For many Therapists, the idea of self-employment feels daunting for one reason: You worry about whether you will be able to generate steady work and remain continuously employed. As is the case with most worries, gathering accurate information will reassure you and help you to make the right decisions.

When you partner with local industries to provide Ability Management Services, this problem solves itself. Ability Management covers so many therapeutic goals that the work just won’t stop!

Ability Management Services encompasses three primary areas of practice:

• Prior-to-hire assessments for prospective and new employees
• Healthy worker audits for current employees
• Return-to-work assessments for employees returning after medical or disability leave

As you might imagine, most industries need all three of these services on a regular, ongoing basis. When you partner with them, all of that work naturally flows to you.

But of course, you might wonder what running your own practice will look like, how much time you should dedicate, and how much revenue you can expect to generate. You can get answers by first analyzing your own capabilities and then determining which services you can offer within your practice.

• Research the fees you can charge in your area, so that you understand potential revenue.
• Review your staffing. Will you be operating a solo practice, utilizing current employees, or hiring new employees? How much work can you manage, and do you have a plan for future growth? Who will handle the marketing of these services? Do you need someone to manage scheduling and billing?
• Produce a revenue spreadsheet analysis template and test out the quantity of work you need to generate in order to reach your revenue goals.
• Produce a cost summary around your preferred services.
• Finally, choose which services to market, and to whom you will market them.

Once you’ve developed a business model and some initial goals for your practice, you can move on to the exciting part: Contacting local industries, networking, and building mutually productive and rewarding business partner relationships!