Business plan for a psychological center in Russia

Every year, universities graduate thousands of psychologists. Some of them never decide to work in their specialty, since the salaries in government agencies are not too high, and opening a psychological business is scary because of the vague prospects.

Although the current society or time of change can put a person in such conditions that his psyche will be tested for endurance every day. A person will need help, support, which loved ones are not always able to provide, and not everyone will go to complain about life to friends.

This is where today's profitable business comes in handy. A psychologist is a person who will always listen, analyze the situation, and help. This profession is in great demand today. That’s why we’ll talk about what it takes to open a psychologist’s office, and we’ll take a closer look at all the stages of developing a promising business.

Where to begin?

If you have already decided to develop this business, you should make every effort to avoid competition. To do this, decide on the services that you will provide at the center. Study the distribution of business in your region, determine the target audience, its priorities and preferences.

Before you open a psychological office, you need to understand exactly what services will be needed by the population in the place where you are going to open the center. What are your potential clients most concerned about? These could be: difficulties in raising children, depression, anxiety, grief, personal successes and achievements, addictions, family problems.

And when you make an approximate list of the questions that will be addressed to you, outline ways to solve them: seminars, trainings, personal conversations, group classes, watching films. Naturally, to provide a full range of services you need employees, the selection of whom should also be taken care of at this stage.

You should roughly distribute responsibilities between them (one conducts training, the other conducts conversations, etc.). By the way, if you yourself are not an expert in this field, then you should still consider a business plan for a psychological office, since there are many professionals, and the idea is very promising.

How to draw up a business plan for a psychological center?

Modern society can put a person in conditions in which his psyche will be tested for strength every day, when support, help will be needed, and sometimes it will be necessary to try to instill confidence in a person, showing him that he can do anything, provided that he puts in the effort. some amount of effort.

This is precisely what psychological assistance is intended for, which can be implemented in the following forms:

in the form of various trainings;
through the provision of psychological consultations;
in the form of personal interviews.

This business plan for a psychological office is being written for a business that has just begun to occupy its proper place in Russia, therefore, opening a psychological center will be appropriate and relevant.

In order to open a psychological office, you do not have to be a practicing psychologist; it will be enough to hire specialists who will conduct psychological trainings, in which the office will specialize. At the same time, the entrepreneur himself will be able to deal with issues that will be related to the organization, further development and prospects of the business being opened.

First of all, you need to understand that a psychological office is different from training. We will be talking about both a private office of a practitioner who will work one-on-one with a client on an individual basis, and trainings that are conducted in groups.

Business registration

In order to legally prepare all the documents, you need to choose the organizational and legal form that suits you - individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur) or LLC (limited liability company). What is the difference? The first form of registration (IP) has some advantages. This means that the tax amount will be less (single tax), and the system for submitting all reports is much simpler.

An LLC should be chosen if the business plan of a psychological center involves working with legal entities. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake; you can change the legal form at any time. If you have the time and desire, collect all the required documents yourself, otherwise find an intermediary who will do everything for you for a fee.

More information about employee selection

This is a very important point on which the success of your enterprise depends. Having once asked for help in your center, the client will either come back and recommend the specialist to his friends, or he will forget the way to you forever, and even spread the word accordingly. If you yourself are an expert in this field, remember those people with whom you studied, worked, crossed paths at seminars, etc.

If you are not a psychologist, then carefully study the recommendations of everyone who wants to work for you, check them, call your previous place of work and inquire about the person’s professional qualities. The business plan of a psychological center should also contain such an organizational stage as the selection of other employees: secretary, accountant, cleaner, etc.

The next stage is the selection of premises

As you understand, premises for the center can either be rented or purchased. Naturally, in most cases, at the initial stage it is more practical and economical to choose the first option. However, do not forget that the owner of the premises may significantly increase the fee or even decide to sell your office. In this case, there is no guarantee that those clients who contacted you (because it is close and you don’t have to travel far) will remain yours and follow you to another area.

If we talk about the area of the premises (and the business plan of a psychological center will definitely include this point), everything will depend on your goals. For a center where one specialist works, 30 square meters will be enough, but to accommodate several psychologists with groups and clients, more than one such office will be required. The square meters should be enough for a cozy hall where the reception will be located, and for a utility block with a plumbing unit.

