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You might consider targeting a niche market by specializing in a certain aspect of your industry, such as treating shoulder pain or knee pain, or adding yoga and meditation therapy.
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Written by: Carolyn Young
Carolyn Young has over 25 years of experience in business in various roles, including bank management, marketing management, and business education.
Published on May 4, 2022
Updated on December 25, 2022
Investment range
$11,950 - $29,800
Revenue potential
$130,000 - $416,000 p.a.
Time to build
3 – 6 months
Profit potential
$65,000 - $83,000 p.a.
Industry trend
Growing
Commitment
Full-time
As Baby Boomers move into their golden years, the need for physical therapy has spiked, which is why the market has expanded by a third in the last decade. If you’re a physical therapist, you could start your own clinic to boost patients’ quality of life, grab a share of a $40 billion market and make a great living, all while following your passion.
But they don’t teach many business skills in physical therapy school, so you’ll need to learn how to cut through the red tape and become an entrepreneur. Luckily, this step-by-step guide contains all you need to know to launch and run a successful physical therapy clinic.
Starting a physical therapy business has pros and cons to consider before deciding if it’s right for you.
Trends in the physical therapy industry include:
Challenges in the physical therapy industry include:
Startup costs for a physical therapy clinic range from $12,000 to $30,000. The main cost is renting and outfitting the clinic space. If you have more limited financing, you could cut costs by starting out as a mobile and virtual physical therapist, going to your clients and providing therapy online to build a reputation. This would save you $5,000 to $10,000 in startup costs, but you would only be able to take a limited amount of equipment to your patients’ homes.
Either way, you’ll need to obtain malpractice insurance. If you’re not a physical therapist, you can find information on becoming one through the American Physical Therapy Association.
To practice as a physical therapist in the US, you must earn a doctor of physical therapy degree from a Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education-accredited physical therapist education program and pass a state licensure exam. Programs typically take three years, and most require a bachelor’s degree.
You’ll need a handful of items to successfully launch your physical therapy business, including:
Start-up Costs | Ballpark Range | Average |
---|---|---|
Setting up a business name and corporation | $150 - $200 | $175 |
Business licenses and permits | $100 - $300 | $200 |
Insurance including malpractice insurance | $500 - $1,000 | $750 |
Business cards and brochures | $200 - $300 | $250 |
Website setup | $1,000 - $3,000 | $2,000 |
Equipment | $5,000 - $15,000 | $10,000 |
Clinic space rental | $2,500 - $5,000 | $3,750 |
Space preparation | $2,500 - $5,000 | $3,750 |
Total | $11,950 - $29,800 | $20,875 |
The average cost of a one-hour physical therapy session is $100. If you start with a small clinic working alone, your profit margin after rent and overhead should be about 50%.
In your first year or two, you might have 25 sessions per week, bringing in $130,000 in annual revenue. This would mean $65,000 in profit, assuming that 50% margin. As your business gains traction, your clinic might provide 80 sessions per week. At this stage, you’d hire staff, including other physical therapists, reducing your profit margin to around 20%. With annual revenue of $416,000, you’d make a healthy profit of nearly $84,000.
There are a few barriers to entry for a physical therapy clinic. Your biggest challenges will be:
Now that you know what’s involved in starting a physical therapy clinic, it’s a good idea to hone your concept in preparation to enter a competitive market.
Research physical therapy clinics in your area to examine their services, price points, and customer reviews. You’re looking for a market gap to fill. For instance, maybe the local market is missing a sports medicine clinic, a clinic that also offers athletic training, or a clinic that provides electrical stimulation therapy.
You might consider targeting a niche market by specializing in a certain aspect of your industry, such as treating shoulder pain or knee pain, or adding yoga and meditation therapy.
This could jumpstart your word-of-mouth marketing and attract clients right away.
Your services will depend on what you decide to specialize in. They might include:
The average price of a one-hour physical therapy session is $100. After your costs of rent and overhead, you should aim for a profit margin of about 50% when you’re working by yourself.
Once you know your costs, you can use this Step By Step profit margin calculator to determine your mark-up and final price points. Remember, the prices you use at launch should be subject to change if warranted by the market.
Your target market will be broad. You should spread out your marketing to include sites like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. You should also try to partner with private practice physicians to get referrals. You can connect with them on LinkedIn or find them on Google or Yelp and call them directly.
Unless you start out working from home, you’ll need to rent out a space for your clinic. You can find commercial space to rent in your area on sites such as Craigslist, Crexi, and Instant Offices.
