As business owners and as Doctors of Chiropractic, you need to constantly question what you do and why you do it.
Are you driven by passion?
Is money the primary endgame?
Or are you driven by fear?
Any of the 3 can be detrimental to the success of your practice but today I’d like to talk about fear and your practice.
The most common fears that some ChiroTrust members have, especially the new members, are the following…
“It’s hard to make money giving patients only what they want and not what you think is best for them.”
This is hard to accept but for the most part, consumers don’t care about what you or I think is best for them. They really don’t.
If you can give them exactly what they want, each and every time, they will come back and refer others. If you don’t, they will look for someone or something that will.
…and as long as you don’t make foolish financial decisions, you can make as much money as you need while having every Friday-Sunday off.
Pushing a practice and/or patients beyond what they can handle to pay for excessive debt or a highly consumptive lifestyle is not sustainable.
To have a relatively stress-free life, you must live well below your means.
“I can’t afford to mail the blog postcard and the monthly newsletter mailing.”
Just like baking a cake, “making” money requires certain ingredients: a product/service that people want, a fair price, convenience, honesty, and an appropriate amount of care, concern, and communication.
…and these days, with the Internet, smartphone apps., and 24-7 “on demand” television, without the systems that ChiroTrust provides you that include the “Daily Health Update” emails, the “Blog Postcard”, and the condition specific “In Good Hands” mailing, you are sunk.
The same with my business.
Without emailing you daily. Without snail mail, and without everything I do to communicate to and with doctors, I’d be out of business.
Communication is everything.
“If I call to ‘check in’ with Ben, I will just leave the call feeling overwhelmed… plus, I already know what he’s going to tell me.”
Okay, here’s a reality check: I don’t “sell” to patients or consumers. I help business owners think more accurately. In order to do so, unlike you, I must be extremely direct. I must tell you what you need to know. Your financial future is on the line. We don’t have time to beat around the bush.
Owning a business requires a thick skin, a moderate tolerance for risk, a stomach for the truth, and a hunger for knowledge.
Calling me, getting your questions, comments, and fears addressed, and allowing me to probe around your mind is a small price to pay…especially since this is about your business, not mine.
As for knowing what I will say, don’t be so sure of that. 🙂
Finally,
Embrace discomfort.
Sprint towards it.
That’s where the growth is.
…and as the strong will tell you, it never gets easier.
To get stronger (or richer), you must continue to push yourself, not your patients.
