How Can Business Coaching Help Therapists Grow Their Practice?
According to statistics, the U.S. business coaching market had a steady annual growth of 2.3% between 2018 to 2023, pushing its size to $15+ billion by 2023. Indeed, there are good reasons behind the positive growth. Business coaching is immensely beneficial as it helps you gain a better perspective for your practice, set attainable goals, improve your skills, hone your marketing skills, network, and more—elements that are indispensable growth-catalysts for therapists in private practice and other small business owners.
Rightly so, reports indicate that 99% of people and companies who seek business coaching are satisfied or very satisfied, while 96% admit they would take up coaching again. Of course, statistics don't lie, but maybe you're wondering–In which specific ways can business coaches help therapists grow their practice?
Well, that's the focus of this article. Let's get on with it.
But first things first, what is business coaching?
A therapist business coach can help you grow your private practice in 2023.
Meaning of Business Coaching
Business coaching for therapists is a process through which a consultant (coach) guides a private practice therapist to maximize their potential as a business owner-clinician, and help them achieve their goals. If you want to advance your profession and practice, then a counselor coach can play an instrumental role in your success. Generally, a therapist business coach can help you improve your mindset by providing different perspectives, offering guidance, giving you advice to hone your business and leadership skills, and ultimately, help you grow your business.
How Business Coaching for Therapists Can Help with Private Practice
So, how exactly does coaching help therapists grow their practice? There are a dozen benefits of engaging a coach to help build your practice. Here are some of the ways their services are beneficial.
1. Learn Marketing for Therapists
The benefits of marketing for therapists cannot be emphasized enough. From increasing brand awareness to and building brand authority, to attracting ideal clients and nurturing your relationship with your community, marketing plays a crucial role in growing your practice.
However, you don't have to take a marketing for therapists course, or even hire a “marketing guru” if you don't have a budget for it yet. Instead, a therapist business coach can help you come up with good marketing ideas and draft a strategy on how to implement them.
For instance, the coach can guide you on listing your business on therapist directories to help clients find you. They can also show you how to research and understand your market, identify your niche to target the ideal client, and get down to the actual implementation of your marketing plan (search engine optimization, email marketing, content marketing, paid search advertising, social media marketing, etc.)
As a therapist coach with an extensive background in content creation and marketing, helping my coaching clients create and implement their ideal marketing strategies is one of my favorite parts of my job. If you’re a therapist looking for marketing support via 1:1 coaching, I’d love to hop on a consultation call to see how I might be able to help.
2. Networking
A coach for therapists can help you learn how to network in private practice.
Creating a robust professional network is crucial to the growth of your practice. Connecting with like-minded therapists and health practitioners opens your business up for opportunities through referrals. A business coach for therapists can help you expand your network by connecting you with industry leaders and other professionals who can help you grow your practice. They can also provide feedback on your networking strategies, and help you develop a plan to regularly connect with important colleagues in your professional community.
This can be an incredibly helpful aspect of marketing a private practice as well, because the more connected you get with others in your community, the more you raise your brand awareness, which can increase the flow of ideal-fit clients for your practice.
3. Professional Development
As a therapist, keeping your clinical skills sharp enables you to continue providing compassionate, high-quality therapeutic services to your clients. We all know that getting CEUs is a great way of keeping our clinical skills sharp—but when it comes to running a business, there are a lot of business and professional skills that we can’t learn in yet another seminar about CBT or EMDR.
While there are many ways of honing your business skills, business coaching is a highly personalized and cost-effective way of sharpening your skills as a business owner. Once you map out the areas you need help with (communication, leadership, policy development, money management, or any other area of professional growth), your counselor coach can guide you on how to improve these different facets of your business, while also providing support and accountability to ensure you achieve your goals.
In addition, the coach can highlight ares of growth or weakness and help you improve on them.
4. Finances & Fee Management
Use a private practice calculator with a business coach to improve your business financials.
A business coach can also help you with your finances, like identifying money leaks and sealing them. In addition, they can guide you in assessing your profitability and making changes as necessary. Understanding your profitability is essential as it allows you to plan for taxes to avoid surprises.
But besides guiding you through proper financial management, a business coach should help you create a financial plan for your practice and keep you accountable to ensure you remain committed to the goals. One way you can get started on this is by identifying your private practice budget and figuring out how to charge appropriately for your services by using a private practice income calculator. Your coach should be able to review your budget with you and help you figure out how to implement your self-pay fee into your business structure.
