Expensive Lessons

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Dr Paul S Inselman, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

Running a practice today is much more complicated than it was just ten short years ago. There is more bureaucracy; more financial uncertainty; more fear abound, and in short, life is just tougher. That’s the bad news. Now for the good news. While running a practice today is more complicated, it still can be fun, rewarding, and very profitable.
A great way to learn anything is to identify mistakes that others have made before, and make sure that we never make the same mistake. For example many people have been seriously injured or died in a car accident because they did not wear a seatbelt. Why would any on us make the mistake of not wearing a seatbelt too? The same goes for practice. Here is a listing of common practice mistakes that I have seen practitioners make over the last ten plus years. If you are making any of the mistakes on the list, please try and correct the situation as soon as possible. Also remember this one fact. No matter what mistakes you are or you are not making, always remember that you are a chiropractor who has so much to offer to the sick and suffering. We are fortunate to be a part of a great profession that gets to see miracles on a daily basis. Never lose sight of what you have to offer to your patients.

1. Common Mistake # 1: Not having a minimum of one year’s personal and business expenses saved in a separate account. Whether we like it or not unexpected financial down-turns and expenses will hit everybody at some point in their life. The idea is to be proactive and to be prepared. Now I know and understand that you probably don’t have an extra $30-65,000 in your back pocket to put into a separate bank account. However, I also know that you can start saving small amounts towards your goal of having a minimum of one year’s personal and business expenses on hand. Don’t wait until you have an extra $500 to start saving. Put $5.00 away each day, week or whatever. Then if you have an extra $10 or $100 add that. You will be amazed at how quickly your account will grow. Remember this. Something going into the account, no matter how small, is better than nothing going into the account. Since we never know when a transmission will fall out, or some other undesirable financial life event will occur, it is much better to be prepared than not. THE LESSON: START SAVING SMALL AMOUNTS OF MONEY TODAY. THE ONLY WAY TO ACHIEVE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE IS TO START ACCUMULATING MONEY. I PROMISE YOU IT WON’T ACCUMULATE ON ITS OWN. YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

2. Common Mistake # 2: Not adopting a healthy lifestyle yourself. Would you feel comfortable going to a marriage counselor who has been divorced twelve times? The way your patients perceive you is how well or not so well that they will follow your recommendations. Do you smell like smoke? Are you thirty pounds overweight? THE LESSON: YOUR LIFESTYLE MUST REFLECT THE MESSAGE THAT YOU WANT TO TEACH TO YOUR PATIENTS. TEACH YOUR PATIENTS BY DESIGN. TALK ABOUT YOUR HEALTHY DIET; YOUR GETTING ADJUSTED; AND YOUR STRESS REDUCTION TECHNIQUES. YOUR PATIENTS WILL EMULATE YOU.

3. Common Mistake # 3: Hire someone to hold you accountable. Show me one professional athlete, elite business person, actor or anyone else in prominence that does not have a consultant, coach or adviser. Madonna has a voice coach. Warren Buffet has advisers. Michael Douglas has a coach. Don’t try and do everything yourself. Assemble a great team to guide you. It is important to pay for your services. When you have skin in the game you will work harder and better to protect your investment. It is no different than a Chiropractic patient who receives their care for free. Their follow-thru and commitment is typically not as good as a paying patient. Your advisers will give you ideas that you haven’t thought of, hold you accountable, and help you to grow faster than you could on your own. THE LESSON: DON’T JUST HIRE ANY ADVISER. HIRE THE RIGHT PEOPLE. IT IS IMPORTANT TO DO A PROPER DUE DILIGENCE. MAKE SURE YOU RESONATE WITH THEM. IF YOU ARE GOING TO WORK WITH A COACH, MAKE SURE YOU DON’T HAVE TO SIGN A CONTRACT. MAKE SURE THERE IS A 100% MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. LASTLY, MAKE SURE THE COACH IS STILL SEEING PATIENTS SO THEY KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE PRESENT-DAY ECONOMY.

4. Common Mistake # 4: Not having a UVP (Unique Value Proposition). Why should someone come to you and give you their hard earned money? If you don’t know the answer to this fundamental question your marketing will be ineffective. THE LESSON: CREATE A UVP TODAY. START BY ASKING YOURSELF WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT FROM YOUR COMPETITION. THEN ASK FRIENDS, FAMILY AND YOUR PATIENTS THE SAME QUESTION. FROM THOSE ANSWERS CREATE YOUR UVP THAT WILL MAKE YOU STAND OUT FAVORABLY AMONGST ALL OTHERS. YOUR UVP SHOULD ALSO BE USED AS THE CENTRAL HUB OF ALL OF YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS.

5. Common Mistake # 5: Not using strategic based marketing. A strategist will slaughter a tactician every single time. If you do not have a minimum of 5 strategic-based marketing campaigns in place and working at all times, it will be very difficult to maintain practice growth which will give you a typical roller coaster practice. THE LESSON: JUST CREATE ONE CAMPAIGN AT A TIME SO YOU DON’T GET OVERWHELMED. MAKE SURE YOUR CAMPAIGNS ARE DONE IN BUDGET AND THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO TRACK THE RESULTS. IT IS IMPORTANT TO SPEND MORE TIME AND MONEY ON CAMPAIGNS THAT ARE YIELDING A RETURN ON INVESTMENT AND ABANDONING THOSE CAMPAIGNS THAT ARE NOT. ALL CAMPAIGNS SHOULD “CROSS REFER” TO ONE ANOTHER. FOR EXAMPLE YOUR NEWSLETTER SHOULD HIGHLIGHT YOUR RADIO SHOW AND YOUR RADIO SHOW SHOULD HIGHLIGHT YOUR NEWSLETTER.

6. Common Mistake # 6: Accumulating credit card debt. Debt is the killer of dreams. If you are paying 11%, 12% or 29% it is going to be difficult at best or nearly impossible to get out from under. THE LESSON: IF YOU CAN’T PAY YOUR CREDIT BILL IN FULL THEN STOP USING YOUR CARD IMMEDIATELY NO MATTER WHAT. EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO RIDE A BICYCLE TO WORK, EAT GARBAGE OR DO WITHOUT YOU MUST NOT USE YOUR CARD. YOUR FOCUS MUST BE TO ERASE THE DEBT. UNTIL THE DEBT IS ERASED YOU WILL BE A SLAVE TO THAT CARD AND IT WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE.

Take the time to re-read the above list. If you are making any of the listed mistakes create a plan to correct the mistake as soon as possible. Then put into place checks and balances to ensure that the mistakes are never made again. I am confident that the eradication of these six mistakes will put you and your practice on a path of major success and financial freedom. You can do anything that you put your mind to. Take your time, create a plan, work the plan, and pay someone to hold you accountable and enjoy your success.