We recently connected with Benji Toh and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Benji, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I started my practice in 2021 in order to break free from all the flaws and red tape that holds down our mainstream major medical and health insurance system. I decided to start my own practice to eliminate an arbitrary 3rd party from the process of deciding what kind or how much care my clients receive.

While it is extremely liberating and refreshing to work with clients 1 on 1 and simply give them the highest quality care I know they need, it can be a challenge simply because most people are used to going through health insurance. But the beauty of my practice is once clients see the value of the service I provide and how far superior it is to going through the traditional major medical system, the decision is a no brainer and far worth it to them to bypass insurance.

Starting the business was difficult. It was a steep learning curve in the way of learning how to run a business, advertise, market, network, manage taxes and admin responsibilities. So there was a lot of trial and error and mistakes made along the way, especially in the first year. But honestly, I don’t think I would do it any differently. Just going for it and learning by mistakes was definitely a fast and effective way to learn.

If I were to advise anyone else, yea sure I think having more of a plan in place before jumping in is probably smart, but at the same time, if you are willing to learn by a lot of mistakes, go for it! As for advice specific to my practice, I could spend hours sharing the pearls of wisdom that I have learned specific to starting a Physical Therapy business.

Benji, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Benji and I have been a Physical Therapist for over 8 years, in business on my own for over 2 years. I help active adults with sports injuries and chronic pain uncover the root cause of their pain and return to their active life and beyond. I specialize in helping people not only recover from injury, but optimize their health for the long haul through education on injury prevention, strength training, nutrition, and overall holistic wellness practice (stress management, sleep hygiene, etc.). I am certified in Dry Needling and am a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. I love bridging the gap between rehab and performance, and helping people reach their life, sport, and performance goals.

My 3 primary treatment areas are the shoulder, low back, and knee. Of the three, my favorite is helping individuals with chronic lower back pain who have tried everything, and are still looking for answers.

In my spare time I love riding my motorcycle, boxing, lifting weights, playing basketball, and enjoying all of the outdoor things Colorado has to offer.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the early days of starting my business I decided to go door to door talking to people and passing out a flyer for my business on the prompting of another entrepreneur I respected. At that time I didnt even think it was necessarily the most optimal way to promote my business, and nothing tangible came of it (no leads or clients/sales etc.). However the reason I did it was because when he told me he did it, my gut reaction was that it sounded like the most uncomfortable thing to do. And for that very reason, I took on the challenge to step out of my comfort zone, and practice my interaction with cold calling and sales. That experience taught me that I can do things that make me uncomfortable and that it will be alright. And I believe it was an experience that gave me more confidence in talking to complete strangers about my business.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to learn to stop underselling myself and focusing only on saving my clients money. Early on in my business I was very uncomfortable charging cash for my services, as it was something I had never done throughout my career (every job I had ever worked as a Physical Therapist was contracted with health insurance such that I never had to deal with any sort of a transaction or payment). So this part made me so uncomfortable that I often found myself trying to offer my clients the cheapest options and literally sell them out of seeing me for my services. I think that a combination of the discomfort of taking cash from others and a lack of confidence in general really held me back. What changed this for me was a series of several clients who came to me who I knew I could help and I was very soft on the sale. And there were 2 distinct ones I will never forget who after seeing me, went to see other providers who I know were not appropriate for them, and would not get the superior outcome I knew I would have been able to deliver, had I sold to them confidently. After that I decided that when I met clients who I knew I could help and was confident that I was the absolute best option for their problem, then I would sell to them confidently without hesitation, knowing it is in fact in their best interest.

Contact Info:

• Website: headtotoh.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/headtotoh
• Facebook: facebook.com/headtotoh