The Business of Allied Health

In Episode 20 of The Business of Allied Health, host Barry Nguyen sits down with Jason T. Smith — founder of Back in Motion. Starting from his garage, Jason built a $100 million physiotherapy empire over two decades before successfully exiting the business. In this episode, Jason shares the untold, behind-the-scenes realities of scaling one of Australia's largest health groups.

They discuss the delicate balance between clinical excellence and commercial strategy, the brutal tax of giving up control, and the difference between owning a business and just owning a high-paying clinical job. Jason also reflects on his biggest mistakes, the relational cost of extreme growth, and the harsh realities young ambitious physiotherapists need to hear before trying to build an empire.

This episode is proudly supported by CliniScribe AI.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

- Clinical vs. Business Excellence: Why being a brilliant clinician isn't enough to scale, and the 60/40 rule that drives a national brand.

- The Founder's Tax: The hardest thing founders must surrender to stop being the bottleneck in their own company's growth.

- The 3-Month Test: How to determine if you've actually built a true business or simply bought yourself a demanding, self-employed job.

- Leadership over Structure: Why Jason believes his biggest mistake was underestimating the power of leadership and culture in the early days.

- The Cost of Ambition: A candid look at the burnt bridges, scar tissue, and relational toll that often accompanies a 20-year scaling journey.

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Jason T. Smith is the founder of Back in Motion Health Group, an author, and a leadership coach. Over a 20-year period, he scaled his practice from a single garage clinic to a massive national franchise before exiting. Today, he focuses on leadership development and mentoring. You can connect with him at jasonsmith.com.au.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Introduction to Jason T. Smith and the Back in Motion story

01:31 - Did Back in Motion scale because of clinical or business excellence?

04:46 - The 60/40 rule of building a national healthcare brand

07:07 - Surrendering control: The hardest compromise for a founder

11:12 - Do you own a true business or just a self-employed job?

14:38 - Jason's biggest mistake: Underestimating leadership and culture

16:49 - The brutal truth for young physios wanting to build an empire

19:15 - Burnt bridges and the relational cost of extreme growth

20:45 - Conclusion and how to connect with Jason

In Episode 19 of The Business of Allied Health, host Barry Nguyen sits down with Dr Todd Cameron — a highly respected General Practitioner, serial entrepreneur, and co-founder of Scale My Clinic. With 23 years of practice ownership and multiple successful exits (including a directorship at ASX-listed Zenitas), Todd provides a rare, unfiltered look into the business of healthcare from a GP's perspective.

They discuss the honest truth about what GPs think of physiotherapists, the critical mistakes allied health professionals make when trying to secure referrals, and why dropping off a free sushi lunch is no longer an effective strategy. Todd also shares his philosophy on exiting businesses, the dangers of modern telehealth startups bypassing the GP, and the financial realities of renting rooms within medical clinics.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

- The "Die With Zero" Philosophy: Why Todd believes clinic owners should exit their businesses before they actually want to.

- Building Trust: The exact communication standards GPs expect from allied health professionals to maintain a strong referral relationship.

- The Telehealth Threat: Why treating convenience over quality — and bypassing the GP for imaging — creates a dangerous diffusion of accountability in patient care.

- A Better Marketing Strategy: How creating 60-second YouTube joint examination videos for GPs is a far more effective referral tool than traditional networking.

- Room Rentals: The pros and cons of setting up a physiotherapy satellite clinic inside a GP practice.

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Dr Todd Cameron is the founder of Modern Medical, GP Hero, and GP Bookkeeper. He currently serves as a business coach for general practice owners through his company, Scale My Clinic, helping them achieve time freedom and profitability.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Introduction to Dr Todd Cameron

01:45 - Todd’s journey from medical graduate to multi-clinic owner

04:35 - Exiting clinics, Zenitas, and founding Scale My Clinic

05:56 - The "Die With Zero" philosophy and knowing when to exit

07:22 - Thoughts on family businesses and intergenerational wealth

09:25 - What GPs really think of physiotherapists

11:16 - How to build (and lose) trust with referring GPs

14:38 - The dangers of telehealth startups bypassing the GP

21:56 - How to effectively market to GPs (why free lunches don't work)

25:54 - A unique referral strategy: Educating GPs with short-form video

27:54 - Do in-house physio room rentals in GP clinics actually work?

