(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to Ask Allison. Y'all ask the questions about having a fun and thriving practice and I answer them. We have a worksheet for you today so you can bring this answer into your life. You can access that at abundancepracticebuilding.com slash links, where you'll also be able to ask any questions you have for Ask Allison. If you want more support, we've got some free trainings in there too.
If you can't get enough Ask Allison, check out our YouTube channel for our entire Ask Allison library. Welcome back to Ask Allison. Here's today's question. What do you see new practice owners struggle with that they don't expect to struggle with? I love this question. I feel like this person is a planner. Before I get into it, I would like to thank There Have Been Notes for sponsoring Ask Allison. I've talked about them for years.
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One of the biggest pitfalls in new practice ownership is having unrealistic expectations about how quickly your practice will grow. So I want to set the record straight. Building a full private practice takes time, even if you're doing all the right things. The seeds that you plant today, like networking or optimizing your SEO, they might not sprout for months. So think about it like a home renovation. Always build in a contingency budget.
This could mean having more savings than you think you'll need or taking on part-time job while you grow your practice. That does not mean you're failing. It means that you are smart and you are strategic. The key is to stay patient and consistent with your marketing. Growth takes time. You might want to quit your marketing if you think you're supposed to have an automatic response to it.
But in order to get where you need to go, you need to be consistent without the response that you want over a period of time. Another thing that happens is if you are starting out with a full or nearly full practice from a previous job, you might feel like you've hit the jackpot. So maybe you have left a group practice and you've brought a good number of your clients with you. And while that's an amazing start, it can come with a lot of challenges.
For example, you might not have time to set up the systems that are efficient and that are optimized and have a solid marketing plan in the way that people who start without a bunch of clients have the opportunity to create. You may realize later that the clients you started with are not your ideal niche and you might end up getting more of those clients because you're now building a reputation in a different niche. Graduating clients can create a really steep drop -off in your caseload.
If you don't have a marketing plan that you've been working, filling those spots becomes really stressful. So if you're starting full, I want you to carve out time, just one to two hours a week, to work on your business instead of in your business as a clinician. Use that time to learn about marketing, to refine your paperwork, or to clarify what you really want your practice to look like. Every private practice has natural dips. Summer, December, you name it.
These are normal, especially in the first few years. It's easy to let a dip trigger fear and panic, which can lead to over-correcting or even creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. So instead of spiraling when you have a dip, I want you to save a little extra during the busier months to cover the slower months. I want you to remind yourself that dips are temporary. They do not reflect the quality of your work. I want you to adjust your mindset. Dips don't mean you're failing.
They're just a part of the rhythm of running a business. Start with the end in mind. You can have what you want. If you don't want to work till 8 p.m., then don't work till 8 p .m. If you don't want to take insurance, don't take insurance. If you start with the end in mind and you build the practice you really want to be in, then you'll avoid a lot of transition and struggle later. You'll get full, I promise, if you are following marketing best practices and you are being consistent.
It might not be on your timeline. Let's be real. It's never on our timeline. We always want to be full last week, but it will happen if you keep going. Building a practice is not just about strategies. It's about mindset. So whether you're dealing with slow growth, a full start, or seasonal dips, staying calm and staying focused is going to help you navigate whatever challenges you face, and you will face challenges in business ownership.
If any of this resonates with you and you want to dig deeper, I have a free worksheet for you in this guide. It's called Six Tools to Shift Scarcity Mindset, because it happens to all of us. DM me the word sheets to get this week's worksheet, and you'll also have access to all the other free worksheets. If you need help building your practice, if you are in these early stages or you're plateaued and you don't know how to get more clients in the door, I want you to DM me the word party.
I'm going to send you a link and a coupon to the Abundance Party, which has gotten thousands of therapists full at this point. It is not hard. You just need to learn how to do it. All right. I hope you have a really great day and I'll talk with you later. If you're ready for a much easier practice, Therapy Notes is the way to go. Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo code ABUNDANT for two months free. I hope that helped.
If you have questions for Ask Allison, or you want to get your hands on the worksheet for this episode, go to abundancepracticebuilding.com slash links. If you're listening, you probably need some support building your practice. If you're a super newbie, grab our free checklist using the link in the show notes. I'd love for you to follow, rate, and review, but I really want you to share this episode with a therapist friend. Let's help all our colleagues build what they want.