Don’t Let This Happen To You

Share this content
Don't let this happen to you


In the last article, your action was to block off time for something outside of your business. I hope you’re already finding some interesting things to do. Did I tell you I joined a curling team? You know, that Olympic sport where they sweep ice? Yeah, that’s what I’m doing!

As I was transitioning Mental Wellness Counseling from a mostly solo practice, to a group practice, I screwed up a couple things. We might call these “Don’t Let This Happen To You” moments.

Wearing Every Hat

When I was in the under $100k range, I thought I should wear every hat to save money. I was the website guy, the accountant, the intake phone screener, scheduler…you get the picture. I want to walk through each of these roles, and how I failed at them, and what happened when I changed something:

Website

I was installing every plug-in, looking at SEO, and managing every hack attempt. But, in 2014, I added an on-call website person for $50/month and upgraded my websites. My traffic went up from around 50 people per month, on my counseling website, to around 700 within a couple of months, that’s a 1,400% increase!

Accounting

Until 2015, I was using Turbotax and had no idea what the difference between a PLLC and S-Corp was. My receipts were kept in a box all year, until tax time, when I itemized them. When I hired an accountant, we got Quickbooks set up for $9/month and he filed my business as an S-Corp, saving me around $10k per year. I lost tons of money, and time, by not hiring him earlier.

Intake Coordinator

I was working at my full time job and rarely remembered to call back new clients. I lost probably five to ten clients per week. But, when I hired someone just to check my voicemail daily, I started getting two to three new intakes per week, which more than paid for her time.

Changing My Mindset

There was a basic mindset shift that started to happen. I couldn’t do things the way I had done them in the past.

I had to change and commit to that change.

Before you can change, you have to know your numbers:

  • Where are you saving and making money right now?
  • Where are you spending your time this week?
  • What systems, tools, and consulting are you investing in to help you get a stronger return-on-investment on your money/time/energy?

ACTION: Work through those questions and listen to this podcast about how to create a next level practice.

Next, we’re going to dive deeper into the low-hanging fruit in your practice and the one major mindset you will need to be a Next Level Practice Owner.

 

Joseph R. Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC

joe-sanok-private-practice-consultant-headshot-smaller-versionJoe Sanok is an ambitious results expert. He is a private practice business consultant and counselor that helps small businesses and counselors in private practice to increase revenue and have more fun! He helps owners with website design, vision, growth, and using their time to create income through being a private practice consultant. Joe was frustrated with his lack of business and marketing skills when he left graduate school. He loved helping people through counseling, but felt that often people couldn’t find him. Over the past few years he has grown his skills, income, and ability to lead others, while still maintaining an active private practice in Traverse City, MI. To link to Joe’s Google+ .