Southern Cross alumna receives national recognition for Tweed-based osteopathy clinic

 Welcome to SCU Buzz, the University podcast. I'm Dr Owen Hogan. I'm a lecturer for the Faculty of Business, Law and Arts here at Southern Cross University, and I'm also the course coordinator for the Graduate Certificate in Small Business Management launching in 2026. Today we're diving into a topic that's very relevant for Allied Health graduates: starting your own business or clinic.

Joining me today is Lara Goode, a Southern Cross Master of Osteopathic Medicine alumna. And owner of Coastal Therapies, a local clinic at Cabarita Beach. Welcome to the podcast, Lara. Thanks for having me, Owen. Lara, can you tell us a bit about your journey from graduating from your Master's degree and then opening your own osteopathic clinic?

Yeah, of course. Um, so I graduated in 2014 and I landed a job at a clinic just in Currumbin, which isn't too far away. I was really, really fortunate to get that position, actually. The main principal osteopath there was fantastic, especially when it came to mentoring me. I guess my goal when I first graduated was just to improve my clinical skills and patient management, and I got all of that there, so I couldn't have been happier.

Um, after six years I was there for, I actually started doing just one day down in my hometown in Cabarita Beach. And it wasn't until then that I really got the passion or the drive to want to open something of my own. Uh, it was then that I scouted some properties, like commercial spaces in the area, and I took on my first lease and opened Coastal Therapies.

That's fantastic. So what was some of the biggest challenges that you faced in that early stages of launching Coastal Therapies? I guess the biggest challenges were not really realising that running a business and being a practitioner are completely two separate roles. I think the juggling all of the hats at the beginning, so being the main osteopath, plus being the bookkeeper, plus being the receptionist, plus being the marketer, you know, that was a lot.

On top of just trying to manage my own physical, mental and emotional capacity, um, is just a big, big learning curve for me for sure. And there's a lot of hats to wear, isn't there? So many hats. So the, you were starting to try and learn different functions of a business as you went along. Yes, yes, exactly.

Yeah. Now, the clinic flooded in 2022. Can you tell me a little bit about what that experience was like? Yes. Okay. So this was definitely one of the hardest chapters for myself and Coastal Therapies. I was 15 weeks pregnant with my first baby boy when my space was flooded and everything was destroyed. Uh, unfortunately,

um, difficult circumstances meant that I couldn't reopen in the same location. So I was left with nowhere to put my business. I scouted the area for a new space and it was just luck of the draw that I managed to get another space in Cabarita. 'Cause my dream was always to have Coastal Therapies in Cabarita.

'Cause I grew up there. So I got this new space. I was all or nothing. That's a personality trait of mine. Um, picked myself up and rebuilt Coastal from the ground up, literally in the new space out of a flood zone. Wow, that sounds very challenging. Was there anything you did differently when you opened in the new location?

I guess I opened with a bit more sense of resilience and I anchored really hard into my mission statement. So what I wanted from Coastal was to be a space that's not just a clinical setting. I wanted it to feel warm, welcoming. I wanted it to be a holistic experience for both practitioners and patients.

So from the moment they walk in the door, they, the healing journey's already started. It smells great. It looks great. You know, everybody like the energy in the clinic is always top tier. And so it was kind of a really good chance to recreate it with that in mind, and it couldn't have turned out any better.

It was great. It's great. Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah. It sounds like you really tapped into what you felt your clients really needed and expected from a service like that, as well as your own staff. Yes. Yep. Yeah. I feel like I, I really wanted to make the practitioners that worked for me feel valued. I am really invested in their growth and their wellbeing, and

I also hold a really high standard, so I wanted that just to come out in all aspects of the clinic. And is that something you really thought about deeply? In terms of when you were thinking about how will my clients, what do they expect from me, how I want my staff to feel? Or did that sort of evolve as you went along?

It definitely evolved. I feel like a lot of my business skills evolved. It was kind of a trial and error for a lot of things. Um, I actually joined an allied health community that was a bit of a small business support network. Um, and it wasn't until then that I really realised how much I needed to structure the business differently.

Mm-hmm. And also show up differently. So show up as the osteopath, but then also show up as the mentor and as the clinic owner and take a bit more of the reign. To learn how to delegate, to put systems into place and really understand cash flow management. A lot of the behind the scenes admin, Owen. Yes, yes, absolutely.

Just thinking back, um, to when you started the clinic. Mm-hmm. Is there anything you'd wish you'd known essentially before you started? Definitely all of those things that I just mentioned. So again, I was a great osteo. I loved my patients and I felt like that was something that I was really great at, but I had no idea about business.

