This podcast episode elucidates the essential strategies that practitioners in speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and related fields can employ to effectively navigate the summer months when schools are closed or operating at diminished capacity. We emphasize the importance of financial foresight, advocating for a prudent approach to budgeting that enables service providers to take time off during the summer without compromising their financial stability. Our discourse encompasses various options, from taking a complete hiatus to exploring extended school year contracts, early intervention opportunities, and PRN positions within medical settings. Additionally, we propose the innovative idea of organizing community summer groups or camps, which can serve both as a means of income generation and an avenue for community engagement. Ultimately, our dialogue reinforces the notion that maintaining financial viability is paramount to ensuring a fulfilling and sustainable career in school contracting.

Takeaways:

• In the realm of school contracting, summer months present both challenges and opportunities for practitioners.
• Financial planning is crucial for contractors to navigate the absence of income during summer breaks.
• Exploring extended school year contracts can provide supplemental income and establish valuable district relationships.
• Engaging in early intervention contracts may offer additional income and client opportunities during the summer months.

Financial Disclosure:

"Beyond the Big Agencies" is brought to you by The Therapist Support Network. Some topics discussed may reference products, services, or resources offered by The Therapist Support Network. 

Legal Disclaimer:

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or professional advice. Listeners should consult with qualified professionals regarding their specific circumstances before making any business decisions.

Links referenced in this episode:

• thetherapistsupportnetwork.com
• https://thetsn.myflodesk.com/checklist

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Therapist Support Network

Welcome to beyond the Big Agencies, the podcast for SLPs, OTs, PTs, and related service providers who want to work with schools, but not for them.

I'm Elise Mitchell, an slp, a school contracting coach, and the owner of the Therapist Support Network, here to help you take control of your career, do what you love, and build a sustainable practice on your terms.

Because school staffing should be left to the professionals.

Let's dig in.

Welcome back to beyond the Big Agencies.

I'm the host today, Elise Mitchell, and we are diving into a topic that is top of mind this time of year for many who are interested in contracting with schools or for many who are established contractors.

And that is, what do you do with your summer months when schools are closed or operating at reduced capacity?

Summer.

So whether you're a seasoned provider working directly with schools or you're considering making the leap into contracting, summers can present challenges and opportunities depending on your needs.

And so I like to have this conversation to lay out the different opportunities, because I have had people who say, you know what, Elise, I'm really interested in contracting, but I don't know what to do with my summers off.

Because unlike those of you who may be working forest school as a salary employee, you likely are getting paid over the summer.

I'm assuming that they're dividing your pay up, and so you've never had to navigate summer with no income coming in.

And for many of us contractors, there's not income coming in.

Right, because you bill when you work.

And so this is something that we do have to address and we do have to navigate to ensure that you are set up for success as a business owner.

All right, so let's explore some strategies to ensure you have that financial stability and you can even expand and grow during those summer months.

So I'm going to give you a list of some things you can do with your summers off.

The first is what I choose to do.

It is the reason that I actually contract with schools or that I work with schools, and that is so I can take my summers off.

So this first option, the thing to do over the summer, is essentially take it off, right?

Don't provide any billable services.

So let's discuss that, because the first year in contracting, for sure, I had to financially plan for that.

Once I expanded my business, I, of course established my coaching business, and then my business grew, my contracting business grew.

I was able to really not worry too much about summer income.

But that first year in contracting, this is a huge topic because that's likely your first summer without Income that you have experienced, maybe, um, and you're just getting started in your business.

And I've talked about this in other episodes, but when you directly contract with schools, just to you, that is a beautiful income.

However, it's not like a it.

There's not a passive stream attached to that.

Right?

Your.

Your earning is capped.

And so we want to ensure that you are set up to go a few months without pay.

So let's talk about how to do that.

Taking the summer off entirely can be such a rewarding choice.

One, it gives you time to do sales if you do want to expand your business.

Two, it could just give you a chance to relax and reboot and do, you know, travel or.

For me, I spend it with my kids.

And so you'll notice not even my contracting business, but my coaching business.

You'll notice I don't do as many coaching calls in the summer because I take my summer off with my kids.

That is just something that I really enjoy doing.

And so I want anyone listening to have that option as well.

Even if you decide to contract and you don't have that revenue in the summer, one thing with this is it does require foresight.

So those of you, this is your first year contracting, we're a little late to have this conversation, but if you're looking at contracting for the first time next year, now is the time to have this discussion.

So this requires foresight.

