Grow Your Healthcare Practice

Does marketing your private practice feel like something you only have time for when your diary is empty?
You have a quiet week, so you post on social media, reach out to a few contacts and try everything you can think of to attract new patients. Then your diary fills up, life gets busy, and the marketing stops. A few weeks later, the gaps start appearing again… and the whole cycle repeats.
Sound familiar?
In Season 3, Episode 10 of the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Podcast, Anne Gray is back with the second instalment of her four-part solo series for new healthcare practice owners.
Following on from Episode 9, where Anne introduced the three essential business systems every new practice needs – marketing, time and money – this episode takes a closer look at the first system: marketing.
And Anne's message is simple:
You don't need to reinvent your marketing every week. You need a repeatable recipe that works, even when life gets busy. Drawing on her experience coaching new practice owners, Anne shares practical ways to build a consistent marketing routine that helps the right patients and referrers find your practice, without marketing taking over your life.
🎧 In this episode, you'll learn:
Why inconsistent marketing can lead to the frustrating cycle of a full diary one month and an empty one the next.
How to build a simple four-thing weekly marketing recipe that you can repeat instead of starting from scratch.
Why your existing network of colleagues, friends and professional contacts is one of the best places to start.
How to write marketing messages that speak to your patients' needs rather than simply listing your qualifications and services.
The importance of creating awareness, interest and need – and including a clear, gentle next step.
Why you should consider taking a useful resource instead of a business card when meeting potential referrers.
How to turn your referral outreach into a measurable weekly activity rather than an overwhelming marketing task.
Anne also shares a practical example of how one new practice owner approached schools with a resource designed to help teachers recognise and respond to children who may be experiencing trauma.
It's a reminder that good healthcare marketing isn't about being the loudest. It's about being helpful, relevant and easy to reach.
💡 Your challenge this week
This week, Anne wants you to start creating your own four-thing marketing recipe. Write down four marketing activities you can realistically commit to doing every week. Then think about the people or organisations who could refer patients to your practice.
What useful tool or resource could you offer them that would make their work easier, while keeping your practice top of mind? Start with one small, practical step. The goal isn't to do more marketing – it's to make marketing something you can do consistently.
🌱 Starting a private practice? Something exciting is coming in February 2027!
Have you opened your healthcare practice in the last two years, or are you thinking about starting one? In February 2027, we're launching a new support group for new healthcare practice owners.
This group is designed to help you build the three essential systems every new practice needs: Marketing. Time. Money.
You'll have guidance, structure and the support of other healthcare practitioners who are navigating the same journey. Because starting a practice doesn't mean you have to figure everything out on your own.
Want to be the first to hear about it?
👉 Join the February 2027 waiting list here: https://thesolutioneersblog.kit.com/b05043f6ed

🎙️ What's coming next?
In the next episode, Anne will be exploring the second essential business system: time. We'll be talking about your diary, your patient pipeline and how to create a weekly rhythm that helps you stay on top of your practice without feeling constantly overwhelmed.
Make sure you subscribe to the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Podcast so you don't miss it!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode?
If you're new to private practice, go back and listen to Season 3, Episode 9: Starting a private practice? Stop trying to fix everything at once. It's the perfect starting point for this four-part series.
You can also explore our previous seasons for more practical conversations about growing and managing your healthcare business.
Follow us on Instagram @growyourhealthcarepractice, and find the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Remember: Consistency beats starting from scratch every week.

