In a couple of weeks I will lock the door for the last time on the premises where my physiotherapy practice has been located for the past ten years. As I prepare for this milestone moment I find myself reflecting on the last 18 years of running my own clinic.
The first location was a 1,400 square foot space that I opened with my business partner, Gail. We actually became accidental business owners after leaving a practice that was floundering and realizing we just needed to do this thing for ourselves. I had never really contemplated running my own business until I was reluctantly forced into a corner.
In the physiotherapy industry working for someone else means giving a cut of up to 50% to the owner. Once Gail and I did the math on what opening our own business would cost, it made no sense to do anything else. Our services were in demand. We just needed a place to provide them where we weren’t lining someone else’s pockets. So together we dove in with both feet, learning on the fly and improvising when necessary.
When we found our space we realized that with the two of us working steadily we really didn’t have to have more income to make ends meet. We did have a space big enough to open it up to others though, so we thought about how we could do that in a manner we considered fair to everyone.
We knew from the beginning that we did not want to deal with employees and all the hassles that come along with that, so we decided to offer space to independent therapists at a very reasonable hourly fee for use of the space. We wanted people to have a comfortable place in which to work while still making good money. We both felt that taking more would not be in alignment with our values. We did end up with a few therapists who happily used the space and were grateful for the very reasonable rate we charged. To us this was a win/win situation.
In the meantime, we knew two other pairs of therapists who had left the business where we all used to work together to start their own partnerships as well. Both of those businesses had chosen a different route, opening much bigger clinics with lots of therapists to manage. They had gotten started well before Gail and I so we saw their business models and knew that wasn’t for us. We basically just wanted to quietly keep doing our thing while providing affordable space for others. While we knew this approach would not make us the big bucks, it was enough for us.
Gail and I practiced happily together for seven years. During this period I started a family and my priorities shifted. I became even more grateful for the choices we had made that kept things simple. Then Gail was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and died one year later. Amidst this emotional turmoil I had to make some big decisions. I briefly contemplated trying to find a new business partner but quickly dismissed the idea. Finding the right business partner is a lot like finding the right spouse. You need to be compatible, with similar goals, ethics, and values, while having different complementary skills. This is not easy to find and I didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with trying.
I was also on a tight timeline, so I decided to move forward as a solopreneur. I downsized to a 700 square foot clinic, again choosing a space that I could financially support on my own, with enough space to offer to other therapists for the same reasonable fee. I continued quietly doing my thing while making enough money to keep my family comfortable.
During this period I kept in touch with the owners of the two other businesses with much bigger practices. I watched them grow and add more and more therapists and services. I know they have made many times the income that I have, but I also know something else. They are way more stressed than I am. They all look tired and run down in a way that I have never felt, and I would venture a guess that they have sacrificed a lot of time with their families. In fact, one of them said to me a few years ago, “You’re the one who got it right.”
She was finding managing such a big practice difficult. The challenges of people management, juggling a thousand balls, and feeling pressure from everyone around her if they didn’t think she got it right, were all weighing heavily upon her. Shortly after our conversation she went on long term stress leave, and I’m not sure she ever went back. She was a good 20 years younger than me but had had enough.
The lease on the premises upon which I am about to permanently shut the door expires at the end of the month. I have spent the last two years planning for this, weighing my options, and carefully considering the pros and cons of different possibilities. In the end I have decided to move my practice into a rented room of about 100 square feet. I found a business that aligns with my priorities and values and have rented a single room from them.
The simplicity of it all is pretty amazing. After 18 years of running an entire clinic, the last 10 completely on my own, I am ready to let go of all of the responsibility. No more having to fix everything that breaks (and there is ALWAYS something). No more haggling with the landlord over every little thing. No more fretting when the cleaner isn’t doing a good job. No more stocking supplies. I get to spend the twilight years of my career just focusing on helping people to the best of my ability, and I consider that to be a huge privilege.
My journey as a business owner has gone from a partnership with a 1,400 square foot space and therapists renting space often, to a solopreneurship in a 700 square foot space with occasional other bookings, to renting a tiny sunny room under someone else’s roof. To a lot of people this does not at all look like success. In fact, many would consider this abject failure. Where is the business that I can sell for a fortune when I retire? Where is the legacy? What mark am I leaving behind in the physiotherapy world?
I will have none of those things, and when all is said and done I will just quietly fade into business nothingness. But in my opinion I have, in fact, done everything right. Because of the choices I have made I have been able to be present for my children during these very important formative years. I have most frequently been the one to drop them off and pick them up from daycare, then school. Now that they make their own way to and from school I am able to be there when they get home. They know I am quietly present preparing dinner and available to them should they need me. And believe me, at this age sometimes they do.
I have been home on weekends and evenings throughout their childhood, and by that I mean not just physically present but emotionally available. I have been consistently on an even enough keel to empathize with them and help them problem solve. I have had the bandwidth to hold space for them in their struggles in a way that helps them feel seen and heard. Now that we are in the teen years I know that the mental burden is going to get a whole lot heavier. Having so greatly simplified my work life, I’m confident that I will be able to meet this challenge with loving presence.
So while others have been steadily growing their businesses and increasing revenues, I have gradually been leaning towards a smaller more simplified version, while maintaining a comfortable income. In the process I have stayed true to my values and been able to prioritize the things that give me joy and fulfillment. I won’t be leaving my kids a fortune, but I believe that given the choice any child would prefer parental presence over a big inheritance.
I personally subscribe to the school of thought that success is creating a life from which you don’t need to escape. I have always enjoyed my work, and with the exception of the odd really bad day, have never wanted to run and hide from it. I have consciously created a business that allows me to practice with joy and leave at the end of the day with plenty of energy for myself and my family. In the end I will walk away knowing that I made the right choices for me and will have no regrets. That, to me, is the penultimate success.
