I’ve heard it said that, if you want to go to the moon, all you need to do is to plan how to get there and how to get back.
The trick is to plan both before you leave.
The problem with many doctors with a successful private practice is that they believe that it is worth something when they want to retire or stop operating.
Unfortunately this is not the case.
If you are running any business, you need to accept that at some point, you will want to retire or stop doing it.
This may not be for many years, but you need to start thinking about it early.
If you start thinking about selling your practice when you want to sell your practice, you are toast.
Why would someone pay you for your practice?
What would they be buying?
Think of it from their point of view.
You may have a very successful practice with busy outpatient clinics and theatre lists, but why are people coming to see you?
Is it because you are a nice person and well known in the region and you produce good results for your patients?
If so, what is your practice worth to me?
Answer: not much!
If you want your practice to be an asset that is worth something when you retire, rather than a liability (because you are worried about who will look after your patients), then you need to start thinking about your trip back from the moon now, not when you are up there.
You need to develop a brand.
You need to build assets in to your practice that sets you apart from others.
Of course you need to be a nice person and deliver good outcomes, but there is so much more.
This is what my ‘How To Set Up Your Private Practice’ Course is all about.
How to build a brand that will differentiate you from your competitors.
How to run a practice that delivers fantastic outcomes and that people want to come to whether or not you are a nice person and well known locally.
How to deliver a consistently good service to your patients that is independent of how you are feeling that day or whether they happened to enquire in the school holidays or when your secretary was off sick.
The meeting will be dedicated to helping you to build your own personal brand and to develop assets in your practice that will have value and be worth something when you retire.
This stuff is not easy and it takes commitment and dedication.
But it will payoff in the short-term and in the long-term.
In the short-term, more patients will want to come to see you and you will be able to treat them better and give them better outcomes.
…and in the long-term, you will have a system that you can pass on and allow someone else to gain value from, so that you will be investing in your own personal pension.
