The Private Practice Success Podcast

51. Proper Business Planning: The Allied Health Way

• Gerda Muller • Episode 51

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In episode 51, Gerda dives into one of her favourite and most transformative topics, being how proper business planning, done the allied health way, sets thriving practice owners apart from those stuck in constant catch-up mode. 

Gerda unpacks why generic planning systems just don’t work for the realities of private practice, and shares a practical, values-driven approach that brings calm, clarity, and momentum to your business.

You’ll hear why planning isn’t just about pretty to-do lists or new diaries, but a true leadership skill that anchors your vision, keeps you aligned, and helps you navigate the messiness of real life and business. 

In this Episode, you will learn (among others):

  • Why most planning systems fail private practice owners and what to do instead.
  • The five key benefits of proper business planning and why it matters.
  • How to create a planning system that feels good, inspires action, and keeps you connected to your vision (even when life gets messy).

Who This Episode Is For:

  • Allied health practice owners ready to move beyond overwhelm and bring structure and intention to their business.
  • Leaders who want practical tools to stay aligned, organised, and focused through every season of practice ownership.
  • Anyone looking for inspiration to plan, lead, and grow a practice they can’t stop smiling about.

Tune in for a motivating, practical guide to planning for success - the allied health way - and discover how to make next year your most aligned and impactful yet.

>> REGISTER for the 2026 Blueprint Planning Session HERE <<


Connect with Private Practice Success & Gerda here:

 Well, hello there, spectacular private practice owner. My name is Gerda Muller and you are listening to the Private Practice Success Podcast, and this is episode number 51. 

Today we are going to talk about one of my absolute favourite topics, and honestly, this is one of the things that separate the private practice owners who are constantly in catch-up mode, from the ones who are actually calm, in control, and creating real momentum in their business. And that my friends is proper planning for business success - but, and here's the catch - doing it in the allied health way, because we have got very specific challenges in our industry. 

Now, before you roll your eyes and you go, "Oh Gerda planning, I know, I know. I should do more, more of it. I should probably do it better," but stay with me because I'm not talking about making a pretty to-do list, or buying a diary in Kmart in January, writing in it for four days and then never opening it up again. I'm talking about planning as an actual business function. 

Planning as a leadership skill. Planning as the thing that holds your vision together when life and your business get messy (because trust me, it will. It will). I really want to speak to you today, as a fellow practice owner. Not just as a business consultant that has all the frameworks, not as a psychologist with all the models and behavioural theory, but as somebody who actually knows what it is like to have a day of back-to-back clients, and at the same time have a team member off sick. At the same time have an important question sitting in your inbox, and at the same time needing to think about marketing so that you can fill all the open appointments in the diary. And at the same time having to think about cash flow because bills are due on Thursday. And then still having your own family, kids, a husband, a partner - just life. 

So today what I'm going to do, is I'm going to walk you through the following: we're going to talk about why proper planning matters - specifically in private practice, the pain points that proper planning will help you solve because honestly, it is more than just about being more organised - and I know we all want to be more organised, but it's more than just that. We are going to touch on the transformation it will create for you when you do it properly, and consistently with the right tools. 

We have to face reality, because planning very often can feel fun, but it also can feel really hard because most practice owners are actually not bad at planning. They're just planning in the wrong way for the business they actually have. So what do I mean by that?  Okay, most people plan like this, and think about whether this is true for you.

They write down a list of things they hope to get to, they shove it all in their calendar, but they don't build in any space for reflection time, admin time, life time. And then when real life practice happens - AKA cancellations, crises, staff issues, new referrals, and nobody knows where they should go -  the whole plan goes to shit, it goes out the window. And then what do you do? You make that mean something about you? Like thoughts such as - I'm disorganised, I just need to try harder. I just don't have the discipline. I need to work more after hours, when in most cases you are actually not the problem. This is not a you problem, it's a planning model problem.

