By Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC
Private Practice Success Newsletter, October 13, 2011
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During this unstable economy, the market for helping services is shifting. The need for some services ends, others emerge.
Alexander Graham Bell said, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
Open Doors
This month, let me help you open some doors by looking at two important strategies:
• How to spot opportunities that you may have overlooked that other helping and healing
• How to filter (assess) the opportunities you see, so that you only move forward on those that are right for you
Spotting Opportunities
As a market changes, opportunities arise. Do you know the services that sell best in today’s difficult economy?
In my book, Crisis-Proof Your Practice: How to Survive and Thrive in an Uncertain Economy, I show readers how to keep an eye out for existing opportunities. I list the services that sell well in a recession. Other resources, such as Psychotherapy Finances also look at emerging niche opportunities each month.
Here are just a few to think about right now:
1) Medical and health issues: Many health problems resolve better with psychotherapy. (Develop good relationships with doctors for this niche. See my article on getting referrals from doctors here.)
2) Financial therapy: Develop connections with corporate human resource departments to help those depressed by financial stressors. (See this website: www.financialtherapyassociation.org)
3) Anti-bullying: Help for children who are victims of bullying, especially cyber-bullying. (Offer a program for both parents and children, both of whom get traumatized by this situation.)
4) Coaching for college students: (Cut backs are reducing college-sponsored help for new students with time-management and career counseling.)
5) Weight loss support: (Works best as a self-pay program and can be combined or affiliated with other exercise or nutritional programs)
6) Crime-busting counseling: Shoplifting, compulsive stealing, juvenile offenders need therapy and anger management (Works well with short-term, evidence-based approaches.)
Filtering & Assessing
I have many more opportunities I spot that can help therapists and coaches make money. But how to choose?
It’s normal to see all that is possible and feel overwhelmed. If you think: “There is so much I would like to do. It all has potential. How do I evaluate all of this?”
Entrepreneurial types are known for having too many irons in the fire, saying yes more than they say no, needing to sort and prioritize on a regular basis.
Even if you are not yet highly entrepreneurial, you still need a way to evaluate opportunities you spot. To select the best opportunities for yourself, develop a filter. A filter is a screen of questions you look through, similar to a photographer’s lens to bring certain objects into sharp focus and blur the rest.
How it Works
I use a series of filtering questions to help guide my choices, as I consider a sea of opportunities. I have 3 that work for me: unless I can answer yes to all questions, I do not move forward on any new project or service. What are your questions?
Ready? Here are a list of filtering questions to think about and apply.
Exercise: Filtering Opportunities
(from Crisis-Proof Your Practice by Lynn Grodzki, WW Norton 2009)
Select up to 3 of the following set of questions to create a filter for evaluating new opportunities:
1. Is it profitable? If so, what is the timeline for profitability?
2. Do the immediate rewards outweigh the risks?
3. Will this take me closer or further from my business vision or plan?
4. Will this significantly improve my skills in a way that builds my business?
5. Will this be fun, an adventure, uplifting, good for my soul?
6. Will this help me create more community in my life or isolate me?
7. What other paths could this lead to?
8. What does my head say about this? What is my gut feeling?
9. What will I lose if I say no? What will this cost me if I say yes?
10. What must I let go of or delegate in order to take this on?
Next time you are excited about a new service, project, affiliation, etc, take a moment and assess, using your 3 questions. Then decide what will take you in the direction you want to go.
More next time!
Crisis-Proof Your Practice: How to Survive and Thrive in an Uncertain Economy. In a recession, a psychotherapy private practice is especially vulnerable. Lynn’s newest book is one you cannot afford to be without! Order today and to become more profitable and purposeful, even in hard times!
Listen to Lynn talking about the book in an audio interview with Psychjourney Podcasts by clicking here!
Buy Book Now
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Midwest Book Review
“Crisis-Proof Your Practice: How to Survive and Thrive in an Uncertain Economy offers psychotherapists solid business advice on how to build and preserve a private practice during uncertain economic times. From a 4-step process for crisis-proofing a practice, to what to charge and how to save, these guidelines are key to success!”
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“Crisis-Proof Your Practice provides a framework for success that transcends place and time, making it an ideal resource for today’s ever changing and evolving marketplace.”
David P. Diana, M.A., LPC, Director of Business Development for Palmetto Behavioral Health
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“Crisis-Proof Your Practice – if you read only one practice-building book this year, this is the one!
Casey Truffo, author of Be a Wealthy Therapist
Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC is a senior Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Master Certified Coach. She is a licensed therapist, business coach, international speaker and published author.
Lynn can show you how to start up a private practice or rebuild one, or improve your small business, non-profit, or other work situation.
She works with helping professionals (including social workers, counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists, mental health therapists, speech therapists, financial advisors, coaches and consultants.) Lynn coaches service-oriented professionals, managers, and executives who want to be more savvy and successful about business.
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Will your psychotherapy private practice, coaching, or consulting business endure in this economy? It’s tough right now. Do you know how to find the hidden opportunities that exist or how to be more profitable? With my books, my free email newsletter, or individual coaching, I can support your success. I have helped thousands of your colleagues. Take the next step and email or call me today!