who_should_start_their_private_therapy_clinic_and_who_shouldn't (1080p) (1)
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[00:00:00] We're living in a day and age where anyone can start their own business and I, it makes me think of the concepts of just because you can doesn't mean you should. Right. I know. I know. You might be hearing from a lot of other people, other therapists who started their own business and they're like, you can too.
You can make an extra X number of dollars. You can start a side gig and you can start your own business. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. It's true. You can, but should you, let's discuss that today. My name is Huang. I'm an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist, and over the last 10 years, I started my therapy clinic and then I got this crazy idea to start over five years ago.
Hand therapy secrets. Um. A little bit about me. My parents were, my parents were immigrants, and they came here and worked for other people for a while and then started their own business. [00:01:00] So I've always kind of seen it and then actually. When I went back over 20 years ago, I went back to Vietnam. The, the culture, the industry there, a lot of them have the, the idea of like working for themselves just because in their environment or or economy, uh, for a long time you couldn't, you know, easily go out and find jobs.
You got jobs by creating your own, so. I don't fall too far from the tree, I guess you could say. So I've always seen it, but for the longest time I was like, I don't wanna work for myself because it's so hard. I saw my parents do it and I thought, I was like, that's not for me. And anyway, it was for me. But let's discuss, like, let's talk about, um, who should start a private therapy practice and who shouldn't start a therapy.
Um, their own business therapy practice, online course, you know, whatever it is that you. Want to do. Um, 'cause I, I, I do think now that I hear a lot of [00:02:00] people like, you can start your own business and you get a business and you get a business. There is no easier time than now. 100%. But is it, is it for everybody?
I don't really think so. I don't think everything is for everybody. And I think you. The therapist, you have to have some discernment, some judgment about what kind of personality you are so that you can know like, Hey, can I do this or not do this? I mean, obviously if you really wanted to, you would, and then this video wouldn't fucking matter.
But for some of you guys that are questioning, let's talk about who should start their private practices and who shouldn't. This is a long point of view. Um, so I'm gonna just share with you. Three things that I've realized, like, like being in business, like you have to sort of have this mindset in order to be successful or to just succeed, to try another day, try another year.
Right. So there's three things I like threes. I don't know if you've noticed, [00:03:00] but um, those who start, those who should start a private practice is, um, someone who tends to drive more towards. Someone who tends to avoid failure more than their desire to succeed. Let me say that again. So, um. Let me, lemme start over.
Say that again. All right. So who should start their private therapy business and who shouldn't? So let's go over the three that should start a business. If you have this kind of mindset, right? Number one is you have a stronger drive to avoiding failure. Then you have a desire to be successful because in business, you tend to fail a lot before you succeed.
Um, so if you, if you're more driven to avoiding the failure versus then, you know, being like, oh my God, I have to be successful, you know, let, let me know. If you mean, let me know, [00:04:00] let me know if you know what I mean. All right. Number two, that you're okay with living with a certain amount of uncertainty.
Like the whole fucking shit is uncertain, right? You, it's that idea that you eat what you kill, because if you don't. Get the business, then you have, you don't have any money, right? So there's a lot of uncertainty versus like if you were just working for someone else, for the most part, you're getting paid every two weeks, right?
All right. Number three is. A certain type of confidence or self-belief. Now we don't you, I think that confidence is on the other side of the success of what you do, right? But you have to be willing to fail like a bunch of times before you are feeling like confident, like, Hey, I can actually do this, but you only need.
A little bit of evidence that, that you can do it. You know, so [00:05:00] that little bit amount of evidence that you need really sits behind like a. A reservoir of self-belief, right? So you have this inherent like self-belief that no matter what happens, you'll figure it out and you're gonna be able to do it. So I think that at the end of the day, those are the three, like, I think traits, um, that would help you be more successful as a business person.
Does that make sense? Let me know, let me know if that makes sense. Um, so I wanted to talk more, a little bit more about the, the living with uncertainty. You know, when I started my business, not only are you. Um, going out in this venture, but part of the uncertainty, you can have a job or you can not have a job.
It really doesn't matter. You're still moving into uncertainty because part of the uncertainty is that you have to spend a lot of your time before you actually see and reap [00:06:00] the benefits of it. You have to spend a certain amount of your money. But you know, beforehand, before you can reap the benefits of it.
