Cash-Based Physical Therapy Business Coach

What is your full name and title at your current job?

Aaron LeBauer PT, DPT – Cash-Based Physical Therapy Business Coach

Where are you located? 

Greensboro, NC

Where did you go to PT school, and what year did you graduate?

Elon University, 2008

What did you do when you first finished school, and for how long?

I got a certification in massage therapy and health education back in 1999. I practiced as a massage therapist, owning my own business and also seeing some clients in spas, for seven years. At that time, I went back to school for my DPT.

Upon graduation, I opened my own cash-based outpatient physical therapy clinic, LeBauer Physical Therapy which I still own with my wife, Andra.

We help active people stay fit, healthy and strong without pain meds, injections or surgery.

I saw my last regularly scheduled patient in April of 2019, though I occasionally evaluate or treat a patient when our PT is out sick or has a flight delayed. 🙂

What did you do after that, and for how long?

I am now a business coach for other physical therapists.

What did you enjoy about your early roles? What didn’t you enjoy?

At what point did you realize you wanted to do something non-clinical with your background, and why?

Once I started helping other physical therapists and seeing them succeed in business where they thought they couldn’t, I just couldn’t stop thinking about all the other ways to reach even more PTs who would be interested in building a cash practice. 

I was always told that cash practice wouldn’t work, was unethical, and that no one would pay more than their copay for physical therapy.

I realized I could do it and so could others if given the right formulas, scripts, information and coaching. I also saw how others were being burnt out by the pressures of treating patients to maximize reimbursement rather than being rewarded for maximizing their patients outcomes, healing and quality of life.

It was then that I knew I needed to bring on other physical therapists, reduce my hours treating and focus on helping as many people as possible.

What are you doing these days?

I spend 90% of my time working on my coaching business, LeBauer Consulting, and 10% of my time on our physical therapy practice.

I write emails, create videos and social media content, interview interesting people for my podcast and coach the most amazing, passionate, and driven physical therapy entrepreneurs in my Platinum Mastermind coaching group. 

Are you still treating patients, or are you solely non-clinical?

I am no longer seeing patients on a regular basis. I treat a few people per year when our physical therapist is unavailable unexpectedly.

How did you get into this space?

I started helping other PTs online back in 2010 via LinkedIn and other online forums. One day in 2012, after talking to another PT for about an hour about her practice, she asked how much I charged. LOL!

That was the day my coaching business was created.

Did you get any special certifications or training along the way to help you get into your current role?

No, but I’ve spent hundreds of thousands on business coaching, courses, trainings and mentorship.

When did you start your businesses?

• LeBauer Structural Bodywork – My massage therapy practice that I started in 1999
• LeBauer Physical Therapy, LLC – Formed in 2009
• LeBauer Consulting, LLC – Started selling products and coaching in 2013, and officially incorporated as its own entity in 2019

What is your business, and what types of products or services do you offer?

Business coaching for physical therapists: digital downloads, online courses, mastermind group and private 1-on-1 coaching.

How have people reacted to you leaving patient care?

Initially, a few of my long-time patients were sad. So was I, but they got over it. 🙂

What’s a typical day or week in the life like for you as a cash-based physical therapy business coach?

I wake up at 5:30. Go to work, make coffee, do some creative deep work, then go home to take the kids to school. Then, back to the office to meet with my team or answer emails. Home for a workout and lunch. In the afternoon, I’m back to the office to do interviews, videos, content, and coaching.

What are some of the challenges of your role? What are the rewards?

Roughly speaking, how are the hours and pay compared to patient care?

The hours are totally worth it and the pay is unlimited! 🙂

What type of person do you think would do well in your role?

Someone who is passionate, internally driven, and motivated to make change in the world, even when times are tough and things don’t work out as expected.

Someone who wants to work hard and get the rewards of freedom, more time, income and impact.

What would you recommend to someone who is considering going into a role like yours?

Go into business coaching or cash practice for the right reasons. It’s a long game and not a quick fix.

Make decisions based on where you want to be in ten years, not next month. 

What would you like to change most in the PT profession, and why?

If there was one thing I would change, it would be the public’s perception of what we do as physical therapists.

People need to know that when something hurts, or they get injured, they should go to a PT to know exactly what’s going on, rather than an MRI and visit to an orthopedic surgeon.

If you could give yourself one piece of career advice you wish you had in school, what would it be?

Don’t listen to the people who say it’s not possible and that you shouldn’t do it.

If you could teach anything to today’s graduate students in your profession, what would it be?

I would teach them how to command a six-figure salary, and why they should feel proud to call themselves a doctor.