How long does it take to build your private practice?

Hi and welcome back and if it's your first time here, I'm really pleased you found us. I hope you're having a good day so far. yeah, so here's what I'm going to do today. The question that I'm going to attempt to answer this week is how long does it take to build up a private practice? And this isn't an easy question to answer.

You know, I started to put together something about this, you know, good, good while ago, probably a few months ago, but I actually stopped because. It was just, it just wasn't easy, but, I had a, I had somebody contact me on my Instagram. Somebody called Neil, Neil Gore. Hi Neil. Hope you're listening. and he asked me, a question.

So he said to me, as a newly qualified counsellor, I've been taking all the advice about how to start marketing your practice. But I think the thing that would really be helpful, Would be some advice and encouragement on how long it can take to build up your practice and in brackets or find a job, and not become disheartened and frustrated by the process.

I'm not sure if you've covered this already, as you've, as you have so much content and I do have a lot of content. I think this is, is this episode 158? I can't really remember at the moment, but yeah, quite a lot. So Neil, thank you. Great question. And if you're listening to this, if anybody's listening to this and has a question for me, please just drop me a line, you know, I'd love to answer questions.

It's great. Like I say, I've been doing this for a long time now. So having a new idea of what to talk about is fantastic. So the reason that I gave up, Writing this podcast originally was because there was no definitive answer. There was no answer that I could really give to this question. You know, so many, there was so many, it depends answers and so many, well, if you do this, then that'll happen answers that it just became really confusing and disheartening, and I just thought, well, people listening to this might.

Just become confused and disheartened. And I thought, well, I don't really want that. So I kind of stopped and I thought I'll think about it and come back to it. Well, I never did come back to it, but here I am now. And like I say, the truth is that is no simple question here. It's really, really difficult. So let's take another look at this together and see if we can make more sense of this.

Now, just before I jump into it, I want to ask you, did you listen to episode 156? Episode 156 was called, How to Stop Comparing Yourself with Other Therapists. And in it, I talk about comparisonitis and we, we look at We look at how important it is to focus on you, because in that podcast, I talk about you and the unique journey that got you to this point in your life and this point in your career.

Now, the point of that episode was to highlight how comparing yourself to others is just never going to be a fair comparison. You know, you know, nothing about them and you know, nothing about their circumstances, and that ties in nicely to this episode. And as such, I do recommend that you. Go and take a listen.

Don't worry. I'll wait off your pop. but it's a really good one to maybe have a listen to because it, like I say, it does really tie into what I'm going to be talking about here. And this is why it's impossible to put a timeframe on how long it's going to take for you to attract the number of clients that you want.

you know, let's break it down. You know, firstly, the first question is. What is it that you actually want from your practice? You know, some people are happy with five clients a week. Some people want 20. Some people want to start like a CIC company or a, you know, a charitable company or other people want to diversify in some way.

you know, there's so many different people with so many different things that they want, that they want out of their practice that it's, you know, it's never going to be a one size fits all. And I think the points to consider are these. So the first point really to consider about how long it's likely to take is, do you have any previous experience of running a practice of running a business?

You know, if you've no experience of running a business, if you've no experience of running a practice, if you've no experience of doing it at all. Then that's going to be, there's going to be a learning curve there, isn't there? And that's going to be something that you have to deal with. You know, it takes some time, but not just that there's mindset stuff going on.

There's having to break through fears and all of that sort of stuff. So it can take time. Even if you do have experience of running a different business, you have to learn how to run a private practice and you know, it's, it's different, it's a different type of business. So the next question really is, do you have any marketing skills?

So running a business and having marketing skills are very slightly different. Okay. But both of these questions matter because in order for you to grow your practice and attract more clients that you want, you're going to need to learn new skills, which maybe you haven't even considered before, you know, those skills will need some time and energy.

To enable you to learn them and to practice doing them, you know, so that you can, you know, you can use your marketing skills with the consistency because you really, really need some consistency. Another thing to consider is time, you know, everybody is in a different situation. So how much time can you devote to marketing your practice?

You know, because often when people become qualified, what generally what happens is people might join an online direct. Which is a great thing to do. I'm not saying it's not a bad thing to, I'm, I'm, I'm not saying it's a bad thing to do. It can be a great thing to do, but it's extremely passive. You know, it's very passive.

