Growing your physiotherapy practice: Four steps for young practice owners to ensure your practice grows steadily. Plus three tips to safeguard your growth.
Your practice is up and running. Your diary is full. So what next? This is the point many young practice owners reach after a few years. Patients are coming in, the team is small, and you’re treating patients yourself almost every day. You sense that there’s more potential. If you want to grow your physiotherapy practice, there’s one thing you need above all else: a clear plan of action.
The market is working in your favour. According to the Reference scenario from the Federal Statistical Office By 2055, the number of people aged over 65 in Switzerland will rise from 1.8 to around 2.7 million. Demand for physiotherapy is growing as a result. The key question, therefore, is how you will grow.
Why young practices grow differently
Experienced owners can rely on a well-established team, regular referring doctors and financial reserves. You’ll be building all of that from scratch. In return, you’ll bring energy, fresh ideas and the courage to do things differently.
What young practice owners in our network tell us time and again is that, at the start, the practice grows almost of its own accord. At some point, however, it’s only the workload that keeps increasing. It is precisely at this stage that the course of the practice’s future is decided. That’s why it’s worth planning for growth consciously from an early stage.
Four steps to help you grow your physiotherapy practice
Four steps have proven effective. The order is important, as each step builds on the previous one.
1. Define what your practice stands for
Sports physiotherapy, neurology, pelvic floor therapy or exercise for older people: a clear profile makes you stand out. For patients, for referring doctors and for physiotherapists who want to work specifically in this field.
Write down in one sentence why patients should come to you in five years’ time. This sentence will help you with every decision you make from now on.
2. Hire the right people early on
Your employed therapists have a greater impact on your practice than any new piece of equipment. They free up capacity and give you time to shape your practice. You should therefore pay attention not only to their professional expertise, but also to their attitude.
Also, retain your team: according to physioswiss, just under half of all physiotherapists leave the profession sooner or later. By providing opportunities for development and showing appreciation, you can build a team that stays. You can read about what therapists are looking for these days in our Post on that.
3. Know your figures
What is your workload? How much do you earn per hour of treatment? And how much time do you spend on non-patient-related work? It is precisely this aspect that is often underestimated in day-to-day practice.
In practical terms, this means that every hour you save on administrative tasks is time you can spend with patients. This is often the quickest way to increase your revenue.
4. Change your role step by step
And now here’s the crucial point: a growing practice needs you as its architect. Set aside fixed hours each week for leadership, planning and development. Half a day is enough to start with, You can learn to lead.
Our article sets out the specific growth strategies available, ranging from self-pay services to partnerships with referring practitioners «Growth in Physiotherapy».
Three tips for sustainable growth
Growth requires both pace and patience. There are three pieces of advice we always give to young business owners.
Grow at your own pace. New premises are worth the investment as soon as the team is in place. Fixed costs start from day one, whilst full capacity is only achieved later on.
Hand in assignments early. Hand over bookkeeping, recruitment and social media to people or systems in good time. That way, you’ll have the energy to focus on what drives your practice forward.
Deciding together. Seek out discussions with experienced colleagues. They’ve already been down those detours and can show you the most direct route.
What this means for you as a young practice owner
For you, this means: you can build up your practice whilst receiving support. Within the SPP network, your practice will grow with our support. The central team will assist you with administration, IT and recruitment. At the SPP Academy and in Leadership seminars You’ll continue to develop as a business owner. And by engaging with experienced business owners, you’ll benefit from knowledge that saves you time and the cost of learning the hard way.
Your practice name stays the same. You make the decisions for your practice.
Growth according to plan
In short: refine your profile, know your figures, recruit the right people and continue to develop your own role. By following this sequence, your practice will grow steadily. And you’ll grow with it.
Set aside an hour this week and work through the four steps for your practice. If, afterwards, you’d like to know how to foster growth in Network If this sounds like something for you, get in touch. You set up your practice to build something. Does this sound like your next step?
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