Allied Health Business Brilliance

There is a question I get asked a couple of times a week: How do I build a team? When I’m asked this question, people aren’t always referring to their clinical team, often they’re talking about their admin team. I am a big fan of bringing admin into the business before you bring in clinical teammates because if you bring a clinician in first, guess what doubles? The admin. It may...

Do you sometimes get the feeling like/that your onboarding process for new team members in your allied health business might leave a little something to be desired? In this episode, I talk about... Problems allied health businesses are having with onboarding new recruits Current challenges in hiring and retaining staff Why having a strong onboarding process matters Why you need to go slow Suggeste...

I get asked time and time again, “How do I learn about the business side of things?” What’s more accurate is allied health business owners telling me, "I've never learned the business side of things”. It makes complete sense, they're different sides of the same coin. When I was at university doing my occupational therapy degree, there was not a single sniff of any sort of b...

In this episode, I talk about all things NDIS with Renee Townsend and Tarry Dee, co-founders of My Diffability. We discuss the challenges as an online supplier, hearsay in the allied health sector, and, perhaps most importantly, remembering the bigger picture: it’s about helping people. The Victoria-based company is an online store that provides therapy resources, equipment, toys and gifts f...

Allied health business owners invest a lot of time and money into their craft and their technical skillset, but tend not to invest the same energy into the business and team management side of things. Running an allied health business can be lonely and isolating and emotionally and mentally draining. Sticking together to help each other get the most from our private practices is the way to go. In...

The allied health sector is all about caring, but often it’s the health of the caregivers themselves that’s overlooked or not handled as well. In this episode I chat with Emma Small, an “entrepreneurial Occupational Therapist and co-founder of NSW-based company, Risk Managed. Emma’s background is in working with people with disabilities and care organisations. After a numbe...

When it comes to ensuring a successful allied health business, or any business for that matter, a business plan is a must. The power of the one-page business plan is often overlooked because business owners say they don’t have enough time to develop one. Some say they want to and might even start the planning process, but never have quite enough time to finish it. It’s not easy to impl...

Whether you’re a solo practitioner, have a small team, or are a large practice, it’s important to spend time and money on your brand. For many, it seems like a waste, but that could not be further from the truth. It could help you significantly grow your new client list. I spoke to Tristan Gray, co-founder of digital marketing agency Studio 56, who shared his knowledge of successfully...

Today I’m talking about writing a book; the process and all that goes with it. I speak to many business owners who have plans to write a book. It was something I thought about, and something I was always encouraged to do. Different people poked and probed and said, "What about a book? You should write a book." I never really took them seriously. I was of the belief that because I work with f...

Have you ever wondered if maybe you should start a podcast for your allied health business? Or how difficult it might be to get set up and running with a podcast of your own? In this episode, I talk about podcasting, pull it apart, and demystify it a little bit. I’ll walk you through the main reasons why you should (probably) start a podcast and the steps to get started (because it’s a...

Most people underestimate the importance of a good night’s sleep. It affects your day-to-day function, including speech, and it’s no different for kids. I caught up with Sharon Moore, a Speech Pathologist superstar, to talk more about the connection. She’s the founding director of Well Spoken, a private practice in Canberra servicing referrals from medical and dental specialists,...

Running group programs is a popular topic that seems to be bending the minds of many allied health business owners, particularly those working with children and families. It’s often something private practices want to offer to their clients, but can’t make work from a profitability point of view. While running groups are a lot of work, they’re also a lot of fun. In this podcast,...

Knowing your numbers is essential for running a successful business but it seems many allied health business owners don’t know how to manage their books properly. To learn more about how to gain more control of the books, I chatted with Allison Joyce, Managing Director of Efficiency Partners, a financial management consulting and education company. The company offers high-level bookkeeping,...

No one knows a business's unique rhythms better than the business owner themselves, but we nearly all experience a busier life across the last quarter of the year. Business gets even more frantic in the last few months, especially in December, as the holidays hit. At this time of year we start to notice seasonal cycles and changes, like seasonal client demands and so on. One major thing we should...

Do you have quality embedded in your overall allied health operation? I spoke to Susan Hawkins, one of the founding directors of Practical Quality plus (PQplus), about quality assurance for allied health business owners, the NDIS audit process and how the company helps both new and existing allied health providers. PQplus was founded as the NDIS was rolled out across Australia. The company helps n...

There are plenty of dietitians in Australia and while the number of those specialising in paediatrics is growing, so are the number of children and families needing help. In this episode, I chat with expert paediatric dietitian and business owner, Miriam Raleigh, about the specialist nutrition sector, telehealth services and balancing private practice duties with family duties. After studying at M...

It’s getting to that time of year when everything seems to speed up, blurring past us at record pace. It’s a busy time of year but it’s also the perfect time to delve deep into strategic business planning for the year ahead. A lot of business owners tell me they will do their business planning in January, which is OK. It’s a lot better than no business planning. But would t...

The allied health industry is slowly moving into the digital age, but needs to do more to respond to changing technology. I chatted to Yianni Serpanos who’s helping Australia do just that. Yianni is the CEO and Founder of coreplus, Australia’s leading digital health practice management platform. The company is focused on delivering a “practice happy” experience that’s...

Navigating the disability sector is challenging at the best of times but having a care team that is connected and on the same page is giving families and allied health providers the ‘confidence to thrive’. Danny Hui, Founding Director of sameview, a digital platform designed to help address the problem of disability care coordination. The app works by bringing the care team together -...

Understanding all aspects of your financials is key to the successful running of any business, but it can be a major downfall for some. Having a good bookkeeper can not only ensure you don’t ‘muddy the waters’ but can also be used to set budgets, KPIs and address any financial weaknesses. This and more is covered in my interview with Chris Stenhouse, Business Manager at Professio...

Running a successful private allied health practice depends on many things, but one of the key elements that can sometimes be underestimated is knowing and understanding your local community. In this interview Lisa Fruhstuck, director and speech pathologist extraordinaire at Shine Early Intervention, shares her secrets for running a successful private practice and providing opportunities for both...

Administration work is of paramount importance for any business, but it often takes too muchtime. Outsourcing work to a Virtual Admin Assistant can free up your time whilst keeping overheads low. It’s a win-win. To highlight the value of Virtual Assistants, I interviewed Jenny Pither, founding director of Allied Health Admin Services, with more than 25 years experience within the medical and...

It’s everyone’s dream to operate a stress-free business but is it actually possible when dealing with the everyday challenges of the NDIS? It seems it’s not impossible. In this episode, I talk to Trudy De Silva, a Speech and Language Pathologist. She is also Director of De Silva Kids Clinic, a multidisciplinary private practice offering speech pathology, occupational therapy, psy...

our website is the gateway to your business for many of your potential clients. If it doesn’t give a good first impression or if it isn’t easy to use, chances are you could lose some business.   So in this episode I’ve brought in my go-to man for all things to do with websites. Jon Hollenberg is the owner of Five by Five Website Design and the Author of " Love at First Site...

There is considerable value in being a published author as a professional. In this episode, I talk to Michael Hanrahan, the Director of Publishing at Michael Hanrahan Publishing (MHP) in Melbourne. MHP helps professionals and small business owners self-publish their books. Michael has been in publishing for his entire working career, starting with Wrightbooks, a small publishing house and progress...