Developing A Practice Business Plan

Generally speaking, you don’t have to have one of these if you can float your own start-up costs. If you are seeking grants or small business loans, a solid business plan is generally expected to be produced. 

What is your company’s name? What is the corporate structure? Unsure about the different types of businesses and what your company could be? Consult our blog about corporate structure. Who are the responsible parties within the business and what are their titles?

What are the services and products you will provide? Are you a couples or family therapist, a child therapist, a therapist specializing in working with individuals achieve sobriety? Why are the services and products you are offering of use to them? 

What is your vision and mission for your business? Unsure? This the WHY behind your business venture. Check out Start with Why if you want to explore this topic further. Your summary should also include information about who is in charge of your business (President, employees, contractors, etc…) and where you are located or plan to be located. 

In addition, you will use this section to describe your ideal clients and how you will be assisting them in solving their pain points (reasons for coming to you). Describe how your creative approach, modality, and specialized training will be of service to your clients. What sets your practice apart from the other folks in your market? What are the particular advantages this affords your business and supports your clients. If you are a poetry therapist trained in EMDR, you might write something about how you plan to serve clients integrating these models to facilitate healthy integration of traumatic experiences. 

What are the financial projections for your practice? If you don’t know this, don’t worry we have have you covered. Check out our fee calculator spreadsheet. It will help you determine projected business expenses and income. The spreadsheet lists the bulk of expenses typically associated with running a small business. If you are going to be offering something above and beyond, Equine psychotherapy for example, you will need to calculate the costs associated with caring for the horse. Those are not included in the spreadsheet and should be added. In such cases, it is highly recommended that you consult with a CPA regarding allowable expenditures according to the tax codes. As a general rule, you would be able to take a percentage of costs of care including boarding related to the percentage of time that the animal is used for work. 

If you haven’t leased a property yet, no worries. You will want to use your market research to assign projected expense values based on the rates in your locale. You will want to consult the data on public utilities for the prospective office suite(s) to gain an idea of those expenses, too.  

If you already have an existing business and are looking to obtain funding, you will need to do a comprehensive projection of your finances. You will need to consider both the expenses and the potential income of your expanding business for up to the next 5 years. The Small Business Association, suggests including your financial documentation from the past 3 to 5 years to support your projections.  

This is where you are going to spend some time doing some research in your community. 

What is the general population of your community? What percentage of the general population represents your ideal client? How many other therapists in your community are already serving that population? Do the people in your community in need have the resources to access your services? If there are competitors, what are the current rates they are charging? 

You can compare these numbers to determine if there is an actual need in the community for your practice. Or, perhaps your modality allows you to serve this population more effectively due to your specialized training? This is where you will describe all of these things. The Small Business Association has a list of places where you can access some of the data you may need. I recommend consulting your state, county and city small business resources to gain an accurate picture of your community, as well. 

***It is not recommended that you base your fee on what others are charging. You just want to know the going rates. Basing your fees on the market rate can be considered price fixing. You want to avoid that. Instead, use our Fee Calculator to determine what your rate needs to be based on your actual expenses. 

This section describes what you are doing to let people know that you exist and what you will do to convince them that you can help. It is the WHAT and HOW you will be communicating to your community about your services. 

Ideally, your message will target your ideal client population. Visualize a dart board where your ideal client represents the dead center. Each concentric circle around the ideal client represents other people that they encounter on a regular basis. The closer circles represent people they encounter daily, weekly, or biweekly. The circles farther from the center represent people they may encounter bi-monthly, semi-annually and annually. The people they encounter that are most likely to refer them to you represent people closer to the center. 

Create a diagram of your ideal client target. With each person or business identified from the visualization above, create a plan about how you will reach each of them. What message you will convey to them and how will they receive that message. 

There are many ways to share your message.

Face-to-Face events in your community

Training Events 

Speaking Engagements 

Vendor Tables 

On-line

Branded Social media Accounts

Advertising via those accounts and Google Adwords

Podcasting 

Local Media Opportunities

Print Media features 

Television (AM News)

Local Magazine Features

Featured contributor of a blog for a Mental Health Topic at a local paper

Local Radio 

Mailing Postcards

Appendix

This is where you will include any supporting documentation for your business plan. It might include your background, copies of your credentials and licenses, letters of recommendation, credit reports, etc… 

Now that you have a rough draft of your practice business plan, consult with your CPA and attorney to ensure accuracy. Revise as necessary based upon laws and regulations in your area and community.