PoP 115 | How to start a part-time private practice

Share this content
how to start a part-time private practice

In this podcast session, I recorded a checklist of how to start a part-time private practice. I recorded it in the airport and it’s awesome!
Get the a PDF of the 10 Tips for Starting a Part-Time Private Practice

Join my webinar about how to start a part-time private practice.

Meet Joe Sanok

consultant headshot JoeJoe Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC is one of the world’s leading private practice consultants. He is the owner of the Traverse City counseling practice, Mental Wellness Counseling. Joe helps counselors to start private practices and grow them.    

 

 

Podcast Transcription

Pop 115 | How To Start A Part-Time Private Practice

[0:00] Music.

[0:27] In live at the detroit airport was scheduled to just be here for like an hour did a quick cup of coffee.
But my airplane had engine issues which of course running to check out and then when they finally landed we late.

[0:43] They over shot where we are supposed to get off of the airplane by like four feet and that took like twenty minutes for someone to come and pushes back just a couple of feet.
So now i have four and half hours here in the airport and luckily i brought my recording mike with me so.

[0:59] Live from the detroit airport without the flint water here and here i am.

[1:05] Just hanging out i went and took some fun time-lapse video that i posted on my facebook page.

[1:11] We’ll say do you say to get a really like diner style breakfast of hash browns and bacon and toast with jelly which i never have but.

[1:21] Was delicious emily coffee program another coffee on the airplane mode on me to hop.

[1:27] And i just came up with some ideas today of how to talk about starting a part-time private practice so that’s where gonna be diving into today.

[1:37] Gonna share a little bit about that separates eight am headed out la which by the time you hear this i’ll be back from that headed out to a conference with kelly.

[1:46] Kelly higdon from zen me and he didn’t have a business school boot camp coming up.
She tory check out my feeling for the is practiceofthepractice.com/bootcamp.

[1:57] And is this two-week intensive that’s just so good on helps you really just form your community.
Will you be able to adjust grow your practice get over all those money issues that we all come under grad school with.

[2:14] I’m thinking that’s practiceofthepractice.com/bootcamp head on over there they’re just so awesome and they got a ton of free training i think they attend training sitter.

[2:25] Three i’m one of those who think out the box so you today am not tech how to launch a part-time private practice wanna talk a little bit about how this works for me so in two thousand six.
I join a group practiced in kalamazoo michigan was an insurance panels did this really on the side where i had a full-time job with community mental health.

[2:48] And you know what helps but still own that company can see what private practice is like the thirty plus people in this group.
I get sixty five percent of what i brought in it was the greek experience dr larry beer to me and is willing am i interviewed him i think opposite fifty or so if you wanna just check that out.

[3:08] When i move back to traverse city i got a full-time job as a foster care supervisor but i knew that wasn’t gonna be my long-term position.
So i watched mental illness counting shaver city pretty much right away.

[3:22] Where it was pain percentage of water brought in from a friend had a really ugly website opera singer handful of private pay clients because i couldn’t get into insurance panels at that time i thought you know long-term asking one again to insurance but.

[3:36] Since then i have figured a few things out.

[3:38] But it was a hassle you know i mean over the lunch hour sometimes i come in early so that i can have a little bit longer lunch hour to do a forty-five minute session.
What’s good over to my office and school back to the other office and sometimes it work late and one day of my full-time job so i could leave a little bit early and another day.

[3:56] Some nights i would end up seeing clients till seven eight nine pm it was really busy and it was a ton of work.
In the one i got my job at the community college i really kept going because like the income i thought it was really fun to do and it just to become kind of a part of my flow.

[4:17] And so yeah there’s a lot of hustle that goes in when you’re launching a part-time private practice and.
One thing i’m attack what later on in the show is how you can take tremendous risk when you have your full-time job that’s gonna paying your bills already.
You know when ever seen people initially i would see him at any time of the week really like that i could fit in so you know it was monday tuesday wednesday thursday nights.
All over the place but when i wake up pregnant with our first kid she asked me if i want to take a water of its class is on tuesday and thursday nights.

[4:51] And i said yeah the that be awesome to do that together and it forced me.
To then every monday and wednesday of to my clients and then i thought me and this is to be tough cuz people that have always been thursdays of us were that will.

[5:07] Critical that’s what that’s sounds like your.

[5:10] You really force me to put my schedule first and so i would recommend that you really think about what do you want your schedule to be with your part-time this.