You've started your private practice. You're working incredibly hard. But why does it still feel like nothing is quite coming together?
Perhaps your diary isn't as full as you'd hoped. Your income changes from month to month. Or you know you need better business systems, but you're not sure where to begin.
If this sounds familiar, this episode is for you!
In Season 3, Episode 9 of the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Podcast, Anne Gray takes the mic for the first episode in a brand-new four-part solo series designed specifically for healthcare practitioners who have opened their practices within the last two years – or are thinking about taking that leap.
Anne shares an important lesson she's learnt from working with new practice owners: when you're just starting out, you don't need to focus on all six business systems. You need to get three essential systems working first.
And those three systems are simpler than you might think.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why trying to build all six business systems at once can leave new practice owners feeling overwhelmed and stuck.
The three essential systems every new healthcare practice needs: marketing, time and money.
How these three systems work together to help you attract patients, manage your diary and create more consistent income.
Why the problem you think you have in your practice might not be the problem that actually needs fixing.
The two important foundations that support your practice: a compliant, workable business set-up and the mindset and support to grow into your role as a business owner.
How to create simple weekly routines that bring more structure, consistency and confidence to running your practice.
💡 Your challenge this week: The Three-Question Test
Anne shares a simple self-assessment to help you identify which of your three business systems needs attention first.
Ask yourself:
1. Marketing: Can you name four things you consistently do every week to help the right patients and referrers hear about your practice?
2. Time: Do you know how booked your diary is for the next two weeks, and which enquiries still need following up?
3. Money: Do you know how much your practice needs to earn each month to cover your business and personal expenses – and are you paying yourself a planned amount?
Your challenge is to answer these questions honestly and identify one system to focus on first.
Because building a successful practice doesn't mean fixing everything at once. It means knowing what matters most right now.
🎙️ What's coming next?
This is the first episode in Anne's four-part series for new healthcare practice owners.
Over the next three episodes, we'll explore each system in more detail:
Marketing: Creating a simple weekly marketing recipe that helps fill your diary.
Time: Building your ideal week, managing your calendar and keeping your patient pipeline moving.
Money: Understanding your numbers and learning how to pay yourself consistently.
Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next episode!

🌱 Something exciting is coming for new practice owners!
Are you in your first two years of private practice – or thinking about starting one?
In February 2027, we're launching a new support group specifically for new healthcare practice owners.
This group is designed to help you build the three essential systems – marketing, time and money – with practical guidance and the support of other practitioners navigating the same journey.
You don't have to figure everything out on your own.
Join the waiting list to be the first to hear about the programme, how it works and how you can get involved.
👉 https://thesolutioneersblog.kit.com/b05043f6ed

🎧 Enjoyed this episode?
Explore our previous seasons of the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Podcast for more practical conversations about building and growing a sustainable healthcare business.
Follow us on Instagram @growyourhealthcarepractice and subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your favourite listening platform.
Remember: You don't need six systems right now. You need three.

You can be an excellent clinician and still feel completely out of your depth when it comes to running a business.
You might have years of clinical experience, yet hesitate when it's time to set your fees, market your services or make an important business decision.
Sound familiar? You're certainly not alone.
In Season 3, Episode 8 of the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Podcast, Phumla is back with another solo episode exploring something that doesn't always get enough attention in healthcare: business confidence.
Drawing on ideas from her Master's studies in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation, Phumla introduces the concept of entrepreneurial self-efficacy – essentially, your belief in your ability to successfully carry out the tasks involved in running a business.
And here's the interesting part: sometimes the thing holding us back isn't a lack of ability, but a lack of belief in that ability.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why being a confident healthcare practitioner doesn't automatically make you a confident business owner.
The five key areas of business confidence: managing, marketing, financial control, taking risks and innovating.
How to identify which area of business confidence might be holding you back.
Four practical ways to develop confidence through small wins, learning from others, encouragement and managing stress.
Why business confidence isn't fixed – and how you can intentionally build it over time.
Phumla also guides you through a simple self-assessment, inviting you to rate your confidence across five areas of running a practice.
Because you don't have to feel completely confident before you start making progress. Sometimes confidence comes from taking that first step.
💬 Your challenge this week
Take a moment to think about the five areas of business confidence discussed in this episode.
Which area did you score yourself lowest in?
And what is one small action you could take this week to start building your confidence in that area?
We'd love to hear from you! Share your answer in the comments and let us know what's helped you become more confident as a healthcare business owner.

📅 Join our next live Practice Operating System Masterclass!
Tuesday, 20 October | 7:30 pm (South African time)
Does running your healthcare practice sometimes feel like you're constantly chasing your tail between patients, admin, people, finances and marketing?
It's easy to become so caught up in the day-to-day demands of running a practice that you lose sight of what's happening in the business as a whole.
That's exactly why Anne and Phumla are hosting another live Practice Operating System Masterclass.
This practical session is designed to help you take a step back and get a bird's-eye view of your healthcare practice.
Together, we'll help you:
Identify where the gaps are in your practice's systems.
Recognise which areas of your business need attention first.
Stop trying to fix everything at once.
Start focusing on the improvements that will actually move your practice forward.
Come with your own practice in mind and be ready to work alongside us!
👉 Register for the masterclass here: https://thesolutioneersblog.kit.com/856e3afb1f

