GOOD NEWS For Chiropractors
I really want to share this Good News with those of you who are considering taking one of my seminars. Even though this blog post was written about 8 years ago before I began teaching, it is just as true and important today. And I think it will tell you a lot about me, my philosophy of practice and what I teach.
What follows is one of my original blog posts written in 2010 in Abaco, Bahamas after several years of practicing there. It is just as true today as it was then.
These days I spend most of my time in Mount Dora, Florida. Two years ago I started a part time, post- retirement, referral-based, cash practice that keeps me as busy as I want to be. And after 50 years in practice I still love what I do. I am still excited to get up and go to work. I find each case interesting and rewarding as I continue to change lives for the better.
I am pleased to be able to again share my thoughts about the Good News for chiropractors.
If your practice is keeping you awake nights worrying about how you can keep your head above water, if you fear you cannot succeed without taking on a mountain of debt, I have some good news for you.
The good news is that you don’t need a huge high overhead office to be successful. You also don’t need a large staff and associate doctors to make money. It is stressful trying to generate enough business to pay their salaries without cannibalizing your own income. More stress is something none of us need.
Did you know that it is a well established fact that an efficient one doctor operation is more profitable and less stressful that a multiple doctor operation? The sooner you learn that lesson, the better.
This point was well illustrated a number of years ago when I ran into an old friend from Palmer. He was very interested in where and how I was practicing. When I finished describing my practice in The Hamptons, he surprised me with his comments.
“Bill, I really envy you,” he said. “As you know I own one of the largest Chiropractic Clinics in the world –and it is killing me. If I had it to do all over again, I would have a one man office like you do.”
He confided that operating costs for his huge clinic with its staff of 5 DCs and a whole squadron of CAs and clerical employees was $5,000 a day! And that was in 1986 dollars.
“The stress of keeping it going is enormous, but I don’t know how to get out of it,” he said. “There are no Chiropractors who can afford to buy us out, so we are stuck. It’s like an elephant: lovely to look at, but you wouldn’t want to own it.”
This is an extreme example, but many of us have bought into the idea that bigger is better, only to find out that the reality was not so glamorous.
When your back is to the wall with a high overhead practice and lifestyle, you will feel like a man who is trying to run ahead of a buffalo stampede. The answer is to live within your means, realizing that your means will increase as your practice builds organically. No one likes the idea of delayed gratification, however, I can tell you from personal experience that it is better than the stress, sleepless nights and night sweats that will come from living beyond your means.
In recent weeks, many parts of the country have had massive blizzards causing private businesses and government offices to shut down for several days. There was a time in my life when the prospect of several days of lost income would have put me into a panic. That is because I had payments on two large homes, a yacht, cars, high office overhead, and a lavish, difficult to sustain lifestyle.
If managing your practice constantly has you worried and stressed you won’t have the energy or right frame of mind to focus on your patients. If the joy and satisfaction of practicing is being loss to stress, then it is time to re-evaluate your priorities, clarify your true purpose and regain control.
No More Deficit Spending – No More Sleepless Nights
The new status symbol in the 21st Century is being Debt Free! And the freedom that goes along with it. It isn’t how much you stuff you have, it is how much you truly enjoy your life that counts. These days I only buy what I can pay for. No more deficit spending. I have everything I really want and need, and what I have is paid for. It feels great.
I now enjoy the financial and emotional freedom that comes from being debt free much more than I enjoyed big houses and a stable of cars that held me hostage by debt. My only regret is that I didn’t get smart sooner.
Today I enjoy my practice more than ever, without the worries that used to keep me awake at night. I work hard, but not as hard as I used to because I am now working smarter. My office schedule is always full without any extra effort or worry on my part. It is a practice built entirely on word of mouth – my patients keep the practice full without any outside advertising on my part. They are happy with the care they get. They know I fix them and do it fast, without trying to make an annuity out of pushing ongoing care. They trust me. Because of this they never hesitate to return themselves, often deciding all on their own to do once a month maintenance. And they eagerly refer their friends and family. I like to say my practice grows organically.
The way I practice today gives me a greater sense of personal and professional satisfaction than ever before. And the peace of mind I get from knowing that I never have to hunt for patients or take on more than I want to in order to cover my overhead is exhilarating.
My simple, low overhead, patient focused practice leaves me with plenty of time and energy to enjoy life, working and playing in Florida and The Bahamas with my beautiful wife, Kiana.
In our patient focused practice we not only touch backs, we touch lives. When we touch the lives of others our own lives and work take on new meaning. The lives we touch, touch us. When we allow this to happen everyone benefits from the experience.
My focus these days is on quality rather than quantity. My goal is to provide an exceptionally high quality of care to my patients and to live a life that brings me personal satisfaction, love and joy — the true measures of success.
The purpose of the Koch Seminars is to allow me to teach others how they can have the same kind of professional satisfaction and success, with the peace of mind, time and energy to enjoy it.
I hope you will join me in Mount Dora, Florida for a new kind of learning experience and a new kind of practice. I am sure you will enjoy the Adventure.
Dr. William H. Koch
Please join me and Kiana at our next Koch Protocols Seminar: Part One March 23, 24, 25 and Optional Part Two March 26, 27
email [email protected]
or phone 352-729-2678
