Private Practice - 1 Year in Review

I can't believe I am saying this, but, I have officially been in full-time private practice for 1-year! I have had my practice since 2014; however, December 5th of 2016 was when I left my safe, full-time 9 to 5 job to grow my business.

So much has changed in just one year. I now have a full client load, in which I am scheduling about 6-weeks out for appointments. I am comfortable and competent with billing and calling insurance companies for claims. I eliminated aspects of my business that were just a poor avenue of income or a drain on my emotional well-being. I built and maintained partnerships with companies to bring wellness to them. I started teaching at the college level for the first time and am able to continue doing so with my practice in 2018. There are just so many wins I have had with my business and I am grateful to all of my friends/family who have given me guidance and encouragement along the way.

For today's post, I wanted to share with you just some of my tips/insights from being PorrazzaNutrition for a full year.

Diversify 
I have had many partnerships change over just a few months. Some, I ended due to lack of professionalism. Some, were a steady source of referrals until they hit a business slump, which caused my client intake to decline too. All-in-all, make sure you reach out and connect with a variety of businesses to get your name out there. Don't just rely on one company/partnership to make or break your business. Having a diverse number of partnerships will also put you in a better bargaining position, should that time come.

Find Your Passion and Motivation 
What motivates you to be in private practice? Is it the flexibility? Is it the freedom of designing your own path? Is it being able to help a greater network of clientele? Find out what motivates you! If I get overwhelmed or stressed, I stop and think about WHY I am here in the first place. This can really help me to get over the negativity I am feeling and push me to do more.

Always Make Use of Your Time
Being an entrepreneur means that you ride the roller coaster of financial and emotional ups and downs. If you find your business in a bit of a slump, maybe around the holidays, do something productive. Can you work on social media posts, blog topics, website design, or new programs? During my free time, I like to divide my days into "business" and "personal." I make a list of things I want to accomplish when I don't have clients to be able to grow my business. On the other side of things, I brainstorm what personal items I want or need to get done. I try to stick to the hours or days I determined I would work on my business to keep a personal boundary for myself.

Create a Positive Support System

The support I have gotten from my boyfriend, family, and friends has really lessened some of my bad days. Find at least one person that can be a sounding board for you. Someone who can tell you that you can do it. Someone who can push you to do more than you think is possible. Someone who can tell you when something is a terrible idea (it has happened to me on a few occasions). If you don't have anyone personally you can count on for the moment, look to online groups. I am in a few different ones on Facebook and also within email threads. It's nice to see you are not alone in your efforts and that many have been in your same shoes. It's also a really awesome feeling to be able to support someone else in their private practice journey. 

Take Time to Assess 

I have been keeping a business journal since the first day I started my business full-time. This has been a really useful tool for me. I write about positive and negative things I encounter in my practice, brainstorm new ideas, or just vent when I need to. Over the months, I can go back and see how far I have come in business and also reflect on some of my successes. I feel like keeping a journal has been a very grounding experience and also a way for me to just write and move on from something I may be overthinking. 

Take the Chances

You never know what you might become or what you might do in the next month or year. So, don't limit yourself by saying, "I can't." Take the opportunities when they arise, and not just for financial reasons, but for experience and growth. Network with others, keep your business connections, and stay open to new possibilities.

Business Planning for 2018

The holidays are fast approaching and that means 2017 is coming to a close! I feel like this year flew by for me. This was my first year as a full-time business owner and I have loved every minute of it (even the stressful ones). Over the past few months, I found myself working IN my business versus ON it. I realized with overbooking myself, I was stunting my business growth. While the income was great, I was just going through the motions daily without creating anything new or challenging myself.

With that, I decided to start working on my business goals and strategy for 2018. I wanted to have a plan in place so I can start taking action steps for the many ideas that I have. Below are some of the questions I asked myself when thinking about my 2018 plan.

Questions to Ask Yourself
1. What is your ultimate vision for the end of 2018?
-Think of what you want your business to look like by Dec 2018. What does your day-to-day include? What is your schedule like? What types of clients are you seeing? This can help you to identify goals and action steps to take monthly and daily.

2. What are your large goals for the year?
-This could be launching a practice or starting a new program. Think about larger goals being more long-term (i.e. to accomplish in 6-8 months).

3. What are your smaller goals for this year?
-This could include working on marketing to local businesses or incorporating more social media posts. Think about smaller goals as being more short-term (i.e. weekly or monthly).

4. Why is all of this important?
-Think about the importance of each of your goals. This will help with driving your motivation and also developing a targeted strategy for building and marketing.

5. What pitfalls do you want to avoid?
-Think about the hangups you had this year in business. Did you tend to overbook yourself? Are you doing too much on your own? Are you lacking personal time? Are you saying yes too much? Be aware of the things you want to work on and build them into your goals and ultimately your schedule. Write out monthly reminders to yourself to help avoid these pitfalls throughout the year.

After I asked myself the questions above (doesn't have to be in this order), I brainstormed all of the steps I needed to take for each of my ideas and goals. I actually did this over a few days while on the train and waiting for appointments. After I had a comprehensive list, I organized the steps into a logical order and began to map them out on my calendar as due dates.

I also planned out the dates I wanted to schedule clients and when I would be working ON my business. One of my main goals for this year is to not overbook myself and instead stick to the boundaries I set. Although this will include my having to say "no" sometimes, I know this will be really important for my business and my sanity!

I hope this post helps you to plan out a successful 2018! Happy holidays!

Business Lessons Learned - Letting Go

This past month, I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do long-term with my business. One major thing I learned is that it is okay to just let go. Let go of aspects of your business that are not working. Let go of hangups you have on moving forward. Let go of bad business connections.

I used to think of letting things go as a sort of moral failure; that I just wasn't working hard enough at whatever it was to make it succeed. The fact is that I have changed since I started my business and I can guarantee many of you reading this have done the same at some point in your career. Maybe the change was gradual and you didn't even notice it right away or maybe it was sudden and out of necessity. I needed the change in my business to become a better and more well-rounded professional. Letting go does not mean you didn't put in the time and effort for success. It is not to be seen as a "failure," but a learning experience, opportunity for growth, or chance to try something new.

I challenge you to look at your business with an outside perspective. What is eating at your time and not producing results? What connections are more damaging to your business and/or productivity than they are beneficial? What can you you let go of for the opportunity to grow?

Earlier this week, I sat down at my business journal and just brain dumped what I was thinking. I wrote down things I wish I had known (and did now), tips for myself, frustrations, "aha" moments, just everything. I filled almost 4 pages with random thoughts and it was actually quite invigorating. Going back a few days after writing, I realized there were some gems in my string of random thoughts. If you have a rough day (or month) or even a great one, take a few moments to just write out your thoughts on paper. No judgement. No worries about grammar. Just write and see what realizations you come to have about yourself and your business. This could help you in taking the next step in your business or changing the way you run things.

Below are just a few of the many business tips and realizations I brain dumped that day.
-I think I would like (and need) a secretary to help with fielding calls and scheduling appointments. (This made me look into online scheduling software).
-I like guiding and teaching, which make me want to search out more opportunities to do presentations and also develop more programs to coach or work with other Dietitians.
-Some days, I am just completely unmotivated and that is okay. Every day won't be super productive. Just as long as those unmotivated days don't become an issue for business.
-Mid-day gym sessions really boost my productivity and momentum.
-A support system can really make or break you. Just having that 1 person makes a world of difference.
-Some days you just work late.
-I wonder how other people see me and my business. I wonder how I could gauge this.
-I need to DO more than THINK. I spend too much time planning and overthinking that this sometimes leads to inaction.
-Relating to your clients is key. Trust begins here and they feel safer opening up.

Have you ever just brain-dumped in a journal? What "aha" moments did you have? Leave a comment and let me know!

Dietitian Interview Tips

Welcome back to My RD Journey! Things have been a bit crazy over here the past few weeks. I half expected my client load to decrease with the end of summer and beginning of the school year; yet, it is has been the opposite, which is good! I also got the opportunity to teach an in-person class at a local community college for this semester. It was super last minute as in I found out about it on Thursday, interviewed Friday, went to an in-service the following Monday and started teaching Wednesday. I didn't have access to anything, just a textbook and role-book on my first day. I am now heading into week 4 of classes and I love it! I love being able to teach young minds about nutrition and I especially love that I have so much flexibility in how I teach the materials. Despite the craziness in my schedule, I love that I have the opportunity to teach and ultimately grow professionally. It is very gratifying!

