89: Outsourcing for Small Business: 6 Things I Don't Regret Investing

 
 
 

Benefits of Outsourcing for Small Business

Outsourcing for small businesses is a key to sustainable growth that many small business owners don't know how to do. I find two key barriers in outsourcing: they either refuse to outsource and slow the sustainable growth, or they pay far too much outsourcing on things they aren't ready for yet. The second reason usually is when business owners spend money on a full-time assistant, ads, or some complicated funnel strategy when they don't have the financial resources to do so safely.

Today's podcast and companion blog will focus on the first reason, not outsourcing, and why I think you should. Outsourcing makes sense to help save you not just time but also money. Yes, you'll be spending money outsourcing some of these tasks, but it usually will save you money in the long run. Outsourcing benefits you as the business owner by focusing on the tasks you are good at, and hopefully, the tasks you like doing the best. 

As a therapist and coach, there are several areas where I needed to outsource:

  • Website design

  • Search engine optimization

  • Building in time to stay healthy mentally, physically, and emotionally

  • Accounting and bookkeeping

  • Having a comprehensive electronic health record

  • Hiring a virtual assistant

Website Templates for Therapists 

Most therapists and allied private practice owners aren't website developers. Many therapists and coaches either try to DIY their website on Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress or spend too much money on a custom-designed site when that might not be what they need. A huge mistake I see private practice owners making with their websites is using generic templates full of cliched stock images like angry or sad people, stacked rocks, or running brooks. 

When I first built my website on Squarespace, it prominently featured a cabbage field. As a financial therapist, I thought that it'd be a cute nod to "money," but instead, it meant my website was confusing and weird-looking. I found Squarespace websites for therapists but fell in love with the ones by Hold Space Creative. I outsourced to the Andrea template from Hold Space Creative, which included copy tips, easy video tutorials, and I was able to refresh my entire website in four hours. Then, about a year later, I hired Monica to do a website refresh, giving my website a custom look in a fraction of the time and cost. I recommend her work to everyone looking for a beautiful and hardworking website. 

SEO for Therapists

Search engine optimization, or SEO, makes sure your website shows up on page one of search results. The more "optimized" your website is, the more likely you will reach aligned clients. SEO for therapists is the process of optimizing a website for therapy seekers in your niche and practice location. 

With my website's facelift fully complete, it was time to hire Kristie of TherapieSEO, a service dedicated to helping therapists with their website optimization. Kristie helped me learn how to write content for my website by making sure the website itself, blogs, and podcast pages were optimized for search engines. By learning from her and implementing her keywords and content formula, my website traffic went from about 1.5k visitors a month to 9k visitors a month.

The combination of a beautiful website plus search engine optimization means that when people are searching for private practice help or financial therapy guidance, there is a good chance my potential aligned clients will find me. At the time of this podcast and post, I have over 60 people on a waitlist for my 1:1 services and a fully booked private practice. And the ability to help people who aren't able to afford my services with rich content about money mindset, the emotional side of money, and building their private practices.  

There is a quick PSA for therapists who have seen website templates with "SEO built-in." That isn't true: yes, a website template can be optimized for SEO in that it loads quickly on mobile and desktop and that the design is easy for search engines to "crawl," but because each therapist or coaches niche is different, a website can come "pre-loaded" with SEO. Steer clear of those big-name websites that claim they have built-in SEO. 

Self-Care and Resourcing 

You might not think of self-care for therapists as being something you outsource. This is true, in a way; I can't have someone else practice yoga for me and me to receive the benefits. However, building in a practice of taking care of myself by working with Resourced Therapist is outsourcing-adjacent. Resourced Therapist is two psychotherapists with a mission. They aim to help therapists and allied healers feel more capable, inspired, and resilient in their work. They do this through courses, meditation, yoga, and other classes that people in this space cultivate and sustain meaningful, balanced, fulfilling careers.

I consider my work with Resourced Therapist to be the type of simple self-care that Ashley Davis Bush refers to as "practices that are simple enough to fit into your existing schedule, your current energy level, and your budget." I've joined Carryn in her yin yoga for healers practice, therapist refresh courses for staying grounded, and joined other workshops of theirs that have helped me practice finding and cultivating joy.

Accounting & Bookkeeping For Therapists

Accounting for therapists and other small business owners means taking time to ensure that your income and expenses are reconciled and that you are setting aside money for things like taxes and retirement. As a small business owner, it can be tempting to DIY your bookkeeping and accounting. When I started out, it’s what I did! I used Quickbooks Self-Employed and set aside time each month to make sure I had enough revenue to pay my expenses, pay myself, and pay my taxes. As my business grew and my time became less available, I knew I had to outsource my bookkeeping and accounting.

