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Starting an ABA Business the Right Way
In this episode of Tim Talks: Behavioral Health, host Timothy A. Zercher sits down with Josh Nelson, CXO and co-founder of ABA Impact, to talk about building ABA businesses that are ethical, compliant, and scalable – without sacrificing clinical values.
Josh unpacks what he’s learned from tens of thousands of conversations with clinician-entrepreneurs: the common mistakes, the real compliance traps, and why success in ABA business has more to do with mindset than margins.
Whether you’re thinking about launching a new ABA agency or refining one you’ve already built, this episode offers candid, no-fluff insights into growing with purpose. Josh’s perspective provides valuable lessons for anyone building an ABA business that prioritizes ethics, compliance, and long-term success. For organizations looking to strengthen their growth, behavioral health marketing services, marketing strategy, SEO, and website design can help increase visibility, build trust, and support sustainable expansion.
Episode Overview
Timothy A. Zercher (00:00)
All right, thanks so much for joining us, Josh. We really appreciate having you on the podcast…
Josh Nelson (00:08)
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Timothy A. Zercher (00:10)
How do you go about gaining new partners in this space, especially knowing that ABA leaders are so busy?
Josh Nelson (00:21)
It really stems from us creating a community…
Timothy A. Zercher (01:07)
So, what have you found is the hardest part of scaling or launching new ABA locations?
Josh Nelson (01:53)
The two main challenges we’ve found are recruiting and lack of organizational strategy…
Timothy A. Zercher (02:48)
What was the moment you realized entrepreneurship can be trained and isn’t just natural?
Josh Nelson (03:03)
There’s a book called The E-Myth…
Timothy A. Zercher (03:59)
How do you help clinicians go from burnout to clarity while staying true to their clinical values?
Josh Nelson (04:12)
It ties back into going from the technician mindset to the owner mindset…
Timothy A. Zercher (05:00)
If there was one regular compliance issue that ABA groups run into, what would that be?
Josh Nelson (05:03)
The biggest issue is misunderstanding HIPAA compliance…
Timothy A. Zercher (07:29)
Your Facebook community has grown massively—what’s one conversation that really stood out to you?
Josh Nelson (07:37)
One that stood out was a BCBA thinking of starting a business for higher pay…
Timothy A. Zercher (09:31)
If you don’t have your business together, it doesn’t matter how good your clinicians are…
Josh Nelson (10:01)
Yeah, and I hear profit guilt a lot. We try to reframe it: profit is fuel to help more people…
Timothy A. Zercher (10:17)
Absolutely… You can invest that back into the business…
Josh Nelson (10:25)
Exactly.
