Latest / ABA Business Leaders / 7 Common Mistakes When Starting an ABA Business
Transcript
- speaker-1: Back in the 90s, I was working for a family and the family was paying me as a contractor. The IRS, even back in the late 90s, were telling this family, you have to hire this person as an employee. They are not a contractor. Whether you're starting, scaling, or thinking about selling your business, we're here to share insights, stories, and strategies to help you on the journey. And now we help other ABA business owners do the same without all the chaos. Hello everyone. We're going to tell you what not to do. Don't do that. Don't do that. We're going to talk about the common mistakes made when starting and running an ABA practice. judgment for yourself. That's not our intention. Right, right. Well, you shouldn't do it. Okay. So today we're going to talk about what not to do when starting your ABA business. I don't, as Steven said, it is, ⁓ you know, lot of these things we made the mistake of doing or not doing. We shouldn't have done them. ⁓ and we started out. And I mean, there's a lot of, you know, there are a lot of things that are going into play when you're starting a business. No matter what kind of business you're starting, right? Most of the time it's a new experience. And so there's a learning curve, right? And so, but especially with a business such as this, know, you, there's that hiring people and getting clients and getting contracted through insurance and like making the money, right? Most small ABA practices. don't start out with a lump sum of money just to get them going. And that's one of the beauties of it in a way is being able to start out with in-home services so you don't have as much overhead cost. A lot of people do start in-home even if their goals are to have a clinic just to kind get things going, even if they're just starting out as a solo BCBA, getting things going and maybe hiring a tech or two. But regardless, there are lot of things that you need to take into consideration that you should do. Yeah, you keep that one secret until the end then. don't even know what it is. And you know, I'm part of our mission and our values and who we are, like meeting you where you're at. so whether that be a course that we're offering or collaboration or consulting or whatever, however you reach out to us, we're helping you and your journey. You know, that's all we ask is just come as you are and you know, no need to. you know, cancel or not show up or whatever, because you haven't done all the homework and you don't have all the perfect answers yet. That's why we're here. We're to help you get to that point. And sometimes you just need someone to hold your hand or just to be there with you. And let's look that up together. Let's fill that form up together. So, so we, we, we so get where you are, where you are right now. Even if you're not brand new, sometimes that's that, you know, those growth steps, right? can be tricky or you did something one way when you're smaller, you know, and you are realizing that wasn't the best way of doing it. And so now it's time to change it. And then that can be kind of overwhelming, you know, and I consider myself a reformed perfectionist. Some days I question that, but, ⁓ you know, I don't want any of this to keep anyone from not getting started ⁓ because to get started, you just have to take that first step and you just have to do it. And you are going to make mistakes. But our hope here is that we can give you some information, easy to digest and take with you information to help you to not make some of the... Yeah, to make less mistakes, not make some of the mistakes that we've made and that we've seen a lot of people make. Like the most commonly made mistakes in our opinion from what we've seen. So, you know, let's get started on this. All right. So the first one, don't do that. Don't hire contractors. Don't hire contractors. Don't do it. I feel like we need a big like, ⁓ like, They get more clear. Like let's say you have five BCBAs underneath you and they each have 10 clients and you have five and all five of those BCBAs are sick or quit on the same day. Like what are you going to do with those 50 clients? You can't take them. You might be able to take 10. You might be from like if you just had one BCBA. So I can see where you can make that. But like really think about like the full impact of it. And that's like a complete ethical, like you as a practicing ECBA should know all guidelines and ethics and updates from that's your responsibility. And they have so nicely presented that to us in a very black and white. When back in the 90s, yes, late 90s, when I before I BT accepted and I was like, I don't even know I was a therapist, VA therapist, think that's what I would line therapist. And I was working for a family who had like hired a consultant from across the country to come in and do the things and the family was paying me. And the family was paying me as a contractor. The IRS came back to this family. ⁓ or their accountant or somebody, don't remember the entire story, but even back in the late 90s, the IRS professionals were telling this family, you have to hire this person as an employee. They are not a contractor. So, you know, it's less about ABA and more about... the IRS and how they define it. go to the IRS website, look at the list of and go from there. our recommendation stands that these VAs definitely ⁓ should be in place. along with each one of these don't do that points, ⁓ these are things that we've seen mistakes happen, mistakes we've made ourselves. And part of it are frequently asked questions that we get. We've kind of already gone over it, but we will sum this up with one of our most frequently asked questions, or why pick employees over contractors. They are performing a key aspect of the business. And to restate, the boards already helped us out on clarifying RVT. RVT should never be contractors. The end. I know. we're going to continue to spread this message. Well, you know, there is an exception. We, you know, like we did hire a BCBA as a contractor. so as a BCABA, which I am, and was director, clinical director and co-owner of our agency, I could not hire. I could not have any of my BCBA staff be my supervisor. That's also like, here's another bonus. Don't do that. But we did hire my supervisor, my BCBA supervisor. ⁓ And we contracted that service with her. had a year, we did on a yearly basis, a yearly contract. We would renew it as, you know, as needed and. Well, like, as a fashion, like you're reaching out to other BCA for like, as fashion. Right. definitely. All right. Ready for the next one? I mean, you know, how could you not? Okay. So don't start without legal advice. year. family guy, but unbiased or as much as you can, completely neutral. Yeah, I mean, you know, that's everyone's decision to make. That is our recommendation to have an independent neutral party. Go for it. That's a good place to start, right? ⁓ While you're getting your fitting and stuff. So why do I need legal advice before starting? goes for anyone that you reach out to. Alright, anything else about that that you want to say? All right, next that takes us to our next question, our next don't do that. So don't start without a budget. So you listening? I was just raising my hands, guilty as charged. I mean and then to you have to look at like credentialing right because when you're first sitting out you've got that like Three to six month window and then also anytime you're hiring a new BCBA You're gonna have that like am