5 Steps to Get Back on Track When Business Feels Hard

It’s easy to look around and feel like everyone else has it figured out. Imagining your fellow practitioners with full caseloads, confident teams, and steady growth. Meanwhile, you’re still piecing things together on the fly or not sure how to get your business back on track. But the truth is, most clinic owners are figuring it out as they go, too. No one’s doing it perfectly, and feeling a little lost along the way doesn’t mean you’re failing. It just means you’re human.

Psychotherapist, speaker, and clinic owner Roxanne Francis knows that feeling firsthand. After growing her own practice through seasons of uncertainty, she learned that strength isn’t about having it all figured out, it’s about being honest and brave enough to say when you don’t.

In this playbook, Roxanne shares what she’s learned about being honest when things aren’t going well in your business, without losing your confidence or credibility. It’s a guide for clinic owners who want to trade quiet comparison for real connection, and perfectionism for something more sustainable: growth.

Let’s get into her tips:

Step #1: Identify what isn’t going well

Action: Make a list of the tough things that you don’t usually share, especially in business. Is there a part of your clinic that you feel embarrassed about?
Why it helps: Admitting this to yourself will give you clarity on what needs to be addressed. Many clinic owners compare their behind-the-scenes challenges to everyone else’s highlight reel.
Pro tip: Write it in a journal. Get it out of your head and onto paper, so you can get a good night’s sleep.

📖 If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking “I’m not ready for this,” you might like the article How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome. It goes over why that feeling shows up, and what you can do to quiet it when it does.

Step #2: Get some support

Action: Find a mentor or coach in your field who’s a few steps ahead in clinic ownership or private practice.
Why it helps: You will learn if what you’re going through is common at this stage of clinic ownership (it probably is!). Keeping it to yourself will only make things worse. Brené Brown says, “shame is like mold - it grows in the dark.”
Pro tip: Talking to a peer will give you community, but talking to a mentor or coach will give you guidance.

Step #3: Connect with community

Action: Get outside your office and network to form business friendships.
Why it helps: You will begin to realize that everyone has different insecurities. Real connection replaces quiet comparison and reminds you you’re not the only one learning. You’re not failing because you have an area of weakness.
Pro tip: Business owners in the community will usually share resources. You might find the help you are looking for just by being honest or asking the right questions.

🩵 Need a place to start? Check out the Jane Community, a space with over 20k health and wellness practitioners and business owners. It’s a laid-back place to connect with peers, ask questions, and find helpful resources.

Step #4: Give yourself grace

Action: Forgive yourself. Chances are, you were never taught how to do this. Running a health or wellness clinic is complex work, and you’re learning as you grow. Each new step is a new step.
Why it helps: Continuing to be hard on yourself will immobilize you, and you will be too ashamed to get out of the rut that you’ve found yourself in.
Pro tip: No more comparison. Clinic owners all have their own personal journey. We are all trying to improve in some area. Don’t measure your success by someone else’s, every clinic and every owner grows at a different pace. You are no better or worse than anyone else.

Step #5: Turn reflection into action

Action: Apply what you have learned.
Why it helps: This part is necessary for your business to level up and ensure you won’t be stuck making the same mistakes over and over. Reflection only leads to growth when it turns into action.
Pro tip: Allow your mentor or your business bestie to hold you accountable to that application of the knowledge.

🎧 Hear more of the story

You can learn more about Roxanne and her work at Francis Psychotherapy & Consulting Services. And if you’d like to hear the full conversation, tune into Roxanne's episode of Radio Front Desk, where she shares even more about the power of honesty, community, and growing through imperfect seasons.