What I personally like doing, it depends on your organization's situation, is I like setting aside another bank account just for summer income.

So when you get paid every month, if you follow a certain method, you could have your business bank account and then you can move taxes to a separate account, and then you can move summer to a third account.

If you're like, hey, I'm pretty organized, you can absolutely just have one account and kind of break that apart.

What I did is I calculated three months worth of pay, and I'm going to talk about why in a minute.

So I calculated three months worth of pay that I needed and I took that amount.

Let's say I want to work with rough numbers.

This is not at all what I need, but I'm going to say 12,000 because I can easily do that math.

So say I needed 12,000 over the summer to pay for bills or expenses that come up over the summer.

So If I take 12,000, okay, I said I was going to work with easy math, but this is not easy math, people.

I am not the greatest at math, so I'm getting my calculator.

So let's say I need to have 12,000 and that's going to be 4,000 for June, for July and for August just to get me through the summer and I don't have to pick up any extra work.

So what I would do is I would divide that.

I'm going to go ahead and say by nine, worst case scenarios, say nine months of income.

Now, one thing I did mention August in there, and the reason that I mentioned that is we've talked about this in a few other episodes.

Schools tend to be late to pay, especially that first invoice.

And so I like to stretch until August because I assume I'm not going to be paid anywhere close to the beginning of September.

So I like to take June, July and August, or depending on the state you're in, pay for July, August, September.

Assume you don't have income coming in on those months.

Right?

So do the math on how much do I need to set aside to pay the bills in those three months and just plan during the school year, set that money aside, act like it doesn't exist.

That's going to be your summer savings.

So I believe my last podcast that I did, I discuss how hiring and bringing on a few subcontractors or employees underneath you is a beautiful thing because it gives you a little bit extra income without stretching you too thin.

And that's where that extra income can come in handy.

Right?

Just sustainability over the summer with no pay.

So your first option when it comes to, you know, what do I do over the summer is take it off.

Take it off.

If you don't have extra liquid or a partner to rely on for finances, set that money aside throughout the school year and then just pull from that account when those months come and enjoy your summer off.

So that's option number one.

Option two.

And, and this is probably worth a podcast in and of itself one day.

But option two is to sign on with an extended school year contract.

So extended school year opportunities.

I will be fully transparent and say that I no longer take these, but I did my first year of contracting and this is serving schools for their ESY or their summer services.

It's a really cool way to get your foot in with a district or to give you a little extra income.

I personally, for me, it was not Enough income to sustain my summer.

Right.

Because it's usually only for a set week of time, like three to four weeks.

And it is not the entire caseload the majority of the time, unless you find a school that's doing compensatory services.

But even then, a lot of parents opt out, caregivers opt out of that.

So ESY contracts are small, but they can still be, you know, a couple thousand to help with any sort of expenses.

Or if you're like, I'm not really doing anything else this summer, you can do it.

You can serve your school in a really unique way.

You can get your foot in the door with the district.

This could be one that, you know, let's say they're not looking for someone for the school year, but they would like someone for esy, you get in there.

So in the future, if they need you.

So this can be an extra way to get some income in the summer and supplement your earnings, but also assist you with establishing relationships with new districts.

And you enter this type of contract very similarly to how you contract directly with schools for the school year, where you contact the special education director or equivalent and you see if they need support for summer services.

All right, so option two, what you can do for the summer is explore extended school year opportunities.

Option number three, this is one that I personally don't have experience doing doing.

However, a lot of my customers do.

And so I added it to here, but know that there are so many professionals out there willing to answer questions about this topic.

Option three is consider early intervention contracts.

So early intervention contracts are very interesting because they're another type of contract that in many states it's with a government entity, just like our public schools are.

And early intervention services can be a really valuable way to supplement your income during the summer and even during the school year, although I find that a little bit more difficult.

It does take time to become approved for early intervention contracts.

So if this is something you're interested in and seeing some clients during the summer, I definitely recommend looking up your state early intervention guidelines now.

Because usually it takes time to become approved as a vendor, but this is a really great way to add on some kids in the summer and supplement your income.

And again, it's a business to business contract, kind of like you with school districts.

And so you're not having to build a website, build all these things in the majority of our states, because once you have that contract, they send you the clients.

So if you're someone that you're like, I do not want business to consumer sales, where I'm having to market my private practice and I'm having to do all these things.

Of course, we know school contracting leads really well into that because, again, we're working with businesses and students are assigned to us.

But so does early intervention because it's a type of contractual relationship between you and either the government or the state that you're in, or every now and then there's like a different company that oversees all those contracts.