You pay some money, you put an advert on there, and you basically just hope for the best. Now, if you've been listening to my podcast recently, I have been giving some information about how you can sort of stand out from the crowd. When it comes to your, directory entry, but yeah, very often people think, right, I need to put a directory entry out there, you know, join a directory, pay some money and I will get found there.

Well, like I say, there are thousands of therapists on there now, so you do need to learn how to stand out, because there's so much more to attracting clients and getting listed on a directory. And do you know what? There are some people who say, Oh, I've only ever just used a directory and that's all I've needed.

And I would say, look. For every person that says that there's probably a hundred other ones that are saying, it's just not bringing me the clients that I need. You know, it's rare to be able to just rely on an, on a directory. Sometimes it's down to look of the draw where you, where you are, geographically, that sort of thing.

Now, there are so many ways that you can market yourself and all of the different things, all of the different ways to market yourself, they will all work, you know? So the, the thing is. It's all about experimenting to find out what's right for you because you are looking, you're gonna be doing your marketing for a long time, so you are looking to find the things that you enjoy, that you, that fit in with the type of person that you are.

For example, if you are an extrovert, you might enjoy doing marketing methods that involve being with other people, like networking or doing offline marketing, whereas an introvert may find something like blogging more to their liking. you know, it's not just about, you need to do these, these things.

It's like, which ones are the right ones for you? Because the more you enjoy it, the more you're going to do it and more you do it, the better you're going to get. And it's just a real virtuous circle, isn't it? Yes, I mean, basically that's what the Grow Your Private Practice membership's all about. You know, I, I try to show you how to get the basics in place.

If you get the basics in place, then you can start experimenting with the different marketing methods to find out what's going to be the right thing for you. What's the right system for you? What's going to make you feel happy? What's going to work for the people that you want to work with? you know, if you need some help, come and join us in the Grow Your Private Practice membership, you know, there's, there's loads of help in there and you can find a link for that somewhere, you know, in the show notes, you'd be very, very welcome.

And if you are struggling, you know, don't struggle anymore. Come and join us. It's 45 a month. which, you know, that's less than the cost of one session. So if you get one new client from it and they stay for six sessions, you know, it's really gonna, it's gonna have paid for itself many, many times over.

So if your practice, isn't your mainstream of income, or if you're a single parent, like I was, I was a single parent when I became a counselor, or if you just feel overwhelmed, or if you have fears around visibility, then look, you know, it stands to reason it's going to take more time because it's going to be, it's going to feel more difficult, but just how much time, just how much extra time it's going to take? Well, I just don't know. A lot of that is down to you. Because some people will say, right, I'm, I'm, I'm scared of visibility. And then they'll go out there and they'll find out how to lose that fear. and whereas somebody else might be too frightened to take that step.

So it's down to you and how proactive you're going to be. Does that make sense? Another thing is how much money that you have to invest, you know, how much money can you actually afford to invest in your practice? And when I say invest, we're talking about there being a return on investment, you know, ROI.

So if you join my membership, there's a return on that investment, because if you, you know, start attracting clients, you're going to make lots more money than it's actually costing to be in the membership. So it's about looking at investment. you know, if we can change that mindset from, oh, my God, this is costing me money and we can, you know, change that down to, I'm going to invest. in my practice, then it's, it just is different, isn't it? It's more positive because when you invest in your practice, you can expect to get a return on that.

But a note about websites, you know, I think one of the things that you might want to do, if you can afford it, you might want to invest in a nice website. But I just want to make a note about this because I don't really recommend just entrusting your website to You know, just an ordinary website expert because they might be an absolute expert when it comes to the techie side of websites.

I'm definitely not saying that they're not, but I want you to be aware of the fact that you are the expert when it comes to what it should or shouldn't say. And if you're not sure, like I say, I do have some training called your website blueprint that goes through all of that. I have seen many, many times when somebody's thought, right, I don't want to make my own website.

I'm not going to do that. It's going to be too much of a headache. I don't want to spend my time on that. I'm going to pay for somebody to do it. And they kind of. Give the reins over to that person, but it's not the fault of the web designer. They don't know about counseling. They don't know that it's the way we market our practices is very, very different to the way people might market a shop or, you know, any other service.