I able to hire them and get them working on non billable stuff? ⁓ You know a couple of months ⁓ while we wait or am I gonna lose this BCBA because they're going to go down the road where they can start getting bubbles quicker or whatever rate, like are getting paid quicker. ⁓ Definitely. All right, so. How do I make a budget for my practice? All right, so the next don't do that or backing up into the one I skipped. So don't start without an accountant. I mean, you can kind of ditto the legal advice, right? It's definitely important to have an idea of what you're getting into and how to manage your money and what choices to make in the beginning and knowing how to make those decisions of even should I start now or Do I need to work another year and save some more or, They are an affiliate with us and they are very... ⁓ time. Isn't there like, like, depending on how often you file your payroll tax, But on how much you're making like, there's a lot of a lot of rules that you might not know unless you already have a rich background in accounting. Well, mean, even Sam from Merging Keepers was giving advice during his podcast with us ⁓ about the startups, right? Like, know, even in the very beginning, you know, making sure you have dedicated ⁓ accounts and, know, the initial startup costs, you can kind of bundle them as a startup and then go from there. like, As soon as possible, you get those business accounts and you move from the spreadsheets to QuickBooks or something like that. like there's a lot of very specific pieces of advice that an accountant can help you with. before you make too many of the mistakes, right? So that you get a firm foundation. Also, to recap and also go over a frequently asked question, how does an accountant help my ABA practice? Right, so the next thing is don't start without documents. Well, I think one of the first intake packets we used was like a mix between like stuff we found online, stuff that we had from our own kids, like, pediatrician intake or like, I don't know, like we were just like, okay, I think this works. I think this, I don't, not sure. And then we started to like get curious and ask questions of like, are these questions even okay to ask? Because of course we know now questions are okay to ask and how to ask them and what information is needed and stuff like that. in the beginning, you know, we weren't sure we weren't asking all the right questions. We weren't getting all the information that was needed. And ⁓ not just from clients, but employees. Like it's it's really essential documents form, not backbone. And they they offer clarity and clear expectations. And then like they protect you. That's correct. Right. I was going to say something and I was like trying not to interrupt you and I like left. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'll come back up again and I will bring it up. Was there anything else that you wanted to say on that before we ask? So, I mean, even like looking back for me, because this is part of it, is like learned from our mistakes, like in the beginning, ⁓ with a lot of the overwhelm and like a couple of years into it for both of us, like it was really rocky. Like you think that the first year is going to be hard, but there's like some kind of like excitement and momentum and you're like expecting that first year to be hard. So like the hard doesn't, it doesn't feel quite so burdensome. But then you get into like year two and three and, and it's really, I would be interested to see what the burnout rate is of any new business owner, like two and three years into it, because like you're deep enough into it that you don't want to quit. You've got too much invested and you can kind of see like the goals progressing and you want to get to the other side of it. So you're going to still push through, but you're at that point where you're still wearing all the hats and you're carrying all this weight. And it's a lot. so thinking back, especially now that I have a couple of years outside of being an ABA business owner, I think that it would have made that load a little bit easier, even in the beginning, if some of this stuff was already taken care of or already had a good idea of it. I had a packet. I had this information, had the documents, had a good start. because then like that would be energy that I hadn't wasted. I don't know. be real. mean, our field has enough paperwork already, right? You know, I mean, you know, we're already deep into paperwork. And so, you know, adding more onto that, luckily, Stephen was business minded enough and curious enough, and already had the background of like, operational processes and all that kind of stuff already that you had some previous knowledge coming into it. And you were asking me a lot of questions about like documentation and things like that. And we were working from a state that didn't have insurance mandates yet. We were doing a lot of private pay. And so was just kind of, there was some like freedom there. But, you know, I remember getting really like irritated with, with Stephen and getting frustrated because like, what do you mean? Like, no, that's, we already have all this stuff. This is all we need. But sure enough, he was on the right trail, you know, like on the right track of, know, because not long after that, We had no choice but to start some of these. ⁓ So what documents do I need to start? So don't start without documents. All right, so that leaves us to our next thing. So Stephen. So don't So I just want to reiterate that. So I am a BCBA. I'm starting my own company. I do as a single provider NPI. though you told me I shouldn't, I still did because I was so... But here I am down the road and I've decided to hire people and I want to switch. What does that mean? Can you just, can the other BCA just bill under you? have like, don't do that podcast. thing for today. So don't start without core values and mission statement. This is another thing that we've talked about a lot, right? But, know, it guides your company culture and aids in decision making. Not only should you not start without your company's core values and mission statement, but you should evaluate them at minimum on a yearly basis and update them as things change. In fact, we just were in the process of doing that now for 3Pi Squared. You are how many years old is this company now? Seven. Seven. Yeah. And things have evolved and changed and we wanted to evaluate like some of our looking back at some of our previous values and like trying to make decisions and things are like feeling like not quite so clear. And so, you know, we've been looking at like we've set some new values. Some are still the same. Some are a little more clarified. And it's really amazing how ⁓ intentional, you can stay as a business owner and leader within your company clinically, business wise, supervising others, just being the leader of your company and like the person that sets the tone for the whole place, right? But no, having the values really helps for you to also hire the right staff, you know? And so, and it really create that environment that led you to want to start your own place in the first place. Absolutely. Back you up 100%. Awesome. All right. So that's our episode for today. ⁓ If you have any questions or you want to book a free consult with us to go over anything, just go on. It just helps others like you to find us. Thanks for joining us on ABA Business Leaders. You can find all of our resources at 3pi2.com We'll see you next time and remember you don't have to build your practice alone.