Time, money, and courage. Those are the three things you can invest to grow your practice. The trick is that you have to invest in at least two of them to make decent progress. Choosing only one fails almost every time. Just time and you spend hours in your office. Alone. Just money and you […]
Early fall is startup time for many new practitioners, including new ND’s in our area. As a result, we’ve been fielding a lot more questions lately, covering just about everything from leases to associate agreements and websites. One topic of interest is how to start up a dispensary. We started ours when the clinic already […]
I frequently hear from practitioners who struggle to get things done because they simply don’t have the time, money or expertise. They can’t afford to create a website, for example, or they don’t have time to write blog posts. Maybe the idea of an email newsletter is technically overwhelming. It’s a frustrating problem, and we’ve […]
In the spring of 2003, we purchased all the patients files from an existing practice in our area. At the time, it seemed like a huge investment for what essentially amounted to a few filing boxes of paper. During the discussions to buy the practice, and in the time leading up to the closing date, […]
We recently spoke to students at The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine on the theme of “Your First Ten Patients”. A good time as always, but we were nicely upstaged by superstar Mary Caracoglia, ND, who told the story of her remarkable first year in practice. Mary received her license to practice and opened her […]
As I start the early stages of our next book, I’m becoming more and more intrigued by practitioners who grow their practices very quickly. Sometimes it’s right out of the gate, other times they seem to limp along for years, until something changes and they take off. I think there’s great inspiration in these stories […]
Back in 2006 (wow) we listed five things we wished we would have done in practice right from day one. Since the New Year is almost upon us, it seems like the right time to pass on a few more. Even if you started your practice long ago, you can still pretend like the new […]
Reader M. asks: “Any advice for a new practitioner debating between joining a practice or starting a practice of my own? I am faced with an opportunity to join a thriving practice. I’m weighing the convenience/earning potential (esp. in the beginning) against loss of practice identity and opportunities down the line.” If you’re only considering […]
The SBA has a bunch of podcasts available on their site. I haven’t had a chance to listen yet, but the titles sound enticing. Lots geared toward startups, including: Check List for Starting a Business Financing a Small Business Creating a Business Plan There are also transcripts for the non-casters. Small Business Administration Podcasts
There are a million conceivable things to do when you start your practice, but what’s really important in the big picture? What’s going to lead to increased referrals and practice growth? Here’s a few seemingly innocent but critical things to do from day one. And if you’re already well past day one, fear not – […]
About.com has an pretty compelling list of 10 reasons to buy a business instead of starting your own, and they all apply to holistic/CAM practices. Given the high failure rate for small business, it’s worth considering. Buying a Business: The Safer Alternative: 1) Much lower risk of failure, 2) Business generates cash flow from day […]
First in a four part series on starting a holistic practice. You need to be a member to read the other three, but this one’s a freebie… Starting A Practice At A Glance Part 1 – Writing A Business Plan – www.holisticpro.com
Although it might lean more toward silicone than supplements, StartupNation has a pile of resources for anyone starting or growing a business. They’ve got articles, podcasts, tips and tools on everything from website analytics to life plans. Definitely worth a look… http://www.startupnation.com/
There’s surprisingly little help for CAM startups online (hence this site, I suppose…). However, the Canadian gov, and a few of the provinces, have specific info for starting your alternative health practice. A fair bit of it’s Canadian-specific, but it’s worth a spin through. Some interesting industry stats, too: Starting an Alternative and Complementary Health […]
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