But when looked at from a business point of view, the minor ups and downs of a sole proprietorship are not only inevitable, but correct. The economics of private practice does not follow a linear, flat pattern. You may be experiencing the familiar, bumpy ride of private practice. You might compare the situation to being at the helm of a sailboat on the ocean. The smaller the boat, the more you feel the pull of the wind on the sails and the rise and swell of the waves.
Larger enterprises have more ballast, more hands on deck to keep things steady.
If you are in a small partnership or operate as a sole proprietor, you need a way to stay out of panic mode when those waves get high. You need to focus on the future, more than on the present. If you are in that small boat in surging seas, you want to keep your eye trained on the horizon, looking for land. All of the successful therapists I interview insist that their practices do not hold steady at all times. They tell me that they have times when they have unfilled hours and times when they have waiting lists.