What Do You Wish You’d Known Before Starting Your Private Practice?
Many therapists have set up a private practice before. Not all survived. Starting a private practice takes a varied skill set that not everyone possesses. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn it.
Having established practitioners in your network is of great value, as you can leverage their knowledge and learning. But if you don’t know any, and you are burning to know what they say they would’ve wanted to know before starting out, you should read on:
You Will Be a Therapist and an Entrepreneur
Starting a private practice means running a business. That means a lot of long hours, sweat and tears. Read up on resources on how to run a business, find useful tools and technologies to make the process easier, and manage your expectations in terms of monetary return in the first couple of years.
What Do You Wish You’d Known Before Starting Your Private Practice?
Understand Self-Employment Taxes
If you are used to taxes automatically being deducted from your salary, you want to pay extra attention to self-employment taxes. You will now have to file them by yourself, or pay an accountant to do it for you. Start saving up early, so you aren’t surprised by the expense when it comes to it.
Read up on Insurance Processes
Many of your clients will have insurance, and in order to make it a lucrative business you need to know how insurance works. Understand insurance procedures before opening the doors of your private practice, so you can take appropriate steps to negotiate better rates, qualify for insurance panels, and effectively work the reimbursement structures.
