Two things I want to share with you.  One is the “Top 10 Rules for Small Business Success” by Brain Grinonneau from About.com.Marketing, a part of the New York Times Company.

1. Target

You are not all things to all people.  Decide on your niche-narrow your focus and broaden your appeal.

2.  Be Different

If you competitors are doing it, don’t.  Stand out from an overcrowded marketplace whee so much of the advertising and products look the same.

3.  Build a Team

Don’t hire an employee to fill a position.  Employ a person to be part of a team to build your business.

Continue reading →

In the last Blog, I discussed a “Needs Analyses”.  The objective was to point out a comparison between being salaried versus self-employed. For example, it will take 545 clinical hours per year or 10 counselling hours per week, to achieve a similar gross salary that you would receive if employed by an agency. I felt it was important to provide a conceptual framework from which to work and answer the questions: Is starting a private practice in clinical counselling financially doable given your location, financial resources, and your market place?

In order to guide you through this process, I will be disusing a strategic planning, operational planning, budgeting, and forecasting. [i]

Continue reading →

Greetings, first, let me give you a little background about me.  I have a degree in business, master’s degrees in adult education, and my second master’s degree is in clinical counselling psychology, as well I have a post-graduate diploma in leadership and administration. In addition to counselling at various places, such as: Hospice in Edmonton, a Women’s Crisis Centre, as a High School Counsellor, and with Cowichan Family Life. I also taught part-time in the bachelor of management degree program at Concordia University, Edmonton, and part-time as the co-ordinator and academic counsellor for the bachelor of education, adult education route at the University of Alberta, and as well, I taught many of the programs in the adult education degree program.  In addition, for many years, I was in  partnership with my husband growing our 4 very successful Optometric Eye Clinics.  When he retired, we moved to Campbell River, BC., where I have now started my private practice in clinical counselling.  

The first question you need to ask yourself is: Do you need immediate income????   Before you even consider preparing a business plan, you need to do the math.  How much income do you need to generate in your private practice that would be equal to a full-time salary if you were employed in an agency possibly earning $43,622.00 per annum? 

Continue reading →