Practice owners, like most entrepreneurs, love to learn but struggle to find the time to do it. We've got stacks of books and no times to read them. That's where Blinkist saves the day. It's an app that gives you access to five minute summaries of all the best books from the top authors, including the main themes, most actionable points and best quotes.

Online Client Forms with Automatic Reminders ($40 / month) - IntakeQ.com pays for itself by saving you the time and cost of printing new client forms like your Informed Consent Client, New Client Info Sheet, Updated Credit Card Collection Form or new therapist Onboarding Forms. Even better, is how it saves you time and money on paper and file cabinets since it automatically converts them to PDF's that can be easily uploaded to your EHR and sends your clients automated reminders when they haven't completed their paperwork. As a bonus, small practices can actually use IntakeQ as a standalone EHR that is perfect for cash pay prices.

Electronic Medical Record Systems ($20 - $50 per month) - Paper is expensive, high risk, and time-consuming. Switching to a low-cost and quality electronic medical record (EMR) system is crucial in streamlining your practice, especially for practices wanting to accept insurance. We strongly recommend TherapyNotes.com (use code Success20 for two free months) for practices that hope to grow beyond a single clinician, but also love SimplePractice for folks who want a robust EMR at a great price.

HIPAA Compliant Email ($10 per month) - It's both unsafe and unprofessional to use the popular personal email programs for your practice. Peace of mind comes cheap with programs like Hushmail.com, which offers 128-bit encryption, free secure web forms, and the uber important Business Associate Agreement (BAA) required under HIPAA.

HIPAA Compliant Fax ($8 per month) - If you hope to receive referrals from doctors or other healthcare professionals, a secure fax line is essential. At $8 per month, SRFax.com is our hands down winner. They offer HIPAA compliant PGP encryption, will provide you with a dedicated fax number that forwards to your inbox, and sign a Business Associate Agreement.

Directory Services ($30 / month) - With a six month free trial and easy set up, every clinician should create a PsychologyToday.com profile even before they build their own website. As a bonus, it comes with a free subscription to the PsychToday magazine which makes for great lobby reading material.

Client Retention ($20 / month) - The easiest client to obtain is the one you already have. Getting your clients to come back is not just about doing good therapy. It's also about reminding your clients that you're available when they need you. Since you should never send a BCC email to all your clients, softwares like ConstantContact.com helps you publicize your upcoming availability, your expanded hours, new groups, etc. And yes, they'll sign a HIPAA compliant Business Associate Agreement.

Decorating Your Office - Most new clinicians over-spend thinking that a great looking office will make for a thriving business. In reality, expensive furniture only hurts your early profits. We started our practice with a few hundred dollars of used furniture from consignment stores. If you are going to buy new furniture, we recommend using Wayfair or Hayneedle. They both offer low prices for quality furniture ($1,000 or less for a therapy room), free delivery, and the ability to break your purchases up into 3-6 payments through Affirm (a third party financing company).