Let’s get down to business! In today’s episode, I unpack how I’ve built three businesses that bring in over 7-figures in revenue. And I offer suggestions for how you can create passive income streams to support yourself financially without having to work all the time.
Tune in to hear me explore—
I hope you’ll listen then get in touch to let me know your questions about building passive income. I’d love to do a follow-up on this topic.
And don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Then please share this episode with a friend!
Links
Let’s get down to business! In today’s episode, I unpack how I’ve built three businesses that bring in over 7-figures in revenue. And I offer suggestions for how you can create passive income streams to support yourself financially without having to work all the time.
Tune in to hear me explore—
I hope you’ll listen then get in touch to let me know your questions about building passive income. I’d love to do a follow-up on this topic.
And don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Then please share this episode with a friend!
Links
Hi everyone welcome to the Brave and wild podcast I'm your host Vanessa Newton I'm a group practice owner in social worker I'm also a Latina entrepreneur mom and recovering perfectionist. On this podcast we teach mental health professionals how to build sustainable profitable and values align businesses here you'll hear all about decolonizing the business item private. Music. Our time together will be raw honest vulnerable and held together by Joy if you like what you hear subscribe to our newsletter at Braven well.com / newsletter Dash sign. Thank you for listening. Music. Welcome to another episode of the Braven well podcast I'm your host Vanessa Newton licensed clinical social worker clinical supervisor and I'm excited to talk today about managing multiple businesses and building passive income. So I've alluded to passive income a lot and I do talk about it a lot in business consultation and in previous episodes but today I kind of want to talk about the different businesses I have what passive income is and what that could possibly look like for you. And so as you all know I'm a group practice owner right a own colors of Austin counseling a group practice where a team of 18 we provide therapy services online and in person within the state of Texas, my second business is brave and well write this podcast. It is a business Consultation business where I provide business consultation clinical supervision. Community workshops networking events support for therapists who want to launch or grow their own private practice or group practice. And then my third business which I haven't talked about much here is social no, it is a business I own with my husband and we actually found it gosh a long time ago when I was a school social worker. And it was a business that was created based off of. My need as a school social worker it's a web application that is designed for school-based mental health professionals to document their interactions with students and families so when you think about. Like your own documentation system that you use for your private practice this is basically that write a documentation system for school mental health professionals so. When I think about passive income passive income is essentially something that can make money in your sleep a business of product an offering that generates revenue and income without you being in it or having to manage it all the time it does not require you to teach it it doesn't require you to be live in person actually doing this it is something that just generates income on its own so it could be a book that you're selling on Amazon it could be a webinar they could be. A workshop that is pre-recorded that people can download for purchase it could be a resource that people can download and purchase on your website you could be a workbook it could be a technology application kind of like social note where people pay to use it. And it requires very little on our part to maintain it. Obviously my husband is the one who designed it from scratch so he is a software engineer by trade that's what he does full-time and we actually put our heads together. And I had been telling him about my woes as a school social worker and just letting him know like I don't have a secure way to document on my clients and families and that's really scary as a clinical professional with the license that I have to protect and so he basically built this application by coating it and now it's something that lives and itself, school districts purchase it so they they pay us on an annual basis you know there's a contract that they sign we ask for payment up front for an annual contract and they use it. And the only maintenance that is required is basically regular maintenance to ensure that the application is working and then my husband is always working on new features to roll out but essentially, there's very little that goes with managing the day-to-day and so that's something that generates income in our sleep right it just pays for itself and so that is a way that we've built some passive income for ourselves. And when I talk about. Building a seven-figure revenue stream for myself that is a that's a combination of three businesses colors of Austin counseling Raven well and social note all those three combined, I've generated or created a 7-figure revenue stream for my family and so when you think about. Things that you could be doing outside of one-on-one therapy or offerings or projects or ideas you have. Around building passive income or alternative streams of revenue for yourself I always encourage people to think about, why do I want my retirement plan to look like essentially or what do I want my retirement to look like period and how do I start working on that now and we know that. Offering therapy and doing therapy requires you to be in it. All the time it requires all of you right and as Professionals in private practice. We don't want to be working all the time that leads to burnout that leads to a lot of other things that we don't want and so. How do you make time to craft and build and pouring resources into something that could generate alternative Revenue. That allows you to be in the chair as much as you want without burning yourself out that allows you to take a vacation that allows you to take a day off that allows you to be with your family that allows you to take care of your mental health and having a flow for your life that you feel serves you well, and this isn't something that I was able to do early on because I didn't have the resources to do so so when