Did You Buy Yourself a Job or Are You Working for a Purpose?
As a small business entrepreneur in the Medical Practice industry, you are already aware that the statistics are against you to succeed. Most small businesses fail within the first 3-5 years, despite the fact that each business owner started with the best of intentions and in many cases, a great business plan. There are essentially six stages to success in entrepreneurship. Running an Medical Practice business isn’t easy, whether you’re the owner or a member of the management team. Let’s examine how the six stages of entrepreneurship play into your Medical Practice’s business success. Stage 1: Buy Yourself a Job If your like most Medical Practice business owners, you opened your own Clinic because you were tired of working for someone else. You wanted to set your own hours, have more free time, and have the flexibility to do what you wanted to do around your schedule. Sound familiar? But somewhere along the way you realized that in order to be successful, you now work more than you did when you worked for someone else. Stage 2: Sink or Swim Most entrepreneurs sink at this point. They haven’t taken the time to get the business education they need to really grow their Medical Practice. They are running out of cash to fund their business, they don’t understand marketing, they can’t figure out the staffing model… You name it, there are a lot of reasons that Medical Practice owners begin to fail at their business. But some Medical Practice owners swim on to Stage 3. Stage 3: Getting By By the time you reach Stage 3, you are doing okay, but you are still doing a lot of the work. You probably feel overwhelmed at times because you don’t know how to teach people to do the things only you currently know how to do. You feel like it will take 3 people to replace you in each of the roles you need to let go of, so you hold on as a “control freak” and get by, still putting in long hours, but you see success now. Stage 4: Leverage and Let Go Finally, you realize that there are systems and trainings you need to put in place to run your business with the help of others. You realize what your true strengths are, and you begin to outsource your weaknesses to other people who can do it more efficiently than you can. Stage 5: I’m Free You finally feel the freedom you had hoped to find as a business owner. But you are still actively involved in the business. That is the difference between an investor and a business owner. As the owner, your freedom should come in being able to enjoy the life you wanted, while still being able to run your business utilizing the leverage you have created through talent. At this stage you realize that you have stopped being a real participant in your business, and you’re now able to direct your business to the next level. Stage 6: Higher Purpose Go back and re-read Stage 1. Why did you really start your business? Was it for freedom, or was it because you saw a higher purpose that you really wanted to work for? Perhaps it was changing the way healthcare was provided in your community. Perhaps it was making more money so you could establish a scholarship fund? Whatever the reason is, when you reach stage six, running your business becomes a lot easier. Why? Because once you are able to define the “why” you opened your Medical Practice business, it will drive you. If your why is big enough, you will figure out the how. It will inspire you to do all the hard things that it takes to be successful. Want to learn more about how to become successful as an Medical Practice owner? Make plans to join us in December at the Medical Practice Success Summit in Las Vegas.
Article By: Tina Bell Tina Bell is the Director of Marketing for HealthCARE Express®, where her responsibilities include spearheading the company’s social media and internet strategies, leading the in-house physician recruitment team, and developing aggressive programs to promote patient satisfaction and effective service recovery. Tina speaks nationally at industry conferences including the Medical Practice Association of America and the National Association of Occupational Health Professionals. She is the director of business development for Medical Practice Success and an independent Medical Practice marketing consultant.
