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:
I just finished Lisa Rohleder’s book, The Remedy: Integrating Acupuncture into American Health Care. I’d discovered her book and Working Class Acupuncture, via the Integrator Blog a while back, and she was kind enough to shoot me a copy of the book to review.
If you’re NOT an acupuncturist, let me grab you before you go: this book is a good read for anyone in the CAM profession. If you’ve wondered from a business perspective about the viability of chasing solely mid-to-upper class dollars, or about how to transition to a volume practice, this book is a must read. If you’ve ever felt the ethical twinges of focusing all your efforts on the small demographic segment that can afford your services, Lisa makes a rational, sensible case for more broadly affordable health care.
Reader E. writes:
“I was wondering how you handle when people start to ask for free advice. I am starting out my practice and want to come out of the gates honoring my abilities and not giving things away for free. I don’t mind a general question here and there, but when someone keeps asking very detailed, specific questions where my education and experience really comes into play – I want to set that boundary.”
This is a common practice challenge, particularly for startups. Early in your practice, you may not yet have the confidence, experience and poise to deal with the patients who constantly ask for free advice. I’ve written before on pro-bono work, but this is a bit different. How do you deal with those clients who seem to have a knack for getting you to cough up free advice?
I got a few questions after the recent series on Leaving Your Practice. One of the best was:
“How much should I pay the person who looks after my practice?”
Great question. There are several ways you can consider compensating the person who fills your shoes while you’re on sabbatical, vacation, maternity leave, or any other type of time off. For consistency, I’ll use the term “practitioner” to describe the health care professional who owns the practice, and “locum” to describe the person filling in, even thought they’re both likely practitioners.
NAMASTA is offering a health insurance package for yoga and massage professionals. When you need care, you can choose the health care provider of your choice, “no questions asked”. You need to be a NAMASTA member ($95/year) to be eligible.
With all the work that it takes to run a practice, it’s easy to forget that business is not all about you - it’s about your clients. There are a thousand little things that make up the client experience, but making things easy – simple, fast, pleasant – tends to keep patients returning and referring.
And of course, making it easier for your clients tends to come around and make it easier for you.
