How Much Are You Worth
It has been more than a year since I sold my practice and semi-retired working once a week to keep my hands in the game. Going through the process of selling a practice was eye opening since I was unprepared with the data necessary to provide the broker and the potential purchaser. Both potential buyer and broker, if you use one, want to evaluate practice, your patient numbers, past years income, staff viability, equipment inventory, office space and other data. This is time consuming but provides a picture of your practice worth. But this is not as important as the bottom line, literally how much are you worth.
Years ago, I like many chiropractors were helped opening our eyes to the reality of worth while attending Greg Stanley's Whitehall Management seminars, (Greg now concentrates with dentists but his ideas are relevant for us as well) providing the rationale of worth. Greg expressed the need to profit and accumulate their worth, which was more important to wealth than accumulating material things. His motto was profit and accumulate.
For example, the doctor around the corner may have a huge clinic with multiple staff and large patient base and even own multiple clinics. To maintain this success requires a large and often unruly overhead such as marketing, salaries, rent or mortgage, etc. So as impressive as it looks, their take home pay may be meager compared to your humble practice. The goal is to accumulate wealth over the years while the other doctor may break even if lucky. I hope you get the point. BUT, if you have the managerial and marketing skills and have the discipline to stick to the basics, then go for it .. grow and expand.
This is not to say that you don't expand your comfort zone and grow as large a practice as you see fit, but it should not be at the expense of accumulating wealth. Doctor, grow like a beautiful garden but maintain it with profit and accumulation in mind.
The stock market is a great way to acquire wealth when you purchase stocks and bonds. If you choose stocks wisely and manage it closely, building wealth towards your retirement is very possible. But the market is vulnerable creating stress along the way. So the wise doctor, along with playing the market finds his money generating from his or her practice.
Money generated by having an active revenue stream via a healthy growing practice is the way to go. There are only three ways to generate income from a chiropractic practice. They are increased income, increase patient volume or the most lucrative is to increase services. Once these are implemented money follows. My previous e-newsletters covered these, any questions, reply to me at joel3639@aol.com
Look to increase staff and patient education. The more they know the more referrals you'll receive and compliance from patients. Educational seminars for staff and also further your technical prowess with seminars while increasing revenue with extra services.
An increase in patient volume requires some marketing and public relations that may cost in time and money. Fees will no doubt increase revenue even if you charge a dollar more per adjustment and is the easiest way to put dough in your pocket, but the best way is to increase services. Some doctors establish financial plans for patients or use no insurance just cash based. Adding nutrition, rehabilitative programs, durable products and therapeutic instruments such as cold laser, etc. would not only add income but help patients and with proper patient education increase referrals. Give this some thought, if you have questions or confused, reply to me: joel3639@aol.com and we’ll go over it together.
So, during a quiet moment give thought of how much your practice is worth to you and if after all said and done you have profited. Reduce emotional burnout and bitterness that follows frustration by following the basics.
So, Doctor How Much Are You Worth?
