How to Start Your Own Practice in Four Easy Steps

How to Start Your Own Practice in Four Easy Steps

Starting your own practice may seem like a daunting, even scary big step for a lot of therapists.  But luckily it is easier than ever to get started.  You can even start all the initial work in a single day or week, and usually at a price point far lower than you might think.  Keep reading to find out how.

 

Credit

This blog post was heavily inspired from the excellent Practice of the Practice web site, which included many of these tips in their post written by Joseph R. Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC.

 

Step One: Find a Location (Sublease!)

Rather than trying to rend a new space right away (which could include a lease of anywhere from 1 to 5 years), first try to work with an established practice which may let you sublease space they aren't using.  This could include an empty office in their suite, conference room, or even their own space on nights and weekends.

Simply call up an existing private practice location and ask to speak with the owner, and describe your situation.

But what about price?  You could agree to a fixed amount, or, up to 20% of your income.  This makes sure you will never go into debt.  If you charge a patient $75, then you pay $15 in rent.

Be sure to be as flexible as you can with scheduling: if your "landlord" only has a free room twice a week before 11am, then make those your hours.

 

Step Two: File your LLC Paperwork

We wrote an entire blog post about LLCs here, but the short version is this paperwork will establish you as a business entity in your state, and grant you legal protections. In other words, if you are sued, it is the company that gets sued, not you personally, so none of your personal assets (house, car, etc) can be taken away.

Each state has their own prices and procedures for filing an LLC, but generally they are around $15 to $300, and require a simple form to be filled out, notarized, and mailed in.  Search the web for your state's Secretary of State web site, and look for the paperwork for "filing an LLC".  You can also try a service like LegalZoom, though there is usually a high markup for essentially just mailing in the forms for you.

 

BHC EMR/EHR software, low cost and reliableStep Three: Sign Up With Behavioral Health Connection for Your EMR/EHR Software

BHC offers our top-of-the-line EMR/EHR software, which lets you keep track of all of your notes, billing, appointments, etc, for all of your clients.  All you need is a web browser and a laptop or tablet computer.  This is perfect if you sometimes work from home, or are "on-the-go" and need your patent records to travel with you in a HIPAA-safe system.

Try our 30-day free trial today, no credit card required!

 

Step Four: Set Up Your Website and Social Media

We've discussed before how a great website can drive new clients to you, but of course do not neglect creating Social Media accounts as well, specific to your new practice.

As for hosting the website itself, Wordpress is always a very popular option.  Most of the designs are free, and it is relatively easy to get started.  If you need something more personalized and professional, feel free to contact us!  We are happy to provide custom design and hosting of your site.