Daydreaming About My SLP Private Practice

The first on my to-do list for starting an SLP private practice?

Daydream about it.

Well, I’ve already done the indulgent kind of daydreaming for years. This is time to finally look at those daydreams honestly and force them to grow up a little bit.

My Own Daydreaming

I started daydreaming about starting a private practice as early as graduate school – probably even before!

Before SLP, I aught English as a Second Language (ESL) as a freelancer in addition to my full-time teaching for several years. When I made the switch to this field, I knew I wanted to take my “freelancing” work to the next level and start a more formal business.

From day one of my pre-requisite courses, I’ve been preparing with the goal of opening an SLP private practice in the back of my head. For example, I’ve saved intake forms from clinics (SLP and other) that I’ve come across and thought might be useful to me. When I shadowed and interned in different practices, I observed and took notes of all things I liked and didn’t like that we’re going on around me. Not kidding, I had (up until recently) a folder on my laptop called “Stuff for my private practice one day.” Over the years, I’ve been dropping things in there.

I’m sure you’ve done the same thing. Maybe not with a folder on your laptop, but maybe in a diary or journal? Or perhaps you’ve just been tucking away remnants in the back of year head.

This daydreaming time is a chance to start to pull those memories out and examine them with fresh eyes. Do they still make sense given who you are now? Do they still make sense given the way the world works now?

Examining my hopes and dreams around building a private practice was a really important step for me to refine my reasons for opening a business. It let me finally look my dreams in the eye and be honest with myself.

Terms & Conditions of Daydreaming

Take the time to look at these questions (and others you already have for yourself!) and sketch out some answers. I suggest tackling your “1st year” and then moving on from there. Assume things go smoothly and that you can build off of your success over time.

When I sat down to this – this wasn’t the part where I thought about real specific things like how I’d get paid or what materials I needed to buy. It was the part where I assumed, “If everything goes well… what will my entrepreneurship path look like?” , and I gave myself a chance to look at the bigger picture. It was the moment to write down and organize all those hopes and daydreams that I had been brewing since graduate school.

The point is to visualize you and your business growing over time? Maybe some of your answers will stay the same for the life of your practice. More than likely, most of them will change. By taking a little bit of time now to think about these things, hopefully you can make decisions to set yourself up for your long-term goals.

QUESTIONS OVER TIME	1st Year	Short-Term (2-3 years)	Medium-Term (4-5 years)	Long-Term (6-8+ years)
What do you want to get from your business? (e.g., autonomy, recognition, impact, etc.)
What do you need to get from your business? (e.g., insurance, X monthly income, etc.)
What are your top 3 priorities?
How much time are you working at / investing in your business?
What can / will you DIY and what will you pay someone else to do?
What can / will you DIY and what will you pay someone else to do?
What is your benchmark for success at this stage?

Here’s a PDF / downloadable version of these questions as a worksheet.

Get to it!

Put your pen to paper. Fill your wine glass. Open your mind and heart, and start day dreaming.

Let me know how it goes in the comments below.