You know, when I started my business, I had to start spending money, buying equipment, um, going around and marketing to doctors, spending a certain amount of money on marketing before I even made it. For example, I spend a certain amount of money on marketing now for my clinic. So let's say for example, if I'm.
If I'm shelling out $2,000 a month on just one place of advertising spend, right? I'm spending that much money, I'm doubling down. That I'm gonna make that money back and then some, right? But you have to live with the uncertainty that you are gonna spend the money first. And I think that's such a huge [00:07:00] concept.
If you're just depending, like you're like, I'm really mad, I'm gonna start my own business, right? I mean, we all get pissed off at our, our employers and we're like, fuck this bitch, I'm leaving. You know, I'm sure my staff do that too. Fuck this bitch. She's having a bad day and she's yelling at me and I'm like, go start my own business.
Do it right. Go ahead. I'm sure my people, when I was setting off to go do my own thing, they were thinking the same thing. Go ahead and try, you know. Um, but I think the biggest one out of those three things drive to avoid failure, live with a certain amount of uncertainty, or have a certain sense of self-belief.
I think that, I mean, they're all really important. It's all like up here, it's all really important, but the, the idea of living with uncertainty. It's just being able to spend the money before you get the money, be able to spend the money before you're able to make the money and see and reap the benefits of [00:08:00] it.
And you're, to a certain extent, you're willing to lose to a certain amount, right? You're willing to like one week make more money, you know, on the next month. Like you're like, shit, what happened to all my patients? Right? Well, like, how come I don't have anyone new coming in? Right? So you're constantly like living with that, that uncertainty and you know, being able to make decisions around smart decisions around it that don't involve like a lot of fear.
So I think those, you know, if, if that resonates with you. Don't you go start your business or you know, grow it, you know, throw some more, you know, feel to the flames if you are, you know, you want double down on your business this year, really honestly, um, I, you know, I'm a person that I'm sure I've spoken out against it before, but I don't really think there's anything as like this, you know, side gig stuff, you know, because the amount of effort that you have to do on your side gig [00:09:00] is like.
Your real gig, right? So part of it's like if you wanna start something on the side, do it on the side with the intention of making it your main gig, right? Otherwise, I mean, it's just like you're constantly in this churn of not doing enough, um, to get it off its feet. You know? That's the thing with side gigs, it's like, you know, it's just there when you want it, but it's not really gonna fulfill you.
You know what I mean? All right. So I think the people who shouldn't start their business, um, is someone who is in need of constant praise. You know, you're, you're that person. You're not looking to avoid failure. You're constantly looking for that success, and you need someone to constantly pat you on the back.
That need. I mean, you can want it. I mean, don't we all want someone to be like, kudos, Juan. You're doing great. We all want that to a certain extent. Some, some [00:10:00] of us want it more than others, but when it's a need right. Difference between one need, right? And when there is a need for it, um, I think that you're gonna potentially live in a constant lack and not enough because.
When you're in business for yourself, like there is no one to constantly be like, Hey, you're doing a good job. You kinda have to do it for yourself. So if you're always looking for that validation from someone, 'cause you need it, um, it's gonna be really hard to not only start, but it's gonna be really hard to keep going.
So. I don't know, should you or should you not? Now, people can kind of flip the mental switch, um, once they're in a different environment. So, you know, you have to decide is that for you or not for you. Um, someone who shouldn't go into business is someone who can live off those highs and lows. You know, in [00:11:00] business, especially when you're first starting, um, you're going into those peaks and valleys all the time.
And then as you grow your business, maybe your peaks and valleys aren't so. Valued and so peaked, right? And then maybe they're spread out a little bit. So it's not like DD like constant, but that it's gradual, right? So you start to taper a lot of that emotional bandwidth. And with emotional bandwidth, you, um, make different decisions that have different outcomes.
So, but if, if you have a hard time. With dealing with those highs and lows, which is, what is that uncertainty, right? So people who start a business who can be successful long term have the ability to live in uncertainty, and those who start and then give up, it's because you can't live in that uncertainty.
You can't deal with those highs and lows. Um. And I think there's a [00:12:00] way, um, I think that someone who shouldn't start their own business is someone who, um, is constantly thinking about how they can go back to working for someone else, right? So that also is a certain amount of self-belief or lack of self-belief that you can do it.
