Episode Details

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Alison Pidgeon, LPC about growing your private practice by diversifying your income. Alison and Gordon talk about what they have learned about growing private practices and then getting to the place where they both bought their own buildings. They also talk about some of the ways in which group practices can be formed and why they have chosen the business models they are using in their practices. Alison and Gordon talk about some of the things they have learned "the hard way" and what how they might have done differently in those beginning stages of their private practices.

Alison Pidgeon, MA, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor and the owner of Move Forward Counseling (www.moveforwardlancaster.com) in Lancaster, PA. Her private practice, which focuses on women's issues, currently consists of six other therapists and two assistants. Alison has recently purchased an office building to house her private practice and will be expanding to a total of 12 therapists in the fall of 2018.

In addition, for the past two years, Alison has been working as a business consultant along with Joe Sanok, from Practice of the Practice, (http://www.practiceofthepractice.com/our-services/consulting-with-alison/) for other private practice owners. She loves being an entrepreneur and helping others achieve their dream of being their own boss. Alison's specialty as a consultant is how to have an insurance-based practice, helping those who are just starting out and how to grow from a solo to a group practice.

Alison has garnered local media attention for her private practice on TV, radio and in print. She has been a featured guest on the Practice of the Practice podcast, Selling the Couch podcast, and The Therapist Experience podcast. In 2017 Move Forward Counseling won the "Emerging Business of the Year" Award from the Central Penn Business Journal.

One of the big steps that Alison and Gordon talked about was the step they both took in buying an office space. For many therapists and counselors, this step seems very intimidating. But if you think about it, it is really not that much different from buying a house and there are usually more financing options for commercial property. Especially if you are willing to work with private investors. It's all a matter of doing the research and looking at options.

Owning your private practice space, many times actually ends up being much more cost effective when you run the numbers. Alison gave the example of a non-profit she is involved with. When they ran the numbers, they realized they had paid double what the building was worth through leasing it.

One of the things that helps solidify growth in your practice comes from diversifying your streams of income. There are a lot of ways to do this. One is to create other less traditional products or services to offer clients. Groups, workbooks, seminars, and supervision are just a few.

Another great way to create "passive income" is to add other counselors and therapists to form a group practice. What this does, of course, is allow the practice owner to reap the benefits and income from the efforts of others in exchange for providing a place for them to practice.

One of the "wish I had known…" issues that Alison mentioned, was she wish she had thought more long-term when she first started her private practice. She would