There are about 30 of you reading by Feedreader (RSS) and I salute you!  There are probably many more who visit periodically in other ways.  Hello to you as well!  This blog hasn’t taken off the way I wanted to, mostly because I find it very difficult to separate my life (and thus my writing) into business versus anything else.  It’s all integrated, all part of one great, seething whole!  Therefore, I’m going to terminate this blog - transferring the unique content over to my normal blog, Deepest Health.  I will probably post a lot more about business there, so if you are interested in that kind of content feel free to head over there and subscribe if you haven’t already.  I’ll probably leave this blog up for a couple more weeks and then kill the feed and forward the domain over to Deepest Health, so when you type in naturalmedicinesuccess.com you’ll end up at deepesthealth.com.

Make sense?  Thanks for staying with us during the transition.

Eric

Post from: Natural Medicine Business Success

Random Posts

• July 23, 2008 -- Welcome to the Natural Medicine Business Success Blog!
• August 23, 2008 -- I’m an Acupuncturist, Not a Business Person
• August 26, 2008 -- Where do you find help in getting started with your natural medicine business?
• August 25, 2008 -- Open For Business…I Think

I believe that the early stages of the business planning process are the most difficult.  We have had multiple meetings of 3-4 hours where we did nothing but flesh out the basic idea behind our business model.  We’ve revisited notes from these meetings several times, only to come back at some later meeting to rehash similar ideas.  This process is slow and sometimes frustrating.  Every once in a while I despair that we are making no headway at all!

Still, I think this is all a very important part of building a sound business.  While we haven’t done all that much that could be put in an official business plan and submitted to a bank for a loan review process, our work has been extremely valuable.  There are three major reasons I believe it’s important to take plenty of time to ruminate over the most basic elements of a business plan.

1. Good ideas take time : Just like cramming for an important test doesn’t leave you the time to comprehend the material, trying to cram for a business plan will find you in a business to which you do not feel passionately connected.  When you first start conceiving of your new clinic, your ideas will be rough and disconnected.  As time goes on, you start to see the relationships among your various ideas and new ideas are born from that fertile ground.  Further, as you accumulate experience simply by going through your normal days you will be better able to refine your current ideas and come up with new ones.  All this time spent will pay off with handsome dividends in the end
2. It’s more complicated than you think : While your clinic idea may seem simple, with enough time you begin to see the complexities involved.  If you don’t leave yourself enough time to fully explore the plan, you may end up rudely awakened by some unexpected difficulty.  Failing that, you may simply miss out on a great opportunity that you would have been able to take advantage of if you had fully comprehended the intricacies of your situation earlier.
3. It’s more fun / less stressful if you take your time :  It’s simply more fun to have big ideas and work out their implementation when you have time.  Trying to cram a business plan into the last 6 weeks of your schooling is only going to stress you out.  That’s pretty contrary to the spirit of natural medicine, isn’t it?  Give yourself a break!

Anyway - our business plan is really coming together and with every meeting I get more and more excited about our basic concept.  I’d like to explore that concept in future posts both here and at Deepesthealth.com.  Until then, thanks for reading.

Eric

Post from: Natural Medicine Business Success

Other posts you will enjoy

• August 27, 2008 -- The power of networking in natural medicine
• August 25, 2008 -- Open For Business…I Think
• August 8, 2008 -- Getting started in the business of natural medicine : Our story, part 1
• October 6, 2008 -- Why Chinese Medicine is a great healthcare choice during an economic downturn

Now, there are many issues involved in this discussion.  It’s important not to obscure the conversation by leaving them all mixed up together.  One important distinction involves insurance.  Many people still do not have insurance to cover acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.  In an economically depressed time, people will most likely stop using any healthcare that does not get at least mostly reimbursed by their insurance.  Likewise, uninsured people are quite likely to stop getting healthcare services altogether when their finances get tight.  The whole question of insurance is a separate, but embedded, concern in this conversation.

All things being equal, I still feel that many people would preferentially choose Western medical treatment over any “complementary or alternative” healthcare treatment during tight economic times.  I feel that this is the fault of “complementary and alternative” healthcare practitioners, for the most part.  We are absolutely responsible for being an educational force in the world. When we have fewer patients, we should be doing double education duty out in the community.  Giving talks, getting articles in the paper, writing to our blogs, working on our books and journal articles, teaching cheap and free classes in our clinics - all of these things can help continue to educate the general public about the great benefits of what we do.

If people are more educated about the benefits of Chinese medicine (or whatever modality you practice) they are less likely to see it as “disposable” and thus more likely to continue visiting you during difficult economic times.

