07.19.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:01 pm by Last
I had an inquiry last week from Taradel, a print services firm that does some specialty print work in the CAM/holistic industry, particularly with chiropractors. If you're in the US and considering any print work, particularly newspaper inserts, you may want to check them out. Here's a snippet from what I received from them:
Business owners who visit Taradel.com are able to plan, design, target, print, and deliver full-color newspaper inserts and flyers directly into the homes of potential clients.
Dr. Glenn Muller, an innovative chiropractor who runs a family-owned practice in Richmond, VA, has used print advertising to become one of the areas premier spinal correction centers. We order at least 50,000 newspaper inserts at a time and we distribute them on a weekly schedule. As soon as our inserts go into circulation we receive phone calls and schedule new appointments for the following ten days. Mullers practice, the Spinal Correction Center of Richmond, has successfully combined patient testimonials, high quality graphics, and valuable information pertaining to their new spinal decompression practice into their practice growth campaigns.
Taradel offers a growing library of chiropractic marketing resources, free of charge, for practice owners to review and incorporate into their own advertising. The site features free podcasts, in-depth articles, instructional webcasts, and even samples of previously successful chiropractic inserts. For only $375, chiropractors can print 10,000 full-color, glossy newspaper inserts. Thats less than $0.04 each!
Taradel offers a bunch of free practice growth resources on their site, as well as a number of other print services like postcards, booklets, etc. I know there are a zillion printers out there, but sometimes it's helpful to deal with someone who has some experience with your market, and testimonials to boot. If you give them a try, let us know how it goes.
http://www.taradel.com/practicegrowth
Permalink
Comments off
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:01 pm by Last
You'll find this throughout the CAM/holistic professional community, particularly early in practice: the massage therapist trades a session for an adjustment from the chiropractor. The acupuncturist swaps time with the naturopath, who in turn trades a visit with a web designer. The homeopath exchanges treatments with the landscaping guy who cuts the grass in front of her office.
At first blush there's nothing inherently wrong with this beyond the obvious tax-dodging implications. And for the practitioners just starting out who are time-rich and cash-poor, it allows them to get their hands on things they need.
The reality is that it's not as sweet as it looks, particularly if you continue the swapping when your practice reaches a decent size. Let's take a closer look at some of the drawbacks to exchanging services:
It's Not Fair
We already have an exchange system in place. It's called cash. It allows everyone to value their products or services using the same standard. It provides enormous flexibility to describe the value of what you offer down to the cent, with no ceiling. Exchanging services, however, tends to become one-offs: one treatment for one treatment. One haircut for one adjustment. One brochure layout for one massage. As a result, one of services in question is usually being undervalued, and over time, that person gets the short end of the stick. Unless you're trading an adjustment for an adjustment, someone's likely getting screwed.
The problem is that you're a health care professional, and it may just be you getting shorted. You've likely got a lot invested in your education and practice, and your time may just be worth more, on average, than many other people. If you're swapping your health care services for haircuts, you may be selling yourself short. There's nothing wrong with haircuts, it's just that you're trading apples for oranges and it's hard to strike a balance.
It Makes You "Buy" What You Don't Need
If you're starting out and have an abundance of time on your hands, this seems like a great way to get what you need. The truth is, you also ending up buying either a)things you don't really need; b)more quantity of something than you need; or c)things you need, but from vendors you wouldn't choose if you were using cash from your pocket.
It Sets a Precedent
It can be difficult to get off the trade train. As you grow, you may find yourself wishing you were billing for that service, and spending the cash on what you need, as opposed to trading.
It Affects Referrals and Outcomes
I can't back this one up with data - although if anyone can, please let us know - but my suspicion is that the people you exchange with don't refer as well as people who pay out of pocket. And, as I've mentioned before, it's possible people who don't pay don't have the same success from a health perspective.
The bottom line? Trade if you want, trade if you must. But as your practice grows, be conscious of what your time is worth, and whether the trade is a sensible choice.
Related Posts
Pro-Bono Work and Discounts: What's CAM Practitioner To Do?
Permalink
Comments off
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:01 pm by Last
Since we're going through the process of finding better, bigger office space, I'd thought I'd post along the way on some of the key challenges and decision points.
Buying or leasing can be a challenging one for many practitioners. Interestingly enough, I think it's more challenging later in your career, when you have the cash to consider buying, and the experience of pouring money into someone else's real estate, but it's a question that everyone likely faces several times during their professional lives.
It's easy to get caught up in complicated financials - depreciation, tax rates, etc. - but there are some easier questions that can help make the decision.
How's your cash flow?
Have you got (or can you get) the cash for down payments, renovations, taxes and the multitude of other costs associated with buying? When you lease, you often spread the cost of getting your office "patient-ready" over the course of the lease. When you buy, you'll likely need more cash up front.
Do you want the responsibility?
