A small business can be a money sucker - even a psychotherapy practice, which does not have a lot of obvious expenses. Everyone likes to save a little money and who doesn't wish to have a little extra time at the end of the day. We've round up a list of the best ways you get some more of both, find some time and money with these tips:
- Do it electronically - I used to print intake forms, have clients fill them out, scan them in and then shred them. All of that takes more time than I would like - recently I realized that my EHR company will email digital forms to new clients and then automatically attach them to my client's file once filled out. This saves me several hours a month!
- Decrease fees - Another small fee that adds up at the end of the year is the one charged by credit card readers to process charges. Find out which one would cost you the least overall. Lucky for you, we've already created a comparison chart.
- Try before you buy - Most online directories, associations and networking events will let you try a month (or 6) for free before you pay out of pocket. Try a few and decide which ones you like before you pay for a year of everything.
- Subscribe - Our offices don't require a ton of supplies, but they do add up. Set up a recurring subscription with a company like Amazon Subscribe & Save and save on each item you buy.
- Join - Decide which associations you like most and become a member to save on individual events. With all the added perks of membership, you'll be saving money and getting a lot more from your time.
- Get an assistant – I know what you’re thinking, this costs more money! Not necessarily, for just a few hours a week you can pay someone as little as $10(ish) per hour to take care of the things you hate doing the most. They might be more efficient than you are. Besides, if your time is worth about $100 per hour, doing the things you hate is just not worth your time or money! You can also look into having a Virtual Assistant to reduce the cost. Another option is to bring a volunteer on board, there are a ton of students looking for some experience who can easily assist with making copies and writing blogs.