[5:21] So here’s a couple of tips i’m gonna give you ten tips today and how to start a part-time private practice to wait for a second till the announcements over here.
See you are so here’s my ten tips on how to start a part-time pet private practice obviously there’s way more than these ten tips.
And that is like an initial first month stuff so first find a place to rent in you want to be paying either percent of what you bring in or pay by the day.
So it’s typical the first offer to pay twenty percent of what you bring in or to pay a specific rate for half of day or full day if you know that you’re not gonna be using.
An office for a full day negotiate with someone to use it just after say four o’clock pm.
We’re just on saturdays the more that you can negotiate just the actual time that you need it for the better.
So really try to find a place that you can pay kinda as you go rather than rent a whole office just for yourself.

[6:17] Second you wanna file for your business so in most states that’s gonna be a llc or s corp.
I found it legal zoom is a really great place to work with other people work with their attorney or accountant my affiliate links illegals in this practice of the packs that come ford slash legal and all that the shots as well.
But i forget to super easy and we are filing my wife’s llc lease for michigan.

[6:42] Alright number three get your phone number going because you want people to be able to find you.
And so he’s grasshopper your packs of the factors that come for such grasshopper,
i’m doing grasshopper works is you get a virtual phone number it similar to google voice except it doesn’t have the brought to my google voice it’s a little more professional.

[7:02] And then you can choose to have it transcribed and sent to your email if you want to have a phone number how are people gonna contact you if you don’t have a phone number.

[7:11] Alright fourth start with private pay now i see this for a number of reasons when you look at how much time you spend.
Filing to get into insurance panels getting paid by insurance how limited you are in being able to raise your rates things like that.

[7:27] I think when your first starting a part-time practice having a part-time private practice is really well that’s for rca part-time paper first.
When you have a part-time private pay practice it really makes it that you can show up.
Get paid for your time and then go because you don’t wanna be spending all this extra time on your practice doing insurance report getting paid for.
Work it did take that time to fax things go back and forth and on this just a bunch of wasted time you might as well and have to be private pay the beginning of this can be a side gig for a while.
During that step also you want to set up your bank account and then link that to square and paypal.
On this because a lot of people using a just a cards flexible spending cards things like that it’s really important to be able to take,
those cards and squares gonna be able to help you with that sure there’s other options i use just use grab it real easy to work with.

[8:19] There is only pay pal is that you can create links.
If someone doesn’t pay so if they have an outstanding balance i ten not like to invoice people i want to be able to just get paid for the work that i do.
Rather than have to go back an invoice people but a friend the reason you did have to send it to get paid paypal’s pay the most universally except.

[8:41] Way to do that to join one squares a feature but it’s a little bit funk year then the paypal links.
And always have your intake cost more than your sessions because you wanna be able to cat test the market regards to price and so so you star at ninety dollars for session one twenty five for intakes.
If people are willing to pay one twenty-five maybe over time you can jump to one thirty-five for your intake of one twenty five for your sessions does a really good way to just kinda test prices.

[9:09] Cinema five a set up your paperwork so you wanna get all of your kind of hip your release of information your intake.
In the or state requires like professional disclosure statement makes you have all of that and liner for you get that first plane.

[9:24] Number sixty website going in so.
New website is a number of options out there you can do it yourself and pretty soon here i’m gonna have my website round table with aaron from brighter and for better vision in from legendary lion and pay for greater vision.
In the three of us are gonna be talking all about how to launch your website so that’s coming up soon.
But it’s really important have a website and you can do in a number of ways you can do to yourself through blue host and then just can build yourself you can do it for brighter vision you can do it through lesson airline tickets for square space.
Is present count all those options in regards to your cost and so make sure you get your website up really quickly make sure looks beautiful because so many.

[10:07] Can you answer that is i didn’t realize i was right underneath speaker mean and another speakers that i would be underneath the irony here.

[10:16] I’m giving time you also want to write fifteen blog posts topic of clients you want to attract.
This is really my gosh such trash it’s really important to do at least fifteen blog posts so there’s a healthy amount.
Of contents on your website it’s gonna make google notice you and you can i wanna have probably at least one blog post every other week my preference would be you have one or two a week.
This your part-time gig headphones how much you want to be you know ranking in google.

