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Most people do not think twice about movement until it is taken from them. For Bobby Cochrane, the owner and lead physical therapist at Kennebunk Physical Therapy, the dedication to restoring that freedom began at age fifteen. Following a series of aptitude tests and a fateful shadowing session with his aunt’s physical therapist, Bobby knew exactly what he wanted to do: help people heal without sitting in a cubicle or wearing a tie.
He went on to earn his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of New England in 2012 and advanced certifications as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist. After years of experience in orthopedic surgical centers and having built a successful physical therapy clinic from scratch for his employer during the 2020 pandemic, Bobby reached a pivotal turning point. He had the clinical expertise, the work ethic, and the local community ties. It was time to build a practice of his own.
Taking the leap into entrepreneurship took more than clinical skill; it required a calculated playbook. In September 2024, after encouragement from his wife, Bobby reached out to SCORE. He was paired with SCORE mentors Tim Heard and John Kane, who provided the crucial step-by-step guidance he needed. While Bobby had the drive, physical therapy expertise, and experience growing a company, Tim and John helped him refine his self-funded business plan, establish his LLC by mid-November 2024, and identify critical entrepreneurial blind spots.
Transitioning from managing a clinic to owning a business involves distinctly different challenges, and his SCORE mentors met with him regularly to keep him accountable. To this day, Bobby still meets with Tim and John bimonthly to review his progress. They even guided him toward keeping his back-office operations hyper-local, utilizing a Kennebunk-based accountant, local banking, and a neighborhood payroll company that seamlessly integrated his human resources needs.
Securing the perfect name proved to be an unexpected adventure. Bobby wanted "Kennebunk Physical Therapy," but the state website listed the trademark as unavailable until 2027. Bobby tracked down the original owner, only to discover the practice had closed years prior, and the trademark had actually lapsed in 2007. Due to a website error, the perfect business name had been sitting legally available for nearly twenty years and never used. Bobby swiftly filed the paperwork and claimed the name for free.
Finding the right physical location was the next hurdle. Through his strong local network, Bobby secured a 550-square-foot space within a brand-new 3,500-square-foot fitness facility. From February through April of 2025, Bobby worked 45 to 50 hours a week at his day job, then spent his evenings and weekends sanding, painting, and building out his new clinic, fueled by sandwiches delivered by his wife and two sons. After a final push through Easter weekend, Kennebunk Physical Therapy officially opened its doors in April 2025.
Kennebunk Physical Therapy stands apart by operating as a completely out-of-network, private-pay practice. Instead of rushing patients through cookie-cutter treatments or juggling multiple individuals at once, Bobby spends a full, uninterrupted hour with every single patient. Clients receive customized detailed bills to submit to their insurance, but the focus remains entirely on personalized, one-on-one recovery.
The clinic's location inside a larger gym creates a powerful ecosystem of wellness. Patients typically begin their sessions in Bobby’s dedicated space for hands-on therapy before moving seamlessly into the larger gym to utilize advanced equipment. Because the space is shared with personal trainers and a Pilates studio, the businesses cross-pollinate, ensuring that clients are supported from their initial injury rehabilitation all the way through their long-term fitness journeys. Bobby also places a heavy emphasis on longevity and preventative care, helping active adults in their sixties and seventies maintain their mobility before an injury ever occurs.
The community response has been overwhelming. Driven primarily by word-of-mouth referrals, the practice rapidly reached 120 percent capacity, prompting Bobby to hire his first part-time physical therapist just 17 months after opening. He won Gold for the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Arundel Chamber of Commerce’s “Best Healthcare and Wellness Facility” in Kennebunk in 2025 after only four months in business and again now in 2026, a testament to his immediate local impact.
Looking ahead, Bobby envisions a slightly larger space with a cohesive team of dedicated therapists, allowing him to balance his time between patient care and business development without having to sustain 60-hour work weeks. With his tagline, MOVE Freely, LIVE Fully! anchoring his daily mission, Bobby Cochrane is proving that with the right SCORE mentors, relentless work ethic, and a genuine commitment to patient care, the possibilities are truly limitless.
MOVE Freely, LIVE Fully!
You can visit Kennebunk Physical Therapy at their website at https://www.kennebunkpt.com/ or on FaceBook or on Instagram or by email at Bobby@kennebunkpt.com.
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