I had no idea about, like I said, systems, how to delegate, how to manage cash flow, what my metrics for the business were. So my patient retention, my average turnover, everything that you should be looking at, really now that I look back monthly to stay on top of where things are going. Because now I have all of these overheads and expenses that need to get met first and foremost before I can even pay myself.

Right? Yeah. So I really needed to educate myself on, on a lot of those aspects of a business. Yeah. Great. Thank you. And. We, you mentioned about joining an association. Mm. Um, how important is networking and, and maybe more so even mentorship, how important is mentorship in, in your industry, and especially in those early stages of business development?

I just think that mentoring is invaluable. I, I guess that's why I really enjoy working back in the university, teaching and supervising in the student clinic, 'cause I feel like we learn so much from people that have already experienced it. So like I mentioned, my mentor in in Currumbin, I just wouldn't be the osteo I am today without them.

So I'm very grateful and not all new graduates actually get to experience that. They don't have such a positive, um, experience like I did. So I feel like I really want to give back and I want to help the students as best I can. Um, networking is huge too. I even find myself leaning on a lot of local, especially women in business.

I'm surrounded by a lot of women in business that are, you know, just doing fantastic and I've created a really nice network and we all try to support each other and talk about the things that might be working, what aren't working, and it's just nice to have a solid community and support for sure.

Yeah. Great. That's fantastic. Um, when you were starting out, how did you find your first clients? You know, did you have particular strategies that help you grow that client base? Yes, so I guess, because I was at Currumbin for so long, my client base was quite solid there, but then I've picked up and moved down to Cabarita, and although it isn't too far away, it still was me starting out from scratch.

Really. I was very, um, fortunate that I grew up in Cabarita, so I had, uh, already a network of people that I knew, but they just knew me as Lara. They didn't know me as Lara, the osteopath. So it was then trying to create a bit of an awareness around what I can bring to the community, what my skills are, why would someone come and see me for an osteopathic appointment?

So, yeah, I think that, um, word of mouth was huge to start with. And then I have gradually grown into now having more social media presence. I'm also very active in the community, so I sponsor the local rugby team and I donate regularly to the local charities just to get Coastal Therapies known in the community to try and build that trust, I guess.

Yeah, so important to have different marketing strategies, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, how, how effective have you found some of those strategies, particularly kind of embedding yourself in the community as you've done? I think, and it's actually because it is such a tight knit community down there, you'd be amazed by how many people will see me getting a coffee or see me in Woolworth and go, oh, Lara actually, and I've been meaning to book with you.

And then they'll book that afternoon or they'll book a massage. So it is really important to be out and be seen. Uh, I think that, yeah, word of mouth is huge in a small community. Yeah. And I think that that's just where our main client base would be coming from. Yeah. Fantastic. Um, and you've mentioned around growing your business.

Yes. And you've grown, uh, quite a bit since you've started. How have you found managing staff and building a workplace culture? So there's probably two sides to managing staff if you, I feel if you ask any business owner, they'll say managing staff is the hardest, but it also is, I find anyway, the most rewarding because like I said, I'm invested in the growth and the wellbeing of my associates and my employees within Coastal.

I feel if, um, you know, I can model to them how I want them to show up and, you know, hold space they, they just bring it, they bring it and it's, so, yeah. Like I said, it's rewarding, but managing staff, especially now that I've changed up my model a little bit from contractors to employees. Yeah. I'm learning a whole nother another chapter.

Just run me through that process because you obviously, as you started out as a contractor, yes. And then you had your own contractors working for you, but then you decided to go to employees. I know. What motivated that change and how, how has it been for you? It's actually been really hard because in our industry, industry standard as an osteopath is usually just you become a contractor.

Yeah. So you're on a percentage split. You come in, you do your work, you just invoice for the services that you've provided, and then you get paid and the employer doesn't really have to worry about super, any tax, admin, any sick leave, annual leave, any of that. You just kind of walk in, walk out. But

I have found that once I expanded my business, that having contractors just, it didn't work for me. Yeah. On, on multiple levels, so not just a patient centered care where they've got consistency. Um, and then from a financial point of view too, it just, my business started to go backwards. Uh, contractors, they have a lot of free reign in what they do within your business, and it's not necessarily conducive to business success.

And that's, you know, from a team point of view, from a business point of view, and from a patient point of view, you want consistency, you want availability. But if you've only got Joe Smith, who's working Monday, Wednesday, and then Susie, who's only working the other days, it really makes, um, rebooking and patient retention hard.

