When you thought of becoming a therapist, did you also think about becoming a small business owner?
Some people spend years training to become therapists, dreaming of opening their own practice. However, all of their training doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll have what they need to run a successful small business—and that’s exactly what a private mental health practice actually is! You may be an expert in treating mental illness but know nothing about business taxes, staffing, billing, invoicing, and all the other aspects that come with small business ownership.
That is one of the reasons why Owl Practice exists. Yes, we offer unparalleled tools and services to help you with the clinical side of your practice, such as our Circle of Care system, clinical notes, and Video Therapy. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg—we also offer several features designed to help you run the business side of your practice!
Finances and Billing
For many small business owners—not just therapists going into private practice—the financial aspect of opening a small business can be incredibly stressful.
There are many moving parts, from invoicing to billing to ensuring that everything is in order for tax time. If you don’t have an effective system in place, your books can quickly spiral out of control, creating further problems down the line.
Owl Practice simplifies the financial side of your mental health practice by offering a full-featured billing system. When a client arrives for their session, an invoice is automatically created for them. They can pay for their session through Owl using Stripe, and their information is stored for future payments. Best of all, these financial records are securely stored in Owl and can be accessed at any time. It makes everything so much easier when your billing is fully integrated into your practice management system!
Industry-Leading Security
As a mental health practitioner, you know the importance of your clients’ privacy and security. But as a small business owner, your digital security needs to go even further.
That’s why Owl Practice offers industry-leading security measures. We protect not only your clinical notes but also all of your financial documents, schedules, and much more. How?
First, Owl is entirely PHIPA and college compliant, so foreign entities will never have access to your data. Everything is stored on our dedicated Canadian servers, meaning that nothing is kept on your devices locally. Suppose you lose your phone? No worries, because none of your client or small business data is stored on it! Moreover, all of our digital services are encrypted with bank-level encryption (SSL). That means everything sent and received by our servers is protected, from beginning to end.
Redundancy is something else that small business owners need to think about. We back up all of your data regularly on our two Canadian servers, one in Toronto, one in Montreal. If one were ever to fail, all of your data would still be safe on the other.
Scheduling & Reminders
When it comes to small businesses, administrative work can consume a hefty portion of your time.
If you don’t have dedicated admin staff behind you, then it’s up to you to schedule and reschedule appointments, send out reminders, book the working hours of your team, and much more. These administrative tasks are necessary, but you want to spend most of your time with your clients rather than sitting at a desk, right? That means you need a way to automate these essential tasks.
Enter Owl Practice! Our scheduling features allow you to manage your calendar with ease. With our focus on digital security, you can access and alter your schedule anywhere on any device. And thanks to our Client Portal, your clients can even book their own sessions, freeing up a ton of your time.
Even better, you can automate appointment reminders to be sent out to your clients at predetermined intervals. As a small business owner, you know that missed appointments can badly hurt your bottom line. But with appointment reminders, you can reduce the frequency of missed sessions significantly!
Marketing
As a small business owner, you need to get used to the idea of marketing yourself and your practice.
Getting your name out there as a therapist might be the best way to find new clients. However, there are ways to do this without breaking the bank. And believe it or not, Owl Practice offers a way to “market” your practice for free!
It’s called TherapyOwl, and it’s rapidly becoming Canada’s fastest-growing directory of mental health professionals. Not only is it free for people looking for a therapist, but it’s also free for therapists to put up comprehensive listings for their practices. You don’t even need to be an Owl Practice user to sign up for a profile!
On your listing page, you can include your photo, location, all of your qualifications, if you’re currently accepting new clients, and much more. When someone searches for a mental health professional in your area, you’ll pop up! It’s an incredible marketing opportunity for small business owners, and it’s entirely free.
If you’d like to learn more about how Owl Practice can help you manage the business side of your practice, we invite you to sign up for a 14-day free trial! If you have any other questions or comments about our services, please contact us at support@owlpractice.ca.
As Always,
Practice Wisely
