What type of therapy business do you want to run?

Hi, my name is Jenny Hartill, I’m a qualified therapist running my own private practice called Cloud9 Therapy and a room rental service in Essex called Chelmsford Therapy Rooms. I’ve always had a private practice and am writing this series to share with other therapists some of the key components of running a business, set up from scratch. I also hope to allay some of your fears and reservations, help you have a logical and confident approach to running your organisation, and ignite your passion for your company both as a therapist and as an Entrepreneur!

Currently I’m meeting many therapists who are “jumping ship” from the NHS and setting up in private practice so they can work in the way they wish to. Sometimes they make me think of pirates heading to an island but with no idea where the buried treasure is. Or in fact, a map to said treasure. None of this is their fault, if you’ve always worked on your pirate ship and nobody gave you a map or instruction for anything else, how would you know?

The other type of therapist I come across are newly qualifieds, bright eyed bushy tailed shiny new therapists just entering the world of private therapy. Yes, they are excited, but also petrified. Many report to me the feeling of being “hand held” through their training and now they’ve been shoved onto the M25 at rush hour into oncoming traffic.  

Those that wish to set up their own private therapy practice, I absolutely commend you no matter what your background is, but you need to bear in mind what type of therapy business you wish to run.

Ask yourself this: Is this a full time gig? Do you want to / need to earn a living from this? Setting up any business requires effort, dedication, and above all SELF BELIEF. I have no doubt all of you can write a cracking business plan, and we’ll go through how to do this in later articles, but the one thing you will absolutely need is to believe in yourself and your business. Your business is your baby, it needs guidance, nurture, and yes it will need money. So, will you try to set up as a full time therapy business? Will you work from home? Will you work for other organisations? How the heck do you decide any of this????

In my next article I’ll explain a little more about how many therapists make ends meet, from working all over to working for charities or other organisations.

Until next time folks….

Jen