how to start a OT online business
===
[00:00:00] If you're an occupational therapist and you're wondering, how do I start an online business? How do I start an online course? My name is Hoang Tran. I'm an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist. I'm going to just share with you today how I started my OT online business. So like I said, my name is Wong and I'm an OT.
[00:00:26] So when I started my business over 10 years ago, I actually started a brick and mortar clinic and I knew right away that it was going to be really hard for me to find other occupational therapists who were certified hand therapists or who were trained in hand therapy. And it's just because it's the same story I've heard when I was You know, first coming out.
[00:00:53] Oh we're looking for Someone who's already certified we're looking for someone who has the experience already and I didn't [00:01:00] have the experience I had a little bit of experience, but I didn't have a ton of experience and I always knew that I was like, man I'm I want to teach right? I want to teach online.
[00:01:09] I actually sorry. I didn't know I was gonna teach online I just knew I wanted to teach. I always thought that I would teach at the university level I always thought that I would You know, I took see you courses. And so I thought that maybe one day I would work for a company that would just let me travel around and teach on the weekends because I always thought those people were like, they were so smart, so knowledgeable.
[00:01:31] And I was like, I want to do that one day. And so when I started. My therapy clinic I was already with my head like I had even established myself that well in my brick and mortar When I was already thinking oh man, how do I teach, so I thought teaching at the university would be great So I ended up getting a job at the university being an adjunct professor.
[00:01:53] And then when I was there I Ask them. I was like, Hey, can I teach a class here at your university? And so what I [00:02:00] did was I created a course and I hosted it there. So it was an in person, it was a splinting course. And that's how the idea started to formulate and things started to happen.
[00:02:12] So I would say Oh man, if you're an occupational therapist and you are really good at something and you want to share your expertise, You might be able to do it online. You might be able to grow an online company. You might be able to create an online OT company for other therapists. You might be able to grow an online company for a very particular pocket of people, that you serve.
[00:02:39] And some people serve like I think I did a podcast with Cheryl. She serves people with who has rheumatoid arthritis. I've seen people serve people with yoga providing yoga services or, something like related to OT and yoga. I've seen a lot of different things. I myself have more ideas [00:03:00] about, how I can create an online business, creating courses or programs or something like that for people with hand injuries, right?
[00:03:07] Oh my God, there are. There are is there's no shortage. There's absolutely no shortage of ideas. Here is how you need to execute, right? And so that's what we're here for, right? We're going to execute, right? So in order to start that OT, online business, first of all, You have to be willing to share what, like we're in a day, we're in an age where there's so much information out there and you want to hone it in and bring it in for someone so that they could know what, and they, it's basically to solve a particular problem.
[00:03:43] So for me, I'll share with you, like how I did it, which is share what, so as an occupational therapist certified hand therapist, I knew I was split. I was like, let's go, let me make this splinting course because every OT that I know [00:04:00] always tells me they can't splint or splinting is scary and they don't know how to do X, Y, Z.
[00:04:05] So that's where I started. Sharing what, that's what I started with. So I started actually started hand therapy secrets about a year before I sold anything. Like I just started creating content, sharing what I did, sharing what I knew. I actually did it off of my clinic page called hands on therapy services.
[00:04:25] So I just was sharing stuff and I was noticing that therapists were making comments or therapists were having questions, not actual people, not actual, potential patients of mine, therapists were there and I was like, Oh, there's such a need. I'm gonna fill it. And so I started sharing more stuff on splinting and then I created hand therapy secrets to share even more.
[00:04:48] And I put on those two workshops at the university where I was teaching and just sharing what I knew. And then because I did that, I then. [00:05:00] opened up the exam prep, which is one of my top programs now, about four, three, four years ago, I was like, you know what there's like a bunch of OTs that want to become certified hand therapists, but they're just, scared to fail.
[00:05:17] They're scared to study. And if they never study. They'll never pass. They are too busy to study. Our lives just get busier and busier all the time. It's not that things slow down. You get married, you have kids you travel, you, whatever you want to do, you want to build your career in different ways.
[00:05:33] You so many things, but it's, time doesn't slow down for us. And I think a lot of OTs get stuck because they're like, I don't have time. So I thought shoot, if I can teach them in a way that saves them time. If I can teach them in a way that makes them less fearful and more likely to pass, I could create an online program for that.
[00:05:52] And so that's what I did. So the first thing I think when you're starting something online. You start to share your knowledge. So I [00:06:00] started creating content. I started creating videos. I started writing blogs. But mostly videos. I was sharing a lot on Instagram. I was sharing a lot on YouTube. And I'll go into a little bit more of, those specific things and what I did.