When choosing a commercial space, you may want to follow these rules of thumb:
Your business name is your business identity, so choose one that encapsulates your objectives, services, and mission in just a few words. You probably want a name that’s short and easy to remember, since much of your business, and your initial business in particular, will come from word-of-mouth referrals.
Here are some ideas for brainstorming your business name:
Once you’ve got a list of potential names, visit the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office to make sure they are available for registration and check the availability of related domain names using our Domain Name Search tool. Using “.com” or “.org” sharply increases credibility, so it’s best to focus on these.
Finally, make your choice among the names that pass this screening and go ahead with domain registration and social media account creation. Your business name is one of the key differentiators that sets your business apart. Once you pick your company name, and start with the branding, it is hard to change the business name. Therefore, it’s important to carefully consider your choice before you start a business entity.
Every business needs a plan. This will function as a guidebook to take your startup through the launch process and maintain focus on your key goals. A business plan also enables potential partners and investors to better understand your company and its vision:
If you’ve never created a business plan, it can be an intimidating task. You might consider hiring a business plan specialist at Fiverr to create a top-notch business plan for you.
Registering your business is an absolutely crucial step — it’s the prerequisite to paying taxes, raising capital, opening a bank account, and other guideposts on the road to getting a business up and running.
Plus, registration is exciting because it makes the entire process official. Once it’s complete, you’ll have your own business!
Your business location is important because it can affect taxes, legal requirements, and revenue. Most people will register their business in the state where they live, but if you’re planning to expand, you might consider looking elsewhere, as some states could offer real advantages when it comes to physical therapy clinics.
If you’re willing to move, you could really maximize your business! Keep in mind, it’s relatively easy to transfer your business to another state.
Business entities come in several varieties, each with its pros and cons. The legal structure you choose for your physical therapy clinic will shape your taxes, personal liability, and business registration requirements, so choose wisely.
Here are the main options:
We recommend that new business owners choose LLC as it offers liability protection and pass-through taxation while being simpler to form than a corporation. You can form an LLC in as little as five minutes using ZenBusiness’s online LLC formation service. They will check that your business name is available before filing, submit your articles of organization, and answer any questions you might have.
The final step before you’re able to pay taxes is getting an Employer Identification Number, or EIN. You can file for your EIN online or by mail or fax: visit the IRS website to learn more. Keep in mind, if you’ve chosen to be a sole proprietorship you can simply use your social security number as your EIN.
Once you have your EIN, you’ll need to choose your tax year. Financially speaking, your business will operate in a calendar year (January–December) or a fiscal year, a 12-month period that can start in any month. This will determine your tax cycle, while your business structure will determine which taxes you’ll pay.
The IRS website also offers a tax-payers checklist, and taxes can be filed online.
It is important to consult an accountant or other professional to help you with your taxes to ensure you’re completing them correctly.
Securing financing is your next step and there are plenty of ways to raise capital:
Bank and SBA loans are probably the best option, other than friends and family, for funding a physical therapy business. You might also try crowdfunding if you have an innovative concept.
Starting a physical therapy business requires obtaining a number of licenses and permits from local, state, and federal governments.
You will need to be a licensed physical therapist in your state. Check with your state for requirements. To get credentialed by insurance companies you will need:
Federal regulations, licenses, and permits associated with starting your business include doing business as (DBA), health licenses and permits from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other intellectual properties, as well as industry-specific licenses and permits.
You may also need state-level and local county or city-based licenses and permits. The license requirements and how to obtain them vary, so check the websites of your state, city, and county governments or contact the appropriate person to learn more.
You could also check this SBA guide for your state’s requirements, but we recommend using MyCorporation’s Business License Compliance Package. They will research the exact forms you need for your business and state and provide them to ensure you’re fully compliant.
This is not a step to be taken lightly, as failing to comply with legal requirements can result in hefty penalties.
If you feel overwhelmed by this step or don’t know how to begin, it might be a good idea to hire a professional to help you check all the legal boxes.
Before you start making money, you’ll need a place to keep it, and that requires opening a bank account.
Keeping your business finances separate from your personal account makes it easy to file taxes and track your company’s income, so it’s worth doing even if you’re running your physical therapy business as a sole proprietorship. Opening a business bank account is quite simple, and similar to opening a personal one. Most major banks offer accounts tailored for businesses — just inquire at your preferred bank to learn about their rates and features.
