The pitfalls in starting a practice are endless.
There is danger everywhere.
There are landmines everywhere.
There are darts being shot at you from everywhere.
The number one mistake chiropractors make in starting or buying a practice is doing it without the help of an expert consultant.
This is the equivalent of thinking you’re going to climb Mt. Everest alone or navigate the Atlantic ocean by yourself in a sailboat.
The amount of knowledge required to start a successful small business and chiropractic practice simultaneously takes an incredible amount of knowledge.
So the first thing the chiropractor must realize is they need to connect to that knowledge, because they don’t have it.
Most of my work is spent fixing the problems that chiropractors have made before they met me.
It’s not an easy thing to do. Chiropractors are stuck in spaces that are bad, with layouts that are bad, computer systems that are bad, CA training that wasn’t very good, and treatment time isn’t very good. Add in poor scripting and habits that are going to be very difficult to correct, and you realize how hard it can be.
Compared that to chiropractors that started with me before they graduated from chiropractic college and have their student loans paid within three years. They are seeing 300+ visits a week, collecting $70,000 or more every month and are set to become multi-millionaires who retire at a young age.
Common start up pitfalls are:
Underestimating the cost to get open.
Weak branding with a home made looking logo.
A name that makes no sense.
A website URL that isn’t very good.
Acquiring a space that isn’t ideal.
Using a crummy layout.
Weak forms, posters, paperwork.
No scripting.
Bad care plans.
Poor underlying business structure for taxes, payroll, accounting, money flow.
Sparse chiropractic education.
The image of the doctor is still that of a poor student.
No yearly, monthly, and weekly goal and stat system.
Every successful business has its system for measuring its metrics. Many kids who have a lemonade stand on a hot summer afternoon know more about their metrics than the typical chiropractor does.
I suppose you could say that arrogance and overconfidence are the real culprit.
You have to be confident in yourself and your ability to figure things out. You also must know what you don’t know and attach yourself to someone who does.
