The Quietest 6 Weeks of the Year Could Be Your Competitive Advantage
Most owners spend the holidays reacting. Paul wants you to use them strategically. In this post-PPS breakdown, he shares the biggest trends he saw on the exhibit floor and explains how they could shape your planning for 2026.
Full transcript
Generated from the episode audio and lightly edited for readability.
Hello everyone. This is Paul Martin, founder and president of Martin Healthcare Advisors, and I am so excited. This is our first post PPS conference video podcast and we're going to discuss heading now into the holiday season. It's a time when most people shift almost all their attention toward family celebration and a little bit of rest. Look, all that is great, but what I want to help you do also is to use this season strategically over the next six weeks. It really offers a rare quiet window to prepare yourself and your business for a strong and much more predictable 2026.
And today I want to walk you through how to do that in a planned and focused way. So let's start with what we learned at the APA private practice section conference and why it matters for your planet. I think this is really important. Look at the PPS conference for those of you who were not there the energy this year was different and everybody that I talked to says the exact thing same thing our staff CEOs that I've talked to the energy was simply different. This was a record year for attendance.
And I would say for the first time in three or so years, many owners, small and large, were saying that they were fully staffed or very close to it. Not saying there weren't those there that are still having major staffing difficulties, but more owners than in the past said they are fully staffed or very close to it. That alone is a gamecher for this industry. Acquirers were highly active and met with a large number of companies. Acquirers are preparing for a much more active merger and acquisition market in 2026.
Folks, AI dominated the exhibit hall. The message is simple. Do not buy tools that are really cool. Buy the tools that improve margin and efficiency. And I think that was really the focus of most of the AI vendors. These takeaways matter because they directly influence how you should be thinking about your strategic planning over the next six weeks. Okay? So, we're adding something to your Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate list. We're adding some strategic planning. So, why is the holiday season such a great time to do this?
It it offers a few times of the year when the pressure slows down. There are very few times that the pressure slows down and this creates a perfect environment for strategic work. Most owners go through the holidays continuing to react as opposed to begin preparing. But if you intentionally use this period, you can set yourself up to outperform your competition in 2026. And I truly believe the owners who use this season wisely come into January focused, confident, and ahead of the curve. This is the time to zoom out, reflect, and redesign your path without the daily stresses pulling at you.
You know, you have a little time off. Use some of that time for the planning that I'm going to discuss. So, what we'd like to present today are what are the five action steps that we believe you need to take before New Year's Eve. You don't want to be 11:59 on New Year's Eve and have only done one or two of these. Okay? There's five action steps that we believe you need to take. These are clear actions that any PT business owner can take and that you can do it before New Year's Eve.
They're practical. They're powerful and they're moves that will make you better prepared for growth. If you're not growing, you're shrinking. And so whether you stay independent or decide that 2026 is the year to find a partner, these five steps are simple but are incredibly effective when done with intention. So you don't need to overhaul your entire business in six weeks. You just need to sharpen and sharpen in the right areas. Number one, host a culture meeting with your staff. I cannot tell you how important this is.
Ask your team what culture means to them. Where is it strong? Where is your culture slipping? What behaviors represent who you are and who you and your staff truly want to be? Folks, culture defines retention. Retention defines patient experience. Patient experience defines your reputation and your revenue. Use this time to reset expectations. Reinforce your values and create that alignment from you as the leader to your leadership team down to your staff. Challenge your entire team to bring one idea each for how to improve morale, communication, or teamwork in 2026.
You will be amazed at the quality of ideas that will surface when people have been charged with this concept and they have permission to speak openly. That's really important. Again, depending upon your size would depend upon how many are able to participate in this, but and at least get a good strong handful of folks to think openly about what makes you better, what makes your culture a better culture than others and what do you need to add to make your culture even better. Number two, identify simply one or two operational improvements that everyone will focus on.
