I am frequently asked the question: “How can I grow my business?”

To which, I frequently encourage them to ask a better question!

This is not because this question is unimportant, which it certainly is.  However, the question is virtually unanswerable because is lacks specificity.

Unfortunately, many chiropractors spend a great deal of time pursuing this question without ever delving into the specifics.

Perhaps a more meaningful question would be: “How can I determine which patients to pursue? Or “How can I better express and promote my value?” Or even, “How can I get potential patients to approach me?”

Time spent pondering these questions for your practice will certainly pay off, as I believe that the vast majority of chiropractors have entered practice without giving a thought to these concepts that can form the very core of your business.

I can lob this criticism with confidence because many chiropractors will give me their two minute elevator pitch about their business and proclaim how clueless they really are in this department.  After all, show me a chiropractor who flaunts his beautiful mission statement boldly proclaiming to take chiropractic to the world (from the corner of some forgotten place in the tiniest of towns) and I will show you a DC who has ignored basic mathematical concepts.

After all, you cannot physically adjust the world. Nor everyone in your entire state, county and in most places, not even your town.  Think about it.  Even if you live in a town of 10,000 people, it will take the average chiropractor (who, according to survey data, sees approximately 20 NP per month, or 240 per year) approximately 41 years to see everyone in town, provided you practice that long (a possibility) and given that the entire town comes to see you (unheard of!).

Instead, we should be aiming at reachable targets that are specific, achievable and that will provide us with the lifestyle we desire.

For some, this may require that we abandon our current level of thinking and/or methods of running our business.  While there is no set in stone way to achieve this, I like Earl Nightingale’s tried and true method of focusing in on proper business direction:  “see what everyone else is doing and do the opposite.”

With that in mind, here are a few resources to expand your brain in the right direction and help you work SMARTER, not harder:

Books to Read.

• The E-Myth for Physicians – Michael Gerber.  Synopsis: Builds on the themes of his classic work and refines them more specifically towards what we do as doctors.  Illustrates much of what goes wrong when we mix the words chiropractor AND entrepreneur/business owner, then gives a sensible path towards achieving better results.
• The Four Hour Workweek (New Expanded Addition) – Timothy Ferris Synopsis: Ferris preaches the flexible lifestyle of the new rich, outsourcing, lifestyle design and in, general, out of the box thinking.  Although, not applicable to chiropractic practices in every instance, the mind expanding possibilities of this book make it a worthwhile purchase. (Get the new edition, just out, expanded and better than the original)
• Now Discover Your Strengths.  Synopsis. The sequel to “First Break all the rules” that gives the tools to help you find an essential ingredient for business success: your strengths.  Too many of us (DC’s included) go through life trying to build up weaknesses to the point of mediocrity instead of developing strengths to the level of excellence.  Applied to our business, we try to be who we aren’t, appeal to those we shouldn’t and wonder why we fail to thrive.

DVD / Movies to Watch

• Life Without Limbs – Nick Vujicic inspirational story of a man who has achieved more, conquered more obstacles and lives life to the fullest despite what most would consider an insurmountable handicap: having no limbs.
• Emmanuel’s Gift — another inspirational story to rid you of all excuses as you watch a man from one of the poorest nations on the planet achieve worldwide fame and accomplish extraordinary things despite having major obstacles of every kind in his way.

Audio

• Lead the Field – Earl Nightengale.  An inspirational classic full of tips to get you to the top!

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