We have been where you are! In 2013 I was a Licensed Professional Counselor in solo private practice in a small, leased local office, trying to balance delivering excellent clinical care with raising a young family. I leveraged my partner, an experienced consultant with business development, project management and Organizational Change Management experience, to assist.  Ten years later we built a thriving group practice with over 65 clinicians and 15 support staff, spread over five locations, with a sixth in the final stages of planning.

By that decade’s end, we had purchased (and redeveloped) the real estate for several of our locations, and sold the practice to a private equity group, which subsequently took multiple practices public via a successful Initial Public Offering (IPO).

But the single biggest driver of my success may surprise you.  It was not my brilliant business acumen or my geographical area. What helped me grow from a solo practitioner to a private equity sale worth many multiples of revenue was being in the trenches with 15 other group practice owners across the country and being in almost daily dialogue with them about our businesses. 

Over those ten years, we met at least twice a year in person for intensive work weekends and then stayed in almost daily contact as we overcame myriad challenges and celebrated our collective successes. Without this group, I have no doubt that my growth and profit would have been a fraction of what I achieved. In fact, our group still annually meets in-person to encourage one another on our next chapters as business leaders and as people. It’s this approach we will leverage in our Guru Groups!