as a few other things, and write an effective online profile. That's where we're gonna go next And I think you're gonna find that really helpful. But you gotta do this first, y'all. So do this, okay, and let me know if you discover anything as part of this process. That's what I've got for you today. I hope it's helpful. I hope it's a really good reminder if you haven't done this in a while, and if you're just getting started, i hope it gives you some ideas about how to get clear up front before you dive in. Have a great week, everybody, and I will see you next time right here on the Ideal Practice Podcast. Bye now. ["i'm a Bigger Man"]. Hey guys, before you go, i'd love to offer you just a little dose of extra support.
Wendy:We talk a lot here on Ideal Practice about specific strategies for moving your practice forward, and when we do like today, i hope you're inspired, i hope you're fired up, even Like. I'm so ready to do this, wendy, yeah. But I also know that when you sit down to actually try some of the things you learn here on the show, you might struggle a little Sometimes. When you decide to implement a new strategy or try a new idea, what seemed perfectly clear before, all of a sudden, well, it just isn't. That's completely normal y'all.
Wendy:The idea is the easy part. Taking imperfect action is how you move that idea forward, and the good news is I can help you with that. It's amazing what a difference it can make just to talk through your ideas with someone else out loud, someone who gets it. It's even better if you can actually work on those ideas at the same time. So if you have a problem you wanna solve or an idea you wanna try, but you just don't know where to start, a quick start consult might be just the thing. This is a unique standalone session that I offer that gives you access to high quality coaching without the expense of a full blown coaching commitment. It's also a great way to test the waters and just see what coaching is even like. We don't just talk about your business around here, we work on it together, and you can learn more about this over on my website at windypitsreevescom. Forward slash consult. Their talks is huge.
