Show Notes

Welcome back to The Designer Practice Podcast, and I’m your host, Kayla Das.

In today’s episode, we’re going to be discussing how niching a private practice can help you and your practice.

Now niching is one of those controversial topics, and I say that jokingly because there’s often fear among private practitioners that if we start niching our private practices, that we’ll start losing clients or turning clients away, which of course then impacts income.

However, this is totally a misconception, and actually the reverse is true. When we niche our private practices, we’re allowing more people to feel connected and to feel heard by our marketing initiatives. When we niche our private practices, we actually start gaining consistent income and consistent referrals by clients themselves, referral partners. And just often feels easier to put ourselves out there because now we know who we can say we help, versus saying we help everyone.

Now, I do want to say that there is nothing wrong with being a generalist practitioner, especially if that is what you want in your private practice. However, there are some disadvantages to being a generalist practitioner and we’re going to be discussing some of those later as well.

What is Niching?

But before we dive in, I do want to explain what niching is. If this is the first time you’ve ever heard the word niching. Basically, niching a private practice is when we start to specialize with a specific client population who has specific circumstances or problems that we often support.

If you’ve been listening to me for a while, in my private practice I work with workplace burnout, and that was my specialty, so that is how I niched. And even now in my business coaching, I’m a business coach for therapists and coaches. Of course, I could be a business coach for everyone. But I’m not going to resonate with everyone, nor do I know how to run all types of businesses. So, with that, specializing really is helpful when we start building our practices.

Now the word specialize often scares people because often as therapists or as social workers, we often do not proclaim to be the experts in our client’s lives. And what we mean by specialists is that we start narrowing our focus to a specific problem so that we can really help specific clients who are coming to seek therapy or coaching.

If we were to think of as being consumers ourselves, so let’s put therapy to the side for a little bit. If you had a problem or a situation or something you needed support with, whether you needed a product to solve that problem, whether you needed someone to talk to about that problem, often what you do is you look for something specific.

For instance, a couple years ago, my husband bought me a Dyson vacuum, and it was because I had one specific problem. I had this big clunky vacuum that I was trying to carry up and down over the stairs that was just so difficult to do. So as a result, we ended up getting an expensive vacuum and we’re not people to go out and spend lots of money on different things but because this solved a specific problem, it was lightweight, it was easy to carry up over the stairs. I could easily vacuum the stairwell. All of that made it super easy decision for us to purchase a Dyson.

Now you might be thinking, “Okay, what does a product have to do with therapy or coaching?”

Well, our clients are really coming to us to solve specific problems too. And although we might not proclaim to solve these problems, we usually help people through them and provide skills and strategies and all of those types of things. People are seeking help with something specific. So, when we stay generalists, our clients are not seeing themselves through our marketing, through our services.

And even though we have the skills, knowledge, and experience to help our clients, our clients don’t know that. And because every single person looking for a therapist is looking for a fit for them when we stay so broad, we’re not showcasing ourselves like the Dyson, right? The Dyson really wants to show that it’s lightweight and easy to carry, and as a result I bought it. If they didn’t advertise for that, I probably wouldn’t know they existed, nor would I have bought their product. So going back to therapy, it’s really helpful when we niche that we can really show up for our clients.

How Niching Can Help You?

So how can niching a private practice help you?

You become a “specialist” and known for something

Well, first of all, when you become a “specialist” in a particular area, you become known for that area. So, when other therapists or clients, or anyone is looking for a specific person in that particular area, it’s going to be a really easy decision on who to refer to.

And this has happened for me in my private practice a lot. There are some therapists who have niched or specialized in a specific area that I do not specialize in, nor do I work in. So, they come first of mind when I’m referring out because when we think of being generalists, I have 1,001 generalists that could be in my mind. But usually when I have a specific client that I don’t have the skills, knowledge, experience or competency to help. What I’m then doing is I’m going to refer out to someone who does have that experience, knowledge, and competency. So, when we think of generalists, even if you have that, you may not come front of mind for other referral partners or even clients.

