Consensio

My recent visit to a doctor ended in an interesting conversation with him about his concerns on how to grow his practice. He asked me if there was something wrong with is business attitude, because he wanted to give quality care and therefore spend more time on patients instead of chasing the dollars to see more patients in shorter time.

Whilst the Western Australian quality of health care debate continues to rage, his small business is making him enough money to cater for his personal need. Apart from his ethos, I admire his dedication to find out whether there was something wrong with his business practice. The niggling feeling can be examined by him without attending a ‘free business mentoring’ seminar.

No matter how small the practice and how busy you are, ask yourself:

• What is your vision about this business? Why does it exist?
• Do you want to stay this business size for the foreseeable future or do you maybe consider expanding in 2 or 3 years time?
• Do you have a one-page-business plan?
• Can you compare yourself to at least 3 other direct competitors and do you know their strength and weaknesses?
• Are there appropriate international industry examples you can learn from?
• What is your succession plan?
• How long is your cash flow holding up and when do you need to increase your marketing?
• What kind of clients do you want and what do you want them to tell others about you?
• What are your passive streams of income?
• How do you market yourself and what is your expenditure allocation per year?
• How do you know your marketing works for you?
• Who are your allies?

If there is one ‘I don’t know’ you reply to any of these questions, drop me an email or leave a comment so we can discuss further.