Are You Ready to Start Your Own Practice?
Should you open a practice? If so, what kind?
During these unstable economic times it is difficult to decide if now is the time to take the risk and open your own clinic. A stable job with a guaranteed hourly wage is tempting. Even if it means you are working for someone else and have to punch a time-card.
Still, in the back of your mind you might wonder . . . Can I do this on my own, will my own place pay off with a better salary, flexible hours, and the satisfaction of business ownership? Or will I struggle to make payments and go further in to debt? This worry is complicated by whatever health laws are going on at the government level (I have lost track of it lately, all I know is that there is a lot of confusion and a lot of anxiety regarding healthcare in America).
Through my experience I hope to give you an idea of what you can do to make it on your own.
I own two distinctly different clinics in Utah. My first clinic is Pace Clinic. It is a small retail-type clinic in the back of an independent pharmacy. It is an 11' x 11' room with a reception desk in front of it. Rent on 121 square feet is minimal. I have good traffic since the pharmacy customers have been coming to this pharmacy for years. I have little overhead and no debt with this clinic. At this clinic I accept insurance and have a special prompt-pay discount for those who are self-pay. It is convenient with walk-in only appointments.
My second clinic is called Nucea Health and Fitness. It is a much larger facility (2,100 square feet) and is scheduled by appointment. Nucea includes a couple exam rooms, a room shared by a physical therapist and chiropractor, a massage room, a small OTC area, and even a gym with a full weight room, circuit line, treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, etc. I am very active and do triathlons, so Nucea was built with everything I needed to "stay in the game." It is my dream business.
One of these businesses gives me an income of over $120,000/year after all expenses,and the other has never shown a profit and is sucking finances from the other clinic. It is probably easy to guess that my little 121 square foot Pace Clinic is making me rich, while Nucea (designed for me) is costly and has yet to turn a profit.
So, the moral of the story is first, start small. Don't overspend or overbuild. Stay within a small budget. Grow with your business, rather than starting at the top. Secondly, direct your clinic to what people want, not what you want. I prefer working at Nucea because it is large, has a gym I work out at, I have my own office, etc. However, I made Pace Clinic affordable, convenient, and mom- and child-friendly. This is what my patients want and has turned this small one room clinic into a success.
--Aaron Hartle, FNP
* Note, the more successful Pace Clinic is for sale for which I guarantee at least a six figure income. If interested please call Aaron @ 801-491-2238 for details. I can also help start up your own clinic including ideas, location, credentialing, regulations, etc.