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about my business and the direction I want to move in. I have enough clients to bring on another Dietitian, yet, I am hesitant to do so since I would have to change up my business structure, figure payroll out, and whatnot. I know a few other RDs that do this; however, I am not sure if this is my ideal long-term business plan. I am also finishing up the editing for my first book and I definitely want to get it out for September. I have about 6 other book ideas fleshed out (some for RDs and some for public); however, I am just struggling to find time to write. I am at the point where I could just continue with my current load of clients and classes; however, a part of me wants to change it up. I also want to have more time to myself versus running around every day. I am wondering if teaching is something I will end up wanting to do more of long-term. Anyone else reach this turning point in their business? What did you do in moving forward?

Since I had recently interviewed for a college faculty position, I wanted to share some of the tips I gained. Whether you are a new RD looking for a job out of your internship or an RD that is debating switching careers, these tips will hopefully provide you with some insight.

(Dietitian) Interview Tips 

1 - Do Your Research
For almost every interview I had, I was asked the question, "Why did you choose ____(insert facility name here" or something along those lines. So, think to yourself, "Why are you interested in this facility or this position?" If you are just trying to get any job, spend a few minutes on the company's website or Facebook page. Are there programs that they run that you think are great? What about their philosophy for wellness or patient care? Pinpoint some aspects of the facility that you could touch on in the interview.

2 - Bring the Essentials
For my interview, I brought in my resume, CV (which had more detailed information about my education), cover letter, list of 3-4 references, and some examples of my work. Even if the information was submitted already online or via email, I always bring hard copies with me. I have had interviewers put my copies in with my employee file or review with me during the interview. When thinking about bringing work examples, I tailor the materials towards the type of interview I am in. For example, with teaching I had sample lesson plans I wrote for high school students and adults. I normally wait to bring out my work samples until it comes up in conversation.

3 - Be Prepared
If you haven't interviewed in a while (or ever), make sure you do some practicing with a friend or family member. Go through some of the most common interview questions like: what are your strengths and weaknesses or what is your teaching philosophy or why would you be a good fit for this position or how would you handle scenarios for conflict or working in teams. Trust in the education and experience that you have!

4 - Dress to Impress
I always say to fellow Dietitians and interns that it is better to dress up and be told to dress down than the opposite. Come to the interview in your best professional attire even if you know the position you are applying for involves wearing scrubs.

5 - Come with Questions
When you go in for an interview, you are also, in a sense, interviewing the facility/interviewer. Will this place be a good fit for you? Do they offer the benefits you need? Always come prepared with questions. The last thing you want to do is get into a job and realize it was not what you expected! Ask what a typical day looks like for the Dietitian. Ask about the interview process or training procedures. Don't be afraid to come with a list of questions to ask. This also shows your organizational skills, that you prepared for the interview and you care about your role as a Dietitian.

Remember to just be yourself and trust in the experience that you have. Leave a comment and let me know your best interview tips!

Tips for Writing Your First Book

Welcome back to My RD Journey! For the past few months, I have been working on my first book! I had been thinking about writing a book for the past year now, but it wasn't until the beginning of this year that I actually thought I COULD do it. I was so full of self-doubt about my skills as a writer and my ideas as a Dietitian, that I was terrified to start compiling ideas for my book. I mean who am I to write a book?!

I purchased a few books (see below for my recommendations) and before I knew it, I was more than excited to write. I started testing my book ideas out with my clients and fellow Dietitians and I became more confident in my book ideas. After a while, I started to have this "itch" to write something tangible that people could use long-term. Is weird as this may sound, it was like I NEEDED to write and it truly became a passion of mine.

At this point, I finished a first full draft of my book and have it out to my beta readers for commenting. I must had re-read and edited 100 times before sending it to my first reader! Once I get the edited versions back, I will do another couple of revisions before the final editing process. I have decided to self-publish, so I have a bit more back-end work to do.

Anyways, for today's post, I wanted to share with you some of the resources and tips that helped me in the beginning stages of writing my first book!

Create a Timeline 
One thing I did not do for this book, but plan to do for my future ones is to create a timeline for writing and editing. I started toying around with my book idea in May, but it wasn't until almost July that I had content written down. In August, I started planning out when I would edit, send copies to my beta readers, re-edit, etc. Having a timeline pushed me to work harder and gave me a clear vision of my book's path. I highly suggest getting together a timeline for your book now.

Practice Writing
If you don't currently have a blog or social media page, get one! Start practicing your writing skills. The more you write, the more you learn about yourself, your style of writing, your method of writing, etc. Are you someone who likes the pen and paper? Would you rather type it out? Does writing at home distract you? Learning about yourself now, will help when you start writing a longer-form book.

Pull From Previous Content
If you have been blogging or writing articles for a while, pull from that content when creating a book. Think back to previous lessons and presentations. All of that material can become apart of your book. Use the great things you have already created as an outline for this book or future ones!

ID How to Capture Ideas 
I often get random ideas about books or content for the book I am writing while driving, showering, or sitting on the train. One of the biggest tips I have is to find a way to capture these ideas. I now carry around a small notebook to jot down thoughts. I have a notepad app on my phone that also voice records, and I keep a brainstorming document on my laptop. I never remember all of the fleeting ideas I have, so being prepared with ways to capture them has been super helpful.

Join Mastermind Groups

I am apart of a few different writing groups, one of which is within the AND. I love these groups for not only the tips, but also, motivation! Join online groups, email newsletters, or in-person meet-ups!  

Get Over Your Fears
Your first book may not be your greatest book, and that is totally okay! Put your heart and soul into what you are doing and just know that the second time around, you will be even better. You will always have people who dislike your content, whether it be a book or blog. You will also always have your die-hard readers and followers. Focus on that positive energy! One thing I kept reminding myself in this process is that I know what I write will at least help one person (even if that one person is a family member).

Just Write 
For about 2 months, I was so concerned with learning the best way to write, the best way to market my book, and the best way to format my book, that I didn't actually even write anything! I was psyching myself out of writing thinking about all the things I needed to do. I pushed that all aside and basically said to myself that I was worrying over a product that I didn't even have yet! My final piece advice to aspiring writers out there is to just write. Get it all out on paper first and then worry about the rest.

Are you thinking about or currently writing a book? What have been your most helpful tips in the writing process? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Great Books That Relate to Writing/Creativity/Niche:
Make Your Idea Matter
Start Writing Your Book Today
Writing the Damn Book
The War of Art

Look out for my first book coming SEPTEMBER 2017! 

Balancing Work & Personal Life

Happy Saturday! This is going to be a bit shorter of a post since I have a ton of cooking to do for Easter tomorrow. I am making about 70% of the menu this year, which I am so happy about, since it was a slow process getting my whole family interested in healthier meals/sides.

The past few weeks, I have had a lot of time to reflect on how one-sided my life felt in terms of balance. I felt like I was always working and just squeezed in time for myself or my family. I still wasn't working on the things that I had set goals for (like writing an e-book or creating Podcasts) and I really needed to make that change. I had a few family issues this week (all resolved) that made me appreciate the fact that I have a private practice and do have flexibility. I did realize that my time still needed to be adjusted for a more optimal day-to-day routine. So, with that being said, this post brings to you my top 3 tips/lessons for having a more balanced work and personal life.

1. Set (and Keep) Boundaries for Yourself
I am the worst at keeping my boundaries. I will say to myself that Tuesday I am not booking clients so I can work on x-y-z. Then, a client comes along needing an appointment and I say, "Hey, what's an hour?" The reality is that the 1-hour appointment also includes travel time + prep + post work (billing, report writing, etc) and can really break the concentration I had going for the day. I now schedule in my calendar the days where I don't see clients and I stick to it. Setting boundaries also means not checking emails or your phone constantly. I no longer answer emails after 8pm, unless it has been a late day for me. I always think to myself that, "It can wait, or they would call." If not, I end up checking the email, spending the time to respond or react in some way and ultimately it feels like my work day is just dragging on and well into my personal time.
2. Schedule It
Going along with keeping boundaries, use your calendar to schedule when you are doing personal things. I planned out the days I would go to the gym and when I would be gardening. I also set days for office-work for my business and times when I would work on content creation. This could mean seeing clients on Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays and also teaching classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It could mean Tuesdays are when I garden and spend time doing personal things. It could mean Fridays are office-work days where I follow-up on billing issues, work on social media, etc. At first I had the thought that my life was so planned it leaves no wiggle room; however, I discovered that by setting aside the time initially, I had more freedom and flexibility.