Because you are trying to run an allied health business with clients, with regulations, with team members using a planning system - wait for it - a planning system that has been made for a 9 to 5 employee with one role and no staff. Of course it's not going to work for you. Of course you're tired. Of course your calendar is overloaded. Of course, you're carrying it all in your head. So let's start by taking the shame out of this, because you actually don't need to be more ‘organised’. You just need a way to properly plan for the business, you actually have.

And proper planning in private practice - the allied health way does a very few specific things in that, it helps you stay aligned. For us as allied health professionals, that's extremely important. We are people people. We are values people. We are human first people. So it has to be aligned. It will also help you stay organised. It'll also help you stay focused, okay? Because who here doesn't suffer from shiny object syndrome? If you tell me you don't, I think you're lying. Okay? It will also help you stay accountable. And very importantly, it will ensure that you keep growing not only your business, but also personally, and you as a professional.

So let's take some time to dive into each of these areas. 

Key Benefit #1: Achieving Alignment

When you do proper business planning, the allied health way, the first key benefit that you will receive from this, is achieving alignment. So let's start with alignment, because this is the one that often creeps up on us.

And here's what I see all the time - you started your practice probably with a really strong ‘why’ - you wanted  to help people. You wanted to do really good quality clinical work. You wanted to create a beautiful values-based service for your community. Maybe you wanted to build a group practice and create jobs in that way. Maybe you wanted flexibility for your family. But then what happens? Business happens, okay. You add more services. You go from a solo practice owner to now having a team. You add a new referral stream such as NDIS - that has a lot of bells and whistles to it. You said yes to referrals that weren't quite in your niche area. You started doing things because clients asked you to, or GPS asked you to, or the market asked you to. 

And slowly, very slowly, you move from being on purpose to just being on autopilot. You still care, you're still committed, but you're not always aligned. Your week no longer reflects your values. Your calendar no longer reflects your priorities. Your energy no longer reflects your vision - and that is what misalignment looks like in the business of private practice.

The scary thing is this, misalignment doesn't show up as this big crisis, it's not in your face. It shows up as low level resentment. It shows up as Sunday night dread - you know what I'm talking about? It shows up as decision fatigue, a loss of joy, and that thought of this is not what I signed up for.

The good news is that proper planning, the allied health way, fixes that, because it forces you very lovingly to keep connecting what you're doing to what you actually want. When you have a planning system that says - what's the vision for the year? What are your 12-month goals? What are you moving toward? What are you saying no to? What does this week connect you to? That's when you suddenly start leading your business again, instead of your business leading you. So the first key benefit of proper planning, the allied health way - what I like to also refer to is the Private Practice Success way - is alignment.

Alignment to your vision, to your values in the kind of business that you actually want to be running, because success without alignment just feels like more work. And I, for certain, don't want that, and I don't want this for you. I want true alignment, and true joy for you - that practice you can't stop smiling about.

Key Benefit #2: Boost Organisation & Productivity

The second key benefit that you will experience once you actually engage in proper business planning the allied health way, is that it will boost your organisation as well as your productivity.

I'm pretty sure that when you think about planning, this is probably the key benefit that you would expect from it, right? I want to be more organised. I want to be more productive. But let me say this - because this is what I know for sure - practice owners wear a lot of hats. You are most probably still a clinician. You are a business owner. You are the HR department. You are the marketing department. You are the compliance manager. You are the sounding board for your team. And sometimes you are probably still the cleaner, the receptionist, the IT person, and a lot of days you are all of these things all in the one freaking day.  So of course, it is going to be hard to stay on top of everything. 

What proper planning does, is that it gives all of these moving parts a home. So instead of holding this all in your head, instead of having sticky notes everywhere, instead of having three notebooks and two apps, instead of putting your to-do list in your calendar and then just getting overwhelmed because now you have 47 things due today. You've got one structured place to map, the month to plan the week, to schedule your non-negotiables and to still remember to look after you. 

A clear organised layout, especially one that's designed for practice owners, means that you don't have to think what should I be doing right now, because your system will tell you. Your plan will tell you. And when you don't have to consistently decide, what do I need to do right now, guess what? You save energy. And when you save energy, you have more energy to give to your clients, your team, and your business strategy. And yeah, your family -  those people that actually matter most. 