[00:06:13] But I really was just sharing what I knew. I was just putting it out there. And I was like, hopefully somebody listens to me. And slowly but surely, when I developed the course, I was able to sell it. So first, any online business any online business you just got to share what you know, you got to share and share.
[00:06:36] And you actually have to share a lot more than you think. You don't just share one time and then be like, Oh, why didn't you buy it? You have to share a lot of information. And then because you share. You get better and better at sharing. I think sometimes people look at me and they're like, Oh, it's so easy for you to do videos.
[00:06:54] Listen, eight years ago or more when I started on camera, I didn't know what I was doing. I feel like [00:07:00] I still don't know what I'm doing half the time, but I show up and I try to share what I do know and I share my experience. So that it's going to help the next OT, have it a little bit easier than I had just trying to figure it out, but honestly.
[00:07:14] If you want to do anything online nowadays, whether it's a program for other occupational therapists, if it's if it's, you want to develop a program for the, the general public out there with different types of injuries or wellness or fitness or anything like that first and foremost, I don't think we can get away in this day and age of not sharing what we know and just holding everything so close to our chest.
[00:07:38] We've got to share what we know so we can showcase what we do know and what we can do for people. And you want to lead with that. What can I do to solve your problem? What can I do to help you with your problem and not just lead with this is what an occupational therapist does. Cause that's, I see that a lot, I see that a lot where it's like, Oh, just explain what you're doing as an OT.[00:08:00]
[00:08:00] As an OT, I just solve your problem, right? I just solve it. I'm a really great problem solver and I'm really good at holding people accountable. I'm really good at figuring out what the problem is so I can help solve them their problems And then I'm really good at holding people accountable so that they can actually hit their goals So that comes from a patient perspective I have students who come to me and I can you know and getting to know them I can talk to them about What's going on?
[00:08:27] And how to help teach them how to problem solve And then from that, help them to get to their next goal and next goal, right? When I work with different business owners, I am able to, it's so different when you're outside looking in, when I'm talking to different business owners and I talked to them about like where they're, where they might be struggling or if they want to, I talked to different business owners who they're like, Oh, I have a brick and mortar.
[00:08:53] I see that you have this online program, like this online business. What are you doing? So I'm, that's what I'm [00:09:00] sharing right now. I have a brick and mortar business. How do I start online? They're like, how do you do it? I'm like I started a little while ago. But you can start today and you can share what you know, you can share what you know, share what you know, because here is a kicker.
[00:09:14] I think sometimes people start with this idea of building this course or selling the course that they want to, but believe it or not, as you share what you know, you'll. find out what people are looking for and what people want and what people need. And that might ultimately change what course you develop.
[00:09:32] And I'll tell you my story is I thought people wanted to learn about orthoses, right? And they do, but not as much as they need to develop other skills. Not as much as they need to problem solve, right? Not as much as they need to pass this exam. So my my online business has evolved as I've shared what I've known.
[00:09:56] And then once I share what I know, then it helps me to create [00:10:00] that program. That you want to sell. So sometimes people get stuck and they do it in the opposite direction. They develop the program and they're like, they're so stuck on the program that they want to sell. And they're like, how come nobody's buying?
[00:10:12] In actuality, you want to do the opposite. You want to share what you know, and as you share what you know, you get to understand what people need. And then therefore, once you understand what people need, then you can really, whatever you have as a structure, you can really change and update it. To be able to make it such a great program for someone, of course, for someone that they're willing to exchange their hard earned dollars and pay you for, access to your program and your ability to help them.
[00:10:39] And this is all online, right? So that's what I did to start my occupational therapy online business. I started first with a brick and mortar. I saw a need in the market for occupational therapists and I see a need. For potential, like for my clients as well, like for patients with hand injuries and different types of [00:11:00] problems.
[00:11:00] Like I am not short of ideas and I don't think you're short of ideas either. I think you just need to pick one and get started on it and share what you know about that thing and then, keep going from a business standpoint of developing. All right, so that's what I've done and I hope that this type of topic and video helps you in terms of like How do I start an online business?
[00:11:24] Try that out and obviously there's a lot more details in it But I wanted to at least start you out with, what I've done and how I've really, that's how I got started. It's really how I got started. And hopefully this video helps you to get started as well. So my name is Hoang Tran.
[00:11:42] And if you like more content like this, like videos like this, hit the like button, subscribe. I put out two videos a week and I hope that helps you to have more choices as an occupational therapist. If you have follow up questions, by all means leave them in the comments below so I [00:12:00] can know what you want to hear about next.
[00:12:02] All right. Thanks so much for tuning in. I'll talk to you next time.
