When do You Know You’re Ready to Add a Clinician to Your Practice?

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When to add a clinician to your practice

Q&A was part of Next Level Practice, the most supportive community for therapists starting a private practice. In this video, Joe answers the question based on when you know whether you’re ready to add a clinician to your practice.

Question

When do you know whether you’re ready to add a clinician to your practice?

Answer

I would say sooner than you expect. When I first started my practice, it was just a side gig to pay off student loan debt. I had my full-time job as a foster care supervisor, eventually went full-time into community college. We kept getting referrals, but I only wanted to see one to two nights of people. So, I ended up bringing someone on.

I learned, by having four people work for me, while I still had my full-time job, the power of their network. Each person is going to bring their own bubble of influence into your practice. They’re going to be connected to a different social group, for example: the Yacht Club, or Country Club. Or they’re going to be connected to some different school that you’re not connected to. That influence is going to help them launch and grow your practice.

I remember when I brought on Sarah, she was just going to work on Saturday mornings. She worked a full-time CMH job, she just wanted to make a little extra money on Saturdays. And now, she just left her full-time job to work at Mental Wellness Counseling. But, she did that for a while; where she just worked on Saturday mornings. Before she had her first client, however, she got business cards printed that said “Coming April 2016, Saturdays” and handed them out to everybody she knew. And, on her first Saturday morning, she was completely full.

So, I would actually say that, if you have the basics of a practice going, now is a great time to start a group practice, and to start adding people. Find someone that doesn’t do the same specialty as you, but mirrors it. For example, say you work with kids, maybe it’s someone that works with couples. Or, say you work with couples, maybe it’s someone that works with kids that are from families that are getting divorced. Find something that compliments what you do, but doesn’t compete with it. You can also look at who is referring to you and then who you’re referring back out to because you don’t want to do that kind of work, and hire someone around that.

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+ .