The K9PT Academy Podcast: Business lessons for canine rehab therapists

By Dr. Francisco Maia, PT, DPT, CCRTBusiness Entrepreneurship Education Self-Improvement Marketing

The K9PT Academy Podcast: Business lessons for canine rehab therapists episodes

March 13, 2025The Rehabpreneur Dilemma: Accept, Walk Away, or Change Your View
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
The life of a rehabpreneur can be extremely fulfilling yet at the same time extremely challenging. Owning a business certainly isn't easy, and it brings a set of challenges that that will be different than any other job or position we had before. But what can we do to face those challenges? Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
Three Solutions to Any Business Challenge – Accept it, walk away, or change your perspective. Every problem falls into one of these categories.
The Illusion of Shortcuts – Many business owners look for an easy way out, but real success comes from accountability, not convenience.
Challenges Don’t Get Easier—You Get Stronger – The moment you stop waiting for things to get easier and start taking ownership, you’ll make better decisions.
Business Should Support Your Life, Not Take From It – Build a model that aligns with your vision, rather than allowing your business to become a burden.
Success Requires Patience and Long-Term Commitment – Instant gratification doesn’t lead to sustainable success. Growth takes time, persistence, and consistency.
Accountability is the Key to Progress – Be accountable to yourself, your purpose, and your daily actions to achieve your definition of success.
Stop Kicking the Can Down the Road – Address challenges head-on instead of delaying decisions that could move your business forward.
A Shift in Perspective Changes Everything – Seeing obstacles as opportunities rather than roadblocks will determine how successfully you navigate business challenges.

Book a FREE strategy call: https://calendly.com/thek9pt/strategy-call
Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
19 min
March 06, 2025Evolving Leadership: Why Yesterday’s Strategies Won’t Build Tomorrow’s Success
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
No matter if you are just starting your business, already have an established business along with a team, or you are growing your solo practice and hiring your 1st or 2nd team member, it is important for all of us business owners to understand that in order for us to move our business forward we will need to always be working on becoming a better leader. But how can we do so? What things do we need to focus on to make sure that we are leading with integrity? Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
Leadership is a Skill You Must Continuously Develop – No matter what stage your business is in, becoming a better leader is key to moving forward. Growth requires making decisions even when you don’t have all the answers.
Momentum is Critical – An object in motion stays in motion. Keep moving forward, even when things feel uncertain. Losing momentum makes it much harder to restart.
Courage is a Muscle – Every time you avoid a tough decision, you weaken your ability to lead with confidence. Just like building physical strength, consistently challenging yourself strengthens your "courage muscle."
You Can’t Win Today’s Game with Yesterday’s Strategies – The business decisions that worked when you started won’t necessarily work as you grow. Evolve your approach as your business and responsibilities expand.
Take Advice from Those Who’ve Walked the Path – Seek mentorship and guidance from people who have successfully navigated the challenges you're facing, not just those who talk about it.
Your Next Level is on the Other Side of the Decision You’re Avoiding – Fear, comfort, and hesitation often hold us back from making the choices that will truly move our business forward.
If You Want More, You Need to Plan for More – Success doesn’t happen by accident. Set time aside to reflect, plan, and take strategic action.
No One Else Can Make the Decision for You – The path to growth is yours to choose, but it requires courage, commitment, and a willingness to step into the unknown.

Book a FREE strategy call: https://calendly.com/thek9pt/strategy-call
Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
21 min
February 27, 2025Money Mindset Mastery - How to Charge What You're Worth in Canine Rehab
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
Recently we had an Incubator Mastermind call where we focused on Money Mindset Shifts for Canine Rehabpreneurs. I have mentioned this before, but shifting my money mindset was something I really struggled with during my 1st or so year in business, and personally I really enjoy talking about that topic with clients, mentees, or during any training session or lecture because it is a topic so many canine rehabpreneurs really struggle with regardless of how long they have been in business. During that call we covered many different topics related to money mindset, and I wanted to discuss a few of those things with you all today. Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
Charge Based on Value, Not Time: Stop selling minutes and start selling transformation and outcomes for your clients and their pets.
Reframe Selling as Helping: Selling isn't about convincing; it's about offering a solution to someone who genuinely needs your expertise.
Understand Why Potential Clients Say No: The main reasons are often a lack of trust and, surprisingly, prices that are too low.
Selling is a Transfer of Trust: Focus on building trust, clarity, confidence, and positive energy during every interaction.
Nurture Relationships Over Time: Not every lead is ready to buy immediately. Build a follow-up and nurturing system to convert hesitant leads over time.
The Danger of Being ‘Too Cheap’: Low prices can lead to distrust and undervaluing your services. Pricing higher can actually attract the right clients.
You Are the Specialist: Stand out by positioning yourself as a rehab specialist, not just another option among general practices.
Charge What You Need to Charge: Set prices that allow you to build a sustainable business, hire staff, and create a work-life balance that prevents burnout.
Mindset is Everything: Overcome the fear of rejection and the false beliefs that may hold you back from charging what you're worth.
Embrace a Real Marketing Strategy: Focus on educating potential clients about your unique value and nurturing trust, rather than just advertising services.