32:25 - Conclusion

How do you build a globally recognised clinical brand around a single injury? In Episode 18 of The Business of Allied Health, I’m joined by Mick Hughes, an elite sports physiotherapist, clinic owner, and co-founder of the Melbourne ACL Rehabilitation Guide and Learn.Physio. Mick has become one of the most prominent voices in sports medicine by narrowing his focus almost entirely to ACL injuries. In this conversation, Mick pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to build a specialized regional practice. We discuss the transition from working in professional sport (including the Melbourne Storm) to co-founding a multi-disciplinary sports clinic, the commercial reality of digital products, and the high-stakes lessons learned from clinic partnership expansions.We dive deep into:* Extreme Specialisation – How focusing on a specific, high-intent injury niche drove global organic brand authority and local patient volume.* Digital Leverage – The origin story of the Melbourne ACL Rehab Guide and how to build digital clinical assets that actually scale.* The Professional Sport Illusion – The stark differences between working inside elite sporting clubs versus running a sustainable private practice.* Partnership Expansion Risks – The unscripted commercial and personal lessons learned when expanding a clinic footprint with multiple business partners.* Utilisation & Systems – How elite sports physios protect their clinical energy and optimize day-to-day operations to avoid clinical burnout.Whether you are an aspiring sports therapist or an established clinic owner looking to dominate a local market through hyper-focused branding, Mick’s unfiltered insights are incredibly valuable.Supported by CliniScribe AITimestamps:[00:00:10] Introduction: The power of a clinical niche[00:03:15] From elite professional sports (Melbourne Storm) to private practice[00:06:40] Co-founding the Melbourne ACL Rehabilitation Guide[00:10:20] How hyper-specialisation drives local private practice volume[00:13:45] The commercial reality of digital clinical assets[00:16:55] Expanding clinic locations: Lessons, partnerships, and pitfalls[00:20:40] Managing clinical energy and avoiding practitioner burnout[00:23:15] The most important lesson for building a modern allied health brand[00:26:50] Clinic update and where to connect with Mick

What happens when a pediatric physio transitions from a solo mobile provider to a multi-clinic owner, to a policy advocate, an AHPRA board member, and finally a health-tech startup founder?

In Episode 17 of The Business of Allied Health, I’m joined by Carolyn O’Mahoney, a true multi-hyphenate in the allied health space. Carolyn shares her incredible journey—starting a clinic simply to afford her PD while raising a family as a defense spouse, and ultimately scaling it to 28 staff members across three locations.

But her most valuable insights come from her MBA and policy work. Carolyn unpacks the hard data she collected during the NDIS rollout, revealing how the shift to NDIS funding initially decimated clinic profit margins—and how she used her clinic's data to advocate for the entire profession, leading to the approval of billable non-face-to-face time.

We dive deep into:

* Scaling from Scratch – Building a 28-staff practice starting with just two clients a week in a 3-hour window.

* The NDIS Data Reality – The "alarmingly huge" profit erosion that clinics faced early on, and how she helped change the policy.

* Exit Strategies – Why she sold to a corporate entity, and the crucial lesson she learned about clinical founders vs. business operators.

* The AHPRA Reality – Demystifying the notification process from a board member's perspective (and the #1 thing that saves practitioners).

* Wait Once – Her new venture solving the massive "rescheduling revenue leak" that costs clinics hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

If you’re a clinic owner navigating the complexities of NDIS funding, team utilization, or looking to understand the real levers of clinic profitability, you cannot miss this episode.

Also streaming now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

Supported by CliniScribe AI

**Timestamps:**

[00:00:09] Carolyn's journey: From pediatric neuro physio to AHPRA and startups

[00:04:40] Starting a mobile clinic as a defense spouse with 3 hours a week

[00:06:47] Scaling to 28 staff and surviving the transition to NDIS

[00:08:28] Advocacy: How Carolyn's data helped increase the NDIS hourly rate

[00:10:49] Selling her practice to a corporate and pursuing an MBA

[00:14:13] The biggest lesson for clinicians exiting their business

[00:15:37] The most critical metric for clinic survival (Utilization)

[00:19:37] Inside AHPRA: The true purpose of the board and how to avoid trouble

[00:22:38] Why she built Wait Once: Solving the massive cost of schedule gaps

[00:26:36] Wait Once integrations and future plans

Do you need a massive loan and a fancy fit-out to start a successful private practice? Not at all.

In Episode 16 of The Business of Allied Health, I sit down with Ben Herde, founder of Grand Slam Physio. Ben and his wife Belinda initially built their clinic as a "lean startup" on the mezzanine floor of an indoor tennis center. Their goal? To create a business that supported their lifestyle of traveling on the professional tennis circuit (including the WTA and 2016 Rio Olympics).

Today, they run highly successful, purpose-built clinics in the Geelong and Torquay region. We unpack exactly how they transitioned from a humble space into a thriving regional business.

We dive deep into:

* The Lean Startup – How starting with cheap rent and a minimal setup allowed them to take calculated risks early on.

* Spousal Co-Founders – The strict "25-minute commute" boundary they use to separate the business from their marriage and family life.

* Niche Domination – How leaning into their deep expertise in tennis physiotherapy drove massive organic growth.

* Referrer Management – The simple, consistent communication strategies that built their local network (and how they use CliniScribe AI to automate it).

