5 Insider Secrets PTs Use to Turn Their Side Hustle into a Full-Time Success

For many people who want to own their own business as a rehab professional, it often begins as a side hustle. Since it’s not uncommon for PT’s and other rehab pros to take a second job to increase their earnings, creating a second “job” for yourself might generally make more sense - but so many people get stuck in the side gig phase and never make it out… Let’s outline exactly what I did to escape the traditional clinic and what we teach our clients now so you can start betting on yourself full-time.

1. Have a transition plan

The number one thing I see people missing when they are looking to go all-in on their side gig is a lack of strategy in how they are going to transition away from their job. For me, this meant utilizing a PRN role in a much more flexible setting, like skilled nursing. The key here was being able to control my day and when I went into the facility. Let’s say I committed to 4 hours of work that day. It didn't matter if I showed up at 8 am or 12 pm, as long as I got my 4 hours of billing in, they were happy. Too many people take on roles that cram their flexibility. Maintaining this component is key.

After I had this flexible job lined up, I ended up being able to quit my full-time role and take a position that was part-time and structured as two 10-hour days. This put me in a spot where I now had 5 days I could potentially invest in my business. 

As my business grew, I was able to take more “risk” by ramping down my part-time job and increasing my PRN hours, while also increasing my hours in my cash business. This was a great structure for me to get exactly what I needed when I needed it out of the situation. 

2. High margin + low overhead to start

It was important for me to make sure my business was cash flowing into my bank account and NOT into a ton of expenses. My first arrangement to set up an operating location actually allowed me to work out of their facility for FREE because they saw the value to their members with the ability to have an in-house PT readily available. It was definitely a win-win situation for both of us. 

I was charging about $100/session at that time (I don’t recommend starting this low, I didn’t know any better), but for me, that was DOUBLE what I was making at the skilled nursing facility. 

So basically, I needed to work HALF the amount of hours to make the same money. This was really what started to make it click for me as I saw what my weekly schedule could look like instead of just being stuck in a traditional clinical setting/role all day. 

*I recommend doing the math at least at a $150/hour rate - how many hours would you need to replace your income? I bet you’ll be shocked at how few it actually is…

Now, I’ll admit these days, gyms have become more aware of how valuable their membership is to PT’s, but we still have clients who are negotiating rent deals as low as $250/month! Can’t beat that!

3. Learn to sell packages

I can’t say this enough… Your clinical skills alone at the beginning of your journey aren’t enough to get people to want to work with you. You need to invest in the RIGHT skills… and in most cases, it’s rare that we find clinical skills are their problems. The reason for this is because in their current role, they probably already see themselves above their peers (and they are generally not wrong in most cases). 

You have to remember that we are asking the consumer to behave in a way that is atypical from what they know. That means it’s imperative that you have a process for overcoming and discussing insurance questions/objections. Once you’ve nailed that, you have to sell packages at this phase. Why? Because they create predictability in your business. You cannot survive seeing a new client for only 3-4 total sessions. You’ll never make it that way unless your prices are much higher than the market (bringing the total to $1,500-$2,000 per plan of care).

So, let’s say you want to make $6,000 a month before you quit your regular job. If you sell sessions at a $150 rate, you’ll need to make 40 separate sales, which can seem daunting. Now, if you sell packages, let’s say 10 for $1,500, you only need to make 4 sales! This is one of those scenarios that I just need you to trust me. This is the way!  We make this change for about 90% of our clients who start working with us. We get them to sell packages immediately!

4. Create recurring revenue

The biggest problem with traditional cash PT models is the fact that at the end of the day… they generate revenue like insurance models… trade time, get money… That means each month starts at $0 because you need to service revenue in order to generate it. I absolutely HATED this about the industry. That’s why I added what I now call a Prescriptive Exercise Program to my offerings. This was a way to generate recurring revenue in my business so I didn’t have to start over each month. 

It became much easier to take the leap and quit my employment jobs when I knew I had a baseline of a couple thousand dollars rolling in each month,

Quick caveat - I don’t generally recommend selling memberships that solely rely on recurring in-person visits… It’s better than nothing, but I feel like it’s just a different way to trade money for time. 

5. Acknowledge the Catch 22 and take the leap

Here’s the situation almost everyone gets into: Their side gig is going well, they're making money, but they are capped out on earning potential there because they have no more time.

They recognize that their full-time job is bringing in revenue, but also monopolizes 40+ hours of their week, and they are scared to lose the certainty of that paycheck. 

They need more money… which they are scared to lose if they quit their job… they need more time… which they can only get back if they quit their job…

Rock and a hard place, but here’s the solution, and it always works. 

You have to jump and trust the net will be there for you when you do. Too many people are standing around waiting for the net to appear... It doesn’t work like that… and guess what happens in that situation? You stay STUCK!

You have to trust that if you sacrifice the steady paycheck, the reward that comes along with that sacrifice is greater! It always is. Now, let’s combine that with the fact that math works out to a point where you can generally replace your income in as little as 10 hours per week (yes, I’m for real). It’s a no-brainer!

So now you know the formula. You know the exact 5 things that hold people back from taking the leap and getting exactly what you want. All you need to do is act. You need to trust that the net will be there.