Goals & Planning

"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success." -- Pablo Picasso

Starting and Owning a Business—What I Would and Wouldn’t Do Again

I recently received the following request from a person I am mentoring who is starting her own personal training studio: “I’d like to hear about your experiences starting and owning a business—what you would/wouldn’t do again, and what you wish you knew then that you know now.”

That's a great question. I told her so and that I can probably turn it into an article. That's actually one of the things I wish I had known when I started my first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth businesses, leverage, or multiplying the power of your work. If you do something, how can you use it in different ways, multiplying its power and effectiveness?

Don’t let the number of businesses scare you off. It’s been a great ride and the businesses didn’t all fail. Three did, two outright and the other just didn’t make enough money to support my partner and me at a time when we both needed the support. Two of them made some money and were sold for a further profit. The sixth was rolled into the seventh when I joined with my current business partner to expand, and after four and a half years we made a conscious decision to learn more and change the seventh from a business that just supported us into one that made an actual profit. Add two more years and that one is now growing and paying us while funding its own further growth. It is also allowing us to start the eighth together and the ninth on my own. It does get a little confusing. And none of this even takes into account the lawn mowing, candy selling, and writing reports with my best friend back in high school.

To read the rest of this article, go to www.JDSMManagement.com.


Sturdy McKee is CEO of san francisco sport and spine physical therapy and JDSM Medical Management. He can be found at www.JDSMManagement.com.

So, You Want To Start Your Own Clinic

So, you want to start your own clinic? You have spent years honing your clinical skills and expertise. Your patients love you and respect the quality of care you provide. Now you’re at a crossroads, seeking more independence to make decisions that affect your patients and that could give you more control over your practice. Or maybe you are just toying with the idea for whatever reason. This is an exciting time! But there are questions and obstacles facing you. What insurance companies do I take? Should I take Medicare? How am I going to turn my satisfied patients into more patients? Where will the referrals come from? What is Excel? Do I incorporate or work as a sole proprietor? This is a time when it’s easy to get carried away with the excitement. You may ignore all the questions. It’s easy to get the cart before the horse.

Create a written plan. Before you run out and get an attorney and incorporate and before you sign a lease, you need to create a written plan. It is vitally important that you create a written business plan. Your plan and timeline for set-up/start up will precede the actual start of your business. So, you'll actually have 2 plans, your start up plan and your business plan. The start up plan will be all the things you need to do before you open your doors for business. The business plan will be your plan for operations for the first 1-5 years.

Fail to plan, plan to fail. It is as simple as that. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not likely to get there. And if you think you know where you’re going, but have never been there and leave without a map, you’re not likely to get there in any reasonable time and in the condition you left in. An idea is not enough. Write it down. Your plans should be written and changeable. As you proceed, you will learn new things to add to your plan and you will need to modify, edit and delete portions.

Your start up plan should include all the things you need to do in order to open your doors. In most places you’ll need to obtain a business license. You will want to have a lease, a bank account, billing software or a service, equipment, business cards, stationery and liability insurance to name a few. You will also want to sequence these items with an end goal in mind of opening your doors for business on a specific day.

There are many resources available for writing business plans. There are multiple software packages, books and websites. The critical pieces of your business plan are your:
Vision: Why, Where and What do you want your clinic/business to be?

To read the rest of this article, go to www.JDSMManagement.com.


Sturdy McKee is CEO of san francisco sport and spine physical therapy and JDSM Medical Management. He can be found at www.JDSMManagement.com.