3. Don't Overbook Yourself
When I first started my practice full-time, I just wanted to get as many clients scheduled as I possibly could. After realizing that I wasn't spending time on furthering my practice, I began to cut back on my workload and space it out a bit more. If I overbook, I end up stressed out and really just not at my prime. Not overbooking yourself ties right into keeping the boundaries you set. If I lose a client because I can't see them in 2 weeks, then so be it. It rarely has happened that someone doesn't want to wait for an appointment; however, I know for my sanity and stress level that cramming in an appointment isn't good for me. Usually, those cram-in appointments take the place of the time I wanted to go to the gym or time I wanted to create something. In the long-term, it isn't worth it. In my last blog post, you can read all about how I have been striving to reform my practice to allow for more flexibility while maintaining income in the long-term.

In the end, the reason I am so busy is due to my own fault in over scheduling and plain overbooking myself. I no longer want to be so busy that I can't enjoy the things I love like gardening or spending time with my family or cooking. So, my personal commitment is to streamline my business and tasks that go along with it to be able to have the optimal work-life balance for me.

Leave a comment and let me know what your tips/strategies are for keeping your work and personal life in balance.

Setting Income Goals - Billable vs. Non-Billable Hours

Hey there! A few weeks ago, I posted about setting fees in your private practice. As a follow-up to that, I wanted to break down how I determined my monthly and yearly income/expense benchmarks. This is just my way of setting income goals and it is by no means perfect. I am not an accountant or even have a business background, just a dietitian running a private practice and learning things as I go! You don't necessarily need to do every step listed in every order, again, I am just posting this as a guide for my fellow private practice RDs and RDs-to-be.

Step 1a: Figure Out Your Personal Expenses
I separated my expenses into business and personal, but since I am self-employed, both get factored in to my equation. I found it easiest to figure out what my expenses were per month and then times that by 12 to get the yearly expenses. Any expense that was paid yearly (car insurance, etc), I divided out to see what a monthly average cost would be. My estimated monthly personal expenses ended up totaling $1470, which brought my yearly personal expense total to $17,640.

Examples of personal expenses: food, living (rent, utilities), medical (bills and medications), car-related (gas, inspection, etc), gym membership, phone bill, etc. I also added in here an extra $100 for miscellaneous expenses (i.e. gifts, clothes, etc).

Step 1b: Figure Out Your Business Expenses

Many of you who have been following me the last year or so may know that I do primarily in-home counseling and some work-site counseling. I don't have any overhead for office space rentals, etc. I just wanted to throw that out there since my monthly business expenses may seem a bit low. My estimated monthly business expenses ended up totaling $400 initially; however, I did have to add in health care costs since I pay for my own insurance now. That brought me up to about $700/month for business expenses. 

Examples of business expenses: office supplies (ink, paper, etc), travel/parking for classes/counseling, cooking class materials, referral fees, memberships, business banking fees, health care, liability insurance, faxing services/machine, etc.

Step 2: Figure Out Yearly Income 
Right off the bat, I know that I need to make at least $26,040 to cover my personal and business expenses (monthly expenses x 12). I also wanted to be able to save some of my income and not just live paycheck to paycheck. When I first figured out my desired income, I settled on $40,000 for the year. This level of income would cover my expenses + estimated taxes. For estimated taxes, I averaged about 15.3% being paid towards federal (SS + Medicare) and about 4% for PA tax. I rounded this up to about 25% just to cover myself. With taking out about $10,000/year for taxes and $26,040 for expenses, that left me with about $3,960. This number could vary in real life since I overestimated for expenses and taxes. Also, when doing taxes for the year (or quarterly), you do get some tax breaks for being a business owner and a lot of my expenses were write-offs. Regardless, I still wanted to have a rough estimate to figure out my income goals. If you wanted to have $40,000 be what you would see after taxes, just do the following -> ($40,000 x 25%) + $40,000 = $50,000. You could also think to yourself that you just want to make ends meet. In that case, you could do the following -> (Yearly expenses x 25%) + Yearly expenses = Desired yearly income.

Step 3: Figure Out Monthly Income Goals
One easy way to figure out monthly income goals would be just to divide out your desired yearly income by 12. Still using the $40,000, that would be $3,333/month. With $50,000/year that would be about $4,167/month. From this point, there are a lot of ways you can figure out client goals; however, below I list just two of them. Before I get into that, I just want to point out that you will need to think about what is considered billable versus non-billable hours. You may work a 40-hour week and end up only being able to bill for 20 hours of that. Billable time is what you are getting paid for (i.e. counseling appointment time, class time, etc). Any office work, emails sent, time prepping for an appointment, etc may not be time that you can necessarily bill for. So, when thinking about client goals just know that this is the billable time or amount of time in which you receive payment for services.

Step 4: Figure Out Client Goals (Option 1)
Let's say you have an income goal of $3,333 per month, this breaks down into a weekly goal of about $833. If you only have 8 hours available for billable hours (i.e. 8 hours to see clients) then this means you will need to charge at least $104 per client and see at least 8/week ($32/month) to be able to reach your desired income goal. If you don't take insurance and you already know that you charge $120/hour, this cuts the number of clients you see per month to 28 versus 32. You can think about what your time is worth and determine a rate for counseling or general services that is even higher and ends up cutting down on how many hours you need to spend doing things that count as "billable." If you accept insurance, you are bound to the fee schedule that they set for you. So, if you get reimbursed $120/hour for initial appointments and $108 for follow-up appointments, you may need 10 initials and 20 follow-ups to hit your monthly goal.

Step 5: Figure Out Client Goals (Option 2)
If you do more than just provide counseling services, you can use this option to determine client goals. Working with the $3,333 as a monthly income goal, let's say you run cooking classes or a nutrition class every month. Let's say you make $800 per month to run this class 3 times. This leaves you with $2,533 ($3,333 - $800 class) to still make for the month. This could mean about 24 follow-up appointments at an average of $108/hour or it could mean 5 initial appointments at $120/hour and 18 follow-ups at $108/hour. Although this seems like a lot of numbers and scenarios, it helped me to figure out how many clients I wanted to be able to see per month. Once I figured out a client goal number, I worked on a marketing plan. I mentioned in my last blog post that I wanted to work on more programs and content versus services. I love what I do as a dietitian; however, I find myself working a lot and only being able to bill (I accept insurance) for a portion of that time. I want to free-up my time and still hit my income goals, which would mean decreasing the "service" portion and increasing the "product/program" portion.

Step 6: Overview 
In summary --> Desired Yearly Income (Factoring in Business + Personal Expenses + 25% for Taxes) divided by 12 months = Monthly Income Goal. Another option = Desired Yearly Income divided by 52 weeks (or 50 if you take out a week for vacation and another week for sick/personal time*) = Weekly Income Goal. From your monthly income goal, you can determine how many billable hours (and ultimately clients or classes) you will need to reach this. It really helps knowing your hourly rate.
*Normally, with being employed, you may get paid for personal, vacation and sick days. If you are self-employed and offer a service, if you don't provide the service you don't get paid.

As a way to check my progress monthly, I created two sort of "snapshot" documents for my finances. The first is the yearly look at my total income, total expenses, and net profit. I made this so I can see where my peak months are for income. The second document I created was for my monthly overview. I tracked the number of appointments (scheduled, cancelled, re-scheduled), classes ran, business and personal expenses, and total income received from both classes and counseling. I also include how many miles I drove that month for business. I was using apps to track my expenses/income before; however, I really like having the paper copy to just have it all laid out in front of me. I just recently got Quickbooks and I really love it, but again just like having my own sheet that makes sense to me.

I hope this blog helped you at least a bit in figuring out your own income/expense goals. As someone who doesn't have a background in finance/accounting, I wanted to just be able to share my process for setting income/client goals. Leave a comment and let me know what other resources have helped you with figuring out finances. I hope to post my snapshot documents on my website; however, if you wanted a copy to get you started, shoot me an email :)

4-Month Practice Recap - Self-Employed Vs. Employee

This blog post was originally going to be all about setting income goals and figuring out billable hours; however, as I approach my 4-month self-employed, private practice milestone, I had something different I wanted to share first. This revolves around mainly how I left a "9-5" employee job for a 9-7 if not 8-7 self-employed private practice. Was it worth it? Of course and I would do it again; however, I did come to realize a few things this past month that are going to redefine how I do business in the future.

When I first thought about private practice, I didn't think it would end up being something full-time. Sure, I would have absolutely loved to just be doing my practice; however, I just didn't see that as being realistic. I was certain I needed the traditional path of jobs to be successful. After a few years, I began to see that full-time private practice was definitely realistic and coming faster than I had imagined. Now, let's flash-forward to when I was deciding to leave my full-time employee job. I debated with myself A LOT in the months leading up to my quitting. Would I make enough money? Would I actually like what I was doing? Would I get overwhelmed? I was someone who was ingrained with the idea of making money and saving for a future. Not that this was at all a bad thing, but I was fearful that I wouldn't be saving and would instead drain the savings I had been building for years.