I think about how this was all created I think about doing it slowly doing it in bits and starting with one thing starting in Solo practice that was all of me it took all of me all the time when I started colors of Austin counseling. Colors of Austin counseling is not necessarily passive income when you think about it because owning a group practice takes a lot of work I mean. A ton of work it is probably one of the hardest things I've ever done and. At the end of the day allows me to generate Revenue without being in the chair all the time so sure there are parts of it that are passive income so for example I earn a percentage of every billable hour that a clinician performs so I'm not maybe. You know doing that therapy session the clinician is and I'm earning a percentage off of what they're doing. And so in a sense that is passive income because it doesn't require me to be in it however, in order to support that to support that clinician and doing that therapy session there are a lot of other things that have to happen right there is onboarding of that clinician there is. Clinical consultation there is professional development resources that we offer there's management and supervision and answering questions and being available to support the team if they need something. Those are all things that require me to be working in the business. Right so I may not be the one hosting the therapy session but I'm doing a lot on the front end and the back end to ensure that people feel supported and that they have what they need to do their job, and there's not a price tag for that really I mean it's your time and your energy is priceless and so I don't think that a group practice is passive income because it requires so much of you now I will say, our group practices at a place where we have the honor of having a leadership team so I have a Clinical Director I have a practice manager I have a billing specialist a marketing person we have a client care coordinator right so we have all these people in different positions within the group practice who helped me and ensuring that the business runs smoothly however I manage those people, right and so I'm still very much in the business and acting is the Visionary for the practice so colors of Austin is not passive income however. It does allow me to create alternative streams of revenue for myself by having a team of clinicians who are performing services for the practice. Bright and generating Revenue that doesn't necessarily have to come for me and I believe in transparency and I believe in being honest about why these systems and businesses were created is that colors of Austin was created based on my own desire to have a family. I mean truly. That was the first thing and then second to that it was formed to be able to provide high-quality Clinical Services to people who held identities that were considered to be marginalized black and brown folks. I will be honest about that that first it was a personal. It was a personal Endeavor for me because I could not afford to not work and I still can't write I also wanted something that I could build generational wealth for my future children. Right and I wanted to have children I wanted to build a family and how could I do that if I wasn't working, and so this business all these businesses have provided me with an opportunity to not only do what I love without working in an agency setting and while being my own boss and having decision-making power and being able to be creative with my thoughts and. Be able to build something for the community and the world that is bigger than me and to also leave something. For Mike in right into be able to to leave my children with something that they can build off of and. I don't come from a family of generational wealth right I don't come from a family with wealth period And so I'm trying to build something for. My descendants and so that a lot of what I do in terms of business is for that purpose it is to leave something behind. Business consultation clinical supervision workshops community events those are not pieces of passive income those things require me to do them they require me to be in it however within bravin well I've been able to create passive income pieces so for example the workbook that I created laying the foundation for your private, practice that is passive income that lives on my website people can go on there they can purchase it whenever they want to and all I have to do is ship it out. That is the one thing that I do for that product that requires me to do that work but the but the content has been created and it can sell over and over again forever, so that is passive income, the other thing is that I have created a shop with downloadable templates and resources that people can purchase so you know documentation templates consent paperwork templates different types of necessary paperwork pieces to start a private practice or group practice that people can easily go in Click purchase and download and it requires zero effort for me because it's all been created and all lives online so that's passive income. This podcast doesn't generate income yet because we just started and we're still building a community on here but it has the potential to and so I'm excited for that and I think that. Um bravin well we also have merchandise so you can go on and buy hats and totes and pencils and different types of Swag that's passive income as well because I have the products they just need to be shipped. So brave and well definitely has a potential to grow the passive income and already has that in it and that is my goal. Social not like I mentioned is passive income in and of itself all we do is Market it as best we can um have demo meetings with interested school districts who reach out and say you know I'm interested in your platform can you show me a demo will schedule a call with them show them a demo of the product and then at the end of the day they choose to purchase it or not and so social note definitely is passive income now. Outside of that I do want to talk about a couple of things that are really important when you have multiple businesses is one how do I manage my time. And to how do I know. What I need to Outsource and ask for help for it is true that it takes money to make money. And I have learned that in the time that I've. Been in business since 2015 that I have gone from doing everything myself to being able to build. Different types of streams of Revenue to be able to save money invest that money back in my businesses. And hire help to lift off the next idea that I have. For example when I decided to start my group practice, I