If you aren’t a “math person,” you might want to outsource your bookkeeping and accounting at the start of your private practice. If you choose to outsource right away, ask the accountant a few questions before hiring them:

  • Have you worked with therapists or other service-based businesses before?

  • Is quarterly and annual tax filing included in your fee, or does it cost extra? If so, what’s the cost?

  • Are meetings and phone calls included in your, or does it cost extra? If so, what’s the cost?

  • Will I get access to monthly and quarterly reports?

  • Can you advise me on my business and tax structure?

I’ve shared before that I’ve outsourced my bookkeeping, accounting, and tax preparation to Heard Accounting. Record and categorize all of your business transactions, identify tax-deductible expenses, and generate financial reports that are easy to understand. Additionally, I love that I can schedule a call as needed if something is changing in my business, or if I have questions about something related to accounting. If you’re interested in working with Heard Accounting, use this link to get a $100 gift card after your first month!

Comprehensive Electronic Health Record 

Many private practice therapists research a comprehensive electronic health record (EHR). There's a good reason for this; most therapists will use an EHR daily in their work, and they want to ensure that the company or service they go with will be easy-to-use. Many therapists also fear spending money upgrading to an EHR that includes services like insurance billing, integrated scheduling, or a client portal. 

I found that trying to DIY the inclusivity of a comprehensive EHR ended up costing me lots of time and money. When I DIY-ed my billing instead of using a clearinghouse and integrated insurance billing system, it took me 2-4 hours per week to do my insurance billing. I lost several hours a month of my time, which could have been time I spent seeing paying clients. At the very least, I lost out on hours that could have been used differently. 

Outsourcing my makeshift EHR to Simple Practice has been an excellent investment in my business. And you don't just have to be a mental health therapist to use Simple Practice: speech and language therapists, psychiatrists, and coaches are all good candidates for Simple Practice. In addition to the actual product, Simple Practice has excellent customer service, a robust entrepreneur website called "Pollen," and a comprehensive catalog of on-demand continuing education videos. So if you are thinking about making the switch to Simple Practice’s EHR, use my affiliate link for a $100 credit.

Hiring a Strategic Virtual Assistant

Hiring a virtual assistant is so much more than finding a virtual receptionist for therapists, though hiring someone for billing, answering phones, and scheduling appointments can be helpful. As a person who has not only has a private practice but an active podcast, Instagram, and engaged newsletter audience, I needed to outsource for some unique help. I hired someone who had skills in social media, content writing, and social media graphic design. I found someone who had experience in social media content creation for a college's mental health department and studied public health marketing. Hiring them means a win for me (someone who knows their stuff) and a win for them in rounding out their resume with mental health and money marketing.  

Wondering how to find a virtual assistant? You can look for virtual assistant agencies which can manage the billing piece and match you with a person who has the skillset you need. Another option is to search locally for someone who can do the tasks you are looking to outsource. For example, if you need help with graphic design and social media design, you could call a nearby art school. If you need help with administrative tasks like billing, scheduling, and answering emails, you could see if any stay-at-home parents are looking for a few hours of work per week that they can do from home. Tap into your network, too! My most recent hire came from a request I sent out to my email list and via Instagram.

Outsourcing Considerations for Therapists

What feels ethical to you? I refuse to partake in "outsourcing by paying someone in a different country less than you'd comfortably pay someone in your home country" (yes, this is a dig at Tim Ferriss and his followers). I wanted to have a working knowledge of the things I outsourced before doing so, so if I had to take back a task, I wouldn't be left scrambling.

Outsourcing Help For Therapists

If you are a therapist or care provider in private practice and are having a hard time outsourcing, I'd invite you to join me in my small group coaching program, Grow a Profitable Practice From the Inside Out. I run this program throughout the year, and past participants have shared that it "was more than worth it for the self-growth, business growth, and mindset." When it comes to outsourcing, often it's a deep-seated fear of feeling like you have to DIY things on your own or you can't afford to hire help. Read through the program details and consider applying if you are ready to have loving support and accountability as you grow your online therapy practice sustainably. We'll cover money mindset, fee-setting, adhering to boundaries, niching, writing your website for SEO, and how to practice self-care.

Some links included in this article are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

 

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88: Having a Teletherapy Practice: Is it Right For You?