If you’ve ever made a hire that felt like a dream at first but turned into a total nightmare (been there), you’re not alone. Hiring is hard. And hiring the wrong person? Even harder—on your time, your money, and your team’s sanity.
The good news? You can stop making these mistakes before they cost you. So, let’s talk about the top four hiring pitfalls that trip up practice owners and, more importantly, how to avoid them.
Today, we’re getting real about the top four struggles that make group practice owners question their life choices. If you’ve ever felt like you're drowning in hiring headaches, role confusion, caseload overload, or financial uncertainty, you’re in good company. But don’t worry—I’ve got some solid fixes to help you navigate this mess.
If you’re a practice owner drowning in hiring struggles, retention headaches, and why-the-hell-is-everyone-doing-their-own-thing moments, this is your space. I’m here to talk about the stuff no one tells you when you start this whole practice ownership gig–and, more importantly, how to get it right.
Hey hey! Welcome to Culture Focused Practice, where we cut through the fluff and get real about what it actually takes to run a successful group practice. We’re talking about the good, the bad, and the holy shit, why didn’t anyone warn me about this? parts of practice ownership.
Vision planning isn’t just some fluffy, pie-in-the-sky exercise (although I love those, too #OwnItTara). Vision planning serves as a major foundation for building a thriving, sustainable group practice. By starting with the end in mind, you’re not only defining where you want to go, but you’re also creating a roadmap to get you there.
As a practice owner, you’ve probably had days where you feel like a human ping-pong ball. One minute you're answering client emails, the next you're knee (or thigh) deep in the weeds with staffing issues, and then it's off to the races with financial planning or “visioning” (trying to, at least, because you hardly have time to sit still and think/plan/dream/feel about the future.
Feedback isn’t a “nice-to-have” in a group practice—it’s a must. But most people cringe at the thought of it. Either the feedback they’ve received in the past was poorly handled, or they’ve never had a safe space to speak up in the first place. So, how do you build a practice where feedback flows like water and your team isn’t scared to offer their two cents?
Let me take you back to a day that started like any other. The birds were chirping, the coffee was brewing, the Taylor Swift album was playing in the background as I was getting into my emails, and I was gungho to tackle a busy day.
Cut to mid-morning when I walked into the break room. BOOM. A full-on passive-aggressive explosion between two of my team members over something as monumental as… a lost stapler (not legit, but close enough).
Have you ever had the privilege of being part of a team where everything just clicked? Where the kismet and synergy was so damn palpable, you could almost taste it?
It almost feels like the team had a secret language or something, like some weird collective unconscious - a shared understanding or an unspoken bond or something that made working together look and seem effortless.
It’s a typical Tuesday morning. You’re sitting at your desk or on your comfy couch, typing away at your computer (because lawd knows you've got about 1000 emails to catch up on), and you hear someone knock on your door. You look up and see one of you best employees, let’s call her Jane, walk into your office with a sheet of paper. She sets it on your desk and drops the bombshell. Almost in slow motion, you see her mouth start to form the words and you start to shake your head no (too late) and she confidently asserts, “I’m resigning.”
Take a second and picture this with me: you’ve just welcomed your new employee, Dave, who promises to bring a fresh perspective to your team. Hooray for Dave! Everybody is super excited about him joining the team.
::cue dramatic music::
Fast forward one month, and Dave’s fresh perspective is mainly about how to ruin morale.