Q&A: What’s the Deal with Physical Therapy Business Consultants?

If you’re a private practice PT, you’ve likely come across physical therapy business consultants or they have reached out to you at some point during your career.

**Note: This blog neither endorses nor opposes any physical therapy consulting business, firm or individuals.

Physical therapy business consultants usually assist physical therapy businesses in promotion, marketing, business strategies, financial advising, etc.

Most PTs don’t receive an education in business, so consultants are often extremely appealing. But do they really work?

Firstly…. Everyone is different and every consulting firm is different. In one PT’s experience, physical therapy business consultants were not as beneficial as he had hoped.

Chris Mulvey, a very successful private practice owner in southwest Florida hired physical therapy business consultants from 2006-2007 to “fill a void in the current business model.”

Background on Chris Mulvey

Chris has seen tremendous success without the need for consulting companies.

By joining FYZICAL, Chris was able to grow his practice 600%. Check out his story here.

Check our Q&A with Chris to learn more about his experience with physical therapy business consultants.

Where did you hear about physical therapy business consultants?

Chris: I heard about physical therapy consultants across multiple platforms. One of the consultants we used, we met at PPS. I also received multiple postcards and direct mail pieces from them.

Have you used physical therapy business consultants more than once? If so, how many times?

Chris: Yes, twice. One was a company that specialized in educational business development, business leadership principles, etc. The other one was more marketing related. They did website development, brochure design and printing.

What kind of improvements did the physical therapy business consultants promise you?

Chris: They promised to create an organizational system and assist with future hiring, as well as helping to assist with creating benchmarks for analytic monitoring of the success of the business. They promised a patient-friendly website and marketing materials to grow the business.

Did you see any benefits?

Chris: The marketing consultants delivered the product but I don’t know that it made a substantial impact. The brochures didn’t really mean anything to our patient base. The website was certainly an improvement from what we had. I left the other group before the educational process was over.

Did you see any negatives to using physical therapy business consultants?

Chris: High cost for questionable, hard to measure return. I didn’t necessarily like the culture of the groups either. The negative is having to put yourself into a culture that is uncomfortable.

How much did it cost you to use physical therapy business consultants?

Chris: One of the companies cost $40,000 including print materials. The other, I spent $20,000.

What did you expect to happen after hiring physical therapy business consultants?

Chris: My expectations were to walk away with an organized company: a defined organizational chart, specific roles and responsibilities for the team and ultimately growth of the company, with a return on my investment.

What would you suggest to someone who might be thinking about hiring physical therapy business consultants?

Chris: It depends on whether or not it’s defined, but I would be leery in taking directions from a company that’s not necessarily out there proving the things they’re teaching on their own.

If the company is trying to sell you on an automated business while you sit on the beach, but they don’t have an automated business while they sit on the beach… you probably shouldn’t trust them.

They should be out in the field proving they know what they’re talking about and show success, otherwise they’re just all talk.

What is your personal opinion of physical therapy business consultants and why?

Chris: There is a reason why people sell themselves as experts when they’re not experts. They’re selling promoters that are good at giving the perception of a value that’s not necessarily there. I would steer away from it.

Do you have any other additional comments or information to add that may be beneficial to anyone interested in growing their business?

Chris: Know the level of success of the people that are trying to work with you. If they don’t prove success then they’re not worth your time.

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There you have it! Great advice from a PT who has already worked with two physical therapy business consultants.

Chris and other PTs all over the country have seen tremendous success because of the tremendous leadership guiding FYZICAL and its members.

FYZICAL executives like Jim Abrams and Rick Douglass have proven their knowledge, skill and success over many, many years. Jim Abrams has been an executive for several industry leading companies and manages his own multi-million dollar FYZICAL practices. Rick Douglass serves on multiple Florida educational and physical therapy organizations as well as manages his own PT practices and assists FYZICAL franchisees all over the country.

FYZICAL’s team of executives are private practice owners and industry leaders. They have and continue to prove their expertise every day because they have experienced private practice ownership firsthand, they have studied the industry and have proven the systems and procedures needed for private practice PTs to be successful. They don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk.

This leadership and proven organization is what has attracted so many independent PTs—like Chris—to FYZICAL. PTs have experienced so much more success after aligning with FYZICAL, without the need of spending their hard-earned money on consultants that have a 50/50 chance of improving their businesses. FYZICAL guarantees more money, increased profitability, better patient care and so much more.

If you’re looking for a way to grow your business without risk of losing thousands of dollars, click here to learn more about the #1 business model that will secure your future in private practice physical therapy.