It’s real talk time! Let’s talk about the reality of making money as a practitioner.
It’s really easy to get caught up with all the service parts of being a practitioner and ignore the reality of running a business.
But, if we are actually in the business of being a practitioner, we need money flowing through the doors…. or the doors wont stay open for long!
But I know money is an uncomfortable topic for many, but it’s a reality we must face if we want to be successful so we can help our clients – and ourselves.
Making Money As A Practitioner
There are two aspects of making money – mindset and strategy. And before I knew about money mindset issues, I couldn’t understand why putting all the strategies in place wasn’t working out for me.
See, your mindset is a really important aspect of successfully making and managing money. So, we’ll start easy and address some things you might have been ignoring.
Setting Yourself Up For Success
Be honest right now – are you cringing right now?
Believe me, I’ve been there. In fact, during my first couple of years of practice, I totally stuck my head in the sand instead of dealing with my money. I collected so many documents and receipts and just put them in a shoebox so I could pretend they didn’t exist. All I wanted to do was ‘do what I do’ and not have to think about the money side of things.
But this kind of avoidance affects the way we show up in your practice and what we’re creating online. But the good news is that it shifts when we start to talk about it. So I’m excited to get into how to take control of your money mindset and set yourself up for success.
Let’s start by finally looking at all the behind the scenes details you may have been ignoring. Because if your business doesn’t have all its ducks in a row, you may not be legally covered.
Surprised? Yes, legal requirements, insurance – all those boring business details are part of making money as a practitioner.
Do Your Duty
So let’s start here. Take a look at this picture…
This was me, back when I was new in my practice. Doing the duck dive – just hiding my head and avoiding anything to do with money. I didn’t want to see all of the things or pay attention to official business details.
But you know what happens when you do a duck dive like this to hide?
Your butt is up in the air – at risk.
That’s the thing about doing your duty. The first consideration is to ensure you have all the ticks in place to have a business that is legal.
I have a free challenge for Naturopreneurs to get all of these things taken care of. And every year, hundreds, even 500 people at a time, do this challenge. And every time, people get tripped up. They find things they’d forgotten to take care, or that have been on their to-do list all year.
So let’s go over how to ensure your legals, insurances, and documents are looked after. Including:
- Public liability
- Professional indemnity
- Legal coverage
- Associations and registration
- Website privacy policy
- Terms and conditions
- Advertising policy
- Pricing
- Code of conduct
- Disclaimers
- Privacy and confidentiality
Now, each of these will be slightly different for your specific expertise and business. But they are all elements that you need to address to make sure you are legal to practise.
Natupreneur Scavenger Hunt
The challenge that I run is called the Natupreneur Scavenger Hunt. If you’d like to go through this challenge on your own right now, sign up here to get started.
Whether you decide to start or not, let’s talk about the different elements and what you need to do for each.
Public Liability, Professional Indemnity, & Legal Coverage
First, check and ensure your insurances are in place AND that they are the right amount to make sure you’re legal. Check with your Association or registering body to find out what they suggest.
Associations & Registrations
Next, make sure you are registered with the appropriate association or registering body, depending on the type of practice you have.
Website Policies
The workbook (link above) goes over all the things you are actually required by law to have (particularly in Australia). But you need to look at your particular area and what you legally need to have your website up.
Privacy Policy
For instance, a website privacy policy is required pretty much everywhere.
The downloadable Workbook gives you reference to my website privacy policy, to give you an idea of what you’re actually looking for. There’s also a link to Michelle Whitehead, who is a lawyer who specialises in practitioners in Australia. So, if you need any more information, her details are there.
Your website privacy policy, by law, covers the fact that people will click on your website and that the information that they garner there or the information that they give or click on there is going to be used in a certain way.
It’s an agreement – a relationship – in place between you and the person who clicks on your website. It can be relatively simple and there are ways and means to get one. You are required by law to have one.
Terms & Conditions
Next is Terms and Conditions. If you are taking any money through your website for online courses, details for booking systems, and things like that – you do need Terms and Conditions.
The T&Cs covers where that information goes, what will happen to it, and that the user is agreeing for you to be able to use the information.
If you’re in Australia, this is covered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. They have some really great downloadable pdfs all about your requirements and what you need to be covered, by law.
Pricing
This is where a lot of practitioners trip themselves up.
You are actually required by law to have your pricing up in a prominent place. If you are offline, this means you need your pricing up at the place in which they are going to pay for your services. For example, at your reception desk
If you are online, it means you must display your pricing on your website if you are in Australia.
Code of Conduct
If you are an unregistered health practitioner, then you need to display a Code of Conduct. That’s also in the downloadable Workbook.
The Code of Conduct must be visible in your place of practice. And if you work online, then it needs to be visible somewhere on your website.
Disclaimers & Privacy & Confidentiality
Finally, disclaimers are really useful legal documents, especially in the online eCourse world. And Privacy and Confidentiality is something that you must always have in place if you are taking initial consultations.
And the same thing has to occur if you are providing eCourses, memberships, or anything else you might be creating that will require you to collect user information.
Take Action
The Nat Biz Scavenger Hunt is a tick of the box type deal but it’s also a mindset exercise. Push past your desire to hide your head in the sand (or do a duck dive) and face the details head-on. You’ll be amazed by how empowered you will feel when you take care of these items that have lurking in the back of your brain for all this time.
Think of this as a treasure hunt and find out if you have everything you need in place and to do whatever is needed to fill in the blanks.
Of course, working through this checklist is only one part of setting yourself up for making money as a practitioner. Come back next week to read my next blog on fostering a healthy money mindset.
Until then, take this article as a not-so-gentle reminder to invest some time, energy, and maybe a little money to ensure you minimize the risks of being in business. And increase the relatability and responsibility between you and your potential clients!
And if you missed the links above, you can get started with the Scavenger Hunt here.
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