Banks vary in terms of offerings, so it’s a good idea to examine your options and select the best plan for you. Once you choose your bank, bring in your EIN (or Social Security Number if you decide on a sole proprietorship), articles of incorporation, and other legal documents and open your new account.
Business insurance is an area that often gets overlooked yet it can be vital to your success as an entrepreneur. Insurance protects you from unexpected events that can have a devastating impact on your business.
Here are some types of insurance to consider:
For a physical therapy business, you’ll also need to obtain malpractice insurance.
As opening day nears, prepare for launch by reviewing and improving some key elements of your business.
Being an entrepreneur often means wearing many hats, from marketing to sales to accounting, which can be overwhelming. Fortunately, many websites and digital tools are available to help simplify many business tasks.
You may want to use industry-specific software, such as Kareo, WebPT, or MWTherapy, to manage your scheduling, record keeping, billing, and payments.
Some of your business will come from the casual passerby or online visitors, but you should still invest in digital marketing! Getting the word out is especially important for new businesses, as it’ll boost customer and brand awareness.
Once your website is up and running, link it to your social media accounts and vice versa. Social media is a great tool for promoting your business because you can create engaging posts that advertise your products:
Take advantage of your website, social media presence, and real-life activities to increase awareness of your offerings and build your brand. Some suggestions include:
Website development is crucial because your site is your online presence and needs to convince prospective clients of your expertise and professionalism. They are unlikely to find your website, however, unless you follow Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices. These are steps that help pages rank higher in the results of top search engines like Google.
You can create your own website using services like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. This route is very affordable, but figuring out how to build a website can be time-consuming. If you lack tech-savvy, you can hire a web designer or developer to create a custom website for your business.
Unique selling propositions, or USPs, are the characteristics of a product or service that set it apart from the competition. Customers today are inundated with buying options, so you’ll have a real advantage if they are able to quickly grasp how your physical therapy clinic meets their needs or wishes. It’s wise to do all you can to ensure your USPs stand out on your website and in your marketing and promotional materials, stimulating buyer desire.
Global pizza chain Domino’s is renowned for its USP: “Hot pizza in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.” Signature USPs for your physical therapy business could be:
You may not like to network or use personal connections for business gain. But your personal and professional networks likely offer considerable untapped business potential. Maybe that Facebook friend you met in college is now running a physical therapy business, or a LinkedIn contact of yours is connected to dozens of potential clients. Maybe your cousin or neighbor has been working in physical therapy for years and can offer invaluable insight and industry connections.
The possibilities are endless, so it’s a good idea to review your personal and professional networks and reach out to those with possible links to or interest in physical therapy. You’ll probably generate new customers or find companies with which you could establish a partnership.
If you’re starting out small from a home office, you may not need any employees. But as your business grows, you will likely need workers to fill various roles. Potential positions for a physical therapy business include:
At some point, you may need to hire all of these positions or simply a few, depending on the size and needs of your business. You might also hire multiple workers for a single role or a single worker for multiple roles, again depending on need.
Free-of-charge methods to recruit employees include posting ads on popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Jobs.com. You might also consider a premium recruitment option, such as advertising on Indeed, Glassdoor, or ZipRecruiter. Further, if you have the resources, you could consider hiring a recruitment agency to help you find talent.
Physical therapy is experiencing strong growth as the population ages, which means this is a great opportunity to help people every day and make a good living at the same time. If you have yet to complete your physical therapy education, doing so will be well worth your time and money, as it will enable you to follow your passion and provide an invaluable service.
You’ve gained the required business knowledge, now it’s time to get your successful physical therapy clinic up and running!
You can start a physical therapy business for about $12,000. Costs include the rental of a clinic space, space preparation, and physical therapy equipment. You could save at least $5,000 if you started a mobile physical therapy business, but it would limit the amount of equipment you could use and therefore limit the therapy you could provide.
Yes, a physical therapy business can be profitable, but more importantly, it can be very rewarding. You’ll be helping people live better lives with less pain. But it’s crucial to provide quality service and treatment.
You’ll need to be a licensed physical therapist in your state. You may also need various business licenses and permits at the state and local levels, as well as insurance. Check with your local governments for requirements or visit MyCorporation’s Business License Compliance page.
You can find information on becoming one through the American Physical Therapy Association. To practice as a physical therapist in the U.S., you must earn a doctor of physical therapy degree from an accredited program and pass a licensing exam. Programs typically take three years, and most require a bachelor’s degree.
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