With those thoughts in the back of my mind, I still quit my job and was quite successful being a private practice business owner. My income surpassed what I was making being an employee, I was flexible enough to be able to spend time with my family whenever needed, and I loved being able to choose what I was doing. So, this doesn't seem so bad at all, right? To be honest, my success was largely due to stretching myself beyond capacity, taking paying gigs whenever possible (even if they were at lower rates than I wanted) and seeing clients even on the days when I wanted to just focus on office work. I wasn't spending time on creating products for my lesson plan store. I wasn't spending time on making YouTube videos. I wasn't spending time on writing a book. I was just working to make money (and of course because I truly like what I do). It was at this point that I realized that I couldn't add more to my schedule because the time just simply wasn't there. I also wasn't adding in the pieces of my business that would be a source of passive income, thus lightening up my day-to-day workload. I was still bound to certain time constraints for classes or counseling for income and low and behold, that cut my flexibility in half.

After a long chat with my beyond supportive boyfriend, I set goals for myself to cut the fat out of my business. My time was more valuable than what I was being paid for some classes and that needed to change. I also needed to actually set and stick to a schedule where I would only see clients and have classes on certain days. I stopped trying to join various committees and groups to network or invest my time in (for free). I stuck with the organizations I was already in and set boundaries for myself as to how involved I would be. I needed to block off time for content/product/program creation. I refused to be a slave to my own business anymore.

So, why I am I sharing all this with you? Well, for me, the easier route in private practice was to just go out and make that quick money. It was the instant gratification and certainly short-term. What was harder was investing (or starting to invest) my time into what would turn into a long-term income source. This long-term income source would free up more of my time so I could actually enjoy being self-employed. I could get back to more of my hobbies without feeling guilty that I wasn't working on the business. I could spend more time with my family without bringing work along. I could invest more time in personal development and enhancing my skills as a Dietitian. The positive side of this was simply endless.

If you ever get to this point in your practice, think to yourself what you truly want in being self-employed. Do you want to work like crazy for the goal of not having a boss or company telling you what to do or do you want to have more flexibility in what you do on the day-to-day, while still making money through passive income sources? Once you think about what your long-term goal is, break it down to determine short-term goals and plan your schedule around that. It is so easy to get sucked into the work and make money thought process; however, this process can be simplified, streamlined, and more so minimized to create more time for yourself. In the end, isn't that what we all want...more time?

To sum up this lengthy blog post, I want to say that when I think about my future, I want that future to include more time for myself, my family, and eventually my kids (I don't have any now). I don't want to be forced into 8 or 10 hour workdays to make enough money, even if it is on my own terms. This post is by no means me saying that if you want the traditional private practice that it is in some way less ideal or wrong for you. The beautiful thing about private practice is that YOU can create the type of business structure that will suite YOUR needs above anybody else.

So, leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on this topic. What does your ideal private practice look like? What does your ideal workweek entail?

Stay tuned next week where I will be sharing my thoughts on how to set income goals and defining billable hours!

Tips for Setting Fees in Private Practice

After turning down an opportunity for a another set of contract classes that I had run in the past, I thought this would be the perfect time to talk about how important knowing your worth is and how to set fees based on that. It is hard to put a price on the service provided as a Dietitian. I want to help people and almost feel guilty charging too much and losing a client; however, at the same time, I rely on my business for income now. I have changed my fees multiple times in the past few years, so today's blog is going to guide you through my thought process and give you tips for setting your own fees (for individual sessions + classes).

Research Dietitians in Your Area
One of the first things I did when trying to figure out what to charge for counseling sessions was to see what other RDs were charging near me. A few did not list their fees on their website (I will talk about this in other blogs); however, the majority were in the $120-$175 range for an initial 1-hour consultation. I ended up going a bit lower since I had just started my practice and didn't have a masters degree or specialty certification yet.

Factor in Expertise + Education
As I mentioned earlier, I low-balled my initial fees for counseling; however, after getting my masters and having my practice for a year or two, I bumped up my fees to match what others charged in my area. When setting your hourly rate or counseling fees, think about your education, experience, certifications, etc. Your knowledge and level of experience is adding to the value that the client receives in the session (or class).

Base off of Insurance Fee Schedules
If you are a provider for insurance companies, you will have a flat rate that they will reimburse you and that changes slightly from initial to follow-up visit for MNT. You can use the rate that insurance reimburses for self-paying clients or choose to make that a little bit lower since they are paying out-of-pocket. The fee schedule for insurances helped me to alter my pricing a bit.

Triple Your Hourly Employee Rate
Something else I thought about when setting fees for counseling was determining what I was paid hourly when I was an employee and multiplying that by 3. Three seems arbitrary; however, I thought that 1/3 goes to me, 1/3 to taxes, and 1/3 to time spent on prepping. This can just help to give you that baseline rate to build from.

Offer Packages + Add-ins
When I think about my initial counseling fee, I also factor in what other "service" I bring to the session. Will the session include bio-metrics? Will I calculate nutrient needs? Will this be an in-home visit or office-based visit? If your initial session is simpler, you can charge a bit lower for the hour and have add-ins that clients can choose from. Say they want menu planning help, that can be added for an extra $60 (or whatever you will charge). Maybe they want a nutrient analysis done for their current meal plan, that can be an extra $50 or so. I also find it helpful to offer packages to clients.

Note About Charging for Classes
The classes were the hardest for me to determine rates for; however, I found the formula below to help me:
Start with Base Rate - $100/hr (I base this off of my flat counseling rate)
+ Travel Expenses - $.50/mile
+ Parking Fees
+ Prep Time/Lesson Development - $40/hour
+ Cost for Supplies/Handouts

When I determine how I am charging for a class, I alter it on a case-to-case basis. My base rate my be lower or higher depending on if this is an ongoing class or a one-time seminar. If I am driving for more than 30-minutes, I may also add in a fee based on the time spent in my car. Parking may be free for some classes/areas; however, others tend to be $20 just for the hour, so this will change too. If I created lessons on this topic before, I may charge $30 or $40/hour for prep time. If this is a new topic or the client wants it to be more involved, then I may charge $50 or $60 for the hour of prep. Lastly, I factor in a few dollars based off of how many handouts I needed. If I am providing a cooking class, I estimate the amount of food needed and will have another fee added to the pricing.

There are so many ways that you can calculate fees for classes. I have often charged a flat rate (lower than $100) and then added in a cost per person ($20/head) with a minimum number required to run the class. Charging for classes will definitely vary per client/company. For some non-profits, I have accepted a lower rate for a one-time class in exchange for them distributing my business cards or keeping me on a list as a dietitian. It is ultimately up to you to decide what you feel the most comfortable charging.

Final Tips
Setting fees for individual clients and group sessions is often difficult. One of the key things I have learned is really knowing your worth and not being afraid to walk away from something. I have had companies/organizations try and take advantage of my services. I even had one goes as far as guilt tripping me into thinking I was a monster for trying to charge even 1/3 of what I normally do. I am all about giving back to my community and providing free programs/seminars. What I need to be careful of is keeping the balance between free and paid work. I often think about if doing something will open doors for me or create opportunity. If the answer is yes, I will provide a free service (i.e. lunch n' learn for a company I may partner with, teaching in a school for the day, etc). If the answer is absolutely no (or slim), I rethink my decision. After all, one of the reasons I went into private practice, which I am sure may be the reason for many, is having the ability to choose your own destination.

Leave a comment and let me know if this blog was helpful to you in determining how you will set fees for your practice. Was there something else you thought about that I didn't mention?

Stay tuned for my next blog that will break down billable hours + setting income goals.

First 10 Steps to Starting Your Private Practice

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about preparing yourself for full-time private practice. I realized afterwards that I hadn't included a post about getting started with your private practice! So, while this is just slightly out of order, I have included a lot of links and resources for getting yourself set-up for private practice. Some of these resources I used when I was first starting out and others I found out about afterwards. I actually ended up doing some of the steps out of the order mentioned below; however, this is what seems to make the most sense for me now.

1. Get an NPI --> LINK
Even if you decide not to accept insurance, it is still something you want to get. It doesn't even take long to register for one. Excerpt from the website: "The Administrative Simplification provisions of HIPAA of 1996 mandated the adoption of standard unique identifiers for health care providers and health plans. The purpose of these provisions is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the electronic transmission of health information."

