If I Were Starting My Private Practice Over in 2026, Here’s What I’d Do
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[00:00:00] If I were starting my private practice from scratch in 2026, knowing all that I know about insurance, cash pay, client behavior systems. Retention, artificial intelligence and burnout. I would do it differently, not louder or trendier or even more complex, but I would build a practice that is calmer, clinically grounded, and designed for long-term sustainability.
One that gives me options instead of pressure and leadership instead of chaos. So today I'm not sharing theory or hype. I'm gonna walk you through three concrete decisions that I would make immediately if I had to start over.
Early decisions do compound for better or worse. So we all make mistakes. If you wanna practice that feels steady five years from now, then the foundation matters more than the aesthetics. Dieticians [00:01:00] struggle early. And I get it. Most of us start with what's visible. We wanna get our logo to look good. We want our branding on point.
We want our website to be built before we need one. And those things feel productive and tangible, but they don't create stability. Stability comes from knowing where your next claim is coming from.
And why they're choosing you. That's far superior than designing a logo. Okay? So that's what builds confidence, not fonts. This is not a, you did it wrong episode. This is a, here's what actually matters first episode so that we can really think about being efficient.
You don't need to rebuild everything. It's just about sequencing things better to prevent burnout. So if you're early in private practice or maybe you're planning a rebuild in some way, here's the three decisions that I would make immediately. Firstly. Build [00:02:00] stability before anything else.
So the first decision I would make is this, what is the simplest, most predictable path to consistent income? That might be insurance based, medical nutrition therapy, or a clearly structured cash program or a hybrid model that balances both. Financial stability comes first, so everything else is gonna come second.
Stability is going to create confidence, and confidence is gonna make all your other decisions much easier. The second action step I would do is I would choose one offer and make it excellent. If I were starting again, I would choose just one offer and commit to making it really strong.
Not five programs, not multiple niches, not constant pivots, just one offer. So for example, an insurance-based nutrition therapy program or. A three session starter bundle, which is a great way to start off if you are new or a hybrid, MNT plus coaching [00:03:00] practice, right? If you're doing both right, you wanna accept insurance and then also upsell to cash pay.
So one offer is gonna create clarity, and clarity creates momentum. 'cause you can always expand later, but only if your foundation holds. So what I see is a lot of dieticians that come to me and they want advanced. Offers and multiple offers before their current foundation is strong. So I'm constantly simplifying and helping our clients simplify their offer before they need to build it.
And that foundation, when it holds, it's gonna make you much more confident. So the third action step I would do is ma master the session structure. And that's something that I've, I'm trying to talk more about because I've noticed that it comes up a lot more often than I would expect. And it's one of the single.
Best things that would've saved me stress my first few years as a clinician is mastering session structure. And I talked about this in detail [00:04:00] in previous episodes. So a tight focused intake flow, it's going to increase retention, reduce overwhelm, build your authority, and protect your energy. And that's so important because if your energy's protected, then you're able to sustain your career, help more people make greater impact, not burn out.
If I were starting today, I would use AI immediately without hesitation. Not to replace thinking, but to sharpen it as a tool, right? Definitely. AI charting, of course, you gotta update your policies to say you're using it. Absolutely. I have multiple YouTube videos showing different AI tools free, like Heidi Health, or you could do add-ons, like Practice Better has an add-on.
Simple Practice has an add-on. Again, there are so many great tools. Definitely use them. I would also review transcripts. I have episodes on that as well. And notice any missed cues from your sessions to improve your clinical acumen without even needing to hire supervision
and then improving your MI [00:05:00] skills, your motivational interviewing skills, making sure that the session is about the client or the patient, and you're asking open-ended questions, et cetera. So faster feedback is going to create faster confidence. If you are focusing on session structure, it's really gonna help you prevent burnout and create excellent clinical care.
Excellent clinical care, sets you up for retention in addition to you making sure that you're focusing on retention. Now if you're listening and thinking, I don't know how to structure sessions, choose offers, or design this intentionally, it's not inexperience, it's just a lack of a framework. And that's what I'm here for.
I'm here to help you with the frameworks I've created and used frameworks can be learned and adjusted and adapted to your style. Once stability offer clarity and session leadership are solid, expansion becomes optional, not urgent. So that's when you add the hybrid models, group programs, digital assets memberships and even hiring, right?
So that's [00:06:00] what strategy looks like. It looks like having stability and a clear offer, making sure your session leadership is solid. Meaning that you are really confident about your session structure and then you can build on your group programs and digital assets, et cetera.
So what I would avoid completely, would be focusing on your logo over posting without a strategy or framework, rushing your offers, thinking you need to have your offers really well set up before you even have clients. Again, a package, of three sessions or even just one off sessions, at least for the first couple, is the best way to spend your energy before you are thinking about a logo or advancing your offers.
And then constant pivots, right? Constantly changing your mind about how you wanna do things is going to cause some overwhelm and none of what I just mentioned is gonna build durability. The logos over posting, rushing your offers, and constantly changing your mind those are the things that stress you out.
So inside of the Dietician Boss [00:07:00] Library, I teach you the clinical structure. You need to feel confident, make your clients feel confident. Decision frameworks that improve your clinical leadership retention strategies that help you grow your practice, and then sequencing that.
So it's where you learn how to build a practice that's calm, confident, and sustainable, not reactive and exhausting. And if you're rebuilding, intentionally transitioning to hybrid or preparing to hire, coaching is where we go deeper. So I do encourage you to apply for coaching with me [email protected].
If I were starting my practice again in 2026, I wouldn't work harder. I'd work calmer. More intentionally, more clinically aligned, and you can start doing that right now with better sequencing, clearer decisions in systems that support your nervous system instead of draining it.
