Owning and operating a practice is a long held dream for many medical practitioners and business people. Opening a medical clinic can not only be incredibly exciting, but greatly rewarding for you and all other stakeholders involved.
Like any other business venture, the challenge might seem a little daunting. As a practice owner, you will most likely become the HR Manager, IT Manager, Property Manager, Financial Manager and Clinical Director. This will be on top of the already pressing responsibility of delivering quality care to your patients if you’re a Doctor as well. However, the benefits can outweigh the burdens if you go about it the right way from the get go. That’s where we come in.
This Practice Makes Perfect resource is designed to provide you with some expert guidance as you set off on your mission to open a new medical practice. The suggestions following have been carefully collaborated on with many experienced practice owners with the hopes that their shared knowledge will empower you to determine how to best setup your practice, and what you need to consider in order to turn your vision into a reality.
So, what do you need to consider before embarking on this exciting journey?
Before you leap into financial negotiations and hiring building contractors, you need to get right down to the core of your business from the beginning and build out the plan from there.
The First Step: Determine Your ‘Why’
If you’re here and you’ve only just begun thinking about starting your own practice, you’re in the right place. The first step before anything else is to do some initial analysis on your idea.
In order to achieve your dream, your ability to plan, and then to execute on those plans, will be critical for your success
Starting a business is not easy. It requires hours and hours of work, usually with no financial returns for 18 months or more. You will be put under a lot of mental, physical, and financial stress, especially if and when things go wrong. You will have to learn things you didn’t know, and you will most likely need a lot of help and support.
To ensure you’re starting this for the right reasons, do some self-analysis and ask yourself the following questions:
- What is driving you to start this practice?
- What kind of product or service will your practice provide?
- What is your vision for this practice, the vision that will create buy-in from stakeholders, new staff members, and new patients?
- Is this idea viable?
- What are your personal/business goals?
- What skills can you bring to the business and what do you need to learn?
If your ‘why’ is enough for you to jump into this adventure, will drive you through late nights and weekends, and is the reason that will inspire you to overcome difficult obstacles, then we salute you! Write it down and don’t forget it… now, it’s time to get planning.
Just remember, no two practices are the same. This advice is intended to guide you to make your own decisions, and empower you to build the perfect practice you dream of.
