Reflections on my Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program Journey
Written by: Dr. Katie Wadland, PT, DPT, Board-Certified Geriatric Clinical Specialist and Owner of Healthy Aging PT
This past fall, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program (10KSB). If you're not familiar, 10KSB is a nationwide initiative funded by Goldman Sachs, taught by Babson College professors, and designed to help small business owners grow their businesses through education, mentorship, and access to resources. The program is application-based, tuition-free, and brings together business owners from diverse industries to learn about the financial management, growth opportunity assessment, and leadership involved with business growth and development. (Curious? You can learn more about the 10KSB Program here.) Over the course of the past several months, I dove deep into every corner of my own business, from financial forecasting to marketing and new product development, and emerged not just a better business owner, but a more confident leader. Here are the five biggest lessons I learned.
1. Being a Business Owner is Actually Really Cool - and More Important Than I Thought
When I started Healthy Aging Physical Therapy, it was all about me—not in a selfish way, but because it was literally just me. It was a way to keep working during the pandemic while balancing homeschooling my two young kids. I started with zip, zero, NO formal business education, no plan, and a lot of trial and error. Over time, I realized that I wasn’t just filling a need for myself - I was meeting a huge unmet need in our community and decided to grow.
But what I learned through 10KSB is that small business owners are a rare breed. Did you know that according to the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, only about 20% of small businesses survive their first five years? Or that small businesses make up 99.9% of all businesses in the U.S. and employ nearly half of the nation’s workforce? Additionally, 81% of small businesses have no employees, while only 19% employ staff, and of those, about 15% have between 1-10 employees. Healthy Aging Physical Therapy currently has a staff of EIGHTEEN (and looking to hire more!) Those aren’t just statistics - they represent real people, real jobs, and real impact.
Today, Healthy Aging Physical Therapy isn’t just about me anymore. We’re an employer, employing therapists, personal trainers and office management staff who love what they do and have the flexibility for real work-life balance. Walking into 10KSB, I felt like a therapist who happened to own a business. Walking out, I see myself as an entrepreneur, and I’m proud to be contributing to my local economy.
2. It's REALLY Important to Understand Your Numbers
Numbers used to intimidate me. For the first few years, I was in reactive mode - looking at financial data after the fact and making educated guesses about what to do next. The 10KSB program has changed that completely.
Now, I not only understand our financial foundations, but I’ve developed a forecasting model that allows me to proactively adjust factors like our service mix and staffing. Instead of anxiously riding financial waves, I feel confident and in control. I have back up plans, and a rainy day fund. I can spot trends in real time, understand what’s driving them, and take action before problems snowball.
Even more importantly, I’ve learned how our practice fits into the larger healthcare ecosystem. From policy changes to Medicare reimbursement cuts (Medicare reimbursement rates are going down another 2.8% as of 1/1/2025!), I now have the tools to navigate these challenges strategically rather than reactively.
3. I Feel Stronger Than Ever in My Vision for Healthy Aging
The first five years of practice ownership were about experimenting - trying new things, seeing what worked, and learning from what didn’t. Now, I have a clear roadmap for growth.
I’ve learned that being a good therapist isn’t enough. While growth is great, it’s more important for me to find ways to ensure the way we practice stays consistent with my values. To do so, I need to teach these principles effectively to my staff, create systems that ensure consistency, and build structures that support scaling and growth. I’ve gained confidence not only in my mentorship skills but also in my ability to scale without compromising our mission and core values.
While my goal as a therapist has always been to help as many people as I can, this practice has given me the voice and venue to MULTIPLY this in a way I never expected. The 10KSB has given me both confidence and the tools to scale my practice without losing the attention to care, compassion and evidenced-based practice that are so critically important to patient success.
4. I’ve Learned I’m Not Alone
Running a business can feel incredibly lonely, especially when you didn’t set out to be a business owner in the first place. The stress, anxiety, and excitement of entrepreneurship are hard to describe to anyone who hasn’t lived it. I recently came across a meme that said “Being a business owner is great - you get to choose which 80 hours a week you work!” I laughed out loud because truer words have never been spoken - or meme’d about!
But in my cohort of 44 other business owners (shout-out to Group 2-2-2!), I found my people. We came from vastly different industries - there were water filtration experts, ice cream creators, restaurant owners, marketing experts, and more - but despite our different paths to entrepreneurship, we all share the same struggles - and now we get to celebrate our wins, together.
Beyond our cohort, I’m now part of a nationwide network of over 14,000 10KSB alumni. That’s an incredible community of support, collaboration, and wisdom that I can lean on for years to come.
5. I Can Do Anything I Set My Mind To
This program was intense. Adding 15+ hours a week of coursework to an already jam-packed schedule was exhausting. But I did it - and have officially earned my Certificate of Entrepreneurship.
Running a private practice in today’s healthcare landscape isn’t easy. The constant threat of Medicare cuts, rising supply costs, and workforce shortages has made me second guess my plan many times over. But I’ve learned that the garden you tend is the garden that grows - it’s a simple analogy, but it’s true.
More importantly, this lesson extends beyond business. It’s about balance - something I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t mastered yet. Behind the business owner who seems to have it all together, there’s also a mom trying to find time to connect with her kids who are too-quickly growing their way out of her house, a wife trying to carve out quality time with her husband, and a human being who needs time for her own health and well-being (which has been largely ignored since August…).
If I could sum up my biggest takeaway from 10KSB, it’s this: I am in control. I can control my time, my business, and my priorities. I do NOT need to live in the ‘reactive’ anymore. The year ahead, and all the years after that, are full of potential - not just for Healthy Aging Physical Therapy, but for me, my family, my health, and my own peace of mind.
Looking Ahead
This program wasn’t easy, but it was transformative. I’m heading into 2025 with a solid business foundation, a clear plan for growth, and a renewed commitment to balance and well-being.
To my team, my family, and everyone who’s supported me, and been patient with me, along this journey: thank you. And to any small business owners reading this - keep this program in mind. It's a heavy lift, but it’s worthwhile. Here’s to a purposeful and pleasant year ahead - for me, my team, my practice and my family.