Common Mistake Therapists Make When Opening A Practice
Are you preparing to open a new practice? Or have you already begun and wish to create the straightest path to success?
Great! I’m glad you’re here!
At BrighterVision, we see therapists make a range of mistakes when starting out. Mistakes that limit success, lead to stagnation, and harm the health of both the business and the practitioner; yes, including outright failure. But mistakes can be avoided.
The right insights implemented at the beginning of your practice journey — and built upon over time — can circumvent common slip-ups and shortcut your journey to success. Making the process easier and simpler, and helping your dreams to come true… Without costing your financial and personal wellbeing.
Let’s look at the top 7 mistakes we see therapists make (and how to avoid them)…
1) Overlooking a niche
In their excitement to get started, therapists fling open the practice doors to all who want care.
Seems like a good idea. After all, a client is a client… right?
Except this (seemingly) commonsense notion is failing in the real world. For a number of reasons. Including that the internet has irrevocably changed the game.
A simple rummage on a search engine will help a potential client better understand the different treatments available for their illness or challenge. They can then research a therapist, their qualifications and experience, and their specific approach to see if there’s a fit. Potential clients can find what they believe are your weaknesses and bail before they begin.
This matters because people want — and can get — targeted care. They can choose specialist treatment to meet their exact needs. Cyberspace makes this easy. Access to online care is now also well-established and continuing to grow. This allows people to seek therapy non-locally.
But why would they?
Once upon a time people needed to front-up in person. They choose a neighborhood therapist through necessity, not necessarily preference. The internet has flipped this equation. People can prioritize based on desire rather than location. And if they do choose in-person care, the internet empowers them to choose the most suitable local therapist.
Think about it this way…
Imagine you suffer from depression. Would you prefer to see a generalist or a professional with a laser focus in this mood disorder? Someone without a specialty, or someone who has extensive training, expertise, and experience in successfully treating depression, with rave online reviews and countless mood-related qualifications?
You’d choose the latter, right? The expert therapist who has “proven” they are perfectly qualified to ease depression. This specialization is known as a niche; a specialized segment in the market.
Possessing the right niche elevates your perceived value, secures bookings, and enables you to help those you’re best qualified to support. In terms of marketing, being known as an expert within a niche is powerful.
Tip: If you don’t yet know your niche, take our Ideal Client Quiz to gain some insight.
2) Failing to set a considered financial plan
As a therapist, your heart is focused on supporting clients to experience relief and recovery. However, without a solid, considered financial plan it’s hard to create a flourishing practice. One that will provide you with stability, freedom, impact, and financial abundance.
Knowing your numbers — including setting an appropriate price structure — is crucial. Ensuring that your financial books and plan are healthy requires effort and deliberate process. It’s not an area you should wing. This ongoing step will form the foundation of your success.
In our article, How To Make Your Practice Financially Secure, we share insights into the fiscal side of running a business, including setting a financial plan. If you have any uncertainty in this area, I recommend the read.
Wait! You Don’t Have A Therapist Website Yet?
Brighter Vision is the ultimate marketing package for therapists, centered around the best therapist website you’ve ever had. Contact us today to get started.
3) Not prioritizing marketing
I cannot stress this enough; marketing must be a priority.
Years ago, word of mouth might have been enough. However, as I mentioned above, the internet has changed the game.
The internet:
- Has given people access to an increased number of therapists
- Provides a platform to conduct online consultations
- Allows you and your competitors (near and far) to woo potential clients
- Lets therapists use paid marketing to target potential clients with precision
- Enables people to search for exactly what they want and need, and take action accordingly
- Empowers people to leave and read reviews
- Permits therapists to create and distribute a narrative (“I am the expert at X”) that attracts and converts clients
The choice, ease, interaction, and promotion mean that without a solid marketing plan people can — and will — pass you by.
Remember: when you don’t market, others do. They’ll position themselves as the expert. Even if you are a more qualified and experienced therapist, your competition will win if they’ve created a higher perceived value. If they sound — on (digital) paper — like the better therapist.