So yes, proper planning absolutely helps you to never miss a deadline, never forget supervision, never lose track of billing, never forget to check in with your referrers, and never forget that you too need to take a day off - but it's way more than that. If you do this right, its job is to reduce the overwhelm, because overwhelm is so often just unorganised responsibility. When everything has a place, you can take your place as a calm, prepared and on top of it, practice owner. How good is that going to feel? 

Key Benefit #3: Increased Focus

The third key benefit, and this is a big one, is focus. Let's be honest here - allied health private practice owners like you - you are smart, you are creative, you see opportunities everywhere. You hear a podcast, you go, oh, I love that strategy, I want to try that out. You see another practice owner launch a new service. You go, oh, I need to do that as well. You go to a conference; you come back with 200 new ideas, and none of that is wrong, it is actually a strength. But if that strength, and that experience is not contained by structure, that is when it becomes a problem. And this is where that shiny object syndrome that we all know so well kicks in.

What do you do? You start January clear. By March you've added five new goals. And by May you can't remember what the original plan was. So what happens? You work really hard, but it feels like you're not making any progress. You are busy, but you're not necessarily effective. You are doing lots of things, but you are not doing the right things.

Structured planning, when you do proper structured planning, the allied health way, the Private Practice Success way - that will protect your focus. When your planning system is really clear on what your goals are for the next 12 months, and then it allows you to break that down into various cycles throughout the year so that you know what is my exact right next thing that will actually move the needle in my business - that is what will allow you to evaluate any new ideas that pop into your head, or into your atmosphere in a proper way. 

So instead of saying yes to everything, you can then ask yourself, does this align? Does this fit the current season of my practice? Is this important now or is this just really exciting? And that one shift from being reactive when these things enter your world, to becoming intentional is where a lot of growth actually comes from. Because honestly, and I've seen this across so many practices, most owners don't need more strategy, okay? A lot of you know what the strategies are, but you need focus so that you can actually implement it. And therefore you need a way to keep that focus in your view, and that is what proper business planning allows you to do.

Key Benefit #4: Accountability

Key benefit number four of proper business planning, and this is the one people often miss, is accountability. Now, you and I both know this, January motivation is very different from July motivation. Why? Well, you start the year strong, you attend my blueprint planning session maybe. You write down your goals, you feel on fire, and so excited that this year's going to be different. And then what happens before you know it, it's school holidays again. There are staff changes, people leaving, life happens, people getting sick, there's audits - anything really - all of it really. And suddenly it's September and you're like, wait, what? What happened to my goals again? 

And it's not because you were inconsistent. It is just because you didn't have a built-in accountability rhythm to keep you accountable. So a good planning system - and this is where I get really passionate - doesn't just help you to set goals, it also helps you to check back in on them. It gives you reflection prompts, progress check-ins, space to notice what worked and what didn't, and permission to adjust without feeling like you failed. Because good planning isn't rigid. Good planning is responsive, and you don't just set it and forget it. You set it, and then what you need to do is you need to stay in relationship with it - and that's where accountability comes in. 

When you have a system that asks you every week or every month - How did we go? What got in the way? What do we need to do differently? Then you don't drift as far of course as you might otherwise. It's why within my Private Practice Success Academy and Founders Club, we do what I like to refer to as a Practice Pitstop. And we do that every eight weeks,  where we actually come together as a group and we go through these questions.

So you are not just working and working and working and working with no sense of movement. You actually make the time to notice. To go - ‘oh we did that, we improved this, we hired that person, we filled these books, we ran this workshop, we added this new revenue stream.’  And for many practice owners, that's the thing that keeps them going - being able to see the fruits of your labour.

So proper planning in business, the allied health or private practice success way, equals built in accountability. Not the kind where someone is yelling at you like a personal trainer does, but the kind where your system gently calls you back to the vision that you said you had and that you committed to pursuing.

