Feeling lost, it's been a tough year

Hey DIzzy! Fellow acupuncturist here, and I am sorry to hear of the struggle. But, I will tell you that if you had great results and patient retention at the last clinic while working for someone else, you will likely do so much better on your own! Stay confident and set goals and make sure you set the right rates! You are worth so much to patients especially when you are supporting them on their journey and helping them achieve their health goals!

I am more than happy to connect to chat more if you need! I work 3.5 days a week (19 pts on average), and am about to take 2 months off this summer cause I've hit a little burnout. I am solidly stashing money into solo 401K, Roth IRA, and additional in brokerage accounts. I may not retire before 62, but I am on my way to a solid retirement and feel secure financially. YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!

Believe in yourself, believe in the medicine and what you offer, set goals and healthy boundaries and you'll be back on your feet in no time!

First off, I feel for you. You have had a few career and personal setbacks, and there is some rumination there. The good news is you have some money saved, your freeloading ex is in the rearview mirror, and you started your practice. Here are a few ideas for getting back on your feet financially:

For your practice, you might reverse-engineer how many patients you need to see per day/week/month to break even, and then to be profitable. While this may sound harsh, you may also consider setting a timeline for how long you will stay in private practice if you don’t meet those financial goals. I’m not suggesting you won’t, but what is your plan B/mitigation strategy?

I previously worked remotely for a company in Malvern, PA that supported the pharmaceutical industry. The Philly area has many opportunities in pharma and clinical research. One career path is to explore clinical research support roles at U Penn or other local employers. You could also consider doing this part-time while you build your practice. Entry-level roles don’t pay well, but after a few years in a full-time role, there is no reason you couldn’t make well over $100k, with benefits, if you move from research coordinator to manager and/or go work for pharma/device. If this is something you want to explore, you might look up the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) and see if their Philly chapter has events where you could network. Other “adjacent” roles to your skill set include working at a dialysis clinic, etc., again, not sexy, but these can pay well and offer stability. Some may have weekend options while you grow your practice.

I’ve consulted at many practices in the clinical research space. I recently helped a family member with his private practice as a naturopathic doctor who doesn’t accept insurance. I told him to corral his pts into three days a week while he grows the practice, and to set aside one day for admin. You control your schedule, and you got this. Good luck!

Jumping in here to express encouragement to you. I have benefited greatly from Acupuncture over the years. Your skill set is needed! As someone who was self-employed for a long time, I also applaud your decision to start your own practice. Networking in conventional and less conventional ways may help to grow your business. It will likely take some trial and error to figure out where the flow is. You may discover that your work appeals to a subset of the larger client base, e.g. athletes or seniors or whatever, which can help you target your networking and marketing efforts. I know nothing about becoming an influencer, but creating a high quality social media feed that attracts the kinds of clients you wish to serve might be a low-cost strategy for you – or connecting with influencers who can share your perspectives with their audiences (e.g. via a podcast episode or short clip on social media). Just some thoughts here - you will figure out what's best for you, and I think you will gain confidence as you discover your unique contributions to the field. Crafting a personal mission statement might even be a way to center your marketing efforts? I did that many years into my self-employment journey, and I found it helpful. Such exercises can be clarifying. Wishing you much success. Editing to add, there may be a way to present yourself to the public that shares both your healing arts/Acupuncture self and your musician self - something to consider?

As a retired massage therapist I just want to give you some encouragement that things can and will turn around. You already have a base of clients that sound like they will be slowly migrating towards your business, also consider networking opportunities with businesses that are around where you work or offering a free/discounted service for those that refer new clients. I would find businesses within a 5 mile radius that have clients that might be looking for your services and see if you can leave some brochures or business cards that people can pick up. Maybe businesses like a gym or supplement shops, etc. would be good places to leave your information. Always keep your business cards with you to hand out to everyone who will take one and don’t be afraid to promote yourself at your other gigs that you take on. When we need money, we think we need another job but the most important job you have is to promote your Chinese Medicine practice. I used to use a company called MassageBook that has a lot of business management tools that help promote your business online. Since the website used such a long website name for each business, I purchased my own website domain and just linked it (redirected) for free to my MassageBook page so that people could find me easily by searching my business name online. (linking a website to another website is free and easy). You mentioned people were giving you Google reviews so I don’t know if you already have a website, but MassageBook can help widen your circle online and help people find you more easily. Check them out, they work with more professions than just massage therapy. I think the tier that I used was one step above their free tier, so don’t get sucked into thinking you need the whole shebang. You’re on the right track, just keep putting one foot in front of the other, we need talented TCM practitioners.

Sounds like you are in a tough situation and I'm sorry to hear that.

I'm 46 and I live in my vehicle (a smaller SUV) and I've really turned my finances around over the past 3 years. You already lived in a vehicle so you know what it's about. There are many things that are negative and it can be very tough. But since you've done it before maybe consider it again.

With a paid off car I can live off of $1,000 a month fairly easily if I don't travel. You may be able to do the same. I'm also single and that makes it easy.

Point is that if you make a big sacrifice and go back to vehicle living for a couple years and work some extra hours even if that means getting a different job the savings could really add up.

Vehicle living will move the needle way more than anything else (coupons, growing your own food, having roommates, etc).

I recommend it for people who can maintain their mental and physical health while doing it.

Hi there. Thanks for sharing your story- I'm sorry that you're going through so many big life things right now. I'd imagine it feels overwhelming.

It sounds like your new practice has a lot of promise- if you haven't run a business before I'd recommend checking out Rebel Business School run by the Donegans. They teach you how to get things up and running with very little cash out of pocket. (Plus, they are really positive and fun). Right now, I wouldn't worry so much about FI- I'd put all of my energy (not money) into growing the business, and maybe picking up something nights/weekends to create some more margin.

You have so much going on- it might feel nice to get your feet on the ground financially, and then move forward from there. Best of luck!