Book a FREE strategy call: https://calendly.com/thek9pt/strategy-call
Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
30 min
February 20, 2025How Top Canine Rehabpreneurs Fast-Track Their Success
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
Recently we had an exclusive training inside our FREE Canine Rehabpreneur Community focused around “What would I do if I was opening a brand-new canine rehab business?”. Today I am building up on that a bit, and discussing a question I recently got during a couple of Strategy Calls when folks asked me that based on my experience through the years helping canine rehab business owners and entrepreneurs getting their business off the ground, what did I think was the key difference between those who achieved their goals or success faster than the others… what did they do or not to do accomplish more in a shorter period of time? What key strategies do you think worked well for them? Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
The importance of becoming great at problem solving and strategic thinking
Why just "doing a good job" will not be enough to build the business of our dreams
How to create the problems that we actually want to solve
The importance of overcoming our fears and just keep moving forward
Why we need to learn to embrace the journey and not just keep focused on the destination
Why we need to be very careful with the false beliefs we tell ourselves, especially when it comes to money and how much we are charging
Book a FREE strategy call: https://calendly.com/thek9pt/strategy-call
Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
27 min
February 13, 2025Why Traditional Marketing is Keeping Your Canine Rehab Business Stuck
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
Back when I started my journey as business owners I knew nothing about business or marketing, but I I went on a mission to learn more and more about business and marketing which led me towards this pathway of coaching and mentoring other canine rehabpreneurs along this journey. I have been doing so since 2019, and through the years I have noticed one key thing that most canine rehabpreneurs fail to understand when it comes to marketing: confusing traditional marketing, which I also call advertising, with what I can "real marketing". Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
Why traditional marketing is simply about promoting and advertising services, whereas real marketing differentiates your business and attracts the right clients
How adapting a real marketing strategy will help you stand out from the competition as the field of canine rehabilitation continues to grow
Why we need to move beyond marketing canine rehabilitation along with the services and modalities of treatment that we provide
The importance of understand why a packed calendar and long waitlist do not equal success if you are undercharging for your services
How real marketing goes beyond simply attracting new clients and instead attract clients who are happy to pay you what you are worth
How fear and false beliefs around pricing hold many canine rehab therapists back, and how real marketing can help overcome this challenge
How implementing strategic real marketing strategies can transform your business from exhausting to fulfilling
Book a FREE strategy call: https://calendly.com/thek9pt/strategy-call
Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
28 min
February 06, 2025Grow, Hire, Thrive: The Smart Way to Scale Your Canine Rehab Business
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
Many canine rehabpreneurs struggle to figure out on how to grow and scale their business, especially when it comes to finances and staff. Some of us want to stay small, either as mobile therapists or with a small space, while others want to grow a larger space with many staff members. However, no matter if you are big or small, at one point you will encounter a challenge with growth, and it will often come with finances or staff. Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
Why growth begins with clarity of our goals and challenges
The importance of building a business that fits what you want in life
The strategies behind "hiring smart"
Understand the phases of business and life, and ho that affects our business growth
Plan for the best but be prepared for challenges and bumps along this journey
The importance of knowing how adding staff will help you achieve more over time
Shifting our mindset and understanding that in business we often need to spend money to make money
Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
20 min
January 30, 2025Marketing vs. Strategy: The Key to Getting More Clients in 2025
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
I recently had a few strategy calls for some canine rehabpreneurs interested in our DFY Google Ads services, and during a couple of those calls I actually had to tell them that at this point in time running google ads should no be their priority… why is that? Why would more leads potentially be detrimental to a canine rehabpreneur? Marketing will be the engine that will keep moving the business forward with new leads and new clients, but at the same time there is a difference between just focusing on marketing for results vs developing a strategy behind it. Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
How to get over the fear of marketing despite the fact that we never learned anything about it in school or during or canine rehab certification
The importance of switching our level of thinking from results to strategies
Why there is a disconnect between business owners and marketing agencies
How to develop a marketing strategy that allows you to raise your prices with customers who are happy to pay you
The importance of having a long-term nurturing strategy for your leads and inquiries