You Create Effective Marketing Copy

The other piece of niching a private practice is it really helps you create effective marketing copy that speaks directly to your ideal client instead of speaking to everyone. And this is really important because a lot of the times as therapists, we almost create our marketing as if we’re writing a resume. And if we think of the most effective marketing strategies that us as consumers have ever purchased, if you ever watched a commercial or saw an ad and you bought something, was it because they were highlighting themselves, their skills, why their product is the best? Or was it that it was really targeting you, your needs, and how that can actually help you achieve whatever result, solution or situation that you were looking for? And I’m assuming it’s probably the latter because if I look at things that I have bought, it’s always been when people are telling me the things that matter to me, not the things that matter to them.

So, when we niche our private practice, we can really listen to what our clients are saying. We can reflect that back in our marketing copy. So, we can reflect the thoughts, the emotions, the feelings, the behaviors, all of these things back to them. What they want to see out of therapy and coaching. These are all the things that our clients want to know. They want to know how you can help them. They’re not as interested in knowing about you.

And in many ways, they assume that if they’re looking for a therapist, that you have the credentials, that you have the experience. But really what brings them in. Is that they see themselves through your marketing copy, and the only way to do that is to start specializing or niching down. Because everyone has different needs, especially if we go across different client populations.

And what’s really interesting is that when we as therapists work in organizations, we are pretty much niched. And what I mean by that is that when you apply for a job, unless you’re applying for a casual position, you are working in a specific area. Whether you’re working on a mood disorders unit at a local hospital, whether you’re working at a domestic violence shelter. Basically, wherever you are working, you are “niched.”

Now, of course, in saying that this isn’t your own business. But for some reason, we understand that it’s okay to niche ourselves when we’re applying for a job and an organization. But when we start building our own businesses and our own private practices, it’s both scary and sometimes it can feel almost exclusionary. But I tell people you’re not being exclusive by niching down. You’re being inclusive because people are going to see themselves through your marketing copy and as a result, contact you.

You Stand Out Among Other Therapists

This kind of aligns with being known for a specific area. But if you niche, you stand out amongst other therapists who have not yet niched. Because I always say that if you are a generalist therapist, you are one of a thousand or 2000. But if you niche down, you’re one of one or one of two or maybe one of five in your area. But the probability of you being thought of and clients reaching you because they’re dealing with a specific problem is a lot higher. Because if you’re a one of one or one of five, that’s a lot less therapists that you’re competing against than the one of thousands or one of 2000.

You Gain Clarity About Who You Serve

The other thing is it provides you clarity about who you serve so that you can actually share this with other referral partners. People may ask “What do you do?” And you might say a therapist, and the next question is usually, “Oh, who do you work with?” And then we say, “Well, anyone who needs help.” This doesn’t necessarily provide clarity for a potential referral partner who wants to refer out or to build their own referral list.

In my therapy practice, I had a list of different therapists that focused in different areas and I used to refer out if I needed to refer out for that specific problem. Almost never did I have a generalist on my list, unless it was a close friend or colleague. But it was more difficult to refer even to the people that I knew that were generalists because they weren’t clear about who they served. I wasn’t clear about who to refer. So that’s another reason why niching in your private practice can be helpful.

Can Help Decrease Imposter Syndrome

And this final one I really noticed for myself, when we start niching a private practice, we start decreasing imposter syndrome. And let me explain that. When we try to work with everybody. We really don’t know everything. We don’t know all the therapeutic techniques. We don’t know all the strategies. We spend so much time outside of our therapy sessions trying to find the right worksheet or the right therapeutic approach. And we’re always chasing instead of starting small, niching in, and expanding out as we start growing our practice.

You Do Not Have to Stick with Your Niche Forever

Because even if you niche now, it does not mean you have to stay with that niche forever. And I think that that’s what stops some therapists, is that they believe that if I have to niche today, going back to my example with workplace burnout, that means I always have to stay with that.

Absolutely not.

