In 2014, I established my own private therapy practice. By 2018, I had two office locations and 14 clinicians working within my practice. Today in 2022, I now have two brick/mortar group practice office locations with 21 clinicians, I am licensed in 5 states, and I established a non-profit community mental health center.
Often colleagues ask me how I built a successful multi-million dollar practice. There are several guiding principles that helped me develop a successful private practice plan.
I previously covered these in a 5-day action plan published on my blog in April 2021. Here is a quick summary of those steps.
Day 1: The Need For Perspective
Why do you want to start your practice in the first place? What is/was your original vision?
Where do you want to be in 1 year? In 5 years? 10 years?
Will you get there if you keep doing things the way you are now?
If you could snap your fingers and change some aspect of your practice instantly, what would it be?
Day 2: Defining Your Mission
What do you want to achieve? Include community and beyond if applicable.
Put your mission statement into one or two concise sentences.
Is your mission big enough, but realistic enough to be achievable?
Will your mission take you to where you want to be in a year? What about five years? Ten years?
Day 3: Defining Your Brand (Niche)
What exactly makes you different from other clinicians in your community?
Why would someone choose you over another clinician?
Sum up your brand in a single sentence. What is your niche?
Does your brand fit with your mission? Your mission statement is really for guiding your internal practice and branding focuses on what clients want or need.
Day 4: Defining Your Culture
What is the current culture of your practice?
Peaceful/ relaxed Joyful/hopeful
Energetic/energizing
Warm/friendly
Direct/directive
Dynamic/driven
What are the current culture’s strengths? What are its weaknesses?
Is your current culture supporting your highest values or making it more difficult to achieve them?
What are some manageable steps you can take to create a healthy practice culture that propels you toward your mission and helps you to stay true to your brand?
Who can help you to implement these steps?
Day 5: Bringing it all together…
Determine how your mission statement and a brand statement will be communicated to clients?
How can these be strategically reviewed on a regular basis?
Ensure that the mission statement is added to social media and to your website.
Schedule a bi-yearly review of your mission, successes, and lessons learned. This can help you adjust your mission/niche, brand, and culture.