Personally, I believe that this sort of socio-economic climate makes Chinese medicine therapy more important for people than ever.  This is also true of most alternative medical modalities.  Why?  I can think of three major reasons, all of which would make worthy talk/article topics for your renewed public education efforts:

1. Stress relief : Nearly all alternative medical therapies are well-suited to help patients manage stress.  When economic pressures are high, people get tense, and the damaging health and relationship effects of stress are well-documented.  While it’s hard to keep a long-range view when short-range difficulties are so present, being aware of stress’ effects will pay off.  Even from a more short-term perspective, the improvement in daily functioning, work performance and sense of resilience should more than justify the relatively small costs associated with acupuncture (or other) treatment.
2. Avoiding major illness : When your belt is tightened, the last thing you need is to miss work because of a terrible cold - much worse to have a flare up of your lupus symptoms, need to increase your pain medication, or end up in the emergency room because of some serious health concern.  Keeping one’s body in balance with Chinese medicine or other complementary medical therapy just makes good economic sense from the perspective of avoiding a paycheck draining visit to the MD or ER.  I have seen many patients stay strong through cold season (thus no visit to the MD, plus no loss of work time) when normally they would have had to take sick days.  I’ve also seen patients have the opportunity to decrease pain and other medication (thus reducing costs) because of acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatment.  Think about it!
3. For some conditions - natural medicine therapy is just cheaper! Let’s face it - Western medicine doesn’t have great solutions for a variety of medical conditions.  Consider Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Western medical intervention is both expensive and largely ineffective for the majority of CFS sufferers.  Why pay exorbitant office visit fees (even if you only have to pay a co-pay) and fill your body full of expensive pharmaceuticals (that rarely get to the root of the problem)?  While I’m legally obligated to avoid saying that Chinese medicine can “cure” CFS, I can say that I’ve seen CFS sufferers have energy and optimism for the first time in many years after a fairly cheap course of Chinese medicine therapy.  Even a fairly expensive practitioner should be able to make good progress with a CFS suffer for under $1000.  This is a seriously debilitating condition for people who experience it - $1000 is a small price to pay for the ability to go to work, have satisfying relationships and get on with one’s life.

I’m interested to hear others’ perceptions about how economic downturns impact natural health practices.  Please leave your thoughts in the comments!

Eric

Post from: Natural Medicine Business Success

Other posts you will enjoy

• August 23, 2008 -- I’m an Acupuncturist, Not a Business Person
• November 11, 2008 -- The early stages of business planning : difficulties and strategies
• August 26, 2008 -- Where do you find help in getting started with your natural medicine business?
• August 25, 2008 -- Open For Business…I Think

I started going to an early morning networking meeting at the beginning of August.  It was a safe bet for me, as the group was just getting started.  The idea of walking into a more formalized group of people and being the new kid doesn’t really appeal to me.  The first meeting I attended only had two other people there.  As the month has gone on, we have about six regular attendees and are always trying to recruit more.  The goal is to create a strong network of business entrepreneurs who strive to get to know one another in the hopes of creating a referral base for the clients of our various endeavors.

I am usually not one to put myself out there in a business sense.  I still struggle with the act of presenting myself as someone who has something to sell.  I’m in the business of selling healthcare, more specifically, massage.  Massage can act as an option for a range of concerns - someone experiencing acute pain, preventative medicine, palliative care, stress - you name it, massage can probably help in some capacity.    I’m learning through networking that selling massage has turned out to be something more complex than I thought it would be.  I have a serious need to refine my thoughts about just who it is that can benefit from my style of massage.  What am I calling my style of massage these days anyway?  I’m taking all of my education and experience from the last three years and turning it into a session that I don’t know how to describe anymore.   I do know that I have pretty good results and that people come back to me, so it must be working.

I know that my sessions are effective, the trick is how to get clients in the door in the first place. Massage, like many other health care practices, is a very personal thing.  It often strikes me as bizarre that I am a massage therapist.  People hand over the care and trust of their bodies - in such a way that I can’t think of many other situations in which that would occur.  Because the work I do is so personal in nature, I believe that networking is an integral part of my marketing plan.  It allows a person to become comfortable with me on a one to one level before entrusting me with the care and keeping of their body for an hour.  If I am successfully able to convey that I am a trustworthy, professional person at these networking meetings, the chances that I am going to be the go-to for a massage referral is pretty high.

In the month that I have been attending these meetings, I have made several connections with some of Portland’s long-time residents and entrepreneurs.  They will help to support me as a burgeoning entrepreneur, as well as help to supply me with referrals and some business acumen.  I can only imagine what will come of my success as I continue to make these connections.

Amanda Barp, LMT

Post from: Natural Medicine Business Success

Other posts you will enjoy

• November 11, 2008 -- The early stages of business planning : difficulties and strategies
• August 26, 2008 -- Where do you find help in getting started with your natural medicine business?
• August 23, 2008 -- I’m an Acupuncturist, Not a Business Person
• August 20, 2008 -- Natural medicine business planning : Start Early!