Yeah. Yeah. Um, but also like the 60 40 split is you're giving, so from every a hundred dollars, if you are giving away $60 to your contractor, you're left with 40 to pay receptionist, keep the lights on, have the laundry done. Like it is just, the list goes on and on and on. Yeah. And I'm sorry, but that $40 is, it's not going in my pocket,

I tell you what. Yeah. It goes quickly. It goes so quickly. There's a lot of expenses to cover. Yeah. So I've been trying to change this model that is been ingrained into Allied Health and to move into being, um, have employees. So finding that sweet spot where you still want them to feel valued, you're still paying them enough that they're gonna wanna stay.

Um, yeah. That it's finding the sweet spot's been really hard. Yeah. I guess 'cause I'm breaking the mold. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Breaking the mold. Yeah. And, and of course you're trying to build a, a workplace culture while you're doing this. Yeah. What, what would you describe as your management style? Ooh. I would say collaborative.

So I love to have mentoring sessions with everybody as we all work together, um, in a space that allows them to bring any cases I may want to discuss or techniques they wanna go over or treatment. You name it, it's an open door for a few hours every month that we do together. But also empowering, like I said, I hold a really high standard at Coastal.

I wanted it to be that boutique luxe, you know, top tier clinic with exceptional osteopathic skills, but also, um, you know, down to the finest detail in the room of essential oils and the dimming lights and things like that. So I really try to model that, um, you know. There half an hour before my patients.

I set up my room. I'm, I'm on. So I'm trying to model that to my team. Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you. Um, we've talked a little bit about accounting and financial management. Yes. Um, how were you, uh, in the early days of, oh my gosh. I'm trying to run the books and understand finances. Okay. So I guess when I first graduated,

I had no idea what I was doing with my finances. Um, I guess because I went from being an employee my entire working life to then being a contractor and then realising, hey, I need to put my own tax away. I need to put my own super away. And I wasn't sure how much or when or what to do. And so the first year was a bit of a blur, and then I got a tax bill and I'm going,

Lara, okay, we need to sort this out. And that's when I realised I actually should outsource, get myself a good accountant or bookkeeper just to keep me accountable and on top of it. Because yeah, I think that having a good bookkeeper and accountant's worth its weight in gold. Yeah, it's important to have, yeah, a bit of a team around you who have professional, uh, professional services, isn't it?

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Well, thank you. Um, and you talked a little bit about trying to understand your, um, your client base, um, your KPIs and objectives. Yeah. Have you ever had a need to sort of formulate a formal business plan or at least do some business planning? Um, I guess. Not a formal one. I was always just really led by, I guess, intuition and a bit of heart when it came to Coastal because I was so emotionally invested in that vision.

Um, I guess, like I mentioned earlier, just getting to know my metrics was probably the biggest thing that I realised I needed to do. Yeah. So not so much a business plan per se, but, knowing where the cash flow is and where our patients are and staying on top of the, in and out of our, um, profit and loss, I guess.

Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah, thank you. Um, what advice would you give a health graduate just starting out and wanna start their own practice? I guess, I guess I feel like you don't need to start when you feel ready. 'Cause I, I didn't necessarily feel like I was ready, but I just had a really strong vision in mind and I just evolved as I went along.

But really having the systems, the delegation, and a really good support network around you, I think is key and not being scared to ask for help when you feel like you are, you know, out of your depth. I think that in doing so, you can then honour your own physical, mental, emotional wellbeing because it's really easy to burn out when you're trying to wear all the hats when you're trying to, like I said, bookkeeper, marketing and be an osteopath.

Like it's a lot. It's a lot on your plate. Chuck in two kids, and the burnout can be real. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, taking the time and, um, really looking after yourself too. Yeah. And you mentioned having a network of other women in business. Yes. That would be important too, wouldn't it? Yes. Yeah. To tap into that network for advice.

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it's been, you know, as a mum in business too, we do lose our identity a lot and so just sitting down with another woman in business to go, yeah. How hard was last week? Were, were you, were you as quiet as what we were? Yeah. We were so quiet. Right? Doesn't that suck? Well, hopefully it's better next week.

It's just nice to have the, yeah, the support and a network of people that understand. Yeah, absolutely. And just talking about having a family, while you're trying to run a small business as well, what have you had to try to compromise as you've gone along? And has that influenced the way that you've grown your business as well?

Yeah. Trying to make sure you're balancing family life, children and everything that comes with that. And I, I feel like it was my big push to need to change the model of my business too, because I can't go to work four days a week while my babies are in daycare and not pull a wage. Yeah. So I needed to really make some change for my family.

