Running a private healthcare practice successfully requires professional excellence and great business skills. The problem is that professional training courses only devote a fraction of their time to business management training. This leaves many physiotherapists, osteopaths and other specialists vulnerable to making mistakes when they decide to start their own independent practices.
But without prior knowledge, how can you even know what these mistakes are, let alone how to avoid them?
Six most common business mistakes made by healthcare practice managers
1. Not planning for the best and preparing for the worst in your healthcare practice
It’s an old adage but an apt one: If you fail to plan, then you should plan to fail.
You want your business to grow. But have you considered what that growth will mean for your cashflow, your premises or your staff? Do you have the necessary resources to support your growth plans? If not, how will you ensure that you do?
It’s also important to have a very clear idea of what success looks like to you. Does success mean having a lifestyle business, that allows you more time on the golf course? Or do you wish to be hands-on, personally driving your business to become a leading healthcare practice?
Either vision, and many others in between, are perfectly viable. But if you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how can you hope to get there? Only once you have your vision mapped, can you start to effectively plan your route to achieving your version of success.
2. Not making sure your business is easy to find and access
You might have a most streamlined and optimally functioning practice, but if potential new clients can’t find you online or get to your premises easily, what’s the point?
Your market is going to be a local one. People in pain do not want to travel far for treatment so your location is paramount. You should invest in local directories and making sure you can be found easily on Google. Accessibility is also extremely important. Your premises should be easy to reach, preferably with parking close by and on public transport routes that don’t suffer from too much traffic congestion.
Finally, is your premises large enough to accommodate your future growth? It might fit your practice now, but if you plan rapid growth over the next few years, ask yourself whether your current space can sustain such an expansion. If the answer is no, moving or extending should be a central part of your growth plan.
3. Neither investing in the right business management tools nor relying on automation
As your business grows, you are going to need software to help you manage daily tasks. There really is no way around this anymore. Spreadsheets and Word documents might seem like a cheap, viable option, but you will soon realise how false this perceived economy really is.
If you can’t keep track of your accounts, client contact details, patient notes and other essential admin easily, you will quickly find you are spending more time on these things than in your clinic.
Look for software that can scale with your business as it grows. Ideally, go for something with a tiered system, where you can start off with a cheap basic package and add more features as you need them. Every business today relies on software. It’s been designed to make your life easier. Use it.
Also, if you are managing mundane daily tasks manually, you really need to ask yourself ‘why?’ Automate as many tasks as possible to free up your time for treatment, as well as maintain a healthy work life balance. Working all hours is a sure-fire way to burn out before you ever get close to reaching your full potential.
4. Not having a recruitment plan in place and hiring bad fit employees
The success of an independent healthcare will always require top clinical performance. However, as you take on more clients, having excellent support staff will become increasingly important as well. Thinking ahead about the kind of qualities you need in these employees when the time comes will help narrow your field of search and speed up the process.
You need support staff you can rely on, who are as motivated to see the practice grow as you are and who ideally have business management experience. Ultimately, only 50% of your business is going to lie in treatment itself. The other 50% is going to be in managing client details, keeping track of appointments, marketing to new clients and managing accounts. You want to make sure whoever is responsible can do all of these things alone, even if you’re sick or on holiday.
Another mistake many new business owners make is to hire family and friends. This can work. It can also go horribly wrong, particularly if performance issues arise. If you must work with people you have a personal history with, try to keep their time with you contained to a pre-agreed length and have a recruitment plan running alongside.
5. Not having a clearly documented customer journey or relationship management plan
How are you attracting, engaging and retaining your clients? Is your website user-friendly? How is your payment experience aligned with the service levels of your business?
How your business is perceived goes way past your clients’ experience of your treatments. Most people start their search for anything new online.
Is your website going to give prospective clients a good impression of your business? Once they are on your site, how easy is it for them to contact you for an appointment? Do you have testimonials from other customers, to help build trust?
Once you have a new client, how will you make sure they stay in touch with you? Retention is vital to any business – and yours is no different. How you plan to attract and then keep your clients should be central to your growth strategy.
