Private Practice Owners Club

Paul Wright, B. App. Sc (Physio), Dip. Ed. (Phys. Ed.), Adv. Dip. Business Management, built his Australian physiotherapy practice from one clinic to two clinics, back to one clinic, then up to six clinics before selling them. How did he do it? Easy – systematizing (“E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber) and managing by statistics. Lo and behold, he jumped from one to six clinics in a couple of yea...

Ian Johnsen, PT, MSPT has been a success in his small private practice in the Seattle area and, like me, decided to launch a podcast and introduce more private practice owners to the resources and success stories that are out there. So I decided to have a conversation with him to learn a little bit more about him and what he’s doing to be so successful. He was kind enough to share a couple of his...

What’s in your library? Time after time the guests of the Physical Therapy Owners Club reference the same books that have been influential in their growth as owners and leaders. It’s not a coincidence that the same books are frequently referenced, as these are true classics in the business realm. There are more than what I highlight in this episode, but these are typically at the top of the list....

I figure that I’ll share with you some of the insight I gained from conferences and events that I attend, in case you weren’t able to go yourselves. If you weren’t able to attend, no problem, I’ve got your back. These are some of my notes from the 5th Annual HODS Symposium – addresses and announcements from Dimitrios Kostopolous, PT, DPT, MD, PhD, DSc, ECS, Christopher Music, and others. The one t...

Craig Ferreira has been around the PT block thousands of times. He knows the inner workings better than almost anybody and can break down any situation into easily digestible nuggets. Thus, I had to have him on when I found out that he’s about to give a talk on how to improve productivity and, specifically, sales in the PT setting. Most PTs hate “sales” as we know them, but doing...

David Straight, co-owner of E-Rehab.com, and I are back at it, keeping a good thing going. This is Part 2 of my interview because David had so many good things to share, we had to spread the wealth. We were initially focused on discussing how to just develop a digital marketing strategy, and we did that because E-Rehab is expert in the digital realm. David went out of his way to share with us how...

If you aren’t routinely working on your online presence, you’re falling behind. That’s why people like David Straight at E-Rehab.com exist – to let you know what you need to do, what works best, what the current trends are, how to present yourself, then monitor your efforts. It takes some effort and, depending on the size of your practice, will take some time. If you’re looking to compete against...

What sets this episode apart from the others is that Dr. William (Bill) Dodson, PT, DSc, DPT, OCS, CHT has gone counter to everything we promote in The Club. While we’re constantly looking to promote growth and expansion to obtain more freedom and stability, Bill actually found that contracting and doing less has led to more stability, freedom, and happiness in his life. Thus, he’s been uber-produ...

What if I told you that if you focused on one thing, it would return you over $100,000 per year, would you be interested? Heidi and I continue our conversation about the current state of the PT industry and business ownership, and delve specifically into this topic. PT owners are losing money, over $100k per year, because they and their PTs aren’t getting patient buy-in to PT services. WebPT’s rep...

As one of the progressive leaders in our industry, Heidi Jannenga, PT, DPT, ATC, and her group at WebPT decided to get the pulse of the PT industry by surveying over 7000 rehab professionals across the country. The report, “The State of Rehab Therapy in 2018,” provides some important information regarding the current PT climate and, specifically, regarding PT business ownership. We discuss the asp...

Many physical therapists who decide to convert into business and private practice usually dive in immediately without taking into consideration the processes that it entails. One thing they commonly overlook is the financial aspect, and this often leads them to losing. Known as “The Financial Prosperity Coach,” Christopher Music shares some of the common issues among physically therapy owners fina...

Contrary to the belief of less is more, in business, having more people means getting many of the tasks done in no time. This was my constant refrain in the beginning stages of PT business ownership, “I love doing the PT, I just hate running the business!” That all changed when I started hiring the right people. In this episode, Dr. Jamey Schrier shares how to hire “A” players onto your team, beca...