thought to myself okay what needs to happen in order for me to grow this team why I need to save some money well first I need to find a way to generate more money that's beyond myself then I need to save it, and then I need to grow the business right and so. I hired a couple contractors we all managed to use one office only, I was able to save save save thousands of dollars. Because they were performing therapy sessions and I was you know getting a percentage of those therapy sessions and I was saving all that money and I invested that money into growing colors of Austin counseling renting out a bigger office space hiring more clinicians. Okay the more clinicians you higher the more Revenue that's generated the more can go into savings. I didn't start making money from my group practice until probably your three where I like really started to pay myself a decent salary because everything that the business was making that clinicians were generating from the therapy sessions went back into the business everything. It takes money to make money right and so through building colors of Austin, came alternative streams of Revenue came higher profit margins came the ability to save and I would take that savings and invest it in the next business idea. The book hiring a marketing strategist to come help me piece together the book you may not be able to afford. To Outsource anything at the beginning I did not but I asked for help from people that I trusted. And as I started saving money I was able to start Outsourcing things one of the first positions I hired was a client care coordinator for my group practice and then a Clinical Director and then that was able to grow right now we have a larger leadership team. But that was not all possible at the beginning. And I think that's when you think about growing a business when you think about, turning a profit and being able to create other products and offerings it's going to require you to get help it's going to require you to Outsource certain things and it's going to require you to save. And I think it happens really slowly and I think you have to definitely get people on your team who can support you and making you know sound financial decisions and Dinesh decisions in general and so I really leaned on. My CPA a lot and asked a lot of questions about you know if I want to hire ex leadership position how much money should I save if I want to write this book how much money should I save. You know and I think that asking for help is a huge. Piece of making all of this work and making all of this come together and part of that process for me was identifying what's mine and what's not. Right like what am I really passionate about and what am I not really passionate about I don't enjoy writing it's not my favorite thing to do I'm a big dreamer I'm a Gemini I have a lot of ideas I have a lot of dreams I have a lot of goals and it's really easy for me to have a million ideas and not execute on a single one because my brain is just beyond me and so I've learned that I need help getting clear about what I want to do. And how I'm going to accomplish that. And so one of the first things I did was hire a mindful marketing coach Maggie Gentry and she really helped me. Get my copy up on my group practice website right she helped me. Right job descriptions and helped me start to build visibility in a presence for my group practice she is very good with words she is very good with writing and she. Is great in terms of thinking about how to Market something that you feel really excited about and getting clear about the steps to get there so I could tell her hey Maggie I really want to hire five, people and she could help me identify every single step that needs to happen in order to hire five people, and that's what I needed I needed someone to really Reign it in for me and get realistic and practical and that required money to hire her and I think identifying the supports that we need in order to make things happen is crucial another big lesson that I think I've learned along the way when it comes to growing a business and building passive income is accepting that I'm not the owner of everything in my business right and letting go of that control and allowing that to be okay I used to be so. Obsessed with being in control like when I first started my group practice I was so. I had my hand in everything there was no way that anything would happen in the business without me no way. I was terrified of someone messing it up I was terrified of the business falling apart I was terrified of being in the red. I was terrified that I wasn't going to be able to pay my clinicians who I just hired to work here I felt responsible for everything and everyone. And I've learned that I can only be responsible for myself. And that a lot of people have a lot of strengths that are not mine and a lot of people are willing to help if you ask. And if you show interest in people and what they care about. And that just because I'm not the one doing everything doesn't mean it's not going to get done and it can't be get done well. And that's been a really hard lesson that I feel like you know wearing your five of group practice and I'm just now at a place where I can let go of that control. And I can look at my you know director of equity and say I trust you to have that conversation with that clinician. I trust you to make a decision about that Community partner and whether or not we should partner with them I trust you. To off board that person because they're not a good fit for this practice. I trust you to pay for that training for the team because. They feel like it's what they need to continue to be a great clinician. And those are decisions that I never would have been able to make five years ago building. Passive income building your businesses expanding your businesses growing as a leader in an entrepreneur requires you to let go requires you to trust other people outside of yourself and requires you to be honest with yourself about what is yours and what is not. And it's an incredibly vulnerable place to be but it is the thing that will launch you into something greater. And had I not given myself permission to let go of control I don't know that I would be able to be where I'm at today you know the book the workbook that I created and then I wrote required a lot of people to have their hands in it, and lots of you know rounds of feedback and surrendering some of what I thought would be great with people saying well we don't have the budget for that or that doesn't really fit the theme of the workbook or that's not very practical and being willing to let go of what my original