It’s no secret that you’ll need to write a therapy practice business plan if you’re planning to take out a loan to fund your new endeavor, but that’s not the only reason to create one.
Even if you’re self-financing your entire private practice, a business plan -even if it’s only very basic- is going to prove invaluable.
It gives you an opportunity to define your goals clearly, and work out how you’re going to achieve them. It also helps you in identifying any challenges that may get in the way of those goals and how you’ll overcome them.
To put it another way:
Building a therapy practice is a journey, and it’s always easier to complete any journey when we know precisely where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.
Create a plan, and it’s akin to entering a destination (your goal) into your car’s satnav and using that satnav to guide you to where you want to be. Sure, there might be a few unexpected delays or obstacles along the way, but you’ll still get there much more smoothly than if you hopped in the car and randomly started driving with no idea of where you’re going or how you’re going to get there.
With that in mind, here’s just a few things that you might want to include in your therapy practice business plan.
What to Include in Your Therapy Practice Business Plan:
While every therapist’s business plan is going to be slightly different depending on each person’s unique needs and goals, what follows are the basic but essential elements that every therapist should think about including in some form or another.
1. Mission Statement
A good mission statement outlines your practice’s reason for existence, why you practice therapy, and what you’re striving to achieve.
Writing one can be hugely beneficial for defining the way you approach the start of your new business. Having a clear understanding of what you’re trying to achieve in the grand scheme of things can help you create clear, actionable goals and help to keep you on track as you set out to achieve them.
Writing this down on paper also helps when it comes to decision-making, giving you the opportunity to ask “is this next task/project/event/CPD course aligned with my mission?”
It should ideally combine three essential things:
- What you do
- Why you do it
- Who you do it for.
This only needs to be brief. You’re not writing an essay here. Many of the best mission statements are one or two sentences at most.
They can be grounded in realism yet point towards loftier aspirations, for example:
CJS Therapy aims to contribute towards solving the global mental health crisis by providing effective, accessible therapy and resources for those who struggle with depression and anxiety.
Here, we’ve covered all bases.
CJS Therapy aims to contribute to solving the global mental health crisis.
This tells us what CJS Therapy does (or aims to do) and outlines an aspirational goal. It also explains why CJS Therapy does what it does. We’re not just talking about providing therapy for therapy’s sake here, there’s a real, long-term goal involved that goes above and beyond day-to-day practice.
by providing effective, accessible therapy and resources
This tells us how CJS Therapy plans to achieve that aspirational goal. It is more grounded in realistic day-to-day practice.
for those who struggle with depression and anxiety.
This last part tells us who CJS Therapy provides the therapy and resources for.
If you need more help with this, here’s a great guide on how to write a mission statement from Bplans.com, and here’s another great guide from Big Commerce.
2. Short and Long-Term Goals
Now that you’ve used your mission statement to define the overall objective for your practice, it’s time to think practically about how you’re going to achieve that objective through goals that are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Actionable
- Realistic
- Time-Bound.
Think both long-term and short-term here:
Where do you want your practice to be five years from now?
One year from now?
Six months from now?
How will you know you’ve achieved these goals?
What tangible milestones can you strive towards?
3. Target Clients and How You’ll Reach Them
Are you specializing in a particular niche?
Is there a particular demographic that you want to target?
Who is your ideal client?
What problems do they face?
What forms of marketing and advertising are going to be most effective in reaching this ideal client?
Counsellor and business coach Kerry Vega has a great post on Linkedin about defining your therapist audience that is worthwhile reading.
4. Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Your target clients could have potentially hundreds, if not thousands of therapists to choose from, so why should they choose you?
What sets you apart?
How are you uniquely placed to help clients with the problems they face?
What are the benefits of working with you?
Spend some time thinking about this, and you’ll find yourself in a better position when it comes to creating your marketing messages and determining how you’ll attract clients.
If it’s helpful, you can find good resources on defining your USP here and here.
5. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
Writing a SWOT analysis for your therapy practice is a simple yet effective way to identify any challenges and risks involved in starting your new practice so that you can think about the best ways to overcome them.
It also proves helpful for outlining the things you do best and the unique opportunities you could capitalise on in order to grow your practice.
SWOT stands for:
S – Strengths
- What are your biggest assets as a therapist?
- What unique resources do you have available to you?
- What do others see as your biggest strengths?
This alone can really help you when it comes time to define your USP.
W – Weaknesses
- What aspects of growing your practice are you not so great at?
- What might you need help with? (for example, marketing, admin, etc.)
- What resources do you lack that you might need to succeed?
O – Opportunities
- What unique opportunities are available to you?
- What current trends or events could you take advantage of?
- How can you use your strengths to create new opportunities?
T – Threats
- What risks do you face in starting your practice?
- What challenges might you face?
- How do the weaknesses you identified leave you vulnerable?
For more help with this, Mind Tools has a great guide on How to Write a SWOT Analysis.
6. Budget
What do you need to spend money on to start your therapy practice?
Where will that money come from?
What ongoing operating costs such as room rental and supervision will you need to consider?
If you’re struggling with this, I recently wrote How Much Does it Cost to Start a Therapy Practice in the UK, where I detail the typical average costs of all the essentials you may need to pay for.
7. Financial Goals
How much money do you need to make per year, month, or week to cover your expenses and make a profit?
How does this figure influence the number of clients you’ll need to see per week and the rates you’ll need to charge them to make your business financially viable?
For example, if running your therapy practice is going to cost you £200 per week and you decide that you’re going to charge £40 per session, you’re going to need to see a minimum of five clients per week just to break even, plus a few more in order to make a profit.
9. Business Type
Are you going to set up as a sole trader or a limited company?
Operating as a sole trader is generally more straightforward and a good option for therapists who are going it alone, but establishing a limited company does have some benefits.
Here’s a helpful piece from Simply Business on how to choose between a sole trader or a limited company.
11. How You’ll Operate
How many clients do you want to see per week? Again, think about financial viability here.
What hours will you work?
Are you doing purely online therapy or offering face-to-face sessions?
Where will you offer these sessions?
Put some thought into all of these things and your business plan will help you make smart and helpful decisions as you navigate the uncharted waters of starting your practice.
12. Marketing Plans
How will you promote your new business?
Are you going to build a website?
Set up a Google My Business Profile?
Create an Instagram account or Facebook page?
Will you print flyers? If so, how will you distribute them?
At some point, you may want to dive deeper and create a comprehensive marketing plan outlining things like:
- The practical steps you’ll need to take
- How you’ll take them
- Marketing budgets
- Blog and social media schedules and other factors.
For now, though, having at least a basic idea of how you’re going to start marketing your therapy practice is going to prove incredibly helpful.
Creating Your Therapy Practice Business Plan: A Final Word of Advice
Regardless of whether you’re applying for a loan or self-financing your new endeavor, a therapy practice business plan can be an invaluable tool to guide you on the road to success.
Still, while it may be important, creating a business plan is nowhere near as important as taking action on that plan.
It’s easy to get so bogged down in the details and spend so much time overthinking every last aspect of your practice that you seriously delay the process of actually getting anything done.
All those hours that you spend agonizing over the perfect mission statement or trying to consider every single possible threat and opportunity is precious time that you could be out there attracting clients and growing your practice.
Remember:
A business plan is a tool that’s designed to help you, not hold you back.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, especially if you’re only using it as a personal guide rather than as part of a loan application. You can always chop, change, and revise your business plan as your practice evolves. In fact, it’s a very good idea to do so.
To sum up, don’t spend so much time planning that you never get around to carrying out that plan.
Keep it simple, keep it realistic, and keep it at the forefront of your thoughts as you set out to put your plan into action and build a successful practice.
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