And that really was a driving force for me to make Coastal work, not just in the sense of it, you know, um, supporting the community and servicing the community, I should say, but financially too, and it's okay to want your business to be financially successful. There's, yeah. My babies, I really didn't want to give up my time with them

to be in a business that wasn't gonna pay me at all. And I know that sounds a bit harsh, but when you're a mom, like they are your driving force. Absolutely. Yeah. They, you do everything for your kids. So my babies have definitely been a big influence for me and I just love them. Yeah. I just love them. And obviously having a small business has allowed you some freedom and flexibility around your family life as well?

Sometimes. Sometimes. I feel like that's the goal. I feel like at the moment I'm still probably the main, um, main financial source within the business, but that's one of my goals is to eventually be able to step back is to, uh, build my existing employees up and then me be able to drop back a little bit to be able to have a bit more time freedom.

Yeah. So that's, that's the goal. And this is it and it doesn't happen overnight. Yeah. People that come on to podcasts and talk about their success stories, that's great, but it is a hustle until you get there. And it has been, it's still a hustle for me. Yeah. So you can do it. But you know, if small business was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Yeah. And so you're still looking to grow a little bit, but just so that you can get to that point where you can then have more flexibility for home life as well. Yeah. Yeah. It'd be nice to be able to have a day off and be able to take my boys to the park and then not have to go to daycare or, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. That's great. That's a fantastic goal. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks Owen. So Owen, I've told you about my business struggles and I'm actually really excited to hear that you are launching a course that would've been perfect for me when I needed it. So now the graduates of today are going to benefit. So can you tell me a bit about that business please?

Absolutely. Thanks Lara. So we are launching a Graduate Certificate in Small Business Management and, uh, we thought it was timely that the University did something like this for our regional footprint. Um, we certainly get a lot of feedback from graduates who have gone through, say, allied health or other professions who don't necessarily have the business skills but do wanna start their own business and not really sure what they're going to encounter.

Yes. Some of the challenges, yes. Many of the challenges. The, the, the ongoing challenges of, of small business. And so we've, uh, built this graduate certificate so that, um, we can try and address some of those, uh, uh, challenges and issues and those key concepts that students might come across in their early days or even if they acquire a business as well.

Yep. Yep. That sounds amazing, and that sounds like something I would've loved to have for sure. What are some of those concepts, do you think that the health graduates would benefit from having a better grasp on? Yeah, I think, and just based on what you've been telling me is setting your own goals to start with.

Why are you going into business? So really having a purpose. Mm-hmm. And we know from research that purpose really drives, can drive customers to your clients, to you in your case, uh, and really understanding your business identity and how that you can create a unique value proposition, whether it be within your own community or even further afield if you're trying to grow your business.

So that a real customer focus is where we're going with this, with sort of trying to apply human centered design techniques, which you have actually done in your business yourself without going through the training. So, um, but you've had to learn that. Yes. Uh, over a long time. Yes. And we believe a graduate certificate in this course will help accelerate those, those learnings.

Um, and being able to really generate targeted marketing messages and knowing what works for your client base and your community base. Yeah. Um, building operations, growing, uh, massive challenge, right? Taking on employees. Yes. Trying to understand and develop your financial literacy. Uh, all those things we believe are essential in a course like this.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. This is, um, that's gonna be great. Um, I just wanted to ask two. How does it prepare students to successfully launch a small business? Yeah, so what we do is we use a lot of, uh, problem solving framework frameworks like design thinking to understand firstly, uh, what is the business that you are trying to launch, what's the service mm-hmm.

Or the products mm-hmm. As the case may be, and really get a deep understanding of do your clients want that product? Will they want that service? And understanding your clients, uh, as much as possible. Doing the research, really and understanding as you have done, uh, yourself in the past. Uh, and probably continue to do, right?

Try continue to understand your client base. So be very human centered in your business. After it all, it is a service, um, that's quite, um, client facing. Mm-hmm. So you have to develop quite human skills. Yes. Along the way. Um, and also to understand, uh, essentially how you can grow the business over time, if that's your goal.

Like scaling? Scaling up the business. Yeah. Yeah. As much as possible in terms of understanding, you know, will you need more employees? What will you need to do to develop those employees skills? Mm-hmm. How will you manage your performance? How, how will you understand your own productivity? Okay. Yep. How about if somebody wanted to open up a second clinic?

Well that's, uh, that's definitely a challenging and of course, um, this is where we come into the whole idea of trying to scale up your business. So understanding that your current value proposition is scalable. The current business model that you've developed is scalable, can sometimes suggest to you that you can now grow potentially into another site.

Yeah. Or to grow into another channel, perhaps an online channel, whatever the case may be. Yeah, so we, we look at business model scaling as part of the course as well. Oh my gosh, that's so good. I have definitely looked into opening up a second location, but also adding products and other tack ons that you can use within the business.