idea or dream or thought of what that product should be I had to let that go. Right because sometimes it doesn't always fit and sometimes it doesn't always work and Trust the people that I was working with that they knew what they were doing. To be able to make it happen, and so I think those have been some of the crucial pieces of expansion and growth and Building Things that I feel excited about and can live beyond me, these products and these things that I create this podcast this workbook you know these are things that I want to leave behind these are the things that I want to give back to people this is my way of giving back. This podcast is my way of sharing the ups and downs and and all the key learnings. At no cost to you because I care because I don't want other people to make the same mistakes that I did and so. I think learning to Outsource and ask for help is huge. Finally how do I manage my time how does all this happen I mean I've talked about this before but I think I do have a lot on my plate all the time plus I have a toddler which is. For those of you who have toddlers well, they want to be with you all the time they require all your attention and so I love that and I want to be available to her and I'm finding that this phase of her life is is very much. An exciting time and I very much want to be as available as I can to her and truly truly truly when I think about what are all these businesses for what are all of these things that I'm doing that I'm working so hard for what is it all for it's for her. It is I do all this for her first. Then comes everyone else what is your why I think that's another important question to ask yourself and so for me it's all about time management you know a lot in buckets of time on different days throughout the week to focus on each of the businesses and making sure that I'm giving I don't want to say that I'm giving as much attention to each one because I'll be honest you know social note doesn't require a ton of my attention. There are seasons when it does like right now back to school it's a he is very busy for social note because we're getting a lot of inquiries and a lot of school districts reaching out wanting to get demos and get more information but like you know going into Christmastime probably not because people you know schools are breaking for for the holidays so you know every business has seasons in terms of what they require for me from me and so, I think it's important for me to get clear about how I'm allowing my time throughout the week for the different businesses I Outsource a lot of things and I'm currently in the process of hiring an administrative assistant for Braven well because I know I need support for that I delegate a lot of things so I'm not the owner of everything, and that's very very helpful I set boundaries around my schedule I have a hard start at eight hard stop at five. Nothing happens before or after that because I'm with my family. And I understand what is within my wheelhouse and what's not I don't try to do things that I don't want to do or can't do. I'm very clear about that now and that took a lot of time for me to get there to understand that and a lot of honest conversations with my therapist and honestly with the people that I was Outsourcing with you know because I feel like Maggie and share stories you know I would say Okay I want to do this and then say okay do you have the capacity to do that do you want to do that or do you need my support and I would be like no I can do it it's fine and then. The deadline would come around when I need to deliver that one task that she asked me to do that I said I could do and it's not done, and if I get curious about that it's because I didn't want to do it in the first place and I should just have asked her to take it over right and so I think it's been an evolution of being honest with myself about what I want to do what I can't do and what I have the capacity for. So all this to say is that building a business growing a business building passive income, creating alternative streams of Revenue takes resources it takes time and it takes help and I know that some of you listening may be in a place where you're like me and that all sounds great and I don't have the money to get help to do that or and I don't have the time to do that or I have a million ideas and I don't even know which one to pick. All those things are true I've definitely been there and have felt there and it's taken years to be able to be at a place where I've actually been able to execute on one project. But I promise you if you stay the course if you are intentional and have a plan for your money and where your money is going you can create the opportunity for yourself to create the thing that is going to. Either provide you with Financial Freedom either get you out of debt either build generational wealth either either either right whatever your goal is for yourself or why you're creating these services and products in the first place is is up to you but the process to get there is also up to you and what are you willing to sacrifice and what are you willing to do to make sure that you have the resources to get the support that you need. And that is a process. Start somewhere start with one thing my one thing was my group practice I was determined to get that started. So that I could have a baby and for those of you that don't know you know I'm very transparent about this but I struggle with infertility and. Had to go through multiple fertility treatments testing doctor's appointments with Specialists when I was trying to conceive our daughter and. That, costed us thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars and not something that I ever thought that I'd have to go through not something that I wish upon anyone but we were do willing to do whatever it took and so I will say that. Having. Had a group practice that could generate alternative streams of income for me and could be a piece of passive income allowed us to have our child. And that was my goal right I wanted to have a baby and so whatever your why is whatever it is be clear about that and. Keep your eye on the prize because it is possible it's possible for you. All right y'all that's all I have today thank you so much for listening thank you for being here and. Music. So much for listening to the Braven while podcast you can find links and resources from this episode in the show notes at. Music. Passive listening platform then send it to a friend for free resources special announcements and discount code subscribe to our newsletter at bravin wall.com forward slash newsletter Dash sign up. Music.