We are now accepting applications for new canine rehabpreneurs who would like us to manage their Google Ads account, and you can fill out your application here. Once you submit the application then we will be in touch and later on will be able to select 3 new accounts for us to start helping as early as February of this year.
Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
20 min
January 23, 2025Planning for the Best, Preparing for the Worst – Business Lessons from the TikTok Ban
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
If you have been following me then you know that I always try to learn business lessons not just from books, podcasts, or other means of getting content from business experts, but also from our everyday life so we can always be better prepared to deal with our life and business in the future. As I recorded this episode TikTok was about to get banned in the USA, and with that a lot of influencers and small business owners were suddenly about to see one of their main sources of referral and lead generation disappear. Now, by the time this podcast was published TikTok had already been reinstated, at least temporarily, but what are some business lessons we can all learn from this? Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
Why the worst number in business is "one"
What would you do if one of your main sources of referral was suddenly taken away from you?
How this episode relates to the early COVID months and the way small businesses had to quickly adapt
What can we do as canine rehabpreneurs to prevent ourselves from over relying too much on one of source referrals, especially if we over rely on veterinary referrals as client acquisition
The importance of planning for the best but preparing for thew worst
How large corporations in veterinary medicine struggle to pivot and adapt quickly, and how that has impacted the field of canine rehabilitation
We are now accepting applications for new canine rehabpreneurs who would like us to manage their Google Ads account, and you can fill out your application here. Once you submit the application then we will be in touch and later on will be able to select 3 new accounts for us to start helping as early as February of this year.
Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
18 min
January 16, 2025How Google Ads Can Transform Your Marketing - What Every Canine Rehabpreneur Needs to Know
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
We have been running the Google Ads account for a variety of different canine rehab businesses over the last year, and of course we learned a lot during that period of time and today I wanted to discuss the importance as to why you need to be leveraging google ads for your business as well. Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
Do you have to outsource your google ads management or can you do it on our own?
Why is Google Ads so important in today's age and how will that be affected by AI?
The importance of understanding the difference between the different types of leads who may be contacting us and how that plays a key factor in making Google work for your business
Why we need to diversify our marketing strategies and not just focus on veterinary referrals
How we have helped clients grow and scale their business with a combination of google leads from digital marketing and veterinary referrals from traditional marketing
We are now accepting applications for new canine rehabpreneurs who would like us to manage their Google Ads account, and you can fill out your application here. Once you submit the application then we will be in touch and later on will be able to select 3 new accounts for us to start helping as early as February of this year.
Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
27 min
January 09, 2025From Resolutions to Results – The Key to Sustainable Success in 2025 and Beyond
Welcome to The K9PT Academy podcast, the only podcast in veterinary rehabilitation that focuses on helping business owners and entrepreneurs build and scale a profitable and successful canine rehabilitation business!
As many of us have set some goals for 2025, or at the very least are in the process of setting some goals as we enter this new year, I wanted to share some of the thoughts I recently shared with our Incubator Mastermind group when it comes the difference between goals and systems. I believe that it is far more important to set up the systems and game plan as to how we will achieve a particular goal rather than setting up the goal itself, and I think that is where a lot of us get a bit lost this time of the year when it comes to setting up our goals. Listen to the full episode as we discuss:
How systems help us develop long term processes that leads towards successful and ever lasting results
How focusing on goals alone can lead towards anxiety and frustration, whereas systems helps you build resiliency and adaptability
The importance of building consistency with small steps that will lead towards bigger wins and have a compound effect over time
Understanding that circumstances will change as the year progresses, and why focusing on systems vs goals will allow us to be much more flexible and adaptable

Join our Canine Rehabpreneur Community: www.facebook.com/groups/k9rehabpreneur/
Download our fee calculator and training: https://thek9pt.mykajabi.com/Fee-calculator
Download our 'marketing done easy' worksheet and training: https://www.k9ptacademy.com/marketing-done-easy
...
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and if you found this content valuable here are some additional ways we can help each other:
1) Go to www.k9ptacademy.com for more resources on business ownership, including our free Fee Calculator and Marketing Done Easy worksheet
2) Send us your question or subscribe to our weekly newsletter by emailing us at [email protected]
3) Share this episode with a colleague who might also find it helpful :-)
4) Leave us a 5-star review so we can expand our reach and help more folks
19 min