I’m writing this post for three reasons.
- It’s part of my year-end review
- I want to show you the benefits of having multiple sources of income
- I’m always fascinated by how people and businesses make money
I am not writing this post to brag or show you how amazing I am at building successful businesses.
That’s not my style!
For that reason, I am not going to share numbers, but rather percentages.
First off, I am beyond grateful that both Productive Therapist and Guilford Family Counseling were able to keep the (virtual) doors open and not lose any staff.
In my group practice, my team of therapists did a stellar job of switching to telehealth quickly and making that work, both for their clients and for their own lives.
On top of that, having another business that was already 100% virtual was a huge benefit.
Productive Therapist actually grew by 70% this year, which is pretty fantastic.
Because of this we were able to reach our projected revenue goal for the year and that was quite unexpected given the happenings of 2020.
As a part of my year-end review, it was good to be able to focus on some positive outcomes from an otherwise incredibly rough year.
To be honest, this was not my intended strategy, but I have learned that there are some serious benefits of having multiple sources of income.
This includes a level of safety and stability, as well as providing some variety in how you spend your time.
On the flip side, there is some definite risk involved in making all your money from one product or one service. We have all seen what can happen when there are major, unexpected shifts in the world and the economy.
For your practice, having multiple sources of income could mean adding any of the following:
- Group therapy
- Online courses
- Public speaking
- Coaching
- Teaching
- Writing books
- Membership sites
- And so many other options
Also, your multiple sources of income don’t have to be directly related to therapy. 
I have a friend who is optimizing and streamlining her group practice, so she can focus on creating wellness products for dogs! The only limit here is your creativity.
So, here is the breakdown of my business income.
Guilford Family Counseling – 57%
Productive Therapist – 41%
Misc. Stuff – 2%
Productive Therapist is growing quickly, but my group counseling practice still brings in the most money. One positive change this year was that the income from my own counseling sessions went down significantly (only 2% of the total).
The counseling practice is no longer dependent on me providing direct services, which frees me up to focus on other things. I will write a post soon on my experience of retiring as a therapist after 20 years!
I’m super proud of the team we have built at Productive Therapist.
We are already serving over 70 therapy practices across the country, helping therapists to change the world and love their lives at the same time. It’s fantastic!
I did spend some time working on diversifying the income in that business, which up until now has been heavily weighted on our VA services.
This year I added business consulting, copywriting services, more online courses and our first membership site: Therapy Intake Pro.
All of those things combined only made up 2% of our total revenue. However, that will grow quite a bit in the next few years.
One thing I am adding in 2021 is a brand new opportunity for podcast sponsors and I actually just signed my first contract for that. Very exciting!
I continue to learn and grow through this whole process. The level of personal and professional development that has come out of building these two businesses has been life changing.
That may just be more valuable than hitting any income projections!
So, how about you?
How are you going to grow & diversify your income in 2021?
Feel free to leave a comment, idea or resolution in the comments box below.
I would love to hear your creative and inspired ideas.