What is your plan for the future? Do you want to stay owner or are you for sale and want to cash out at some time? There are a number of different options, but it also includes making sure that your financial and legal affairs are in order. It’s a seller’s market. If you don’t know, there is a lot of activity in the physical therapy space for mergers and acquisitions. With the current sellers’ mar...

The famous quote often attributed to thought leader Peter Drucker goes, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It is often agreed that how we do things is more important than how well we do them. In other words, it is often agreed that culture is more important than strategy. But do we really put that into practice? How much effort are you placing on your company’s culture? Simply put, culture is...

Most practice owners don’t have a written business plan and written budgets. They may be looking at numbers but they don’t concretely set targets like they do for the patients that they treat. Chuck Felder of HCS Consulting says it’s important to create business plans and budgets to keep you and your team rowing in the same direction, having that alignment, teamwork, and cooperative mindset. How c...

What does your dashboard look like? Not in your car, in your business. KPIs or key performance indicators are the dashboard to tell you how your business is running. Chuck Felder of HCS Consulting breaks down the key metrics for running your clinic and discusses the importance of tracking and monitoring those. Chuck has used his PT and MBA degrees to become an expert in PT business metrics, and sh...

Not a lot of PT clinic owners are focused on what it takes to create a business that is less dependent upon them as owners. Oftentimes, systems and training, coaching, mentoring, or other accountability methods in order to keep PT clinics in check can be overlooked in the midst of the daily hustle and bustle. Here to share his expertise is Sturdy McKee. Sturdy has built a strong, thriving out-of-n...

What’s the secret to creating a loyal, returning patients? Hint: It’s not all about the therapy! It’s about the patient experience BEFORE, during, and AFTER they’ve received your care. Neil Trickett, PT and Founder/CEO of Practice Promotions shares the secrets to creating RAVING SUPERFANS. When you create raving superfans then the domino effect begins – patients compl...

Jerry Henderson got into physical therapy the same way a lot of physical therapists did, as a patient. Jerry was fourteen years old when he had a skiing accident that fractured his femur and left him hooked on a skeletal traction for about a month and a hip spike for about six weeks. After going through the treatment with a guy who was helping him get mobile again, he understood what physical ther...

A lot of physical therapists don’t consider what it takes to be great businessman or businesswoman and invest the time and energy into that like they did to become good physical therapists. Blaine Stimac is one of the more successful PT owners who has 23 practices across four states and is ranked #255 on the Inc. 5000 list. Blaine’s success is closely related to the systematic way in which h...

Dr. Dimitrios Kostopoulos passion for physical therapy is obvious, and his vision is unique and outside-the-box. He has a number of PT businesses and is successful in each one of them, thus he has a unique perspective on the state of physical therapy and the issues negatively impacting PT clinic owners and the profession today. However, he also has the answers to the three issues he presents. Foll...

Vinod is one of my favorite PT friends – he’s determined, focused, and gets what he wants, which shows in his ability to live in Florida while actively owning his PT practices in New York. He’s the epitome of what we strive for and tout in the Physical Therapy Owners Club. Success? Check. Stability? Check. Freedom? Double check. Having an uncle who is a vascular surgeon that did...

Shaun Kirk, PT has been consulting physical therapy owners for longer than he’s been a physical therapist. This episode is a must-listen and my interview with Shaun Kirk is one that should be downloaded and replayed by every PT clinic owner and reviewed on a regular basis. Shaun shares from his experience of walking into over 140 clinics across the country to consult them, and having over 20...

Sean Miller believes that we all have the ability to essentially win in life, if we just understand the abilities and processes to be able to win in life. He says that there are successful formulas and things that we can do to be able to win. Growing up as a kid, Sean liked to take things apart to understand how they work. As he got older, he got into sports which drew his natural inclination on u...

Will was mountain climbing with a girl he was dating when he fell 50 feet down and landed on both of his feet. He heard his legs snap immediately and put his hands out behind to brace himself, breaking his arms in the process, and ending up crumpled in a bush. He will never forget that day, Friday the 13th, 1993. All in all, small bones included, he broke over twenty bones and had eight surgeries....