[10:49] In the new can wanna link to those blog posts within the other blog posts if you wanna signing se eighty one that’s under pressure and if you reference depression the anxiety article.
Link to that from that article and so use those words like depression or depression counseling or counseling depression clients.
Rather than just check out this article that can help you continue to retire google number seven i want you to go and tell your own doctor.
Your pastor your old teachers year old prince of all your friends all those people the year luncheon apart and practice a little this part-time but it’s something that you maybe wanna grow over time.
But you wanna make sure that they know that you’re not gonna be just doing that so that there’s a little bit of flexibility from their part.
And let them know that you’ll do that your best courtney give me your cell phone number make sure doctor has your cell phone number so if they have any questions they can call you and talk about referral.

[11:40] Although six of things right number eight p two nights a work week to work and fill those up.
Is it because it’s really tempting to take anyone anytime if they say are that wednesday you be amazed how flexible people are when you say only openings are on monday and wednesdays and every tuesday or thursday is open right now.
They can keep posted it makes you feel like you are a little bit more kind of exclusive that your full more full than you are.
And really make sure that you packed with sessions and a it’s a really focus on trying to do back to back sessions forty five min back to back.
When i was doing this i was doing four of them in a row back to back forty five minutes every forty five minutes.
No that me that much for you but you doing a forty five minute session another forty five min session when taking a ten a fifteen minute break.
Is way better than just on the hour you can squeeze more sessions in you also can scan of working your pacing and making sure that you’re giving the most amount of money and most of sessions in for this extra time the recording in.

[12:46] And as you as you fill up as you have more people you want to raise your rates you wanna make sure that you’re continuing to find ways to optimize extra times the shopping really excited about doing this counseling.

[12:59] Alright number nine have at least two breakfast lunch after hours beverages with other counselors per month.

[13:07] I have the other counselors know who you are know that you exist know who you’re working with a is really important and so i would say when you first launching a part-time private practice do these two lunches or breakfasts per month.

[13:19] Of in the number ten i’d say and other counselors when you start to feel too busy even if you don’t think you can give them a good flow of car,
counseling clients of just having them join your practice is gonna help you continue to grow its can expand your network.
It’s gonna really optimize your practice even more.
So that was find a place to rent file for your business get your phone number start with private pay and set up the bank accounts set up your paperwork.

[13:45] Get your website going tell your own doctor pastor friends go pick two nights a week to work and then fill those out first if you can do lunch hours do that but it was your full-time job.
I have two lunches and breakfast for month of the counselors and then it have other counselors join you.

[14:02] So let me just give you a couple of numbers in regards to a part-time private practice so if you charging ninety dollars per session or maybe you’re in takes one twenty five.

[14:10] Maybe you average this year your average client comes like six times that’s five hundred thirty five dollars per client that you cease everyone claim is giving you an extra five hundred and seventy five dollars.
And neither is saying this would be if you do three sessions a night for two nights a week so say every monday and wednesday you just three sessions.
If you work forty eight weeks a year that’s and extra twenty five thousand nine hundred and twenty dollars at that rate of ninety dollars for section the same county extra for intake.

[14:39] I mean if your non-profit street to grad school that’s a huge percentage of your income twenty five almost twenty six grand extra minutes huge to do that just for six hours a week.
So do your best to jump in here to do this part-time private practice was really awesome having a part-time private practice.

[14:58] When you’re a full-time job that’s paying your bills as you can take tremendous risk and raising your rates.
You can do more private pay if you really push the envelope in a lot of ways where if you were just fully relying on this would be really tough.
If that was all your income.
So go out there and kick butt and i’m over the show notes which is gonna be practice of the practice that come ford slash section one sixteen you can download these tips there no email and right to you.
So again the practice of the practice that come ford slash session one sixteen.

[15:48] You all rock your kicking butt love hearing how well you’re doing and thanks for letting me into yours and into your brain have a great week.

[15:58] Just a little correction there is can actually be so the practiceofthepractice.com/session115 not one sixteen was gonna have an interview with wilfred cran from st. louis.
But i have some audio issues were his audios hi my name is lilo and it just didn’t sound real great time and be working through that with my podcast address.
Had a tour and.

[16:23] Is that we cannot send the head over to section one fifteen if you want to download that to the great weekly all thanks for letting me into your brain.

[16:32] Music.

[16:53] Special thanks to the bands ounces sexy and pro letter like music in this podcast is designed to provide accurate thirty two information.
In regard to the subject matter covered his game with the understanding that house the publisher poorly guess surrendering legal account.
Brother professional information if you need professional you should come to the mostawesome conference.com.

[17:18] Music.