Mistakes to Avoid When Running a Medical Practice – Loans for Doctors
Ezra Cabrera | March 19, 2019
Starting your own medical practice can be daunting. Doctors looking to put up their own private practice must plan ahead, develop an effective revenue stream, apply for loans for doctor, acquire health insurance, get credentials, and create a marketing strategy to attract patients.
Despite the challenges, starting a private medical practice is one of the most rewarding accomplishments for any medical professional. To minimize the risks associated with running a medical practice, here are three common mistakes you as a medical practitioner need to avoid:
1. Have a Long-Term Strategy
If you want your practice to succeed, creating long-term strategies are crucial. You need to have a comprehensive business plan for every aspect of your practice – from forecasting to hiring employees. You can do so by creating a detailed business plan that covers marketing, services offered, financial plan, management summary, market analysis, and more. But remember that as your practice grows, so should your business plan. You can continue to refer to your business plan to monitor the growth and performance of your clinic.
Try to create or update your business plans every year. It’s also better to educate your employees about it so everyone is on the same page and pulling together when it comes to the goals and plans of your clinic.
2. You Have Insufficient Capital (Apply for Loans for Doctor)
Funding your private practice out of pocket is downright impossible for many medical professionals. Starting out with insufficient capital is a common mistake among numerous medical professionals. Keep in mind that the expenses associated with starting a private practice are higher compared to other business ventures.
The cost of setting up a small primary care practice is around $70,000 but it can go as high as $100,000 or more. Make sure you include realistic establishment costs, such as equipment purchases, medical supplies renovations, and building lease. You might also want to consider other expenses, such as marketing, legal advisers, tax, and medical malpractice insurance.
While starting a medical practice is every doctor’s dream, but if it is done without enough cash flow, your practice might not survive at all. For this reason, you can apply for small business loans like SBA loans, a business line of credit, and equipment financing to help cover the costs of setting up your clinic.
3. You Don’t See Your Practice as a Business
The main reason why doctors and medical professionals start their own practice is to help people. However, your medical practice is also a business entity. As a business owner, you need financial and managerial skills in order to successfully run your practice. But if managing a business is not for you, you can hire a reputable business advisor to assist you in creating strategies for your practice. Business advisers can also provide assistance in creating, developing, and updating your business plan.
4. Failing to Understand Your Competitors
A medical practice owner is both a small business owner and a health care provider. This means that you have more responsibility compared to working for a large hospital. To ensure the success of your medical practice, you need to pay close attention to your competition. It’s important to do a competitor analysis while you’re performing market research. However, this isn’t a one-time thing; it should be an ongoing effort.
You want to keep track of how other medical practices change over time. How much attention you pay to your competition can make or break your medical practice in the long run.
5. You Hire the Wrong People for the Job
You can’t possibly run a medical practice on your own, even if you just started your operations. Hiring the right people is crucial to the success of your medical practice. You need medical professionals that are as motivated and invested in the success of your practice as you are.
It’s important to sift through all the applicants before hiring one. If you have doubts during the interview process, don’t hire them with the homes of them getting better with time. You don’t have to deal with people who don’t share your vision. Otherwise, you’ll risk investing time and money on people who aren’t worth it.
Run Your Medical Practice with Confidence
If you’re planning to open your own private practice, you’ll need all the help you can get. Be prepared, hire the right people, create a comprehensive business plan, apply for small business loans, and work with the right people. Keep these common mistakes in mind and you’ll feel more confident to run your medical practice.
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