2. Get a Tax ID Number or EIN --> LINK
Your EIN is your federal tax ID number that is used to ID your business entity; generally businesses need this. This was a pretty simple process as well. You will need to choose a business name. Here is a LINK for information on registering your fictitious name. For my business I am Felicia Porrazza doing business as PorrazzaNutrition. If you are doing business under your full and proper name, you are not required to register your personal name as a fictitious name. I think I spent maybe 2 hours initially trying to figure out if I needed to further register my name in PA. This may vary state-to-state so be sure to check your individual Department of the State website to see what regulations are in place. You will also need to choose your business entity or business structure in this form. Here is a great LINK explaining the types of business structures by the US Small Business Administration, a great resource!

3. Get Professional Liability Insurance --> LINK
I am a member of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics and the one they recommended is Proliability by Mercer. I am pretty sure they still offer a discount for AND members. It is reasonably priced and covered the basics for what I needed as a Dietitian.

4. Insurance Vs. Self Pay Acceptance 
I am not going to go into too much detail here because this will be featured in another post; however, one thing to think about is if you will be accepting insurance or only self-paying clients (or both). If you will only accept self-paying clients, you can move to step 5. If you will accept insurance, I would highly suggest getting yourself set-up with CAQH ProView. This is a free resource that allows you to decrease paperwork for becoming a provider with insurance companies. It will ask for your professional and practice information, credentialing info, directory services, etc. When you go to apply to become a provider for a particular insurance company, they will ask for your CAQH number. It has really helped me to streamline the process and avoid entering the same information 10 times. The application takes a bit of time; however, it was very much worth it! I started working on this step while I was still working a full-time job since it took a few months to get credentialed anyways.

5. Deciding Pricing 
This is again going to be another blog post; however, setting your fees is often the hardest step. I find it difficult to put a number on the valuable service I provide. Needless to say, it has to be done. One way to get started on this is by checking out what other Dietitians or health professionals are charging in your area. Factor in your expertise, years of being a dietitian, etc. If you choose to accept insurance, they will have a contracted amount that you will be paid per unit (15-minutes per one unit and you can have multiple units per appointment). You could also use this as a guideline for how you charge self-paying individuals. I found it to be helpful to include counseling packages for savings with self-paying clients.

6. Payment Acceptance
Along with deciding your pricing, you will need to figure out how you will accept payment. Will you set-up an account with PayPal? Get a merchant account through your local bank? There are a lot of different options out there. You can choose to do only checks or cash; however, I would suggest getting a separate business banking account regardless of the route you choose.

7. Decide Your Online Presence
When developing your online presence, you can choose from a number of sites and hosting services. For your website, you can choose to go with companies like Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, etc. You could also use WordPress and update your account to have a .com address. I am not going to get too far into website design and such; however, I am going to just touch on what you may want to include on your site --> information page about yourself and your business, location, services offered (you may or may not include pricing too), contact information, pictures, blogs (or link to blog), testimonials (may come later), newsletter opt-in, etc. I created my website about a year before registering my business and accepting insurance. I didn't have much on the site and I basically just linked it to my blogs where I was much more active. This is a step you can do at basically do at any time in creating your practice.

8. Decide on Office Space/Set-up
This is definitely a step that you can do earlier in the ballgame. There are a few options for how you choose to see clients. You can do in-home counseling appointments, where you basically go to the client's home. You will need to make sure insurance will cover this if you are a provider. You can rent office space for yourself or sublet from another provider (doctor, chiropractor, etc), which is usually cheaper. Other options for renting office space can include using a shared office where you schedule times to come in and pay either monthly or on a single-use basis. You can see clients in your own home; however, you will need to need to check to see if there are stipulations or zoning laws. Here is a LINK for some more information on that. You can also provide virtual counseling services, which again have stipulations especially in the insurance provider realm. Here is a great article from Today's Dietitian on the TOPIC. If you are a member with the AND, you can also check out this LINK. 

9. Create Office Forms
One of the last things you will need to do before seeing clients is to get your office paperwork in order. You will need an initial client form, privacy notices, privacy consents, HIPAA forms, release of information form (for you to speak to family members or doctors), and a policy form relating to your business (for information on cancellation fees, rescheduling, non-payment, etc). I would also suggest thinking about how you will log business income and expenses too. EatRightPro has a great section on HIPAA with education and forms --> LINK.

10. Additional Tips 
There are a lot of free resources out there for starting your business. Some may not be related to the Dietitian realm; however, they can still prove to be quite useful. Check out your local Small Business Administration for tips on building your business. Network with other Dietitians or health professionals in your area to see how you can help one another. I purchased this AND book and found it to be really helpful when I first started out. The AND published another book on credentialing and billing that is free for members; however, I didn't find it useful at my stage of practice (it may be for those just starting though). I also discovered that the Free Library of Philadelphia had a lot of free online and in-person resources for business owners, so I suggest checking out your local library too.

This is by no means intended to be an all encompassing list. I am sure there are additional steps that you may have heard of or wish to include in starting your own private practice. This was simply from my point-of-view and how I thought might be helpful for others. You can jump around with the steps I have included and even eliminate those that may not apply to your business. Regardless of how the information today was presented, I hope that this helped you in some aspect of starting your business!

Leave me a comment to let me know what I missed, what you found helpful, or where you are in your private practice :)

A Day in the Life of a Private Practice Dietitian

I have been getting asked a lot lately how I structure my day and what does a day looks like for me now that I am full-time. Pretty much no day is ever the same for me since I never know who is going to call for an appointment, what important email comes through, or what last minute change in my schedule needs to happen. I broke down my day into two options: seeing clients/having classes and a "work" day so you can see what it looks like to be me all day long :)

A Day With Appointments (My Wednesday)
6:45am - Get ready for the day, eat, make coffee, pack my bag, check emails
8:00am - Head over for a committee meeting that I am Vice-Chair for, send out committee emails
9:30am - Chat with a fellow entrepreneur post meeting
10:00am - Leave to head downtown for my cooking class
10:45am - 1:45pm - Prep, have class, clean-up, chat with staff in the building, etc
2:15pm - Home. Eat lunch, check emails, log class information/expenses.
2:30pm -4:00pm - Make any insurance-related calls before offices close. Call back voicemails (if any). Work on posts for FB & IG. Follow-up with clients for paperwork needed for appointments.
4:00pm - Gym
5:30pm - Make and eat dinner. Usually, I take this time to also clean the kitchen.
7:00pm - Follow-up on emails. Work on committee related minutes/events. Prep for the next day. Sometimes I will have a late-night appointment at 6pm. If so, I will bill and write the reports right after.
8:30pm - Continue working on business-related items (could be accounting, billing, lesson plans, blogs, handouts, etc) or watch Netflix or read a non-business book.
10:00pm - Bed

If there is one thing I have learned while being in private practice it is to not overbook yourself. Even the days where I don't see clients I try not to overbook. Something always comes up to rock the boat! Going along with this, I have learning to go with the flow a lot more. Appointments change. Classes get rescheduled. Things in life just happen. If I get all stressed out and worked up about something, it just makes my day chaotic and negative. I take things as they happen and simply move on.

A Day Without Appointments (My Monday or Friday)
8:30am - Get ready for the day, make coffee, check emails, make pancakes (because why not), make my to-do list (prioritize)
9:30am - 1:30pm - Followed-up on calls. Booked a new class so I had to submit an invoice + signed contract. Write lessons for the new class. Follow-up on unpaid insurance claims. Follow-up on missing paperwork for upcoming appointments. Chat with another RD about insurance issues. Plan blog and social media posts. Brainstorm ideas for business. Input any paid claims into my accounting software. Usually Fridays I do laundry and vacuum in the midst of all of this.
1:30pm - 2:00pm - Make and eat lunch. Some days, this ends up just being a smoothie for convenience.
2:00pm - 5:30pm - Follow-up on more insurance-related issues. Chat with other RDs about insurance. Send appointment reminders to clients. Prep for appointments/classes for next week. Answer emails. Follow-up on patient calls. Schedule appointments as they come + send initial emails with paperwork. Mondays are my food shopping day normally so I also hit the food store mid-day too.
5:30pm - May go to the gym or if not eat dinner a bit earlier. Usually, prepping dinner involves emptying the dishwasher, putting dishes/groceries away, cleaning, etc, all while cooking.
7:00pm - Follow-up on emails. Work on committee related minutes/events. Prep for the next day.
8:30pm - Continue working on business-related items or watch Netflix or read a non-business book.
10:00pm - Bed

My days where I don't see clients usually end up being the "busiest" since I push everything office-related off until then. Sometimes, checking my emails takes 2-minutes and other times I end up back and forth about something for 10-minutes. As I mentioned earlier, I never really know how a day is going to go. Some days, I get through everything I needed to and can relax by 3 or 4pm. Other days, I work until 7 or 8pm, eat a late dinner, and pretty much go to bed right after. There are some days that I need a mental break so I will go out for a mid-day walk or watch a show. Again, just going with the flow really helps my sanity and productivity.