Special attention should be paid to interior design. The psychological assistance center is a place where it is easy and pleasant to be, where comfort relaxes and encourages conversation. Carefully choose the color of the walls and furniture, do not forget about high-quality sofas, lamps, and flowers.

Cost Analysis

Opening a business involves paying rent for premises, hiring administrative and specialized personnel, as well as purchasing furniture and related equipment. The service of psychological assistance for children or adults involves the obligatory decoration of the premises in pleasing to the eye, soothing colors. It is also advisable to invite a designer who will competently approach interior design. The amount required depends on several parameters:

Level of professionalism of the staff. Highly qualified psychologists on staff will significantly increase wage costs, while young graduates without work experience will cost much less. High-ranking specialists create a good reputation for the institution, and novice psychologists bring enthusiasm and fresh ideas.
The target audience. The most in demand is round-the-clock psychological assistance and consultations for women victims of domestic violence. Additional clients can be attracted by providing services anonymously.
Complex and general focus of services. To make a profit, it is advisable to adapt activities to the needs of the wealthiest segments of the population, to use all channels for promoting your business (post the company’s phone number and website on social networks).

A detailed cost estimate can be agreed upon with a practicing psychologist and financier; step-by-step instructions taking into account their practical experience will be useful.

Promotion and advertising of the psychological center

A business plan for a psychological center simply cannot exist without this point. Successful activities are possible only if you have regular customers who will come to you and recommend your services to their friends, acquaintances, and colleagues.

Since the psychological office sells a service that does not inspire confidence in all people (many still believe that this is quackery), you will have to try to convince them of the opposite. Why doesn't everyone trust psychologists? Yes, because people, firstly, have seen enough American films about such “specialists”, where the point is in the plot, and not in providing psychological assistance, and secondly, many have never been to such centers. Hence the mistrust.

This means that we need to interest people, that is, make good advertising. At the initial stage, you should not contact the media, it is unlikely to help. Here you should start with so-called targeted advertising, which includes mailing, presentations, spam, distribution of leaflets and booklets.

What should you write on these leaflets? Focus on the problems that your target audience may have. Tell us what kind of help you can provide (we discussed this above) and in what ways. This should work. As practice shows, and we have already mentioned this, so-called secondary advertising works most effectively when your client, who liked everything, recommends your center to other people.

Advertising and promotion of a psychologist's office

It is quite difficult to attract first clients. Remember that you don’t have to be a generalist. Think about the areas of psychology in which you are strongest, for example, family psychologist, gestalt therapy or psychoanalysis and offer your services in this area.

Excellent advertising for a psychologist is good recommendations and word of mouth. A simple but informative website will also be very effective, because its presence will indicate that you are a professional. Advertising on the Internet can also be placed on free bulletin boards and social networks. Focus on the problems you specialize in best. As you know, many people try to find answers to their questions on the Internet. A link to you may help them get more qualified advice.

At the beginning of the activity of a psychological office, it is advisable to pre-register people for the provision of psychological services. After a while it will log into the system. This needs to be done so that it doesn’t happen that one day there is a queue, and the next there is not a single client.

When opening a psychologist's office, you need to be prepared for the following expenses: payment for rent of premises, electricity, advertising campaign, purchase of office equipment, rental of furniture (you can use your own), as well as payment for forms, checks and office supplies. Sources of income include individual psychological services (usually hourly) and social interaction training.

The profitability of a psychologist’s office, first of all, depends on the professional competence of the psychologist himself, on his instincts in working with clients. The more professional the help, the correspondingly higher the image of the psychologist and the greater the need for him, and therefore the financial return. You need to be prepared that success does not come immediately, but gradually. At first there may be 1-2 clients, and over time - 10 or more.

So, with the right approach, the availability of all the necessary documents and competent specialists, the business of opening a psychological office can become very promising. In any case, people should receive high-quality and professional support. However, in our country, many do not realize what they can gain from counseling. A specialist will not only listen to your problems, but also give recommendations and advice on how to solve them. That is, the main thing is the final result, which depends on the specific methods and actions of the psychologist.