————

In the last two articles of this series I have reminded practitioners that running a small business can be a full time job, just as practicing medicine can be a full time job. I then focused on the types of help one could expect.    This leaves the question of where to find this sort of help.

In the initial stages of starting a business places like SCORE (I looked in my yellow pages for this) will work with small business owners to work out what they want their business to look like and also discuss the types of licenses they might need.    At the time I contacted them, I was sent a wonderful packet of business related information that outlined what various government offices (state, county and city) needed what from me.

Another great place to check out online is Insights for Acupuncturists. This site is geared towards acupuncturists, obviously, but it can be applied to anyone who will be in a healthcare practice running a small business.  Lisa Hanfileti, the site creator, is an acupuncturist with a biology background.  She graduated back in 2000 and she and her husband, a medical doctor, set up their office.

Very often practitioners tend to think small at the beginning.  Lisa did not.   While she discusses the pitfalls of this at points in her website, the important thing about this is that Lisa had to find out a lot more about various aspects of running a business than many of us have had to.   This makes her site a great resource.   One thing to remember is that this is a website geared towards anyone trying to start an acupuncture practice.   Some information must remain general as exact laws vary state to state, county to county and city to city.  Lisa is good about pointing your towards specific offices that may need to be contacted to find out specifics.

If you don’t have a vision of what your practice should look like there are many personal coaches out there.   You can search online or ask your friends who they used.  Like natural healthcare providers, business coaches use a variety of approaches.

Jenn Givler is a business coach I’m familiar with.  Her website is Create a Thriving Business.   Jenn works with practitioners who are trying to figure out what they do and do not know about the process of running a business. She says,  “I refer to this as putting an infrastructure in place for running a business.”  Jenn can take new practitioners through the process of visualizing their ideal practice, focusing on the strengths they have to create this ideal practice (not just their healing strengths but their business strengths) and then help them clarify the areas where they need help.

Additionally Jenn will keep working with practitioners through all phases of their business, whether that be creating new marketing opportunities or creating new opportunities for revenue streams as well as re-evaluating the business and what help is needed as the business vision grows and changes.   On Jenn’s website you’ll also find a link to her group which keeps people in contact with like minded people who can offer feedback.

One area many practitioners get stuck is figuring out how to market their business. Of all the business tasks this one is often the most hated task for practitioners. Not only do practitioners seem to dislike it the most, but marketing is one of the most ongoing tasks a business owner faces. If that isn’t enough, marketing is the one task that most often needs updating and changing.

One of my favorite books on running a small business is Lynn Grodzki’s book, Building Your Ideal Private Practice.   The information in it is extremely valuable.  Grodzki also offers personal coaching. While her focus is on psychotherapists, any person who runs a small business that requires a significant input of time can benefit from her book.

When I started the Acupuncture Marketing Blogthere were very few sites out there for me to draw information from. The Alternative Health Practice Blog existed (but did not look nearly as lovely as it does today).  It’s a great resource, though updated about as irregularly as I update the Marketing Blog.

Kevin Doherty came out with his site Build Your Dream Pracice.  Kevin is an acupuncturist and he also does some web design and personal coaching.  Kevin’s information is about keeping acupuncturists in business and one area he really focuses on is website information.

Burton Kent is one of the newer names on the scene.   Burton began with Acupuncture Clinic Marketing. I’ve had conversations with him about his “No More Closed Clinics” blog post.   Burton’s area is marketing. However he’s used acupuncture and had fantastic results with it. He feels that acupuncturists can benefit from the information on marketing that he can provide.   He’s also serious about the no more closed clinics.  Both Burton and Kevin offer ebooks and some personal coaching.

Another great source that new practitioners might overlook are people who are currently in practice. These people know what has worked for them and what hasn’t.   They understand the little pitfalls and misunderstandings based on how you, as a healthcare provider, might think and the way the government offices might think.   They can also tell you how to find good help and may know where you can find office space.   The downside of another practitioner is that their understanding of the laws may be incomplete so you might not details or get inaccurate information from them.

Finally, when you know you need to find employee help, how do you do so? Many practitioners have gotten good help via word of mouth.  While any position may come via word of mouth, nowhere is this more true than with insurance billers.  In fact, if you talk to someone specializing in this area, get references from people in your healthcare specialty.

Finding office help can be more challenging. You can post on Craigslist or in your local paper.  Ask other practitioners and friends if they know anyone who would be good for a specific job in your office.   Very often they may think of someone who is looking or can at least have that person send you a resume.  Always check your references.

Office cleaners and laundry services are usually contract positions. You will often find advertisements on Craigslist or in the yellow pages.  Again, ask other people in your local area who they use and you’ll probably get some names as well.  As many small businesses, not just healthcare providers, use services like these, you may have a larger pool of people to from whom to find referrals.