So not just the service, but then, you know, the magnesium salts or a wheat bag or just those little added extras that I've been dabbling in as well. Yeah. Do you find you try to, um, listen to your client base around some of those new products? Or is it through your own research? Bit of both. Bit of both.

Yeah. So I have just some, like I mentioned, like the bath salts and wheat bags, and then a couple of supplements. Just keeping it really simple. Um, and I've researched the supplements myself, so they're all practitioner only brands targeted at maybe joint support or muscle relaxation. Yeah. So it's all still relevant to the services we're providing.

Uh, and I feel like they've been a really good addition. Yeah, exactly. To supporting people on their health journey. Yeah. And, and it's kind of important too to have an idea of whether there's possibility of multiple revenue streams in a business. And that's something we, uh, outline to students in this course is that you can have a core service, but you can also have other services around those that clients really yearn for.

Um, and you can get to understand that by developing a deep empathy with your clients and understanding what their needs and wants are. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. So I am very busy. When I am working in the clinic, I'm usually back to back with my patients, and recently I have just started to use Heidi. Have you heard of Heidi?

I haven't heard of Heidi. Heidi. So Heidi. Tell me about Heidi. Heidi is the Allied Health AI. So Heidi, we can use during our consultations, we ask for our patient's consent to be recorded and then you can customise the templates for it to transcribe and slot it all into. So I just wanted to touch on AI and how you feel it's going to impact small business.

Look, I think AI is going to impact small business incredibly. Um, and even just that example. I'm like positive or negative? Absolutely positive. Uh, I mean, Southern Cross University has completely embraced AI and we use, uh, Microsoft Copilot. Yep. In our own work and we let the students use it. And many of our courses, we open up AI for use in that.

Uh, and we have good guidelines around academic integrity. Um, so we know that graduates are gonna go out and use AI and everybody's already using it and we can see that small business are already using it. Mm-hmm. I think AI is an amazing strategic collaborator, to be honest. Mm-hmm. It taps into knowledge beyond our own, uh, boundaries.

We are, we only have a limited capacity to take on so much information. Yeah. Uh, it gives us that ability to help us make better strategic decisions. Uh, and it also means that we can access larger amounts of information and data and aI can crunch that data for us and help us decide, should I open a second location?

Yes. How can I get more clients? Uh, it can also help us enhance the customer experience through having chat bots or personalised marketing messages so people know that you are actually responding to them and you can try and build a relationship with them. And of course, it really helps in the automation of tasks.

So, um. Accounting tasks. Yeah. Or, uh, running marketing campaigns or responding to, to customers, uh, all those things. It's, it's an amazing resource for people. So I often say to students in the, in the academic setting, AI's an amazing learning collaborator. You've gotta know how to talk to it properly, because sometimes it doesn't always give you the right answers.

No, the prompts. The prompts are really important. Yes. So knowing how to work with AI and getting it to train it for what you need. Yes. Which is interesting when you talk about Heidi. Yes. 'cause obviously it's been trained to deal in your industry. So I think overall AI is gonna have an amazing positive impact on business.

Yes. Going forward. I agree. I use some automations as well to send out, uh, you know, wellness checks, like following up, how was your appointment? How did we do? If you have some time, can you answer these questions? How was your first appointment? Things like that, that, you know, um, yeah, I just feel like it's good to touch base with your, your patients as often as you can.

So, yeah, I've been using automations too and I, I find that's really helpful. Yeah, that's great. 'cause it, it collects primary data for you and then you can get AI to analyse that for you and then give you back those key themes that you need to act upon. Oh, I like it. Yeah, that's a good one. Do you think that there's any other trends that might be shaping the way of small businesses? Shaping the future?

Yeah, look, I, I'm, I'm a circular economy researcher, so I think that, um, sustainability is an important issue. I mean, Ken Henry, um, recently said nature is in systemic decline. So I think that that's an important message for everyone we should understand. Wow. And maybe not so much in your particular field, but certainly small business across the board needs to be aware of their own material use footprint.

And by that I mean what resources are you using in order to run your business, and is that having an impact on the environment or a social impact that might be perceived as negative? So I think small business as much as the corporate, larger businesses have a role to play in that sustainability effort as well.

Hmm. Okay. Yeah. Good. Well thank you so much for having me on the podcast today, Owen. I think that that's us for today. Oh, it's been fantastic. It's been so good talking with you, Lara. Yes, thanks so much. It's been great to hear about your business journey. Yes. And we wish you all the best in the future. Thank you so much.

I'm very, very excited for the graduates that are gonna be able to jump into your course. Thank you. Thanks.