5. Private Practice Policies
Policies are an essential part of any private practice—and for organizations of all sizes, really. Thoughtfully developed policies provide clear guidelines for day-to-day operations, improve internal processes, increase compliance, and guide business decision-making.
A business coach comes in handy in helping you formulate the necessary policies and procedures to keep your practice compliant and operating smoothly, such as policies on:
Cancellations and missed appointments
Fees for service
Confidentiality
Social media and telecommunication
Release of information
Disputes and complaints
Ratings, etc.
6. Accountability & Support
Business coaching is a valuable place to seek support, accountability, and guidance.
One of the many roles of a business coach is being an accountability partner. Besides helping you to identify your strengths, opportunities, and weaknesses; set goals; and constantly challenge you to try new ideas; they should be checking in with you regularly to ensure you remain on track and committed to yourself and your business.
In a nutshell, you can rely on your business coach to support you as you implement your strategies, provide motivation, and hold you accountable.
7. Setting attainable goals
A business coach plays a fundamental role in goal-setting and, subsequently, helping you meet those goals. They provide direction and help you define your priorities and focus your effort where it matters most.
Generally, a business coach for therapists can help you develop a private practice business plan with specific, measurable, attainable goals, and will help guide you on how to achieve the goals. You can count on them to show you how to set smart goals and also encourage you to pursue the goals that seem challenging but are within your capacity.
How to Find the Right Therapist Business Coach for Your Practice
Megan Kelly is a counselor coach who can help therapists make six figures and grow their private practice skills
Now that we’ve gone over how you can benefit from a business coaching relationship, the question becomes: how do you find the right coach?
There are many ways of connecting with a therapist business coach, including search engines, referrals, professional hubs, and social networks. But with so many options, how do you choose one that best fits your coaching needs? The truth is, while everyone may claim to offer excellent coaching services, there are red flags to watch out for, such as a coach who guarantees large returns, someone who has no experience working with therapists or starting a private practice, or someone pressures you to take up a coaching offer within the first consultation call.
Mainly, these are some of the traits and factors you should look out for:
Knowledge and skills – Anyone can market themselves as private practice coaches, but their ability to help you realize your goals boils down to their knowledge and expertise. The coach should have demonstrable industry knowledge. In other words, a therapist business coach should ideally be someone who has worked in the mental health industry, who has started their own private practice and understands the particular needs of private practice therapists.
Availability – For a successful coaching experience, the professional must be invested in you. A coach can have multiple clients, but when you sign up with a coach, you should feel as though they are committed to your success and that they’re able to meet with you at a time that works for both of your schedules. Find out about their availability, including their accessibility, through email, phone, or text.
Reviews and testimonials – What do past clients say about them? There are different platforms where you can find client feedback, including their website, Google Business Profile, social media pages, and other review websites. Read through client reviews and recommendations to get a feel of their service.
Fees – Is the coach transparent about their fees? While coaching services are generally customized according to the client's needs, the coach should be upfront about their charges. This is important as it helps you compare with other services to find one that suits your budget. By no means do you want surprise charges later when you've already committed. For example, when someone signs up with me for private 1:1 coaching, they can purchase a single session for $300, or they can sign up for 6-month coaching contract for $500/month.
Free consultation – A good coach should give you the opportunity to learn more about their offering and decide whether they're a good fit before you sign on the dotted line. Look for coaches who offer a no-obligation consultation call.
Good rapport – Once you have checked all the factors listed above and ended making that consultation call, you should gauge your rapport with the coach to determine whether they're a good fit. Having good rapport is crucial for a successful coaching relationship as you will be spending quality time together, and you need excellent communication throughout the engagement.
Final Thoughts
Business coaching is an amazing resource for therapists who are looking to grow their practice. A therapist business coach can help you with marketing, networking, professional development, policy setting, and setting attainable goals, as well as provide accountability, support, and help with finances and fee management. And while many people can claim to offer business coaching, you should ensure you hire one with relevant knowledge and skills, experienced, and available. You should review their testimonials to learn what other clients feel about their services and ensure you choose one with whom you have a good rapport.
At Informer Coaching & Consulting, we offer business coaching for therapists, including how to start a private practice, get private pay clients, and grow your practice. Learn more about our services here.