And even if you do advertise for that particular clientele, you’re not always going to just get that clientele. Even though I’ve always advertised for workplace burnout, I often got people with relationship breakdown because one of the symptoms of workplace burnout is taking work stress out on loved ones, specifically one’s spouse or partner. And as a result, that often was the major contributor or major situation that led someone to seek counselling. And it’s understanding that even if someone is coming for one specific problem, it doesn’t mean that that’s the only problem that they’re experiencing. So, you can still have an array of clientele that you’re going to be working with.

But going back to the imposter syndrome piece, it really helps because what you’re doing now is you’re expanding out as you go versus being so expansive that you feel that you don’t know enough. And as soon as I niched my practice, which was very, very soon after I started my private practice, I realized that this helped me feel more confident in my abilities because I kept building on my abilities. And because I worked with very similar clients, I could reuse a lot of these strategies over and over as I start building my skills and strategies out. So again, it can really help not having to chase after all the therapeutic approaches or finding the right worksheet or finding the best approach.

Expelling Common Fears

So, I want to break down one of the fears is that niching, a private practice will limit client referrals. And I want to answer this with a yes and a no.

You don’t receive referrals you might not be trained to work with

Yes, in the sense that it will limit your client referrals because you won’t be accepting clients who you might not yet be trained to work with or that you feel confident with, or that you even want to work with. Because what you’re doing now is you’re really focusing on a clientele that you love to work with, that you want to work with. And as a result, you are showcasing how you understand them and their specific issue.

Also, how it helps you as well is that often, especially if you provide consultations in your private practice. Free consultations can take a lot of time, and I truly believe in consultations. I think that they are one of the best both marketing and therapeutic piece to therapy because people want to get to know you and ask their questions before they pay for a session or start working with you, right? They need to start building that trust.

But when it comes to consultations, especially if you keep getting referrals from clients that you don’t feel confident to work with then you’re spending so much time referring out or you put yourself in a situation where you start working with this client and it feels harder to refer out as you start realizing that you may not necessarily have that skill or that training to help.

Let me give you an example, even though I have some training in trauma, I do not work with trauma. I do not feel equipped working with most types of trauma. And as a result, I refer out because it’s a lot easier to refer out in the consult.

However, if we start advertising towards a specific client, we would likely sift out that. For instance, in my marketing, I’ve always been very vocal on that I help with workplace stress. So, when people see my marketing, they’re not confused on who I work with. So as a result, I’m not having consults with people that I may not necessarily feel confident with. I may not have the training for or competency to work with.

You’re showing up differently

So, the reason that you are not limiting your referrals is because now that you’re showing up very differently, you’re showcasing that you understand what they’re experiencing. You’re very clear on who you work with. Other therapists know who you work with. You’re standing out in all of the marketing. You’re one of one or one of five instead of one of a thousand or one of 2000. And as a result, you are top of mind. So, more people are going to start either contacting you for sessions. Or people are going to continue to refer to you because you’re top of mind, you’re on their list of therapists who to refer to if someone is dealing with X problem?

And going back to my example earlier, when we talk about when we work in agencies, right? We’re automatically niched when we apply for a job because we’re applying for a specific department or we’re applying for a specific organization that focuses on a specific area. I’m assuming, at least from my own experience, that it’s very unlikely that your particular department or area that you’ve worked in ever ran out of clients. Sure, certain times a year there might have been less than others. But for the most part, your organization often had clients coming in and that’s because the clients who were coming to that particular area, that you were working in, knew that you could help them, or that department or that organization could help them with their specific issue, their specific problem. So, that is why it does not limit client referrals because now you’re getting more referrals because people really understand who you’re working with and can refer to you.

Work with the Type of Clients you Love to Work With

So, I want to give you a couple questions to help you really think about your niche. To think about who you want to work with and one of the questions I often get asked, and this is not one of the questions I’m asking you to answer, is, what is the most profitable niche?

Really, any niche is profitable. If you love to work with it and you show up the right way. Now when I say that, of course some people may think, “Well, no, that’s not true because” not everyone can afford my services and that is fine. But what I say about profitability is how you show up at the right way. Even when we think of, say, non-for-profits, for instance, and there are many social workers and many therapists out there creating non-for-profits. Now, is that quote unquote profitable? Maybe not in the way that we see profit, but a lot of non-for-profits are open because they get funding from donors or they get funding from the government or they get funding from here or there. So, whatever you’re driven towards, there’s not one right or wrong way to get there. And it also depends on what your meaning of profit is.