* The "P" Word – Why profit isn't a dirty word in healthcare, and how it enables better patient care, facility upgrades, and staff retention.

If you’re a clinic owner looking to build a business that serves your lifestyle rather than consuming it, this episode is packed with practical takeaways.

Also streaming now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

Supported by CliniScribe AI

**Timestamps:**

[00:00:00] Introduction & the impact of mentorship

[00:00:40] The accidental origins of Grand Slam Physio

[00:01:34] Rules for running a business with your spouse

[00:02:55] Leveraging a specific niche (Tennis) to grow organically

[00:03:39] The lean startup approach: Starting on a mezzanine floor

[00:04:24] Overcoming early growth challenges and local competition

[00:05:29] "Clinical excellence drives commercial success" & managing referrers

[00:07:12] Why profit is the ultimate enabler in healthcare

[00:08:08] The most important lesson for new clinic owners

Supported by CliniScribe AIIn this episode of the Business of Allied Health series, we sit down with Professor Mark Merolli, an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, physiotherapist, and digital health pioneer. Mark shares his unique "polymath" career journey, starting as a traditional sports physiotherapist before a pivotal stint in London during the Global Financial Crisis exposed him to the broader worlds of technology, finance, and management consulting. Recognizing the untapped potential of tech in healthcare early on, he pivoted to pursue a PhD in health informatics long before "digital health" became an industry buzzword.The discussion unpacks how allied health professionals can build diverse, non-traditional careers that prevent clinical burnout and foster continuous growth. Mark details his hands-on education in practice management as a clinic director, his return to academia, and his patient, 18-year strategy to launch a micro-clinic inside his local gym. He also shares his insights on balancing multiple ventures—from running a clinic and mentoring his first hire, to developing a venture-funded wearable health startup, to teaching the next generation of clinicians. For any clinic owner or practitioner looking to diversify their career, Mark's perspective on utilizing automation, planting long-term seeds, and learning from industries outside of healthcare is a masterclass in career design.Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction to Professor Mark Merolli and his early career in sports physio02:22 - The "London Story": Networking outside of healthcare during the Global Financial Crisis03:55 - Pivoting to digital health and pursuing a PhD in health informatics05:19 - Learning practice management and business operations as a clinic director06:23 - Balancing academia, clinical practice, and a digital health startup07:18 - Planting the seed: The 18-year conversation to open a micro-clinic in a gym10:32 - Hiring strategies: Managing entrepreneurial clinicians vs. loyal team members12:56 - Mentorship and the value of informal networks in business14:00 - The "polymath" approach: Diversifying your career to avoid clinical burnout15:16 - Final words of wisdom: Embrace technology, automate systems, and feed your soul

Supported by CliniScribe AIIn this episode of the Business of Allied Health series, we sit down with Errol Lim, Managing Director of BJC Health and a physiotherapist with over 25 years of clinical experience. Errol shares his journey from focusing on sports physiotherapy to joining forces with his rheumatologist brother to build a 70-person multidisciplinary group across three Sydney locations. He pulls back the curtain on the realities of integrating medical specialists and allied health professionals, noting that merely placing different disciplines under one roof often amounts to "room rental" rather than genuine, connected care.The discussion explores the complex dynamics of clinical hierarchy, detailing how to build a collaborative culture where doctors and non-doctors operate as true colleagues. Errol dives into why team culture must precede clinical systems and why treating team engagement like an internal marketing campaign is critical for long-term buy-in. He shares hard-earned lessons on the importance of hiring slowly, tracking staff retention as a core metric, and why effective clinical governance requires profession-specific leadership. Finally, he unpacks the current economic pressures of practice ownership in 2026 and emphasizes why face-to-face, localized community networks are more vital than ever for practice owners across allied health, medical, and dental professions.Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction to Errol Lim and the founding of BJC Health01:50 - The shift to a multidisciplinary rheumatology and allied health model03:05 - Family in business: Navigating dynamics with a medical specialist brother04:35 - Breaking down the hierarchy between doctors and non-doctors06:26 - The "room rental" trap vs. building genuine integrated care07:16 - Culture vs. Systems: What really drives clinical collaboration?08:32 - Treating team engagement like an internal marketing campaign11:48 - Key metrics: Why staff retention is just as vital as your P&L14:21 - Clinical governance: The need for profession-specific leadership15:53 - The economic reality of practice ownership and wage pressures in 202617:57 - The loneliness of the founder journey and the power of local networks

Supported by CliniScribe AI

In this episode of the Business of Allied Health series, we sit down with Dr. Randall Cooper, a titled specialist sports physiotherapist and the founder of Premax and Learn.physio. Randall shares his unique origin story, explaining how a devastating double-blow of an ACL tear and Guillain-Barré syndrome at age 16 sparked his passion for healthcare and physiotherapy. He pulls back the curtain on his early career hustle, detailing what it takes to break into elite sports and his journey from working as a ski physio at Mount Buller to consulting for the Winter Olympics and the Hawthorn Football Club.