I talked a lot about this in my presentation at the private practice section that operational improvement equals more greater value at the time of a succession. Choose something that's measurable and meaningful. It it could be improving schedule utilization, something you can measure. Reducing cancella cancellations. What a great time to really focus on that. Capturing every charge correctly, increasing capacity in your most busiest clinics, and then map out three first steps from your team and what those steps will mean in January. The next six weeks are about preparation.
January is about execution. So if you map out the steps that your team with your team that they'll need to take to have this operational improvement, January can be your time to show that massive improvement. Your team requires clarity and confidence going into the new year. Number three, create a clear vision of what your business should look like by year end 2026. I mean, literally get your magic marker out. During the holidays, you finally have mental space to think without restra distraction and write down where you want your revenue to be, where you want your EPIDA margin to be, what you want your staffing model to look like, and what you want in terms of locations by the end of 2026 and more.
Try to identify which markets you want to enter and which services you want to strengthen. Where are you best in your market and where can you strengthen to become the best in your market? This it becomes a compass. It's not a wish list. So you don't want to have 15 of these. You want, you know, very clearly five to seven initiatives. Your team then walks into January understanding exactly what direction you are leading them. And that clarity alone separates you from most owners in this industry.
You know, a lot of owners come back from PPS just barking out ideas, but it's not focused. It's not with a plan. And if you use this time period to start that planning, you can be kicking all this forward in 2026. Number four, bring your leadership team together for a planning session and consider using an outside facilitator and then following that with some kind of a party or dinner. Now, a neutral facilitator can challenge assumptions. A neutral facilitator will uncover blind spots and help draw out ideas that your team may not feel comfortable raising if it's simply an internal meeting.
So, spend time defining your top three propri priorities for 2026. Ask each one of your leaders what they need to do in order to execute those priorities well as a part of that plan planning meeting. This is a great time to clarify roles. It it will clean up any confusion or overlap that you may have had over the last few months. These next six these next six weeks are the best time to reset leadership alignment. So again, you hit January fully synchronized and aligned. Number five, evaluate your growth path.
This was a major theme at the private practice section conference. Many owners want to grow but are not sure whether to expand into new states, invest in acquisitions, pursue startups, or explore partnerships that provide the capital and the support that you need to scale to the next level. Use these next six weeks to think honestly about your risk tolerance, your goals, and your timeline. You know, our outside in assessment is designed to help owners see clearly their highest value path. You don't need to decide today, but what you do need to do is to prepare.
And that's what we're looking for with number five here. So, let me give you one more practical idea for this season. Think about how you can create lowcost but high impact patient touches during the holiday. We're already seeing this from some practices. Some examples, handwritten thank you cards from your therapist to their patients. You could offer warm cider or hot chocolate. That's of course unless you're in Florida or Arizona, but you could offer that in the waiting room. It's a great touch and it's not that expensive.
Hosting a holiday themed injury prevention workshop. My physical therapist, okay, back in New Jersey is doing that and it is already full. So, I'm out. I can't go. Creating a travel or snow shoveling safety handout. A little handout on, you know, safety with travel, safety with shoveling snow as we're getting into the winter. Sending past patients a free holiday wellness check-in. These things drive loyalty, reactivate old patients, and will differentiate your practice without spending a whole lot of time or money. So, here are my final thoughts.
You know, we've kind of combined the private practice section with the holiday season. And look, the holiday season, it's about family and gratitude, but it is also a moment of clarity. Use these next six weeks wisely. Strengthen your culture, sharpen your operations, align your leadership, set your vision, and evaluate your growth plan. It sounds like a lot, but if you put these into a plan over the next six weeks, you're going to find that it's going to be very simply executed. I believe if you do, you will walk into 2026 with more confidence, with more alignment, and a stronger business than you have ever done in the past.
This is one of the best windows of the year to prepare. And the owners who use it well, they're going to be the ones who win in 2026. I want to thank you all for listening today. I look forward to driving into this holiday season. I look forward to helping you plan in this window and the foundation for your most sec successful year in 2026. If you'd like to have a discussion about your planning or about any other topic that we've discussed, click below and let's talk. Thanks for joining in today and I look forward to seeing you in the very near future.
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