But I’m going to assume you’re talking about a private practice that you are not doing a non-for-profit. So of course, in saying that maybe there’s some populations that may not necessarily be as quote unquote profitable, but it’s really about who do you want to work with. And that might even come back to why you even want to start a private practice. Because if you are driven to work with people with X, Y, and Z problem and they may not necessarily be able to afford private practice services. It’s then asking yourself, is private practice the right way for me? Or how can I make this different? How can I think about this differently than other private practice owners are showing up as. But it really starts with who do you love to work with? Who do you want to work with?

So, going back to the question, the first question I want you to ask yourself is, what client problems, situations, issues do I love to work with? I’m driven to work with? When I work with these types of clients, I’m happy, this is where I am meant to be.

Now, I don’t want to confuse this with passion because sometimes we think, “Oh, what am I passionate about?” It’s not about what you’re passionate about, but who is it that you love to work with? I want you to focus more on what you love to work with versus the skills, the trainings, the places that you’ve already worked. I want you to really focus on what you love.

And let me give you an example, prior to going into private practice, I worked with domestic violence. And I feel like I have the skills, the knowledge, the experience to be able to help people who are experiencing domestic violence. However, it’s not what I love to do. I love to work with people with career development, with leadership, with living the life you want to live within your own business. And these are the things I’m passionate about. I’d never worked in it prior to coming into private practice. I was that person. I wanted to find myself. I did find my calling. I did build a business. I did build a private practice, and that’s why I help others.

So it might be that you have previously been this person. It might be your previous self, who your ideal client is. It might be someone that you know, or someone that you love has been through a specific issue or problem at some point, and you want to help that specific population. It might be a place that you’ve worked before. And you think of this particular client or group of clients and you’re like, “Yes, I just love working with that person.” But really think about who is it that you’re driven to work with and you’re motivated to work with and that you want to work with.

And you’re not being exclusionary, even though sometimes we can think of it this way. But it’s that you’re really being true and authentic to yourself. And being a generalist isn’t always inclusive because if we don’t really feel like we had the skills, the knowledge, the experience, and we’re always running off our feet trying to find the best worksheet, the best therapeutic approach, we’re spending less time in the therapy session really being focused with our client and helping them through what they need help with because we’re so focused on all of the external stuff. So, we’re helping our clients so much more by being able to be present, to not feel burnt out, to not feel like we’re going here, there, and everywhere.

And it doesn’t mean you have to have all the answers either, but when you love to work with a specific client, that client is going to know. And when I say client, I do mean client in plural. Like the clients that you work with. When you start niching yourself, you can show up as you. They can show up as them. You can help them with their specific issue and you likely will get referrals from people outside of your niche. And then you get to choose whether or not you want to work with them or whether or not you want to refer them out.

So really asking yourself, “Who do I want to work with? Who do I love to work with?”

And when you’re picking your private practice niche, don’t just think about the profitability. Although, of course, it needs to be a client who can afford your services. Unless you want to set up your business differently, maybe have subsidies with certain organizations or going with EAPs or whatever it is that is important for you. But really focus on who is it that I love to work with? Because in my opinion, that is the absolute secret to private practice sustainability and success.

Conclusion

Okay, I know I might have went off on a tangent a couple times, but I really do hope you enjoyed this episode and found value in it.

Again, I do want to assure you that if you are a generalist right now or you want to stay a generalist, that is okay because that is what you want. But just know that for all the reasons I’ve shared, in this episode, being a generalist is harder in the market. It’s not impossible. But it’s harder and you might actually have to put a lot more work into market. You might have to put a lot more work in to have all of the skills and knowledge and experience to feel confident and ready to go. And you might start experiencing a little bit more imposter syndrome because you have different types of clientele coming up every day. But if that gives you joy and if that is what you want to do. No one is telling you can’t do it.

Thank you everyone.

I hope you enjoyed today’s episode.

Until next time, bye for now.

Credits & Disclaimers

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