Most psychotherapy practice owners started out as clinicians. Over time, these business owners realize that having a practice, whether it is a solo private practice, co-op practice or group psychotherapy practice, requires much more than clinical skill. The tasks and challenges of running a business require practice owners to be businesspeople too.
Most psychotherapy practice owners are not prepared for the financial, marketing, HR, IT needs, to name a few, that come with hanging their shingle up. In fact, many professionals come into their chosen profession believing that being a skilled and ethical practitioner will be enough. They believe they will “work in” their business and succeed. Unfortunately, most soon realize that there is far more to owning a practice than delivering services. There is “working on” the business.
The Operations Focus
To simplify the distinction, think of it this way – if you imagine being in the restaurant business, seating customers and taking their orders, cooking the food, serving the meals, busing the table and collecting payment for the check are all part of “working in” the business. Working in the business is often referred to as operations. It’s the day in and day out transactions with customers that most people think of when they imagine working in a restaurant. “Working in” your business is selling products or providing services.
To carry the restaurant analogy forward, analyzing sales to determine best sellers vs. most profitable menu items, planning an upcoming holiday promotion, reviewing sales and expenses; identifying and evaluating new suppliers, analyzing waste in the kitchen and deciding how many wait staff and bussers you will need for the busy season are examples of “working on” the business. “Working on” the business is about planning, analysis and strategy – guiding the business into the future.
For many, if not most people in the helping professions (therapists, educators, coaches, consultants and trainers), “working in” the business is what they think they do for a living. Meaning they meet with clients, take progress notes, supervise other therapists, teach courses, lead trainings and reluctantly, they engage in the ancillary tasks needed to continue to serve their clientele effectively (i.e. join insurance panels, maintain their license, fill out credentialing forms as required, take CEU bearing courses, send and pay bills, submit claims, etc…).
Fear of Working On Your Business
As helping professionals we identify strongly with “working in” the business (providing services) but not so much with “working on“ the business (analyzing and guiding the practice based on data). That’s probably because, like most professionals (doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc..), we, helping professionals, are not trained or educated to “work on” our business. For some, even thinking of your therapy practice as a business seems wrong. We may be afraid of losing track of our values and why we do what we do.
“Working on” the business can feel like an endless chore that never produces the results we hope for. In the past, we may have tried to create strategies or goals but found them to be irrelevant or failed to use them. We may be carrying a disproportionate weight of the practice expenses – so, we are reluctant to reduce our clinical hours to allow time for practice management. We may feel afraid to set goals for ourselves or our staff because we fear we will not be able to achieve them and feel defeated before we start. We may not see the relevance of tracking information or we tell ourselves we aren’t effective at marketing, finance, planning, etc. So, we avoid these activities or minimize their importance — or worse yet, we out source them to someone we believe or hope can magically manage things for us without our active participation.
Only You Can Work On Your Business
So, what does it mean to work on your business?
Alignment
“Working on” the business is about making sure your actions (what you spend your time doing, who you hire, what your marketing materials say, even the forms your clients complete) are aligned with and reflect your values and vision as a business owner.
Communication (within and without)
“Working on” the business means defining and deciding how to communicate what your business’s essential purpose, cause or passion is to those who work inside your business (so everyone is rowing in the same direction). It also means communicating your purpose and passion to those who are outside your business — this helps the market know who you are and if you are the right option for them and their need.
Track Goals & Progress
“Working on” the business is about stating clearly your vision and goals – both long and short term – and creating an actionable path to achieve them and tracking our progress towards those goals in a way that is personally & professionally meaningful.
Meaningful Assessment
“Working on” the business also means identifying, discussing and solving the problems that keep your business from achieving the goals you set for it.
Critical Misstep
There are three fundamental functions in almost every business: Finance & Administration; Operations; and Marketing & Sales. Making the mistake of equating Operations with the totality of your business keeps you “working in” your practice and overlooking other essential parts of your business. When you do this, you are not “working on” your business. As a result, you may do fine but don’t really live into and achieve your dreams and aspirations for the practice. Or, you may continually struggle with particular issues. Whether its hiring, retention, attracting and retaining clients, or being profitable, you can’t seem to get past your sticky problems.
How to Get Started?
I learned about the distinction between “working on” your business versus “working in” your business from Gino Wickman, author of Traction: Getting a Grip on Your Business. If you own a psychotherapy practice, you might consider reading Wickman’s book. You can also reach out to me to work through the process of building your vision and gaining the traction and momentum to achieve your goals.
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