It's different to if you are going to market yourself as a. As a coach, for example, and they don't know those finer sort of points of that. So it is important for you to have a good idea about what it is that you want it to say, what it is that you want it to look like, and you're in, in control. So it's not a good idea to just say, right, do me a website because you'll probably find it's not going to, it's not going to just didn't have.

Money to invest, you know, it's not that long since I'd separated from my husband. In fact, I started training to be a counselor in the November, the October, November, and I separated from my husband. I'm trying to remember. No, no. I started training in September and I split with my husband in the November.

you know, it was all, everything was up in the air then. So I didn't have a lot of money to invest. I moved house. There was a lot going on in my life, you know, but what I did, I bootstrapped the whole thing. I did so much of it myself. I learned about websites. I learned about marketing. I just threw myself in because I knew if I was going to do it.

I wasn't going to be able to invest a lot of money into it and I wanted to do it as well as I could do. And that's sort of kind of what led me here, you know, to the fact that I now help other therapists to grow their practice. But, if you don't have much money, you know, it's likely to take you a little bit longer. So you kind of have to take that into account. And. If you're low on both money and time, again, it's about being realistic. It's going to take you longer to be able to get out there and get known. Now, I'm not saying this to make you feel downhearted.

What I'm saying this for is to say, you can still do it. You can totally still do it. You can still make yourself a practice that you'll be very proud of and bring you a good income, but you just have to have a realistic. sort of expectation on it, because it is likely to be just, you know, just take a little bit longer.

yeah, take a bit longer for you to get known. That said, many things come into play, like I talked about in the comparison episode, if you have listened to that, things like your personal circumstances, the social circles that you frequent, where you are geographically, these all make a difference.

So again, that annoying answer of, well, it's going to depend. On what you've got going on in your own life. So that answer really, I know it's annoying, but that answer is the answer. It really depends on your personal circumstances and what's going on in your life, because the truth is it's impossible to say how long it's going to take.

And once you've grown your practice, you don't get to a point where you say, right. That's it. I can stop now, you know, you have to be marketing consistently to maintain the numbers and avoid that really horrible feast and famine aspect. You know, that bit where, you know, you get really busy and you think, Oh my God, I mean, well, this is what happened to me.

I went through a phase where I got really busy and I started thinking, right, okay, I'm, I'm. To be honest, I started getting a bit cocky. I thought, yeah, I've worked this out now. And then I had like, it was either, I can't remember exactly, but it was either four or five clients stop in the space of a week.

And it was like, yeah, well that showed me, didn't it? That showed me. so you need to be regularly and consistently marketing so that you get a regular and consistent amount of new people contacting you. Okay. So you're going to have a constant stream of clients. So what makes the biggest difference when it comes to growing your practice?

Well, if you know me, you might know the answer to this, but in my opinion, the biggest factor when it comes to growing your practice is, and I say this is my opinion, but it's also the opinion of a lot of people. It's mindset, you know, it's how you feel about getting out there and doing your. Doing your marketing, are you scared of visibility?

Are you frightened of making mistakes? Do you get caught up in perfectionism or procrastination? Are you self sabotaging? It's those sorts of things because I often see this in my membership. You know, the members. Those members that throw themselves into the training and they throw themselves into the community and they ask questions and they have that curiosity to try new things.

Well, you know, it's, it's that, it's that curiosity, it's that drive and that determination that makes those people go on to be successful. So this doesn't mean it's always quick or it's always easy, but the interest that they have, the desire that they have to be successful, that can make things happen for you.

You know, taking an active role in the growth of your practice rather than a passive role of just, you know, maybe putting an advert out there somewhere and then sitting back and waiting for people to phone. It's going to make a massive, massive difference. And it's not just going to make a massive difference in how successful it is. It's going to also make a massive difference in how you feel about it, your enjoyment in it, the fact that you can see this as a, as a positive challenge, a thing that you, as something you're learning and something that you are in control of.

I mean, it's, it's fantastic, really. Now I talk a lot about this saying, you know, this saying, and you've probably, if you know me, you probably know this cause I talk about it probably in every episode and the saying is inspiration without action is merely entertainment. And this is so true, you know. So the question is, are you willing to find or make the time in order to do the work, you know, ask yourself, do you listen to these podcasts and then just think, Oh, that was interesting.

