Three Excuses That Hold You Back

Excuses can stop you from moving toward an owner-independent medical practice. Don’t let these three common “reasons” get in your way.

We’ve met a lot of doctors who believed that others could build an owner-independent practice but not them. What we’ve discovered is that their excuses are remarkably similar.

Excuse #1: “I can’t afford it.”

Excuse #2: “I don’t have the time.”

Excuse #3: “What will my staff say?”

Sound familiar? Let’s look at each of these.

Excuse #1: “I can’t afford it.”

Many doctors initially think only in terms of what it will cost them to invest in the staff, systems, and outside help they need to grow and develop their practice to operate independent of the owner. For them, the decision is skewed, because they’re looking at the cost of the investment while ignoring the cost of the status quo.

Here’s an example. Dr. Smith was so mired in being a provider of medical care that he wasn’t able to step back and view his practice accurately. When he began working with my business coaching company, he discovered that one part of his medical practice was losing quite a bit of money every year. Amazingly, the first simple changes he made fixed this issue and resulted in an annual increase in profit of $250,000. At the same time, he reduced his own schedule by ten hours a week.

Remember, there is a cost to keeping the status quo. But when done right, moving toward a more owner-independent practice will free up trapped cash for better and higher uses in the practice.

Excuse #2: “I don’t have the time.”

No doctor initially feels like he or she has extra time to devote to scaling his or her practice. Instead, doctors feel strained to capacity and maxed out. We call this “death by a thousand cuts.”

Of course, you’re overwhelmed, because you’re constantly putting out fires: one of your patients has a unique demand, someone on your staff has a personal issue, a referring physician asks you for a favor, a key vendor is having problems, a nurse’s assistant puts in her two weeks’ notice. A hundred things like this can happen every month. Collectively, they sap your time as well as your energy and passion for the work. The actual practice of medicine may have even become your escape hatch; it’s the only time you’re not mired in management problems.

So, let’s be very clear: You don’t need to work more hours. Your coaches will never ask you to work more hours or longer hours. After all, building your practice solely by you seeing more patients and performing more procedures is one of the core reasons why your practice has become reliant on you in the first place.

Instead, we’ll show you how to grow your practice by working less while getting your practice to produce more.

This means designing and implementing better workflows and systems; growing, developing, and engaging your team; and making and executing on better strategic choices in the management and leadership of your practice. Together, these simple changes will not only put you on the path to higher profits, but, more importantly, they’ll lead you to a practice you once again love owning.

In coaching hundreds of doctors, it has been our direct experience that if you’re serious about making things better, you will see a sizable change in a very short time. A quick review of our coaching clients would indicate that, within six to twelve months of getting started, you’ll feel like you can breathe again. Specifically, you’ll feel in control of your practice rather than your practice controlling you.

It’s a Progression, Not an On/Off Switch

Building an owner-independent medical practice is a progression, not a light switch you suddenly flip on one day. It’s also not a binary yes/no but rather a spectrum along which you gradually progress over several years.

The critical shift is from seeing yourself as a producer for your practice—treating patients and performing procedures—to seeing yourself as the builder of a practice that will do all this without you. You’re only a temporary producer until you can build the business depth that replaces you.

Returning to Dr. Smith’s situation, it would be easy for this successful surgeon to see himself as the key driver that propels his practice—the one irreplaceable ingredient without which the practice would wither and die. Within six months of coaching, however, Dr. Smith reduced his time working in the practice by ten hours a week. He also increased his operating profit by $250,000 a year—and climbing. And he’s starting to see a pathway to scale the practice and get his life back.

Here’s how he put it: “I had twelve years of advanced medical training to become a surgeon, yet I received no training in how to run a successful medical practice. I had to learn by trial and error. Now, with the support and training of my business coach, I’m finally getting that business training. I’m working fewer hours and actually getting home before the sun sets, which is a real gift. Best of all, I can see the practice becoming stronger and less reliant on me bit by bit each quarter.”

Remember, this work is a progression, not an on/off switch. You’ll make headway and have temporary reversals, and at times, progress will feel slow as if you’re pushing uphill. This is normal. But if you stay the course laid out for you, you’ll enjoy greater profits and an improved quality of life.

No Longer Feeling Trapped

Looking back at the considerable progress he has already achieved—and having watched other physicians struggle with the same challenges—Dr. Smith shared the following: “It’s a sad fact that the majority of doctors I know end up twenty years into their practice feeling trapped and stuck. Sure, they make a great living, but they have to give up so much of their time and life to do it.

“Maybe you can’t make your practice operate completely independently from you, but you can make it much better than it is now. I’ve seen what a difference working in a structured way on my practice over the past six months has made for me personally. The practice runs more smoothly, it’s more profitable, and our staff is happier. Stop making excuses and take that first step.”

Excuse #3: “What will my staff say?”

We’ve worked with many doctors who were terrified of telling their staff that they’re planning to work less and eventually make the practice owner-independent. The fear their staff will hear this: “I’m planning on working a whole lot less by having you work a whole lot more.” But this simply isn’t accurate.

Our coaching is geared for you to build a more vibrant practice that leverages the talents of your team. You will produce high-quality medical care for your patients while weaning your practice off of its crippling dependence on you. This means greater opportunity for your team to grow professionally and contribute more. They’ll enjoy more autonomy and have a bigger impact on the practice.

While this could afford them an opportunity to earn more, the biggest benefit to staff is professional growth and the enhanced stability of working for a practice that’s no longer one car accident away from everyone losing his or her job. Sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it?

There will always be excuses. The timing will never seem just right—for this or for anything. But rather than waiting for the perfect moment, you have to decide that your starting point is today—right now.

Make building an owner-independent practice a stated goal of your practice.

Looking for more practical advice on how you grow your medical practice and get your life back? Download a complimentary copy of our latest book.