The biggest gift you can give yourself while your business takes off is the gift of help. As a healthcare provider, I know that finding help was also one of the most challenging things I needed to do.   By asking for assistance in various areas of your business you will find you get a lot more satisfaction from what you do than if you try and make do on your own.   A streamlined office that is organized and well run is invaluable when you are seeing that one extra who patient who absolutely MUST get in.  Further, a well run office can make sure you get to the point where you have that “extra” patient you don’t have time for from time to time.

That’s it for this series!

Bonnie

Post from: Natural Medicine Business Success

Other posts you will enjoy

• August 23, 2008 -- I’m an Acupuncturist, Not a Business Person
• August 8, 2008 -- Getting started in the business of natural medicine : Our story, part 1
• October 6, 2008 -- Why Chinese Medicine is a great healthcare choice during an economic downturn
• August 27, 2008 -- The power of networking in natural medicine

____________

Starting a business after having been a student for years can come as a shock. Instead of being told what to do and what to study, now you are in charge and have to start figuring out what to do and what to study.   It seems like there is so much to do starting out that it can feel overwhelming, particularly because there is always the fear of forgetting an important piece of legal work.

The first step in creating a business is creating a plan. Creating a plan can be as formal as writing up a formal business plan or as simple as creating some goals.  In either case, it’s important to have a vision of what you are doing in the business and how the business looks.  For instance, are you working with other practitioners?  Are you the one running things?  Are you just a partner who does your own work and someone else takes care of most things?  Are you renting your own room from someone else? Is there someone making your appointments or are you doing it yourself?

The clearer your picture of your ideal practice, the easier it will be to create that ideal practice.  For instance, if you see yourself in charge of others or intend to start out with an employee, such as a receptionist, you will need to find out minimum wage laws and OSHA laws, whereas if you are going to begin by doing everything yourself or working in someone else’s office, you don’t have to worry about those things.

If you have a hard time envisioning your ideal practice, it might be a good idea to find help. Business coaches abound and many specialize in helping small business owners understand their vision.   If you know what you want to do when you start up your practice but don’t know how to get that done, there are places that can help you with that too and not all of them are expensive.

The government offices you work with can also be very helpful when they understand you are just starting out.  I’ve had to do this for a small company I worked for.   This was a huge advantage because I was far less nervous when I did the same thing for my own business a few years later.   Yes, the government does want their cut, but the people working in these offices understand it’s far easier to train someone right than try and correct mistakes and misperceptions later on.

After you have set up your business and know what it is you want to do, you may need help with running your business. What sorts of help depends upon your own skills and what you like.   If you aren’t sure but are feeling overwhelmed with running the practice, you may again want to seek out a business coach to help you define what roles you really want to play (in addition to healing) and what roles can be given to others.

Office help can range from someone who just answers the phone and appointment scheduling to hiring someone to take over all the administrative tasks.  Obviously you need to pay someone who is doing your bookkeeping, phone answering, insurance billing and overseeing other employees more than you would someone who just answers your phone.

If you aren’t ready for an employee you can still find help. You can hire out your accounting to a bookkeeping firm.  You can hire insurance billers to do your insurance billing.  There are companies that will come in and pick up your laundry.   Cleaning people are typically hired as contractors rather than as direct employees.

Every time you hire someone, there will be a cost. Very often we only look at the dollar amount.  However, you also need to factor in your time.   Money is wonderful and in the beginning we are often struggling and have to maximize our financial income.  However, at some point, we need to create a life not just a living wage.   At that point we can think about hiring or contracting help with the tasks that are the most burdensome to us.

Some people really enjoy the day to day challenge of running a business.   Ultimately being in charge means that if you have extra space you can rent out that space or take on associates, thereby increasing your income further.    The more amenities you have in an office, (such as a receptionist), the more you’ll be able to charge for others to use your space.

Some people think the idea of setting up and running a business seems overwhelming.  The money isn’t really that important and all they really want to do is practice their healing modality. That’s a valid practice vision as well. There are practitioners who have run their business for awhile and who want assistance in their practice, taking  the overflow and allowing more patients to come through the doors.  There are many models, some of which include just renting space and assisting in paying any employees. There are also more formal models of working as an associate, which is basically becoming an independent contractor to a practitioner who pays you per patient.

The challenge in all of this is finding the people who can help you with the areas you are less comfortable with.  In the next post in this series, I will point out some good places that you can look up in your local area and online.

Bonnie

Post from: Natural Medicine Business Success

Other posts you will enjoy

• November 11, 2008 -- The early stages of business planning : difficulties and strategies
• October 6, 2008 -- Why Chinese Medicine is a great healthcare choice during an economic downturn
• August 23, 2008 -- I’m an Acupuncturist, Not a Business Person
• August 20, 2008 -- Natural medicine business planning : Start Early!