Running a private healthcare practice successfully requires professional excellence and great business skills. The problem is that professional training courses only devote a fraction of their time to business management training. This leaves many physiotherapists, osteopaths and other specialists vulnerable to making mistakes when they decide to start their own independent practices.
But without prior knowledge, how can you even know what these mistakes are, let alone how to avoid them?
Six most common business mistakes made by healthcare practice managers
1. Not planning for the best and preparing for the worst in your healthcare practice
It’s an old adage but an apt one: If you fail to plan, then you should plan to fail.
You want your business to grow. But have you considered what that growth will mean for your cashflow, your premises or your staff? Do you have the necessary resources to support your growth plans? If not, how will you ensure that you do?
It’s also important to have a very clear idea of what success looks like to you. Does success mean having a lifestyle business, that allows you more time on the golf course? Or do you wish to be hands-on, personally driving your business to become a leading healthcare practice?
Either vision, and many others in between, are perfectly viable. But if you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how can you hope to get there? Only once you have your vision mapped, can you start to effectively plan your route to achieving your version of success.
2. Not making sure your business is easy to find and access
You might have a most streamlined and optimally functioning practice, but if potential new clients can’t find you online or get to your premises easily, what’s the point?
Your market is going to be a local one. People in pain do not want to travel far for treatment so your location is paramount. You should invest in local directories and making sure you can be found easily on Google. Accessibility is also extremely important. Your premises should be easy to reach, preferably with parking close by and on public transport routes that don’t suffer from too much traffic congestion.
Finally, is your premises large enough to accommodate your future growth? It might fit your practice now, but if you plan rapid growth over the next few years, ask yourself whether your current space can sustain such an expansion. If the answer is no, moving or extending should be a central part of your growth plan.
3. Neither investing in the right business management tools nor relying on automation
As your business grows, you are going to need software to help you manage daily tasks. There really is no way around this anymore. Spreadsheets and Word documents might seem like a cheap, viable option, but you will soon realise how false this perceived economy really is.
If you can’t keep track of your accounts, client contact details, patient notes and other essential admin easily, you will quickly find you are spending more time on these things than in your clinic.
Look for software that can scale with your business as it grows. Ideally, go for something with a tiered system, where you can start off with a cheap basic package and add more features as you need them. Every business today relies on software. It’s been designed to make your life easier. Use it.
Also, if you are managing mundane daily tasks manually, you really need to ask yourself ‘why?’ Automate as many tasks as possible to free up your time for treatment, as well as maintain a healthy work life balance. Working all hours is a sure-fire way to burn out before you ever get close to reaching your full potential.
4. Not having a recruitment plan in place and hiring bad fit employees
The success of an independent healthcare will always require top clinical performance. However, as you take on more clients, having excellent support staff will become increasingly important as well. Thinking ahead about the kind of qualities you need in these employees when the time comes will help narrow your field of search and speed up the process.
You need support staff you can rely on, who are as motivated to see the practice grow as you are and who ideally have business management experience. Ultimately, only 50% of your business is going to lie in treatment itself. The other 50% is going to be in managing client details, keeping track of appointments, marketing to new clients and managing accounts. You want to make sure whoever is responsible can do all of these things alone, even if you’re sick or on holiday.
Another mistake many new business owners make is to hire family and friends. This can work. It can also go horribly wrong, particularly if performance issues arise. If you must work with people you have a personal history with, try to keep their time with you contained to a pre-agreed length and have a recruitment plan running alongside.
5. Not having a clearly documented customer journey or relationship management plan
How are you attracting, engaging and retaining your clients? Is your website user-friendly? How is your payment experience aligned with the service levels of your business?
How your business is perceived goes way past your clients’ experience of your treatments. Most people start their search for anything new online.
Is your website going to give prospective clients a good impression of your business? Once they are on your site, how easy is it for them to contact you for an appointment? Do you have testimonials from other customers, to help build trust?
Once you have a new client, how will you make sure they stay in touch with you? Retention is vital to any business – and yours is no different. How you plan to attract and then keep your clients should be central to your growth strategy.