If you don’t prioritize marketing, you’re behind before you even begin.
Tip: While this may sound overwhelming, at BrighterVision we can help you create a website and marketing that works for your ideal clients and your practice, too.
4) Taking on clients without the necessary training
Do you take on clients without the necessary training; without being an expert in that specific field?
Think back to two points we’ve already discussed: niching and marketing. If you aren’t an expert, you won’t achieve the best possible results for your clients. This has flow-on effects…
— You’ll be forever chasing current clients and dealing with no shows because adherence to the recommended therapy will drop off
— It’ll be difficult to raise your pricing because you won’t achieve stand-out results
— You’ll be more likely to receive poor online reviews, which will harm your reputation. Depending on your demographic and their decision-making behaviors, this can be devastating
— You’ll increase your personal and financial levels of stress
So, step back. Decide on your ideal client. Serve them first. Then, seek the necessary training to expand your repertoire should you so desire.
5) Not using an all-in-one practice management tool
Okay, let’s talk tech!
If you’re not already taking advantage of an all-in-one practice management tool, start. Yes, right now! The difference between juggling multiple tools and using one specifically designed practice administration system is like chalk and cheese. Horse and car. Traveling by ship or by plane.
There is a great deal of work to be done to open and maintain a practice. Policies and procedures, training and compliance, task organization, billing and payments, reports, appointment management and reminders, online forms, document management, client records and notes.
But there are all-in-one practice management tools that harness the power of technology to simplify and automate these processes. Once set up, this frees your precious time and mental energy while projecting uppermost professionalism. This also enables you to spend more time on the tasks that grow your practice.
I recommend using an all-in-one practice management tool from the get-go. The sooner, the better!
Not finding what you’re looking for? Let us know!
Use the form below to tell us what you’d like to learn more about in our next e-course.
6) Mindlessly stuffing your calendar
Stuffing your calendar has some overlap with taking on clients without the necessary training and not niching. But it’s important enough to mention as a stand-alone point.
The temptation to fill your calendar may be high. After all, bookings feel better than empty consults. But, this can come at a cost.
To create a thriving practice you need your clients to achieve success. You also need to ensure you remain energized, focused, and on task. But stuffing your calendar likely means you’re not considering the therapist-client fit.
By taking on anyone and everyone, you’ll be more likely to fail your clients. This will lead to stress, poor reviews, and a lack of referrals. Working hard instead of smart will zap your energy and potentially push you towards burnout. It’ll also cut space that could be filled by your ideal client. The real reason you’re in practice.
So, breathe… Consider the people and conditions you wish to treat. If you’re in a financial position to solely focus on your tribe, do that. If not, leave space for your ideal clients. Then promote a marketing plan designed to attract them.
Mindlessly stuffing your calendar may push you off course and amplify your stress. Instead, plan for what you want and take action in that direction.
7) Not establishing boundaries
Sometimes an exhausted customer reaches out looking for a new website and marketing strategy. They’re working long hours and have little time off. Completing our forms is quite a fast process. But prioritizing the time can be tricky for a therapist without boundaries. In these cases, something strikes me…
Our customers dedicate their lives to the betterment of others. They are therapists who make a positive difference. But, they don’t extend the same love and care to themselves as they do to others.
Their boundaries are non-existent or murky. This lack of an outer limit leads to exhaustion. Once started, it can be a difficult path to step off. Yet, absent boundaries amount to more than a personal loss. To succeed in practice you need time and energy to work on your business, not in your business.
Poor boundaries, then, are bad for your health and bad for your business. That’s why establishing firm limits and expectations is crucial from the very beginning.
You and your clients need your practice to succeed and flourish. Yet, any one of these 7 errors can bring everything crashing down. Instead, proactively avoid these mistakes. Start your practice as you mean to continue with a smart, considered, and focused path.
Want the beautiful therapist website you deserve? Then you’re in the perfect place.
Brighter Vision is the ultimate marketing package for therapists, centered around the best therapist website you’ve ever had. Fill out the form below to learn more about our team of professionals who can’t wait to help your practice grow like never before 🙂