#WIB – Q&A With Occupational Therapist Tasneem Abrahams

1. Can you please tell us more about your business?

A. I have an occupational therapy private practice helping teens and adults with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) achieve reduced stress and enhanced performance and satisfaction in their daily lives. I am also the founder of the Private Practice Growth Club, helping other health professionals start and grow a private practices in South Africa.

2. When, how, and why did you start your business?

A. I graduated as an occupational therapist in 2002, working in a variety of settings. However, I have always been an early adopter of technology and a creative at heart. In 2010 I started my first practice, and as I was exploring the digital world of marketing, at a time when Instagram didn’t even exist, I fell in love with web design and content marketing. I started writing content for mental health websites around the globe and became proficient in digital marketing. In 2015, as a mother of 4, I started a digital marketing business targeting mainly health professionals but quickly realised that this was not aligned with my passions and my why.

I am after all a health professional, helping others is in my DNA. Providing digital marketing services just didn’t excite me. On top of that, crippling imposter syndrome and terrible financial management skills meant that my business was not profitable and something needed to be done. During all this time, I continued to be involved in my OT profession in a consulting, training, and independent contractor role. I also recognised the severe lack of occupational therapy services for teens and adults struggling with productivity, disorganisation, and ability to focus and achieve their goals due to diagnosed or undiagnosed ADHD, as most OTs in this area focused on children, so I decided to focus my own practice in this area.

As my business skills developed, I started to recognise the struggles of many other health professionals in private practice, and one day the penny dropped. This was my calling, I could help other health professionals avoid some of the costly mistakes I made. Empower them with the business and marketing skills I attained over the years because I understood the unique climate and challenges of operating a business in such a highly regulated profession. And that is how the Private Practice Growth Club came about.

3. What is your role in the business?

A. I have intentionally kept my practice small so in practice, I wear all the hats. Although I do use a lot of technology and automation to ease some of the administrative load, and then of course I am a clinician. In the Private Practice Growth Club, I am the CEO, content creator, and coach/consultant. Other roles within my knowledge-based business are outsourced or automated.

4. Where did you study and what did you study?

A. I completed a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy at the University of Cape Town in 2002. I am also a licensed Sensory Intelligence Practitioner, trained by Dr. Annemarie Lombard from Sensory Intelligence Consulting. Aside from the numerous other clinical courses and training I completed over the years, I also completed a Digital Marketing course through UCT’s Get Smarter online school. An inbound marketing certification through Hubspot, and completed a business incubation program through the Awethu project.

5. How did you finance your business?

A. I bootstrapped all the way. Starting lean with personal capital is the best way to fund your business. The second time around, when I was wiser and more business savvy, I made sure I had at least a 3-month runway in savings before going full-time into self-employment. I made sure I had a solid 90-day plan for how I was going to ensure I started earning revenue within that first 3 months.

6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

A. I don’t have a typical work day, but I do have a typical work week. I am a huge advocate for time blocking and prioritisation. This was something I had to learn the hard way and now I teach a lot of these time management strategies to my ADHD clients who really struggle with productivity and getting things done. The first thing I do every morning is open up Google Calendar on my second screen and use it to guide me through the day. It sounds boring, but I schedule my morning routine, personal time to make sure I make time for self-care tasks, and my evening routine. I then use time blocking and time theming to identify when I will do what type of deep work vs admin vs client work.

Deep work can include scripting out lessons for my Academy, planning or creating content, completing assignments for the latest training I am doing, or strategy or financial management. It is routinised enough to keep me on track, but flexible enough to not feel bored or constricted by my schedule. I only check emails 3 times per day at set times and have a very systemised way of processing the emails so that I always have an inbox zero without having to spend all my time responding to emails.

7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?

A. I alluded to this in my previous answer when I described how I use time blocking. I have 4 kids and run 2 businesses, so being in control of my calendar is critical. I don’t claim to have a perfect system, because perfection is a fallacy, but I have a system that works and when things go off track, it is a system that is easy to reset. I use the C.A.R.D system to balance all my tasks. Chop what is not a priority or not aligned with my values or goals right now, Automate as much as I can using technology, Routinise recurring tasks using time blocking, and Delegate either to family members or by outsourcing certain functions.

8. What drives you and inspires you?

A. I am creative at heart. I am driven by progress, knowledge, and innovation. My love language is acts of service so I am always inspired to do, create and innovate by those in need. But when times are really hard, and motivation is low, it is my family and my faith that helps me push through.

9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

A. Good ideas don’t keep office hours, I have ideas floating around in my head all the time. But my best ideas happen when pouring the ideas out of my head and talking about them, that’s when the ideas really come to life.

10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?

A. For my practice, I don’t actively market as I am intentionally keeping my practice small in order to provide my clients the best possible service with the capacity I currently have as I have no desire to scale my practice in the medium term. For the Private Practice Growth Club, my main sources of traffic come from my Facebook group which I have grown to over 3000 members and my main content platform is YouTube. I have a variety of lead generators on my website that caters to health professionals at different stages of private practice.

11. What is next for your business?

A. I would like to maintain a small clinical practice for at least 2 years, before re-assessing my long-term vision for the practice. My vision for the Private Practice Growth Club is to expand my audience to those health and wellness professionals who are established and looking to scale and diversify. I am also working on corporate partnerships and sponsorships, and I would like to introduce in-person events within the next year. I am also venturing into the world of public speaking.

12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?

A. Before you venture into any business, even just a side hustle, the number one skill you must learn is financial literacy, followed by strategic thinking, and then close the deal with action, action, action. Far too many entrepreneurs get stuck in the planning stage vortex. Planning is important, but your plan will go nowhere without imperfect action. When in the planning stages of your business, set yourself clear deadlines and work consistently towards them. Have a good support system, whether that be your family or a biz bestie. I have found joining communities of like-minded entrepreneurs to be especially helpful. And finally, develop your mind. Having a strong mindset is key when starting your own business.

Short bio:

Tasneem is an Occupational Therapist in private practice and the founder of the Private Practice Growth Club. She is passionate about developing the mindset and business skills of health professionals, and other coaches in the wellness space through content creation, knowledge-based products, and coaching. In her spare time, she loves wall climbing, and eating (especially chocolate and watermelon), she is a book lover, is passionate about supporting female entrepreneurship, and always sees the potential of every glass to be filled.