Episode 15: How To Build A 4 Million Dollar Medical Practice

Can you be an entrepreneur as a doctor running a medical practice? The simple answer is YES it is possible but you have to learn to leverage other people otherwise you are trading time for money and you have a JOB! 

Do not miss these highlights:

01:03 The misconception of Entrepreneurship in Medicine

01:51 The different definition of being an Entrepreneur

04:48 You can earn revenue from your medical clinic, without you physically having to be the one to do the work

06:29 Learn how to be an Entrepreneur in your own business, in your own specialty, in your own expertise

07:23 You can provide the care that the patient wants and needs without having to worry about getting paid

08:50 When you use the right model and the right technique, you don't have to hope for a profit because there will be a profit at the end

Transcription of Episode #15:

0:00
You're listening to the functional medicine business podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you.

0:55
Are you an entrepreneur? Or are you a medical professional? That's the question today. So there's this thought process that you cannot be an entrepreneur in medicine, unless what you're doing is working with a tech company working with a new medical device company working to create a different type of medicine or medical business, outside of your medical practice. Why is it that we think like that, why is it that we think that if I'm a healthcare practitioner, and I own a medical practice, that that's not being an entrepreneur? I'm gonna challenge you today to question is that right? Or is that wrong? And there's a couple of different descriptions of being an entrepreneur. So the definition of entrepreneurship is the activity of setting up a business or businesses taking on financial risks in hope of a profit. Okay, is that not what we're doing in setting up a medical clinic? We have created a business, we've taken on financial risk. We've bought equipment, we've set up employees, and we're hoping that there's going to be a profit at the end of that. We're not in it for a nonprofit organization. We're in it as a profitable organization.

2:38
Now, Wikipedia defines entrepreneurship as the creation and extraction of value. With this definition entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values than simply economic ones. I'm pausing for just a second because I think this is a definition of a medical practice. Yeah, when I go to look and see who is a medical professional, and an entrepreneur, all I can find our medical profit professionals who are leaving the medical profession to become a quote unquote, entrepreneur. So is that because the only medical professional positions that we're seeing these days are hired positions, like in a large organization, so you're an employee, and you feel as though you couldn't branch out and start your own practice, because there'd be too much competition? Or maybe it'd be too difficult? Or maybe you don't feel like there's enough profit at the end of the day for that?

3:59
Now, I like to listen to Rich Dad, Poor Dad quite a bit. And we he talks a lot about infinite money, money that comes into you for not doing anything in his definition of an entrepreneur is that you're creating money, you're getting an income, or creating money for something that you don't actually have to do. His definition of a job, or service position, like US healthcare practitioners, is just that a service position is a job. It's not an entrepreneurship because we can never create income without physically doing something. But I'm going to put a little bit of a challenge to you for that. Because I think as a business owner, in a medical profession, you can earn revenue from your medical clinic, without you physically having to be the one to do the work. And that's where we learn how to leverage people, when we can learn to leverage people, and we can't start a single practice single provider practice, and turn that into a business, ultimately, that makes money and generates revenue when you're not present, you no longer have a job. Now you've become an entrepreneur, you're earning revenue when you're not present. Do you see the difference behind that?

5:24
It's all about thought processes. So if we think that every dollar that we earn comes from us seeing the patient, yes, the only thing we have as a job, we're trading time for money. But when we view ourselves as business entrepreneurs, and we leverage other people's time, now we have a business. Now we can scale that business, because we can scale beyond one with one we can't scale, we're limited. As a solopreneur, you're limited to what you can create. As an entrepreneur that leverages people, there is technically no limit to what you can earn, there's only a limit to how many people you can hire and train. So I want you to really think about this if you want to be an entrepreneur, but you don't want to take on learning another industry, you don't want to take on learning the real estate industry, you don't want to learn to take on the stock market, you don't want to learn how to be an overnight Internet success on Amazon selling crap, then learn how to be an entrepreneur, in your own business, in your own specialty in your own expertise.

6:37
And I'm convinced in my heart that the future of medicine is not going to be these large dominant organizations anymore. It can't be. And why can't that be, because people don't want to have the type of care that they provide. They don't want to be a number anymore. They don't want to be limited to who they can see. They want a partner in their health care, they want someone that understands them, listens to them, takes time with them, and gives them what they need, not what the organization tells them they need to do to get reimbursed. And I know there's some of you out here that are gonna say, well, then I'm going to do something and that I'm not going to get paid for doesn't have to be that way does not have to be that way, you can provide the care that the patient wants and needs without having to worry about getting paid. It's called not playing the insurance game. It's very simple. You don't have to play that game. The patient doesn't have to play that game. It means that the patient and you have to learn something different have to learn a different way you have to have finances set up differently. But it doesn't mean that it can't happen.

7:48
And I truly believe in the wake of this pandemic, we are going to see medicine, take a step back and go back to more of that individualized care. Go back to more of that one on one doctor patient relationship, not where the doctor changes every year based on whatever insurance company that patient has. People don't like that. People want relationships. I have clients in my practice that have been with me for 20 years. I know their families, I know their grandchildren, I've seen them, go through a business and sell a business and retire and be loving life. And I've seen them bring children into the world. And my practice has treated their families. I believe that this can happen again. And in the the plan of all of this means we need practitioners that are going to be entrepreneurs, practitioners that are going to take a risk to start a business to set up something with the hope of a profit at the end.

8:50
But when you use the right model, and you use the right technique, the difference is you don't have to hope for a profit at the end, there can be a profit at the end, you just need to know how to do it you need to know how to set it up properly. You need to know how to set up your exits exit strategy properly. And then you need to put everything in between the right way. So that there is a profit and there is value for the profit that you've received at the end of the day. So are you ready to become an entrepreneur in healthcare space, providing care to people and creating value for these people? I hope you are because I think it's so desperately needed in society today. And if you're not sure where to start, the functional medicine Business Institute is happy to help you with that. Reach out to us today. We can help you set this structure up. I've been there I've done it. I've lived through the hard times I've come out on the the right side of it. Loving my practice enjoying my Life and enjoying taking care of patients. Once again in my career after 20 plus years of doing this. Determine how you're going to define entrepreneurship. Set the game to win for you.

10:18
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others. post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review. To catch all the latest from me. You can follow me on Facebook at FMBI, join our free group where we support one another and share our struggles. Thanks again and I'll see you next time.