So you can typically do it under your existing business information without going through too many hoops.

So if you already have a business established, this is a really cool avenue to look into.

Some states reimburse better than others, and some states do take a while to get set up.

But something you might consider is early intervention contracts and picking up some of those clients in the summer.

All right, the next one.

I like this one.

As someone who likes variety, I love the idea and I've done this of providing PRN services in the summer.

So for me, for those of you who don't know, I actually started when I was a clinical fellow.

I started in skilled nursing, and I switched to schools a few years into that so I could have the summers off.

But I love skilled nursing.

And so there are so many.

If you're in a larger area, honestly, even rural, there are opportunities to be PRN with skilled nursing facilities or hospitals or whatever and support those providers when they go on vacation and you again, have supplemental income.

Plus it gives you the flexibility of continuing with medical settings and having that experience, really extending yourself throughout the scope of practice.

Some people like that and some don't.

Some are like, listen, I am pediatric, and even with pediatric, they're outpatient clinics, depending on how large of an area you're in.

So something that you might consider if you, you know, don't want your summer completely off or you haven't got around to financial planning your summer yet, you can absolutely explore PRN positions.

In my area, they reimburse really well, and so I don't need to do all that much to have enough to supplement those just to pay the bills during those down times.

So providing coverage for vacation or temporary staffing needs in medical communities or, you know, unique community or places of employment for your community could be a great thing.

As a former skilled nursing facility slp, I love PRN providers.

I remember just being so grateful for a PRN provider that would come in so I could go to on vacation with my family and not worry about my caseload.

They they really to any anyone listening to this, if you ever PR ed for me way back in the day in the summer.

Thank you so much.

You are so valued.

So option number four to consider when you're looking at your summer is taking some PRN jobs to give you variety but also to give you additional income.

And number five, as we're looking at income, this one's really cool as well.

Again, this is not one that I have done because I do not have a private practice separate from from school contracts.

I may do this one day.

This is one that I find really interesting.

I'm lurking from afar at those who have done it.

But you see it on Facebook groups and that is offering summer groups or camps in your community.

So you can absolutely engage your community by organizing, you know, literacy summer groups or camps.

The short term initiatives can provide valuable services while generating supplementary income.

And again not committing you to a year round practice.

That is really important if you don't want to do something outside of school contracting.

If you don't want a brick and mortar private practice, this is a good route to go because they're short term stints.

Literacy is one that comes top of mind.

But you could do sensory, you can do.

I mean there's all sorts of things you can do and just these short camps.

And I'm going to add a bonus because I was looking at kind of five things you can do throughout the summer to keep your income afloat as you go through those down summer months.

One thing I do want to recommend is consider prioritizing sales in the summer.

This is the time where so many of our districts realize they do not have enough staff for next year.

So even when taking your summer off, I highly recommend blocking out a few hours to commit to reaching out to schools.

If you already have a contract and you want to hire someday, I wouldn't wait.

I would contact schools with the intent to expand your business.

If you need scripts on that, I have that in my school contractor packet.

But regardless of what you do this summer, I do recommend blocking off a little bit of time.

I like Tuesday through Thursday because so many individuals aren't prepared to handle those tough conversations on Monday or Fridays.

All right, so whether you are new or you're just seeking additional revenue streams in the summer.

Remember that flexibility and autonomy are the key benefits of school contracting.

It is why we do it so many of us.

So by exploring these diverse options like just financially planning for it so you could take the summer off or you know, providing your community with really cool summer groups, you can maintain financial stability because that is a priority within any of us.

If any of us do not have financial stability, we will have to leave that school contracting role.

So we do have to prioritize financial stability even though autonomy is what drives so much of us.

So look at this.

Maintain that financial stability and enjoy a fulfilling contracting career.

So if you are ready to get started with contracting and you want to spend your summer calling schools or you're ready to expand your existing contracting business and bring out some hires, check out my resources on my website.

And thank you for joining me today.

I cannot wait to hear how you spend your summer.

That's a wrap on this episode of beyond the Big Agencies.

Remember, success isn't just meant for the big staffing agencies.

It's meant for providers like you who show up, take action and build something meaningful.

So go get em and if you're ready for more support strategies and a community that gets it, join us inside the Therapist Support Network.

You don't have to do this alone.

Head to www.thetherapistsupportnetwork.com to connect, learn and grow with other SLPs, OTs, PTs and related service providers building their own path.

Until next time, keep pushing forward.