Entrepreneurship is at the core of the modern economy. A lot of people have skills and business ideas and turn them into a successful company that provides consumers with necessary products and services. One of them is you – the experienced chiropractor. You don’t want to be just an employee following orders. You want to be your own boss and make your own business decisions.
You probably considered opening a chiropractic practice, alone or with another specialist like you. However, there are so many things that can go wrong with a newly established business. You may not have sufficient capital to keep it going until it starts generating revenues. You may not be able to attract patients on your own, away from the reputable name of a well-known practitioner.
Start by Testing the Ground for Your Chiropractic Practice
The modern market economy operates on the basis of a simple principle: demand and offer. When consumers demand a product or service, suppliers appear to make offers. As long as there is balance, i.e. there is as much offer as it is needed to fulfill the demand, the market economy runs smoothly. This is the guiding principle to keep in mind when considering if you should go solo and run your own chiropractic practice. Is there a demand for your healthcare specialty? Will you be able to bring patients for an initial consultation and then sign them up for treatment?
There is no simple answer to these questions. You need to do your due diligence and find out these answers. What we can do is give you helpful pointers to aid you in preparing your business plan before you launch a chiropractic practice.
Step 1: Determine the Demand for Your Services
You do not have to perform complex and expensive market studies or demographic surveys. A simple look over the public statistics will allow you to find out:
- How many chiropractors practice in the area you have in mind
- The demographic profile of the population (age, sex, profession, etc.)
As you may have noticed from your prior experience, middle-aged and senior people are most likely to need a chiropractor. In terms of profession, office employees who spend a lot of time sitting down are also more afflicted by chronic neck and back problems than other people.
Step 2: Alone or in Partnership?
Many professionals, such as lawyers, architects, and accountants, choose to open a joint partnership. Both parties bring equal capital and use their specific set of skills to make the practice a success. This is also possible for chiropractors. You may find a colleague who has more experience than you in running an independent practice – administration, marketing, bookkeeping, etc. However, you must keep in mind that you will always have to come to a joint agreement with your partner on all critical aspects of your chiropractic practice. Also, please remember to put everything in writing. Partnerships can turn sour, and you need to be able to recover your fair share of the investment.
Step 3: Choose a Good Location
Location is a key element for the success of a chiropractic practice. Your patients must be able to reach it with ease, using their own car or public transportation. Even if you have to settle for a smaller office, a good location trumps available surface in terms of benefits. A good address is also a big point in favor of the reputation of your chiropractic practice. Thus, scout for locations carefully and try to put yourself in the shoes of a potential patient. Can they find a parking spot easily? Is the building located in a good neighborhood? Would you walk into that building to submit yourself to chiropractic treatments?
Step 4: Select the Right Staff
You will not be able to be a one-man-show in chiropractic practice. You will need at least a receptionist and a nurse. You need to consider a budget for their salaries and create a job description that covers all the tasks each person is expected to perform.
Step 5: Use the Right Tools to Run Your Business
Every profession has its specific tools. For a chiropractic practice, the software suite developed by Digital Patient Chart is the right choice. It is designed to help you monitor the finances, appointments, marketing plan and staff, while incorporating a HIPAA compliant EHR. With the chiropractic software, you can be an efficient business administrator, marketers, and chiropractor at once. At the same time, it has a patient-end interface, where they can create an account, book their appointments and choose to receive newsletters from you.
With a powerful chiropractic software suite, developed in collaboration with professionals like you, your new practice will be equipped for success. Find out more: https://digitalpatientchart.com/!