Best Practice: Don’t Get In Over Your Head with Overhead
Most of us are drawn to integrative medicine because we’re so passionate about clinical medicine; but as we’re applying to school and our programs, we may not realize that we’ll be running a business as well.
We asked practitioners what advice they’d share to those newer clinicians building a practice, and the overwhelming response was “overhead.”
Why is it important to be careful about overhead?
Dr. Jaclyn Chasse, VP Emerson Ecologics / Wellevate, and Naturopathic Doctor
Lisa Murray, Licensed Dietitian, Herbalist, Emerson Ecologics / Wellevate
Whether you’re starting out or you have a mature practice, your overhead costs are an important number when looking at the health of your practice. Too much overhead and you risk falling into the red in slower months. Too little overhead and you may not be investing enough in your practice when the time is right. Ultimately, your overhead directly impacts your profit, meaning that every dollar spent on overhead (rent, staff, etc.) is another dollar you don’t take home to your family.
Balancing big dreams with a practical budget can keep you on track to helping more and more patients for years to come.
In this discussion, we’ll touch on some key suggestions including:
- Keep Rent Low
- Start Simply
- Don’t Rush your Front Office
- Select Software Scalably
- Balance your In-Office Dispensary with an Online Dispensary
- Practical Telemedicine for Functional Medicine
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Join us every other week for the Best Practice for building YOUR best practice. With discussions from successful practitioners, experts, and peers, we explore how to build and maintain the healthy practices that let practitioners focus on their passion, patients, and strengths.