If you are in private practice, what does your day look like? Anyone reading this surprised at what I do all day?

Two-Month Private Practice Anniversary

Today official marks the two-month milestone of quitting my full-time job and jumping into a full-time private practice. If you have read my previous blogs, I recently wrote on finding out what success looked like for me and what direction I wanted to take my practice in. While I am still figuring out what my long-term goals are, I know that I am rushing for things to happen, which is not good. It mean it does make sense that I was getting ahead of myself since my practice became my sole income source. I was constantly trying to plan my next move, develop more ideas, create partnerships, and more! I was becoming overwhelmed and ultimately beginning to dislike the position I was in.

I thought back to my previous 3 years of just doing my practice on the side, without much real effort (minus the insurance provider part). During that time, I still gained clients and had opportunities arise. I realized I was stressing myself out over just 2-months of focusing all of my efforts on my business. I thought to myself that I really did a lot more than I was giving myself credit for. I did something scary and challenging by quitting my job in December. I reached out to potential partners and gain two solid ones on top of those I already was working with. I landed a contract for a 6-week class that turned into an additional 7-week class (since the participants were so happy with the program I did). I created and stuck to a more consistent blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram post schedule. I began networking with other Dietitians in my area. I took the chance to run for a position with the Philadelphia Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. I became a blogger for Eat Right PA. The list goes on and on.

You may be reading this thinking to yourself that it may be great I am doing all of these things; however, why should you care. Well, if you are in private practice or are thinking about it you may probably get to the stage that I am in where you wonder if you should be doing more. You may wonder why (constantly) you chose to do something that is scary and unknown most of the time. I challenge you to take a few moments and write out all of the positive things you have done in the last month or even week. Doing so can help you to put in perspective just how much effort you have put into your business. The reason why I do this despite all of the doubts I have is that it is so rewarding to have success in something that you worked so hard for on your own (i.e. without a large company supporting you along the way, especially financially).

While the first two months have been flying by I know that I am doing all the right things and I need to not worry so much about forcing new ideas or opportunities. I know that if I keep doing what I am doing on a daily basis (at the level of quality I am), these opportunities will come, just as they have in the past. Getting overwhelmed is stressful and to be blunt, useless. It paralyzes you and can inhibit your creativity and drive. If I start to get overwhelmed, I journal (which really helps me to see what I have accomplished already), I go for a walk, I make a list, I go to the gym, etc. Taking that time to clear my head gets me back in the game, gets me motivated, and helps me to weed through clutter to make real progress.

So, what are your stressing over that is useless and inhibiting your creativity and drive for success?

Check out my last blog post on "Tackling Your Business Fears"

Tackling Business Fears

How many of you reading this are putting something off out of fear? Fear is something that can be overwhelming and paralyzing. Fear of contacting a new partnership company. Fear of making the first step to starting your own business. Fear of driving. Fear of the dark. Fear of a new relationship. Fear of leaving the comfortable for the unknown. Fear of failure. Fear of change.

Recently, I have let my own fears drive my emotions and ultimately my private practice. Two months after leaving my full-time job, I started to panic. What if I don't make enough money to survive? What if I don't get any more clients? I began to feel unsure of my next step and had a dip in my motivation. After reading multiple business books and filling my social media with positive business owners, I realized that everyone has similar fears to mine; however, the key to overcoming them was doing something about it. I could sit and worry all day long and that wouldn't solve anything. In fact, that would probably contribute to the possibility of my worst fears happening since I was ultimately neglecting my business.

Through working with my own fears, I have laid out 3 steps that I believe could be beneficial in many situations. These steps are a combination of thoughts from books, articles, my own experiences, and friends and family members. I hope these steps will help you as much as they have been helping me!

Step 1 - Write out the worst case scenario
What could happen if your fears came true? One of my fears is not getting enough clients to sustain my business. This is what my worst case scenario looked like: Loss of clients (or lack of gaining new clients) --> Loss of income --> Drain or use my savings --> Lean on my boyfriend (since we live together) --> Close my business --> Feeling like I failed and disappointed those who believed in me --> Be forced to find an actually 9-5 job, which I wasn't thrilled about. One thing I did when I wrote out the worst case scenario was think about a rebuttal. Loss of clients, maybe I would find better ones? Use my savings, isn't this what I have been saving for anyways? Lean on my boyfriend, didn't we talk about this being a possibility and work it out financially? Feeling like I failed, well don't they know how hard I tried? Finding a 9-5, maybe it is something I will love? I feeling like having the little rebuttal almost helps you to emotionally prepare for what could happen and it makes it easier to settle those fears for the time being. When thinking about your worst case scenario, I would think about ways you could fix things along the way too. You don't want to have a small loss of income and immediately think you need to forgo the business and find a job. Think about steps you could take if just one of those fears start to develop and how you could rebound from it.

Step 2 - Write out the best case scenario
Let's say you want to take a risk and that fear is stopping you. Once you have your fears broken down, think about what is the best thing that could happen. Take my client example from earlier: Influx of clients --> Boost in income --> Ability to grow my business --> Hire assistant or an additional dietitian --> Allows me to do more creating behind the scenes --> More products developed --> More opportunities with new clients --> Working less to allow time for a family --> Feeling really awesome! The possibilities seem endless in this scenario. When you take a risk in your business or personal life, you have the opportunity to grow, make connections, and succeed.

Step 3 - Start your day with one thing that you fear
I was reading the "Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss and I came across a section that said something like, "What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do," which i believe was an excerpt from a previous work of his. That quote resonated with me so much since I was in a place of worry and fear of my business direction. I decided then that I would start every day with something that I feared or something that I needed to do, but didn't really want to. Doing this made me feel charged, accomplished, and more confident afterwards. Instead of letting that fear continue to paralyze you, nip it in the butt first thing in the morning. It doesn't have to be a huge jump every morning, but instead, can be a small step in overcoming your fears.

Fear is definitely hard to overcome, especially in business. It takes courage and strength to push through the uncomfortable and grow. I would highly suggest finding someone close to you who could give you the honest truth about your fears. Are they even rational? Do you need a good shake? This person will need to be able to give you honest feedback in that they can't just agree with everything you say. Find someone who will challenge you and push you.

I hope reading this blog helped you to either take the first steps in identifying your fears or take actions to overcome them. Leave me a comment to let me know what you are working on!

Private Practice Tip: Thinking of Your Big Picture

After my last two blog posts, I found myself thinking a lot about where I wanted my practice to be in the next few years. Although I am still working out the details, I finally have a clear picture of what I envision for PorrazzaNutrition. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone reading this, whether you have a private practice or not, to really brainstorm your ideal set-up. Do you want to niche down in a certain area of your field? Do you want this to be a full-time role or just something you will do on the side? Do you want to take insurance? Do you want to have a virtual component? Questions like these can help you to see the big picture and give you a sense of direction.

I hear so many dietitians say to me that they want to have their own practice, but most don't have a clue as to what they want to do with it. While that may not be a bad thing, I realized, for myself, that having little sense of direction can be paralyzing. We often do nothing when faced with too much unknown. Having that big picture in mind will allow you to focus your efforts towards a path that will help you to reach your goal. I have been asking myself this question a lot --> "Are the things you are doing now, supporting your end goal?" If the answer is yes, I keep investing my time in that area. If the answer is no, I think to myself if this is something I need to stop doing or spending less time on.

Once you have an idea of what you want your practice to entail, think about your action steps. An idea or knowledge is great, but it is what you actually do that matters. Let's say you want your practice to be able to accept insurance to drive more clientele while first starting out. Some of your action steps may be: 1. Gain an NPI, 2. Gain a Federal Tax ID Number , 3. Fill out a CAQH application, 4. Send in provider inquiries or initial applications for each insurance company, etc. Prioritize your goals! No matter how big your end result (goal) is, make it manageable and less intimidating by breaking it down into monthly, weekly, and daily tasks.

This week, I also made a commitment to myself that I would not buy or read another business-related book until I took action. While these personal/business-development books are really awesome and provide a lot of great information, the information means nothing unless you actually use it. Instead of just taking notes and moving on to the next book, I create actionable steps for the knowledge I gain in any capacity to use either that day, or that week.

For all my readers out there (whether you are dietitians or not), I challenge you to think about your 'big picture" or "end goal." What does that really look like and how can you break it down into small and manageable steps? Leave a comment and let me know what YOUR journey looks like.

