5 Counseling Practice Business Plans I Learned from Other Businesses

It seems easy enough; a used couch a new computer and some rented office space and ‘POOF' you have a counseling practice business plan! Or, after COVID, many of us have even leaner plans that include only a camera and computer in our home office. How do you market so that potential clients find you? How do you create a sustainable business that won't eat you alive while you're building it? Don't look to other practices for those answers. Instead, I challenge you to cross-pollinate with professionals in other industries.

Too often counselors in private practice isolate, settle, and work too hard. In other words, we see so many clients in a week that we don't make time to network with other professionals. Then we settle for whatever practice we end up with which usually leads to working too hard and burning out. Not exactly a recipe for a happy balanced life, is it? In 2009 I joined Business Networking International (BNI) and learned a TON from folks in other industries. Here are my top 5 lessons.

Counseling Practice Business Plans

5. Pest Control: Make a schedule that works for YOU then fit clients in. How did that transform my business plan? I started filling my Monday and Tuesday first. Doing this insured my bills were paid and I wasn't stressing on Friday because I'd had too many no shows. Now I only work Mondays and Tuesdays.

4. Hair Salon: Train your front office staff (even if that staff consists of only YOU) to sell your services. How did this transform my business plan? I thought about what my clients would GET rather than what I could deliver. I trained everyone in my practice (when I had a big practice) to talk to potential clients in a way that helped them understand what they would receive from counseling.

3. Sound engineering: Do it right the first time. Fixing it later will take time and money. They were right.

2. Contracting: Track your marketing efforts and know where clients are finding you. How did this transform my business plan? I stopped buying ads on the backs of T-shirts and in school directories. I learned to ask potential clients, ‘How did you hear about me?' and only put marketing money into those channels.

My Number 1 Lesson Starting a Private Practice

1. Accounting: The data don't lie. I spent three months tracking my time in and out of the office, unanswered phone calls, returned phone calls with potential clients, completed first appointments, and income. How did this transform my business plan? This data gave me metrics called key performance indicators or KPI. I changed everything from how I answered the phone to how much time I spent on social media. The result? I was able to focus my work in and out of the office, save for retirement, and start new projects that added value to my community and income to my practice.

Isolating, settling, and working too hard doesn't have to be your counseling life. Cross-pollinate with business owners outside of your industry! Counseling practice business plans from other businesses can help you focus your efforts into areas that will help your income and balance your life.

Blog post by Kate Walker Ph.D., LPC/LMFT Supervisor

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