September 1
Maria sits behind the desk in her new home office. Today is the first day of the rest of her life: she has opened her own private practice.
For the past few months, she painstakingly researched the type of practice that she would open. She decided that a sole proprietorship was right for her home business and registered her practice according to provincial and national legislation.
In half an hour, her first client – a referral from a local family doctor – will arrive for her first weekend appointment. Maria checks the modest waiting area she built in her mudroom. She checks to make sure there are no tripping hazards and that her kids put away their toys like she asked (they did!). Maria fans out the current magazines on her coffee table and checks that the adjoining washroom is clean and stocked with supplies.
Maria calls her eleven year old twin girls to remind them and their babysitter of the rules that apply when mom has a weekend appointment: they are not to answer the door, enter the mud room or come to her office.
Before her client arrives, she prints her intake form, confidentiality waiver and checks her calendar to make sure she booked an extra half hour cushion between clients to preserve her clients’ privacy. It’s a relief that she had her office sound-proofed so she won’t have to worry about any noise.
Just as Maria switches her phone to “do not disturb”, she hears the door open. Her client has arrived. Maria’s journey is about to begin.
December 1
It’s only 9:30 am and already the day has been hectic! Maria unlocks the front door to her house, walks to her home office and drops her keys on the desk.
Her business networking breakfast meeting went late but she feels good about connections she made with a local lawyer and holistic nutritionist. You never know where referrals will come from! After the meeting, Maria spoke with the networking club’s president to volunteer to give a presentation on making and implementing your own communications plan – she hopes it gives her the motivation to kick her own communications plan into action.
On the way home from the meeting, Maria picked up a couple of packages of Christmas cards. She spends the morning writing cards to send to her corporate clients in the community as an extra “thank you”.
After lunch, she checks in with Tim, one of her colleagues who also runs a private practice out of his own home. Maria is meeting a new client at the client’s home and she gives Tim the details of the appointment as an added safety precaution. Maria isn’t worried about this visit but it never hurts to be cautious when meeting someone new.
March 1
It’s a beautiful early spring day and Maria has just come back from a sun-soaked walk in the park with her dog, Champ. Maria takes a deep breath and enjoys the feeling of well-being that surges through her body. Maria gives Champ his breakfast and makes a fresh cup of coffee. Once Champ is finished eating, she closes him gently into the bedroom so he won’t interrupt her appointments today.
Maria set aside a few hours after lunch to do her book-keeping. Her accountant keeps reminding her that tax time is coming, but Maria isn’t worried. She’s been diligently keeping track of her income and expenses since Day One and feels confident that she’ll have everything her accountant needs to do her income taxes at the end of April.
After completing the book-keeping, Maria registers for an annual Social Work conference that she looks forward to every year. Not only does she learn valuable information from the keynote speakers and the workshops, but she also gets to talk to other social workers who understand exactly what she does!
June 1
It’s been a long week. Maria’s kids are home from school and her partner is away on a business trip. Fortunately, Maria’s sister has been helping out so Maria has been able to keep her appointments with her clients.
The day ahead is fairly light. She has two client appointments, and then will have to rush the kids to her sister’s for dinner, in order to get to the community college in time to teach her first class. She’d never thought about teaching before but when her former mentor reached out to her to see if she’d be interested in teaching an introductory class, she could hardly say “no”. It will be a good experience and it will help her keep up with her half of the household expenses.
On the way to the college, Maria reflects upon her year so far. It hasn’t always been easy but she wouldn’t trade her private practice for the world. More than anything, she loves her work and feels like she is making a real difference in the lives of her clients. The flexibility and rewards of working for herself are just icing on the cake.