Have you ever had a great idea for your practice and immediately thought: “But am I actually allowed to do that?”
A new service. A different way of marketing. A partnership with a company or school.
For healthcare practitioners, building a business comes with an added layer of complexity: we don’t run ordinary businesses. We run businesses inside a regulated profession.
In Episode 7: Walls or Maps? Growing Your Practice Within the Rules, Phumla is back with another solo episode exploring how the rules and expectations surrounding healthcare can influence the way we make business decisions.
Drawing on ideas from her Master’s studies, Phumla introduces three different pressures that can shape the way we run our practices:
“I have to.”
The formal rules, regulations and compliance requirements we’re expected to follow.
“Others are doing it this way.”
The tendency to look at other practices and practitioners when we’re unsure what to do ourselves.
“This is who we are.”
The professional values we carry with us – patient welfare, integrity and our own understanding of what good healthcare practice should look like.
But the bigger question is this:
Do we experience those boundaries as walls… or as maps?
Two practitioners can operate under exactly the same rules. One sees everything they can’t do. The other understands the boundaries and starts looking for the routes that are available.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
• Why healthcare practitioners face a unique tension between entrepreneurship and professional responsibility.
• The three types of pressure that can influence the decisions we make in private practice.
• Why it’s important to know the actual rule rather than the rumour.
• How changing the question from “Can I?” to “How can I do this ethically?” can open up a very different conversation.
• Why looking at what other practices are doing isn’t necessarily a bad thing – provided we’re intentional about what we copy.
• Why professional integrity and business growth don’t have to be opposites.
💬 Phumla’s question for you:
Which of the three pressures shapes your business decisions most – the rules, watching what others do, or your professional values?
And does that pressure feel more like a wall or a map?

📅 Join us for our next live Practice Operating System Masterclass
Does running your practice sometimes feel like you’re constantly chasing your tail between patients, admin, people, finances and marketing?
On Tuesday, 20 October at 7:30 pm, Anne and Phumla are hosting another live Practice Operating System Masterclass.
This session is designed to help you step back from the day-to-day demands and get a bird’s-eye view of what’s actually happening inside your practice.
Together, we’ll help you identify where your systems gaps are, work out which areas need your attention first and start focusing on what will actually move your business forward – rather than trying to fix everything at once.
This is a live, practical masterclass, so come with your own practice in mind and be ready to work alongside us.
👉Go save your free seat for the masterclass here: https://thesolutioneersblog.kit.com/856e3afb1f
And make sure you subscribe to the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Podcast so you don’t miss the next episode, where Phumla will be exploring another important part of running a practice:
Confidence – not as a personality trait, but as a business skill.

In Season 3, Episode 6 of the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Podcast, Phumla is back behind the mic for another solo episode – and this time, she's taking us behind the scenes of what life really looks like while running a healthcare practice and completing her Master's in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation at Wits Business School.
After launching a research survey to healthcare practitioners across South Africa in July – and completely exceeding the response goals she'd set herself – Phumla is now deep in research and analysis.
But this episode isn't about the research results. Instead, it's about what the journey has taught her about running a practice, creating boundaries, making space for growth and recognising just how much we're capable of when we work intentionally.
Phumla also reflects on something unexpected: how much of the theory she's encountered during her Master's mirrors what she's experienced in her own practice – and the conversations happening every week amongst healthcare practitioners inside the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Mastermind.
In this episode, you'll hear about:
• The different "hats" Phumla is currently wearing – clinician, practice owner, Master's student, mum and a few others.
• How she exceeded her research survey goals by applying marketing principles and leaning on the power of her network.
• Why studying while running a healthcare practice doesn't have to mean sacrificing your evenings.
• The boundaries and working practices that have helped her make space for both business and study.
• What academic theory is making her notice about the realities of growing a healthcare practice.
• Why the challenges healthcare practice owners experience aren't always as unique as they might feel.
And this conversation is only the beginning.
Over the next few episodes, Phumla will take some of the ideas she's encountered through her research journey out of the textbooks and into the realities of private practice – including the rules we operate within as HPCSA-registered practitioners and the confidence it takes to run a business, not just deliver excellent clinical care.
💬 We'd love to hear from you: Where are you in your journey right now? Are you growing your practice, considering further study, just getting started, or figuring out what comes next?
Leave us a comment and tell us – Phumla really does read them, and your conversations will help shape where this series goes next.
Want to join the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Masterclass?
You'll find the details in the show notes.
🎧 Subscribe to the Grow Your Healthcare Practice Podcast so you don't miss the next episode.