Um, also driven with, um, your drive to avoid failure. Right. So I'm gonna give you an example. When I started on my own, I would openly say, oh my God, if, if this whole like business thing fails, I'll just go and apply for a job. Or I'll just go back to working for x, y, and Z company, right? Um, and in my old job, one of 'em would be like, oh my God, we would love to have you back, blah, blah, blah.
I might say that openly, but secretly I was like, fuck you. I am like, I am going to ride or die on this thing. Right. [00:13:00] It is going to work on, you know, I am going to wither away into nothing. Um, grant is very dramatic. I know, I know. Um, my brain is very strong in the word sometimes. But if you're constantly, I think thinking of going to go back to work for someone, someone like, I think that, that, that thinking stops your brain from giving you the permission to make a go of your business.
And so you, you're not going to, not only will you not start, you won't, you won't continue 'cause your brain is constantly looking for. That praise or that need to be accepted by someone else, right? That constant, uh, certainty of getting a certain type of paycheck, right? Um, that will allow you to live in the way that you imagine it to be.[00:14:00]
So I don't think entrepreneurship or starting your own therapy business, I don't think it's for everyone. I think that. You have to determine who and what kind of a person you are in order to be honest about what's possible for you and what's not possible for you. Um, you know, taking on a client here and there after your office hours, after your work or whatever.
If someone asks you, that's not a fucking business, that's just like out of convenience. You were there. What I'm talking about. When I'm talking about starting your own therapy business is creating a, um, a system where you consistently get patients coming to you. You get consistent doctor referrals, however you wanna do it.
You, you know, work in a way that you, you consistently get your own, your own patience, right? Um. [00:15:00] What a therapy business is, is, um, if you wanna do any kind of teaching or programs, you know, I've gotten a lot more people coming in, you know, asking me questions about like, what did you do? How did you start?
Hand therapy secrets, you know, I would love to teach and blah, blah, blah, right? So there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. I think that there's such a need, um, but it's the same type of thing. Are you doing it here and there? Are you doing this shit for shits and giggles because. If you, if you're serious about it, then you have to really be consistent about it.
If you're just dabbling in here and there, like it's really not gonna go anywhere. And because it's not gonna go anywhere, you're gonna be like, oh, you know, I don't really want do that. Or, oh, it doesn't work. It fucking works. You can totally do it. If you had some something that you love talking about, something that you love doing and you wanna share it with the world, you wanna share it with other therapists, you wanna [00:16:00] share it with other people, have injuries, like by all means, that's not a fucking side gig.
That's a lot of freaking work and a lot of effort. And so I just think, you know, the more you do it, the more you find out, you know how you can improve, how you can change how it's gonna work for you. I've gone through several renditions of, you know what I'm doing just in the fact that I'm doing the thing that I said I want to do.
So you have to decide. In this day and age, it is so easy to get started. You can start creating content, you can start getting your own patients, you can start teaching online. There's so many ways to do it that so many people are, are. Um, persuaded, you know, motivated, inspired to try to do it. I'm just saying if you know more about yourself and what you want and what your like, I think that whole process is gonna be easier.
And if you are somebody who's, let's say, [00:17:00] can't live in the highs and lows, but you wanna have your own business, if you understand that about yourself, then what do you need to do? Right? What do you need to do? So I never really thought that. I would, in the over 10 years I've been in business, how much being in business challenged who I thought I was and who I am becoming.
Um, but it's such an important, it's such an important aspect of starting your own business, getting to know who you are, what you want, because it's in who you know, like it's in learning who you are and knowing what you want, that will help you make better decisions. Making any decisions and then making them faster and faster so that you can have growth in your business.
So when you have growth in your business, you can see, hey, I have proof of concept. This actually works. There's people who want it, there's people who need it, and there's people who are willing to spend their money with me. Let me know if that [00:18:00] resonates with you. Um, tell me in the comments, you know, what this brought up for you.
Because I think that there's a lot of people who say they want to start their own business, but there's a difference between want and there's a difference between actually doing it. So figure out which one it is and then, you know, work towards that. 'cause I think that when you decide that isn't for you, like if entrepreneurship isn't for you, there's another path for you, right?
Especially as a therapist. There's other paths for you. What are they? If you want me to explore that, leave me a comment because I think there's so many opportunities for us therapists in this day and age. All right, let me know. My name is Huang. Um, every Wednesday I put out topics and talk about business for you.
So my link's below if you wanna work with me or if you wanna get on my email list for more details. Alright, I'll talk to you later.