The discussion explores the realities of transitioning from a high-level clinician to a successful entrepreneur. Randall discusses how identifying simple clinical pain points led to the creation of Premax, a globally recognized sports skincare brand, and the serendipitous birth of Learn.physio, an industry-leading e-learning platform. He also offers invaluable and slightly unconventional advice for clinicians: the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone and allowing yourself to be scrutinized by peers to build unshakable clinical confidence and prevent career burnout.

Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction to Dr. Randall Cooper and his varied career path01:21 - The double rehab journey: How an ACL tear and Guillain-Barré syndrome inspired his career03:56 - Early career hustle: Juggling multiple roles and 80-hour work weeks07:18 - Breaking into elite sports: From Mount Buller to the Winter Olympics10:14 - The reality of elite sports: Balancing networking with clinical competence11:42 - The entrepreneurial itch: Founding Premax to solve a clear clinical pain point16:23 - Scaling up: Securing investment and taking Premax to a global market17:47 - The serendipitous origins and explosive growth of Learn.physio21:32 - Unpopular advice: Why being scrutinized is the key to clinical excellence and avoiding burnout24:32 - The role of e-learning and multimodal CPD for practice owners

Supported by CliniScribe AI

In this episode of the Business of Allied Health series, we sit down with Bevan Colless, an expert physiotherapist and the founder of Asia Physio. Bevan shares his incredible journey of taking a leap of faith to open his first clinic in a tiny 23sqm Tokyo apartment in 2002, and subsequently scaling it into a powerhouse international network of 13 clinics across Japan and Singapore. He pulls back the curtain on the unique challenges of establishing seasonal clinics in high-demand ski resorts like Niseko and Hakuba, and what it takes to manage cross-border operations alongside a global team of clinicians.

The discussion explores the logistics of building a highly specialized multinational business and the importance of maintaining "Informal Excellence" to meet the demanding expectations of expat and traveling patients. Bevan also dives into his deep clinical passion for knee injury management, specifically the evolution of ACL rehabilitation and the Cross Bracing Protocol. He offers invaluable perspective on how his background as an elite Ironman triathlete translates into a high-performance business mindset, sharing actionable advice for practice owners looking to expand beyond their local geographic footprint.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to Bevan Colless and the origins of Asia Physio

01:20 - Taking the leap: From a Tokyo apartment to an international network

03:15 - Expanding to the snow: The strategic move into Japanese ski resorts

04:45 - Logistical hurdles: Managing cross-border operations and seasonal scaling

06:10 - Core values: Delivering "Informal Excellence" for high-expectation patients

07:30 - The clinical niche: Why specialising in complex knee and ACL management drives the business

08:50 - The athlete mindset: Translating Ironman triathlon discipline to clinic ownership

10:15 - Recruitment challenges: Attracting top clinical talent to remote global locations

11:30 - Future expansions and final takeaways for scaling allied health businesses

Supported by CliniScribe AI

In this episode of the Business of Allied Health series, we are joined by Jack O'Brien, a physiotherapist, former multi-site clinic owner, and one of the foundational leaders at Clinic Mastery. Jack shares his rapid progression from a new graduate to acquiring his first practice just two years out of university, and subsequently scaling the business from a single location to five clinics and a team of 25. He pulls back the curtain on the challenges of being a young, ambitious clinic owner, including navigating leadership dynamics with more experienced clinicians and the early adoption of video content marketing to build deep community trust.

The discussion explores the essential operational metrics that actually matter—specifically, why viewing rebooking and cancellation rates in isolation is a mistake. Jack dives into the clinical importance of robust treatment planning, moving patients beyond acute symptom management into lifelong optimization, and the necessity of effectively communicating these plans so patients remain engaged with their care rather than seeking answers elsewhere. He also offers a refreshing perspective on entrepreneurship, emphasizing that business is a learnable skill rather than an innate talent, and shares his current mission of helping owners build "clinics for good" across allied health, medical, and dental professions.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to Jack O'Brien and his early journey

01:15 - Taking the leap: Buying a practice and scaling to five locations

03:32 - Leadership challenges: Navigating ownership as a young clinician

05:19 - The power of video content and brand building

06:20 - Key metrics: Why combining rebooking and cancellation rates matters

07:17 - Having a vision for care: Lifelong physical optimization

08:06 - Closing the gap: Communicating treatment plans to patients

09:26 - The truth about entrepreneurship: Business is a learnable skill

10:25 - Building "clinics for good" and the mission behind Clinic Mastery

11:21 - Independent practice vs. franchises: Finding the right support