Or do you go and grab a piece of paper and a pen and start making notes about what you want to do and start actually. You know, putting these things into practice, because if you don't, all that happens is this information becomes cluttered in your head, and it feels like over time, it'll just get more and more difficult because it just feels like more and more overwhelming.

you know, the question as well is, are you devoting, you know, sufficient time regularly? To actually take the action necessary. You know, are you, do you have time in your week where you actually focus on your marketing? Is it important enough to make it so that, you know, you, you put a space in your diary, you don't let people.

You know, you don't change that for anything. Like you would, if you had a client, if you had a client and your friends said, Oh, do you fancy coming out for lunch? You'd say, I can't, I'm working. It's the same thing when it comes to marketing, it's that important. You know, it's, it has to be a real priority.

So for me, how long it takes to be successful definitely isn't an easy question to answer because it depends on so many things, you know, it's going to depend on how much time you have to devote to it, how much money you have to invest in it, your mindset, do you have a curiosity about learning new skills and what previous experience do you have of running a business or of marketing?

Because the fact is there are just no guarantees. And whilst I'm on the subject, please avoid anybody out there who's trying to tell you that there are, you know, anybody that says they've got a fantastic method where you follow their method and it will guarantee like, you know, 12 new clients or something like that.

You sometimes see people talking about, you know, five figure months and all of that. All of that sort of stuff. Please avoid anybody that you see out there doing that because as with anything in life, you will get out of it what you put in. So if you put in your, passion and your curiosity, then you will do the work and that work means that your practice will then become more successful and it's, it's going to work for you.

For me, what I lacked in time and money, I made up for in droves. With curiosity, I learned new skills and I enjoyed the creativity that I could use. And I enjoyed the challenge that it gave me. I enjoyed being able to get out there and try new things and see how, you know. The telephone would start ringing, you know, the two things are interlinked.

Who knew? But it's, once you start doing the work and you start getting the results, then you'll start to believe in it and you'll start to believe in you. So if you have doubts, you know, it's action. Action is the antidote to fear. Take action and then you'll see that it will be okay. Now I enjoyed the process and I still enjoy the process, but the better I got at it, the more clients that I got and the more money that I made and something that's worth remembering if you get three new clients and they all pay 50 pounds a session, and obviously you could be charging more for that, but if you have three new clients paying 50 pounds a session, that's going to bring you in 600 pounds a month.

So it's got to be worth making that effort. Hasn't it? 600 pounds a month, and that's going to be, you know, for as long as they stay as your, as your clients. So yeah, it's really got to be worth making that effort. So look, Neil, I'm sorry. I don't know if this is an answer to your question, because like I say, I just don't know if it's possible. To put an answer out there because there are so many, it depends around it, but I hope that it might've helped you and inspired you to, to throw yourself into marketing and make it something that you enjoy and you find interesting and an interesting challenge and something you can do and be creative about it and make it work for you.

You know, make it work for you. You can make your practice work. You know, you can make your practice into whatever it needs to be for you in all sorts of different ways. So I hope it helps in some way. And thank you very much for the question. Now, if you're listening to this and you think, actually, I do have a question, Jane.

What I'd like you to do is hop on over to where I am in my social. So if you're on Instagram, go and have a look at, at grow your private practice. And if you're on LinkedIn, go and have a look for Jane Travis and it's Jane without a Y and just drop me a message there and I will do my best to answer your question.

I do have a couple of questions that I've still got, I've got, I need to answer, but please, it would be lovely to hear from you. yeah.

So thanks for listening to the grow your private practice show. I hope you have, like I say, I hope you've enjoyed it. And I'd love to connect with you on social media. So like I say, you can either follow me on Instagram. It's at grow your private practice or go and find me on LinkedIn. So on there, I'm Jane Travis and it's Jane without a Y.

So come and follow me or follow the hashtag. Grow your private practice to stay updated on the latest episodes and other tips and tricks and thoughts and ideas and all of that good stuff, all to help you to attract clients more easily. so yeah, I'd love to hear from you and, continue to grow my community of therapists.

So head on over to my social media now and let's get connected. So that's it for this week. I hope that that's useful. I look forward to speaking to you again soon. You take care. Bye bye.