While thinking about this article, I could not reduce the number of thoughts that came into my head. Having gained the experience of opening my own center for scientific and practical psychology, I think that everything is not as complicated as it seems. However, there are many important “little things” that definitely need to be paid attention to. Otherwise they will turn into big difficulties.

I personally always wanted to do something of my own! That's right - with a capital D - Business! I worked for a long time as a specialist in the field of motivation and corporate culture in large companies, received clients at home, and suddenly realized that I wanted to work differently. I wanted to have my own small office, which would be cozy and nice. So that the closets have a lot of books and magazines, paints, pencils and paper, toys and plasticine. Tea and sweets, and, of course, a baby laptop with the Internet, so that in between clients you can engage in various pleasant reading.

Thinking and dreaming, I looked closely at the situation on the market, in the country, in the world, assessing my capabilities. And the most interesting thing is that in the end, the center for scientific and practical psychology opened not at the best time, from the point of view of the economic situation in our country and in the world (March 2009), but it exists and flourishes to this day. Of course, not much time has passed since the opening, but this experience is valuable for me, and I hope that it will be useful to you too.

Thoughts and memories spontaneously grouped into semantic blocks - something worth thinking about before doing this business. So, let's get started.

Product or “What can you offer the client?”

It is clear that the product of a psychologist/psychotherapist is the service itself - a consultation with a psychologist or long-term psychotherapeutic work.

And if you are a very young and green specialist with a fresh diploma, then you should wait a little. Firstly, in order to understand how you work and with what. What is needed for your service to be in demand. And, in my opinion, this is a very important point, not to neglect additional education in the field of psychotherapy. We are not talking about short-term trainings, but about long-term educational projects that will give you what you could not get at the university. This is the experience of group therapy, individual therapy, acquiring skills and their training, receiving supervision and developing your own individual style of working with a client. Secondly, in order to “build up” a certain base of regular customers who will already know you, rejoice with you in opening your own center and confidently recommend contacting your organization.

If you are an experienced, knowledgeable person and have been working in the field of psychotherapy for a long time, then try to devote enough time to realize and understand why you need your own center. So that in the future the result of the work meets your expectations and does not bring disappointment.

I have already said about myself that I worked for large companies for a long time, and received clients at home. So I already had quite serious work experience. In addition, immediately after studying at the university, having entered graduate school, I simultaneously began studying at the Moscow Gestalt Institute. And by the time the center opened, I had education, experience, a method (which I liked and promoted me as a specialist) and a certain client base.

People or “One for all and all for one!”

Is it possible to imagine a psychological assistance center in the form of one single employee? He is a specialist, he is an administrator, he is a jack of all trades. In general, this situation is possible, but causes some surprise (both among colleagues and potential clients). And that is why it is worth thinking about which of your colleagues you could invite to take part in this idea.

You may ask, why keep competitors close to you? And I will answer you, there are no competitors in the field of psychological services! There are colleagues with their own work style, experience, knowledge and personal characteristics. And it is possible that one client should work with Ivan Ivanovich, while another would benefit from working with Pyotr Petrovich, and the third would benefit from working with you. Because clients, like you and me, are different people, with different needs, desires, and goals.

In addition, it’s great when in a psychological assistance center you can get a full range of services - a child psychologist; a family psychologist who works with couples; a specialist who works with adolescents and adults individually. An additional advantage can be considered the opportunity to conduct therapeutic groups (for children, adolescents and adults), psychological trainings on various topics.

So, when choosing who to collaborate with, think about what your colleagues can do and what you can do.

In addition, if you start opening a center together, you will share the costs among everyone, which eases the financial burden on your pocket.

You won’t need an administrator or secretary at first, so you shouldn’t focus on this position just yet. But during the work process (the first 6-10 months), try to note what kind of work you would like to delegate to the secretary and when enough of it has accumulated, then you should think about an additional person in your office.