Check out my first week in Private Practice HERE or my last post about organization HERE

Private Practice Tips: Organization & Prioritizing

I was recently approached by a fellow Dietitian and friend of mine about how I stay organized and prioritize my time. The organizational side of it seemed like a no brainer for me to comment on. I have always been "highly organized" (as some would say) since I carried my planner everywhere and when opened it was an array of colors, each meaning something different. Being in full-time private practice, I realized my method of keeping organized was still efficient, but, not as effective for managing my time properly and ultimately prioritizing things daily.

Now, I am definitely one for list making. I will go as far as adding "shower" or "eat", which some find hilarious that I even need to put those things on a list. Making a daily list is a great idea; however, I find it best to break down my priorities for business and personal health. When I would just write down everything I needed to do on a list, I would often not accomplish what I wanted (no surprise there). I also found that important tasks were getting pushed to later in the week. The unrealistic expectation I put on myself was actually making me feel less productive (see more on this from Week 1 of my Private Practice).

Honestly, if you still like the pen and paper method, which I love, getting yourself a good planner is the first place to start. The planner I have now allows space for you to set monthly and weekly goals/tasks. I usually put a bunch of ideas and goals on there sporadically and then take the time daily to break down my weekly tasks into daily priorities. I usually set 3-5 daily priorities for myself (as related to my business) and this widely varies based on what clients/classes I have scheduled. I also set personal/health goals for the day, which are always a priority. These personal/health goals usually involve things like exercise* and meal prep. Since my planner has space for me to write out weekly tasks, my daily goal is to take 1-3 items from that master list that isn't a priority for the day and get it done.

When thinking about prioritizing my daily tasks, I had to think to myself, "What am I doing out of habit?" Often, we do things without even realizing and they end up being a huge time sink. One thing I had to change when prioritizing, was checking my email every time my phone went off. I now limit this to about 3 times per day. Think to yourself what are you doing now that can be changed, eliminated, or simplified to allow more time for your priorities.

With making a priority list for the day, remember not to overbook yourself. If you are stretched to the max, the quality of your interactions can suffer. Also, don't continue adding to your list if you find yourself with more time to spare. Use that time to do something else you enjoy (hang with a friend, go for a walk, play an instrument, etc). I often felt like if I was done everything by 3pm, I still needed to do more after that. I mean, don't business owners work all hours of the day?! It was hard for me to get used to the idea that I didn't need to put in 10-12 hour days anymore and if I did, it was for a particular reason and not my status quo.

Last point I have for you with organization and prioritizing is to be okay with having to re-prioritize your list. I woke up one morning and realized that my Wordpress "about me" section was from 4-years ago. Turns out that when I updated my "about me" I only did it for the one page and not the other...oops. That instantly became my priority for the day. I ended up spending about 2 hours redoing my Wordpress layout. The next day, I ended up spending 3 hours updating my "services" page on my website. This replaced the time I was going to spend following up with potential partnerships. Was it a good choice? Definitely. A lot of businesses will go directly to my website to find out what I do, especially if I just reached out to them for a potential partnership proposal, so having a well polished website is crucial.

I hope this helps you to organize your business (or daily habits) to be more effective and efficient. Leave a comment about how this has helped you or let me know you tips for staying organized!


**Just a side note here. As a Dietitian, I talk about exercise with my clients for the various health benefits; however, I make it a priority for my daily business life because I find that it helps me to recharge, clear my mind, and just feel better overall. I usually aim for a short, 15-minute, workout daily and a 45-minute workout 4 times per week. I also try and get up every hour from my computer to walk around my apartment. Your workout schedule can be quite different from this and my routine is not an indicator of any "gold standard" approach. 

My First Month - What Does Success Look Like?

It has been just about a month since I decided to leave my full-time job and grow my private practice. This week has been a bit weird for me since it is the first without my intern (aka it is just me...and my cat...all day long). I forgot how much random chit-chat filled the days! Even just driving with someone else and reviewing the morning's class was something I really missed.

Since we are almost to the New Year, I didn't have a lot of appointments scheduled for the week and I was being to feel a business slump. I started thinking, "Why are you doing this" and "What were you thinking leaving your full-time job" I mean no business means no paycheck! Once I stopped letting my emotions get the best of me, I realized that it is completely normal to have a slow down during this time (it happened at my previous job). I also realized that I will be "making up" for this in January and February when I had more appointments.

I have been reading "Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss this week and one of the biggest things that struck me was actually in the first couple of pages when Ferriss had been asking someone what they thought of when they heard the word "successful." Success. That was the key that I had been missing and what I needed to think about to change my thoughts into more positive ones. The goal I always wanted was to be in full-time private practice and I had accomplished that 4-weeks ago. Now, I wasn't sure what my new "success" looked like. Sure, I wanted to build partnerships and gain clientele; however, I wasn't envisioning my practice in the next month, year, or decade. While I haven't quite figured out what my vision is for my practice, I know once I determine that that my efforts will feel like they have more purpose and I am not just spinning my wheels so I don't fail.

What Else I Have Learned

Get ahead when you have downtime - What did I do the past few weeks with limited number of appointments? I followed up on headaches (like insurance calls), planned out my Facebook posts for my page, and set a schedule for myself. I already know that January/February is going to be a lot busier for me than December was, so I planned some of the menial tasks now to get them out of the way.

Track your expenses - I also took some time this month to review my yearly finances. It really helped me to set practical goals once I determined what I needed to make to break even and then what I actually wanted to make. From that, I figured out how many clients I needed to see per month to reach my financial goals.

Google Docs/Drive is awesome - I have been using this for minutes for committees I am in and it is great! I also started tracking my mileage on a Google Drive spreadsheet instead of writing it on paper. I feel like this helps to streamline a lot for me since I can access it on the go.

Nothing is really a disaster - Last week in my cooking class, the building's power shut off due to a Septa issue and Peco needing to do an emergency shut off to fix something. So, to paint you a picture of this, I am making a soup for class and I have most of the ingredients prepped so I can just dump everything in the pot to cook in time. I also planned on making veggie chips with my mandoline. Oh, and this is 20 minutes before class is supposed to start. I was told to try and talk through the recipe so people felt like they got something out of the class when they arrived. I am pretty good on my feet; however, I was thinking to myself how am I going to take up 1-hour of time talking and not making anything (with no back-up food). What did I do? I made it fun, because what else is there? I told the class to pretend the onions were sizzling and I had them "smell" the lovely blends. You learn a lot about yourself while doing a "cooking" class in partial darkness (only emergency lights). Fast-foward a bit and the power returns mid-way through the class, I speed up the recipe, and everyone got to eat and enjoy the soup/chips. I got so many compliments on how I handled the class in the dark and I felt awesome. So, that was one for the books.

What I am Still Working On
-Not letting work consume me or stress over thinking that I am not doing "enough."
-Not over planning so much that I don't actually do anything but plan.
-Figuring out "office hours" (aka what is my cut-off time for answering calls and emails?)
-Spending some time de-stressing with meditation, playing the piano, or exercising.

Hope everyone has a great New Year! I am excited to see what 2017 has in store :)

Check out my previous blogs to see why I made the jump to private practice +  Weeks 1 and 3 :)

Second Week in Private Practice - 3 Partnership Tips

This week definitely felt more comfortable for me being in private practice. It started to feel like my career and less like I was on a vacation from the full-time job I left! I focused a lot on building partnerships and reaching out to different facilities to find out if they had a dietitian they referred to already. Two major things I learned were that I should have looked back at the business plan I made in grad school for my practice and that I should have thought more about who/what I wanted to target before spending time researching every facility in my area (thank goodness for my intern). This week, my plan is to develop a more clear marketing and outreach strategy so my efforts are more targeted.

Although it was close to the holidays, I wanted to make some connections now in order to prepare for January when more people want to lose weight and eat better. I reached out to about 30 different facilities this week; however, I only spoke with about 5 that could have been potential partnerships. Three places let me know they already had a Dietitian and the rest didn't get back to me. My plan is to reach out to those companies next week. Below are the things I learned this week while trying to build partnerships:

1. You can't expect to partner with everyone. 
As I just mentioned, I started by gathering a list of practically every gym, doctor's office, community center, you name it, in my area. After a few calls and emails, I realized that this was a terrible strategy. I needed to narrow down my focus first and I began to think about the facilities that I would want to partner with. Fitness centers and community centers were ones that I felt would make great connections and they also may be a little easier to speak to if they were individually owned versus with a large corporation. I also realized that you don't need 30 partnerships to be successful. I already had 5 good ones from the last year or so and that drove a nice amount of clientele to me. I don't want to spread myself too thin and not provide a quality interaction or service to those I do end up partnering with.

