What if one of these things or all of these things happened? Without chiropractic business consulting are you prepared for them?
“WHAT IF” — WHAT DO THOSE TWO WORDS MEAN TO YOU? If you are like most, they raise questions of uncertainty, the unknowing of what potentially could or couldn’t happen. We are going to challenge you with this question, specifically pertaining to you, your business or practice, your potential chiropractic business consulting needs, and your wealth and your clients or patients.
Let’s take an objective look at some of them, just to get you to ask yourself…What if?
What if I get hurt and can’t see my clients or patients?
You may say to yourself that it will not happen to you. “I’ll never be in a position where I won’t be able to see my patients.” But, we can tell you for a fact, many have said the exact same thing, then had an event that prevented them from seeing their patients.
Ask yourself: “What happens to my clients’ needs?” You have a duty to ensure that your clients or patients will continue to be cared for. What happens to my income? You have a moral obligation to ensure that your family be cared for.
What if I pass unexpectedly — what happens to my practice?
This is a huge topic that could be another discussion all by itself. Should you pass away unexpectedly, will your family be OK (financially)?
What happens to your business or practice and your patients? Chiropractic business consulting can meet your duty to your patients to ensure that they will continue to be provided for. You have a moral obligation to ensure that your family will be taken care of.
What if the economy takes a downturn — am I prepared?
This is a reality we are facing today (and things will continue to get worse).
What we have seen in the past is that as things get tough financially, we scale back on ancillary items or services we sought out. The price of gas, groceries, heating … just about everything has skyrocketed. Inflation is choking all of us. But what happens to your business as this happens? Do you increase the prices of the services you offer? If you don’t, have you calculated how much less you are earning?
What if your practice takes off and grows (beyond your wildest dreams)? Are you prepared for that?
You might be thinking to yourself that would be a problem you’d love to have — an abundance of patients who want the services you offer.
What happens when you need to add staff? Where do you outsource services? Have you thought about what to do, where to expand, how to expand? Again … all good things, but without potential chiropractic business consulting in one form or another, how are all these issues handled?
What if one of these things, a few of these things, or all of these things happened?
Are you properly prepared for all of them? If you are like most, no. But that’s where the positive points come into play. You can have answers to all of these questions. That’s when you change your focus to working on your business, not just in your business.
Real-life scenarios
I will share possible solutions for each of the topics listed above, and the solutions are from real-life scenarios of people, practice owners and business owners. Keep it in mind that they all said, “This couldn’t happen to me” or “That’ll never happen.”
Getting hurt and unable to see clients/patients — One chiropractor I met with had been in business for 25 years. He was 55 and wanted to continue working for another seven years but was unsure if he could. His hands hurt every day and he was unsure how long he’d be able to go on. His motivation to keep going? He had more retirement savings to capture, and he couldn’t afford to not work. He didn’t have any disability insurance. He didn’t have the benefit of chiropractic business consulting and a self-completing retirement plan either. He failed to prepare for that “What if …”
Passing unexpectedly … who will provide for patients and family — One business owner listened to the television and radio way too much. He’d say “That COVID is a bunch of B.S. … the government is lying to us.” Then one day in October of 2021, he got sick, was diagnosed with COVID, within five days was on a ventilator, and three weeks after that he passed away. He left his wife trying to figure out how she was going to make ends meet. She was left to manage his business and assist his patients with their needs. He had no succession plan for the unexpected. He was severely underinsured in terms of life insurance. He had planned on working another 10-12 years, so his savings for retirement were lackluster. All their (her) hopes and dreams of a financially secure retirement were gone.
Economy taking a downturn — Inflation is this country’s No. 1 Achilles heel right now. The Fed needs to raise interest rates to counter the inflation, but they can’t raise them fast enough. As the costs of goods and services continue to increase, what do your patients cut back on? Do they scale back working with you? Your costs continue to rise — do you pass them on to your already cost-conscious patient?
Expanding business — Business is great and you need to expand (either staff, actual footprint or both). Did your business plan include this type of growth and how you were going to handle it? Did it outline what steps you were going to implement, at what points along the way, and how to scale for this unbelievable growth?
Chiropractic business consulting: where proper planning makes most ‘What Ifs’ go away
That’s not just a cliché, it’s reality. I speak of working on your business, not just in your business. Taking these steps allows you to work on your business.
Whether it’s a disability, a sudden passing, the economy or your business skyrocketing … you need to have a plan for all of that. You’ve put everything on the line to start, run and be a successful business owner — make sure you do your due diligence so that you can minimize the “What Ifs” you may encounter so you (and most importantly, your family) can benefit from all your hard work.
BRIAN P. MICHAUD, CLTC, is CEO for Consult Encompass LLC and Encompass Group LLC, and a business consultant and financial strategist. He can be reached at 860-930-5330 or bmichaud@trustencompass.com.
