How To Lower Your PT Student Loan Payments

Authored and shared by: Emma Shapiro (aka DebtFreeEmma)

There are tons of opportunities for physical therapists beyond being just a regular employee at a clinical practice.

In this article, you’ll be provided with my top 5 recommendations for physical therapy side hustles as well as 3 quick tips to help you take action and implement your new buisness today!

Top 5 PT Side Hustles

(in my opinion & in no particular order)

Physical therapist clinic owner: More and more amazing therapists are helping other PT start their own practices. Owning your own clinic may not be for everyone, but just know that there are many therapists starting their own clinical businesses and that there are many PT’s out there to help you grow yours. Remember that starting your own clinic doesn’t have to mean buying a huge clinic and treating tons of patient’s a day. Start small, start with one new client a week outside of your regular 9-5 work schedule and build up from there.
Wellness Coach: Ironically, you are likely right now already implementing many things a heath coach does. You are likely talking about your patient’s health from a global perspective and you are likely talking about not just their exercises but also life style changes. Health and wellness coaching is a growing field and it turns out that because PT’s have a very open practice act, many items under health coaching can also be considered applicable to PT’s. Wellness coaching could be an up-sell for your current clients or something you could do outside the clinic either individually or through various coaching providers.
Tele Health PT: Everything is transitioning to an online environment, including physical therapy. Tele health is really easy to start as a side hustle working for companies such as Physera or Everflex after work or on the weekends. You could also start your own tele health company and there are many PT’s who are currently teaching PT’s how to do this.
Personal Trainer: You already are a personal trainer. You know the body, you know exercises, and you know how to instruct your patient’s safely to perform these exercises. If you are looking for side hustles, then look right in your own backyard and do personal training on your off hours or weekends.
PT Blogger: Another great side hustle is to start your own website. This could be to find physical therapy clients, it could be teach PT to clients, it could be to teach physical therapists how to be PTs’. The digital world is really as open as your imagination and creativity, and luckily it costs very little to start your own website and see where it takes you!

I chose all of these side hustles because they required no extra certifications, they require little to no extra knowledge, and they require little to no cost to start. If you wanted to do something different ASAP, these would be my 5 top recommended ventures.

There are many more side hustles PT’s can do beyond this list of course, including self publishing, guest writing, marketing, consulting, teaching, starting a technology company, and so much more.

Start Your PT Side Hustle Quickly With These 3 Tips

As a fellow entrepreneur, there is so much I wish I could change about my side hustle journey! I love where I am today, but I could have fast forwarded my journey if I had just known a couple facts!

But, to get to the point, here are the 3 tips I’ll give you that I wish another PT entrepreneur would have shared with me.

Find people who are already doing what you want to do. Talk with them, assess their buisness, and then see how you can do something similar yet still standout and make your buisness your own. Basically, use a roadmap someone else built, but then add in your personality!
NETWORK!!! For over a year, I trudged through on my own and I almost stopped being an entrepreneur as a result. Find friends or like minded people who are in a similar side hustle as you (maybe not direct competitors though – that could get awkward!) and work together. Share inspiration, share tools and tips, and share your followers so that you grow together!
This next tip is very specific and it may not be for all businesses, but I highly suggest you start connecting with your fans or your future clients. Where ever your fans are, that is the first place you should build out to connect with them. Buisness people always say, it’s better to have 10 raving fans than a 100 strangers who just happen to follow you. This could be a website, instagram, twitter, or facebook. But the most important next step, it to start learning your voice and connecting with people.

In summary, as a PT, you may feel burnt out or frustrated with the lack of upward growth at your clinic. But know that your PT degree and knowledge provides you many options. Simply use your creativity and take a leap to see all the amazing things you can do as a physical therapist!