2. Think about the method you are using for outreach.
When I first thought about reaching out to companies/doctors' offices, my plan was to just call around to everyone on the list I had developed. I planned a short blurb of what to say when I called. I realized that it was hard to just cold call without knowing who to speak with and when you would get off of hold. I decided to send an email first with a short description about myself and reason for contact. I linked my website and contact information and stated I would follow-up in person. This initial email helped me weed out those who already had Dietitians and also narrow down the correct contact person. I have heard from other Dietitians that they prefer to just show up in the office and try to speak to someone. Depending on how you present yourself, either way could work just fine. One thing to remember here is that in any initial contact (whether it is email, phone, or in-person) be sure to state how the partnership can benefit them.

3. Prep before your meeting with potential partners. 
Before I went in for a meeting with any potential partner, I did a more involved investigation on their company. Who are they? What do they promote? Do they have a well-developed website (could help to market having a Dietitian)? I did a little bit of research before my initial contact to be sure they would be a company I wanted to align with. I always came to a meeting prepared with my business cards, short flyer about myself and my services, and list of questions. I also brought my resume with me as a back up. I get comments from people on how young I look, and I had a few people act condescending because of that. If anyone questions my experience for being so young, I pull out my resume and show them the organizations I am a part of, my education, and past working experiences. Usually, that does the trick :) Dressing very professional (blazer and all) and being clear and concise in how I spoke also helped a lot.

With any type of new partnership, I always found that it was best to be honest about all of my concerns up front. I didn't want to spend my time building a relationship without fleshing out all of the details that could later harm the business. When I met with different people, I also thought about any red flags during the conversation and how this may impact a business relationship later on. I like to tour any facility before making a commitment and thinking/asking about if the clientele are really interested in nutritional services.

There is a lot to think about with building partnerships; however, the more prepared you can be before the initial meeting the better. Also, don't commit to anything at the first meeting. Gather notes and review at home (or in your office) all the pros and cons to the partnership. Often in meetings something sounds like a great opportunity (and some people can be quite pushy about it); however, putting it on paper later can show you that it won't be as beneficial for you! Lastly, be okay with the fact that sometimes you just need to walk away.

My First Week in Full-Time Private Practice

Well, I have officially made it through my first week in full-time private practice! It felt so odd to say to people that I was my own boss. It felt even weirder to not have to go to one facility (my full-time job) for 40 hours/week. It felt totally different for me to JUST do my practice and not juggle it with my full-time gig. I would see clients here or there and chunk everything I needed to follow-up on (insurance claims, billing, etc) on my days off. It felt good to just focus my time and energy on my practice for once.

I was lucky to have an intern with me for my first week. She was with me during my full-time job and still has 2 weeks left to go during her dietetic internship. I love having interns; however, I especially loved having this one since she was able to be apart of my transition to full-time private practice (also, she's pretty awesome). Since I work out of my home, there was always the want to stop what I was doing to do the dishes or various house chores. I felt like having an intern with me really pushed me to be productive in the hours of the day that she was there. Once she moves on to her clinical rotation, I am planning to translate this type of work schedule into my own. I want to set up "hours" I am working and really stick to it. Everything else can wait!

After my first week, I started to think more on what kind of schedule I wanted to build for myself. While I don't have an exact plan just yet, I do know that I want to keep 3-4 days of clients/classes and at least one full day dedicated to insurance calls and office type work. I already know the days that I see clients back-to-back that I don't get much else done on the back end of things.

One huge thing I realized this week is just how much my email/notifications are distractions! Every time my phone went off, I checked the email in case I needed to respond. This was a huge concentration breaker. I took some advice from friends/family/books and set aside windows of time where I would answer emails. Usually, I check email in the AM, mid-day, and at night (7pm or so). I want to cut this back to twice per day instead. I find I am way more productive if I focus on one task at a time instead of just switching back and forth. This has been harder to stick with than I thought, but turning my sound off on my phone really helped!

One last thing I learned from my first week was that I needed to prioritize and not overbook myself. I would stick 15-20 items on my list to do for the day and only end up getting to maybe 10-15 of them. I would never know how long I would be on hold with an insurance company for a claim status, or what questions my intern would ask, or what phone calls came in. Though I would get a lot accomplished, I still was bummed I couldn't do EVERYTHING. Honestly, that is so unrealistic! Not only am I putting undue pressure on myself, but I am also making my daily goals ones that I know I won't reach. For this week, I decided to make a priority list and a to-do list. My goal was to complete the priority list and if possible do 1-2 items on the to-do list. This was way more manageable and I felt more accomplished at the end of the day.

I have been keeping a journal of everything I have learned thus far, so each week I will share with you my tips, tricks, slip-ups, and more!

Why I Made the Jump to Private Practice

It has been an exciting few weeks for me since I decided to make the jump into full-time private practice! In 3-weeks, I will be leaving the comfort of my full-time job and jumping head first into my ultimate long-term goal of being my own boss. This decision has been years in the making; however, some new work moments really got me thinking into what I REALLY want. Don't get me wrong, I loved my full-time job; however, I was starting to feel stagnant. I am definitely one to constantly be challenging myself and trying to move upwards. Unfortunately, there was no good opportunity for me to do so anymore.

About 2 years ago I started PorrazzaNutrition; however, I didn't "officially" start until I began accepting insurance last year. I felt like that was when I really started to get some more clientele. I hit sort of a wrench in the road with being in a car accident, so I didn't go out and advertise or facilitate partnerships until a few months ago. I slowly started building up a client basis after my medical issues were out of the way (and I finished grad school) and landing some long-term contract work. Funny though, because once I finished school in August I thought I would have all of this time to read and relax. Instead, I just filled that time with more contract work and clients. Ten to 12 hour days, minimal time to do much for myself, and feeling overwhelmed majority of the time, sounds about right. I started to reach a point mentally and physically where I just couldn't continue to do both jobs and with some work issues going on, I realized that what I really wanted was to work for myself. I couldn't wait for the days where I could return phone calls that day instead of 2 days out. Or NOT writing things on my to-do list 4x since I just couldn't get to it! Thinking about going full-time private practice and actually doing it were two totally different ball games though. Sure I had clients, billed insurance, tracked expenses, etc, etc, etc; however, I didn't actually know how it felt to be on my own with no one saying what I needed to do. I only had myself to blame if I failed. Cue the panic! All I kept thinking to myself,  "What are you doing?! Are you sure you should do this?!" My answer, "YES."

To make the transition easier, I thought I would go for a part-time job to have a steady source of income. I ended up getting offered a position that said they would be flexible with my schedule. So, sounds like a no-brainer, right? Well, in reality I would be adding on about an hour of travel each day. Twenty-four hours a week just became 30 hours a week. So, I am leaving a full-time job for 10-hours extra to work on my business and grow? The more I thought about it, the more I said, "Just DO IT. JUMP." Okay, I'll be honest, I took a lot of input from my boyfriend and dad (and reading from other RDs. In the end, I decided that I can slowly rip off the bandaid and do what seems comfortable by getting a part-time gig OR I could just rip that bad boy off and jump in with no life jacket. Good thing I know how to swim. HAHA. I am all about cheesy jokes and analogies today :)

The reality is, I have been planning for this moment. I have saved practically everything I made to be able to have a cushion to rely on if I flounder for a bit before getting my footing once I am on my own. I also made a plan of attack for the things I want to accomplish once I actually have some more time. I followed up with contacts of mine who I am working with already to let them know I will have more availability. The awesome part about that is I actually had a new opportunity arise from one of my contacts because I was able to do more things! I knew I was at the point where I was ready to continue to grow my business and I couldn't do so working a full-time job. It feels especially weird for me since a lot of my friends are trying to find full-time jobs for a steady income and benefits and here I am leaving that  willingly.

Anyways, while I am sitting here working on my list of things to do for tomorrow, I thought to myself that I need to write this blog because maybe there is another dietitian out there thinking about jumping in to private practice and needs the extra push. While some people may not understand my position or goals, that doesn't matter to me. What I know is that this is exactly what I want. It is going to be hard and stressful; however, so was billing insurance companies for the first time and guess what, now I can bill in less than 2 minutes without having to hire someone to do it for me. With anything, there is always going to be a learning curve, stress, moments where you want to give up, and times where you think you made the wrong choice. I feel like the key to my success in any "failure" or time of of thinking "What did I get myself into" is to just pick myself up, LEARN, continue to grow, and remember WHY I chose to do this.