Why Private Practice Isn't The Right Fit
As you dream of starting your own private practice, you may start to learn that it is a career choice that involves more than providing therapeutic services to your clients. Running a successful private practice means that you have the role of an entrepreneur as well.
As a private practitioner, you are responsible for servicing your clients in addition to performing administrative duties. These include onboarding clients, scheduling appointments, and responding to inquiries, as well as maintaining your website and marketing your practice.
Depending on the goals you have for your life and career, you may also need to spend time to grow your business. You can do this by developing products such as courses, workshops or group programs. You may even find your business evolving into an associate practice. That often means you will spend even less time in session with clients as you work to manage your associates and their caseloads.
While running your own private practice has many benefits, it does require you to perform multiple roles. Here are some things to consider to determine if private practice is the right fit for you:
You Struggle With Taking Initiative
You may have the education and experience required to successfully service your clients and positively impact their lives. However, entrepreneurship comes with its own set of challenges and learning curves.
As a private practitioner, you will need to take the initiative to learn how to run your business. You also need to learn how to use software, such as email set up, appointment scheduling, and billing. Then, there's marketing your business and reaching your ideal client.
These aspects of running your own business may not be familiar to you and will require research and resourcefulness. You may also need to invest in support for the aspects of your business that are more advanced - building a website - that will come at an additional expense.
You Avoid Taking Risks
Entrepreneurship often involves taking risks. Growing a business requires trying new and unfamiliar things so that you can build efficient processes and diversify your revenue streams. You can also generate more income by finding opportunities to service more clients. As a private practitioner, one of the most common risks you will face is stepping out of your comfort zone as a therapist to embrace your role as a business owner.
For example, you may need to decide to let go of a client who doesn’t respect your policies. That could result in a temporary loss of income. Taking the risk to remove a client from your caseload before securing a new client could cause stress. But, ultimately, it is a decision that will allow you to continue to fill your practice with the right clients.
If you are looking to grow your practice beyond a one-on-one model by selling courses or products, you may have to take a financial risk to develop those programs. You'll also need to build sales pages with e-commerce capabilities. That way, you can successfully collect payment and deliver your products to your clients.
You Stress About Decision Making
Private practitioners regularly make decisions about their clients and their business. Whether you are determining the best therapeutic approach to meet your client’s needs or deciding on which program to use for your appointment booking software or social media scheduling, you will be making all of the decisions as you launch and grow your business.
Being able to be decisive and make choices about your clients and business can be a struggle if you are someone who often turns to their colleagues or supervisors before making a decision. While consulting your peers and mentors is part of offering the best possible service to your clients, defaulting to that option isn’t always an option.
It is also important to be able to make decisions that are aligned with your personal goals. Your friends, family or peers may give you advice that better suits their interests so taking the time to ensure your goals are at the forefront of your decisions is a skill that all private practitioners need to become familiar with.
Do you want to see if private practice is the right fit for you? Check out our Private Practice Readiness Workbook. If you’re ready to move forward and are looking for guidance on launching your private practice, apply to work with a BYPP Coach to set yourself up for sustainable success.
