New Year’s Resolutions Part 2

We’re sharing some additional new year’s resolutions that can help to make your private practice be the most successful it’s ever been.

1. Be Accountable to yourself

Hold yourself accountable for the business of private practice because no one else will.  Learn to lean on your team which at a minimum must include an Attorney familar with state board regs and employment law, your accountant and and first line asset protection via your insurance agent. But treat yourself fairly.  Don’t dwell on some simple little thing that didn’t get done or exaggerate it’s importance.  You’ll destroy any progress you’ve made if you get bogged down.  Learn from the experience and move on.  Enlist other professionals in a “watch dog” group to keep each other on track.

2. Invest in the communities that support you

Get out and get involved in your community.  So many times, it’s not what you know but who you know that can be a great building block for your private practice.  People like to refer others to people they know and feel comfortable with.  What better way for your community to feel comfortable with you than to help improve the community for everyone?

3. Promote your practice often and well

When you’re busy just being a private practice healthcare professional, it’s easy to forget that you have to promote your practice, too.  If you want to grow, you have to bring in new patients.  Sit down now and create a marketing plan for the New Year and then schedule it into your calendar so you follow through on it.

4. Learn to delegate more

Resolve to let go of a little more control.  Trust your staff or outside experts to do what you’re paying them to do.  You don’t have to do it all.  Delegation is the key to keeping your work life and your personal life in at least some sort of balance.

5.  Weekly business planning is a must

Success is not a “wing it” proposition.  In order to be consistently successful, you have to plan.  And you have to stick with your plan.  That doesn’t mean that it’s carved in stone.  A business plan is a living thing.  Work on it weekly to adapt to what’s actually going on in your business.

6.   Don’t skimp on things that will make you more productive

When you’re operating on a tight budget, it’s easy to just make do with what you have.  But ultimately, what you spend in using more efficient staff and equipment will do nothing but strengthen your bottom line.  Keep that in mind when planning your capital expenditures.

7. Be a perpetual student

You don’t have to break the bank on continuing education but you do have to continue to learn.  Business today is changing constantly – not just in medicine but in marketing, technology, accounting, you name it.  Resolve to learn continuously to take advantage of the latest trends that will build your practice with the least effort.

 8. Have more fun with your practice!

Concentrate some of your marketing efforts on things you really enjoy.

If you’re a runner, sponsor a marathon.

A golfer? Sponsor a local tournament for a charity.

Have you dreamed of being a writer? Start that blog you’ve been thinking about and start expressing yourself.  Your audience is probably full of potential patients.

9. Above all else, have a good time with whatever you do.  Your passion for it will come through and speak volumes to your current and prospective patients. You may think you don’t have time to devote to promoting but you’ll be pleasantly surprised how much time you find for it when you actually enjoy what you’re doing.

10.  Write the most applicable from this list of resolutions down somewhere…in the back of your Day Planner…your smartphone..into Outlook…your iPad calendar…

Just the act of writing them down and reading them daily will place them in the front of your subconscious mind and you’ll be amazed at how much you can actually accomplish and how fast. Resolve to make this the year that you really learn to live and practice by design!