It's more work to own your own joint. You've got to deal with your own repairs, lawn care, snow removal, parking lot upgrades and plumbing emergencies. Are you up for it, or would you rather have the owner/superintendent of the building you lease in take care of it all? Most of us would rather not deal with this stuff, but having someone else manage it comes at a cost. Remember that most real estate owners aren't in business to lose money; everything that takes away responsibility from you is likely being paid for by...you.
How's your growth?
How do you see your practice growing over the next few years? Do you see yourself adding associates, colleagues, partners or other professionals, or will you be more of a one-person show? If you've got a lot of growth planned, you'll either need to plan to move again, or get more space than you currently need.
Moving is more complicated and expensive when you own your own space, so if you're buying, you may want to envision your practice over a longer time frame than the typical five-year lease.
How important is predictability of expenses?
It's easy to be surprised with leasing or buying. You can get an awful shock in five years when you renegotiate a lease under different market conditions. But you can get an equivalent shock when you need to replace the roof on your office building the first year. I find leasing tends to be more predictable in the short-term. Buying tends to have a lot more surprises up front, but you can monitor your long-term costs by keeping an eye on mortgage rates and the condition of your property.
Does real estate turn you on?
For me, this is critical. Do you want to own your space? Do you get a thrill from knowing that you're building equity in something, rather than paying for someone else's building? Do you feel a sense of pride in owning and caring for your own place?
What business do you want to be in?
I think this is the big one. When you buy an office for your holistic or alternative health practice, your essentially entering the real estate business, even if it's just with one building. Over a career, that decision can make a huge difference - paying rent to someone else for 20-30 years is not making you wealthier. But if you just don't want to be in the real estate business, then maybe you're better off leasing and focusing on your practice.
In the end, I think it's ultimately an emotional decision for many. The only caveat is this: be smart, not scared. If the money's similar, it's really not a big deal owning your own place. Even buying your first home can seem scary, too, but after it's done you realize it wasn't so bad after all.
Permalink
Comments off
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:01 pm by Last
If you're in the market for new space, how much do you really need? Tough call - it depends on many factors, and varies from practice to practice. Here are a few things to consider, though, and some space calculators to help you get in the ballpark.
It's About People
In CAM practice, business revolves around people - those providing the care, and those receiving it. This is where we started planning our latest space. How many staff and practitioners do you have? How many people need does your reception area need to accommodate? Do you have treatments that involve multiple clients being treated at once, or are they all one-on-one? We broke our space down into "people chunks": practitioner offices, patient treatment areas (other than offices), waiting areas and staff space (lunch, meeting, etc).
Don't Forget Hallways and Bathrooms
I know it sounds crazy, but it happens. Halls,entries and corridors alone can add up to 20% to your space. Don't forget to factor them into your layout.
Does Size Matter?
Within reason, larger office space is generally associated with higher quality or "high end" service. For this reason, the size of your office should match your target market. Are you a more expensive boutique-style service, or are you competing on price? It's hard to pull off a premium service in a crowded space, but it's also hard to be profitable if you're competing on price while trying to pay rent on a huge, ritzy office.
Useful Links
Real Facilities Space Calculator
How Stuff Works: How Much Space is Enough Space?
Related Posts
Should You Buy or Lease Office Space for Your Practice?
Creating High Quality Alternative Health Practices
Permalink
Comments off
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:01 pm by Last
As your practice grows, existing patient referrals begin to make up an increasingly large portion of your new patients. Practitioners will often know where a referral came from, but rarely will they know exactly why that person referred. We often know the source, in other words, but not the cause.
The truth is, however, often the patient herself often doesn't know exactly why she referred. You can ask, but you might find the answers a little vague. Here are some of the behind-the-scenes reasons that patients go out on a limb to refer to you:
Successful Outcome
The most obvious: they got better. Helping someone find their way to good health is one of the surest ways to win their referral hearts.
Personality/Emotional Connection
Although it applies to all service business, it's particularly powerful in CAM care: patients who you connect or "click" with tend to come back more, and refer more.
Feeling Special
If alternative health care has a competitive advantage in the modern health care market, it's the ability to individualize. Many MD's don't have the time to treat people as unique cases. Your ability to make each one of your patients feel like their health care concerns (and solutions) are important and unique will go a long way toward driving referrals.
Treatments
We discussed this previously - people love having things done to them. Many CAM modalities have the distinct advantage of being able to treat patients in a way that's actually relaxing, soothing, or even fun. Making the treatment process something to be enjoyed rather than endured makes it easy for people to refer. Expand this to the rest of your office, too: make sure all your procedures - from booking to paying - are something to be enjoyed.
Related Posts
Generating More Existing Patient Referrals for Your Alternative Health Practice
New Patient Referrals: The 5 P's
Practitioner-Centered vs. Patient-Centered Alternative Health Care
Permalink
Comments off
« Previous entries ·