Place or “My office, my fortress”

Geographically, it is better to look for an office in places where there is a convenient transport interchange. At the same time, the prestige of the location becomes completely irrelevant; the office can be located in an apartment, in a business center, or in university buildings. It is important that the place is quiet enough so that you are not disturbed while working with a client by neighbors (who will think that you are walking too loudly) or neighboring tenants (ask for sugar).

Therefore, if you like the premises, agree with the landlord so that you can look at it at least two more times. To understand what the situation is like during the day and evening, on weekdays and weekends, pay attention to your neighbors and take a closer look at the landlord himself.

The number of rooms must naturally be chosen based on the number of specialists who will work there. And pay attention to the area of the room if you plan to host groups. It is also very convenient if there is a small hall in the room (for outerwear/shoes, for tea parties, for waiting).

Even though there were three of us, the office had two workrooms and a hall. The location was good - office space in a former dormitory building, next to us there is a maternity hospital, university, school and the metro is only a 7-10 minute walk. Due to the fact that we work with different clients at different times (with children mainly during the daytime or on weekends, and with adults mainly on weekdays after 17-00), we manage to divide two work rooms between three people.

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“Your work should be a significant part of your life, and the only way to be completely satisfied is to do what you consider to be great work.
And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” We fully support this philosophy of life and share a similar attitude to business.

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We share another quote from Steve Jobs: “You need to be the standard of quality. Some people are not used to conditions where perfection is taken for granted."

In our work we strive for maximum results. See for yourself.

This is precisely what psychological assistance is intended for, which can be implemented in the following forms:

in the form of various trainings;
through the provision of psychological consultations;
in the form of personal interviews.

Return to contents

What else should you consider when organizing this business?

A psychologist is able to provide assistance to clients both through conversation and during a seminar, but it is worth knowing that the most promising center will be the one where psychological training predominates. Why?

There is no need to purchase a lot of expensive equipment. A specialist will only need the most standard kit. The main thing in this case is comfort.
If you organize advertising correctly and earn credibility from the very beginning, then you are guaranteed good income with a minimum of costs.
This trend is in fashion today, so young people will definitely be interested in your services.
After such trainings, a person feels more cheerful, he feels a surge of strength, but this state will last about a couple of weeks, then the client will come to you again for “recharging”.

Estimated costs for starting a business

The amount of money you will have to spend depends on many factors, but we will give average figures. So, during the first month of work you will have to pay about 5,000 rubles, the second – 12,500 rubles, the third – 26,000, the fourth – 39,500.

Approximate income would be:

From trainings - approximately 90,000 rubles as a result of the 1st month of work, approximately the same amount you will earn over the next two months.
Conducting all kinds of consultations will bring approximately 35,000 rubles for the first month, the same for the second, and 5-7 thousand more for the third.

At first, we included enterprise registration, advertising, obtaining a license, employee salaries, rent, and taxes as expenses.

If all circumstances are successful, this business will pay off in about 6 months.

Financial calculations

Investment in opening a psychological center

The start-up capital investment of a business project is minimal, since there is no need to purchase expensive equipment and production materials. This cost item consists of expenses associated with renting premises, repair work, registration of activities, purchasing the necessary furniture and costs for the initial advertising campaign. As statistics show, the amount of investment in a business project by region on average does not reach 100 thousand rubles.

Current expenses

The company's monthly operating expenses are formed from rent, utility payments and tax deductions, as well as costs associated with paying employees of the psychological center, conducting regular advertising and marketing events.

Income and profit, project payback

On average, as practice shows, a business project of a psychological center pays back the initial investment within six months of operation. The company's further monthly income is about 100 thousand rubles. The profitability of a business project is more than 30%.

How much do private psychologists earn?

This question is of particular interest to those who will soon receive a diploma of relevant education, or those who are just planning to connect their lives with this specialty. Each private psychologist does not depend on anyone; he sets the prices for his services himself. Of course, at the very beginning of practice they should be democratic and accessible, and later the specialist will more confidently inflate the cost.

On average, a specialist whose work experience does not exceed 5 years can count on 400-500 rubles per hour, after 10 years of experience - 600-700 rubles. However, do not forget about the list of expenses that are simply inevitable. But this profession is very interesting, promising and exciting. We wish success in the professional field to those who are going to help people in their own psychological center!