Key Benefit #5: Personal & Professional Growth as a Leader

The fifth key benefit, and this is the one I want every single allied health business owner to really hear, is that proper planning supports your growth as a leader. A lot of practice owners I talk to actually don't need more clinical skills, and I'm thinking this includes you, what you need isn’t another clinical course or workshop. 

What you need, if you are an allied health practice owner, and you have a group practice - what you need is more leadership confidence, more business acumen, more CEO time, more space to think, to create and to innovate - that's the fun part of business. And you can't do that when your entire day is just reacting, reacting, reacting or paperwork, paperwork, paperwork - and even clients, clients, clients. Proper planning creates space. It gives you that white space that allows you to be creative, to think, to reflect, to innovate. Space, to ask, what's next for this little business of mine, or maybe even this big business of mine. Space to ask, what do I need as the owner. Space to ask how do I start extracting myself from the day to day?

When you've got that? When you've got a system that says this is not just about tasks, this is about you as the owner, that is when you start to step into that level five and even above self-running practice owner energy. So good planning is not just admin, it's leadership development. It's intentional growth. It's how you go from, I run a practice to, I lead a practice.

So that was what I would refer to as my top five key benefits that you as a practice owner will derive if you engage in proper planning the allied health way. 

But I want to add one more piece here, because this matters actually more than people think, and that is that planning should feel good. The thing is, I don't believe that something practical has to mean that it's also plain and boring. When something feels good, when it's beautiful, when it's well laid out, when it's colourful and it feels considered - you want to sit down with it, you want to check in, you want to look at your goals again, and you want to refine your week.

And that's why a well-designed, well-structured planner to accompany your planning is so powerful, because it becomes a ritual, not a chore. It becomes a moment of, when I sit down and I look in this planner, this is where I get to take back control of my business. This is where I realign. This is where I remember what I'm building this year. And that's what I want for you. Not just to be busy, but to be intentional, to be inspired, and to stay connected to your vision in a way that feels good. 

So if you've been listening to this and you're thinking, “Yes, Gerda, this is exactly what I need,” and you agree with me that - “You know what Gerda? I just need a way to stay consistent with what I already know I should be doing,” then I want to tell you about the 2026 Private Practice Success Planner. Because everything I've just talked about - alignment, organization and productivity, structured focus, built in accountability space for growth, and a beautifully designed tool that makes planning feel inspiring - well, I've pulled all of that together in one physical hard copy planner, designed specifically for allied health private practice owners like yourself.

I've created it because as a fellow and still a current group practice owner, I could not find a diary or planner that actually supported the real rhythm of private practice life. Personally, I wanted something that wasn't generic, that wasn't just dates on a page, that wasn't just another boss babe planner. But something that actually helps you to run the business side of your practice, while still holding space for all the leadership stuff that you need to do and your personal life. 

Inside the 2026 Private Practice Success Planner, you will find a range of sections such as goal setting and freedom mapping, monthly and weekly planning - so you can stay on track -  daily tasks and scheduling - so you can balance clients', business, self-care, progress, check-ins, and reflections so you can stay accountable. Space for creativity and big thinking,  because we need that as leaders. And I've wrapped this all in a beautiful A4 a hundred sixty-four-page planner, that actually feels good to use. And because I know some of you like to be shown how to get the most out of things, if you do get a copy of the planner, you will also get access to a recorded video training where I personally walk you through how to use the planner so that you can extract all the goodness and all the value, and therefore all the results on offer for you.

So what I will do is I will leave a link to the 2026 Practice Success Planner in the show notes. Just go find it in there, click on the link and it will take you to the website that takes you through all the details that you need and how to order. 

But I want to leave you with this - success in private practice doesn't happen by accident. It happens because you plan for it. It happens because you create the containers for it. It happens because you've created the accountability, and it happens because you led yourself first. Don't let anybody tell you that you just need to work harder. What you need is a plan -  a smart plan - and I am here always to help you build that practice you can't stop smiling about. 😊

So if today's episode resonated with you, go and grab your 2026 Private Practice Success Planner, the link is in the show notes, and let's make next year, 2026, your most aligned, spacious, and successful here yet. 

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Gerda Muller

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