StudentDC Interactive

 A tip I received from a student:

He suggested not using your personal name for your practice name.  While we all want to see our “names up in lights,” this may not be the best idea in some circumstances.  If you grew up in the town and you were a rowdy teenager, you might not want everyone in town associating  your practice with your past exploits in  high school.  On the other hand, if you were a model citizen, it might be great for you to tell everyone you’re back in town as a professional.
The biggest reason for not using your own name for your practice is in case you want to sell the practice.  It’s much easier to sell “Perfection Chiropractic” than to sell “Cosgrove Chiropractic.”  The student is looking at buying a practice, but he feels it will be difficult to make the transition from the old practice name, which is the owner’s name, to the name he wants.  One way to transition is to hyphenate the names.  For example, Cosgrove Chiropractic could transition to Cosgrove-Sutlow Chiropractic, then a year or so later the “Cosgrove” could be dropped.   

Choosing your practice name is one of the most difficult and important decisions you’ll make when you start out.  See this article in StudentDC for more tips for choosing a practice name

A grad emailed me the other day and said she is having difficulty getting bank financing and she wondered if she should finance her startup with credit cards.  My answer would be, “Only as a last resort and keep it to a minimum.”  Here is what I’d suggest:

• Get vendor financing for big items like tables and x-ray equipment.  This financing is more expensive than a loan, but it will keep your credit card balance lower.
• Try to get a 0% introductory rate card with the lowest post-introductory rate.  Make sure the 0% also applies to ATM withdrawals.  Then WATCH to see when the intro rate stops and try to pay off the card before this happens.  Pay this card off FIRST if possible.
• Go minimal, and I mean MINIMAL.  Buy only what you absolutely need.  Don’t get carried away with sales.  Have someone go with you when you are buying, if you have trouble with this.  You must keep your credit card balance as low as possible. 
• Look for used equipment and furniture.  If possible, use your credit card for this stuff.  You may have to use the ATM if it’s a direct purchase from an individual; that’s why you need the 0% on the ATM withdrawals too.
• After you start, use the card for working capital.  Work out a bill payment schedule.  Pay the rent and utilities first.  And be sure to pay the minimum on the credit card each month.
• Live simply.  Take out as little as possible for living expenses.  You did it for three plus years while you were in school; you can do it for a little longer.
• Show positive cash flow as soon as possible.  Work to get to a position where you are consistently bringing in more in income than you are paying, every single month. 

After six months or a year, re-work your cash flow statement and take it to the bank to show them that you are consistently bringing in more money than you’re spending.  See if you can get them to give you a loan before your 0% introductory rate stops. 

If you can discipline yourself in the short term with this method, you’ll be in great shape in the long term, because you won’t have a huge amount of bank debt to pay back, and you can take your profits and plow them back into new furniture and other neat stuff as you go. 

Entrepreneur Magazine has a good article with some additional advice on this subject.  Here is the link:  http://www.entrepreneur.com/money/financing/financingcolumnistdavidnewton/article41520.html

The answer to that question is:  You can’t!  I know you are very eager/anxious to get going.  You have lots of student loan debt to repay, and you’ve found a great location, and you are chomping at the bit.  But you can’t commit to anything until you have your license IN YOUR HANDS! 

I talked to a couple the other day who wanted to commit to a lease.  They are graduating in October.  Give a month or so to process their license (assuming they have already passed all their boards) and they will be lucky if they can get their licenses by December 1.  I suggested they put a contingency in their lease that said they didn’t have to make a final commitment until they have their licenses.  This probably means the property owner won’t start build-out until then. 

It is far better to be patient for a few months while waiting for your license than to take a chance and have to start paying rent and paying back bank loans without a license to practice and no way to generate income to pay these bills. 

Be patient.  I promise it will all happen in due time.

Sure. I know of several people who started out of their homes or by going to people’s homes with a portable table. This is an excellent way to build a patient base before you commit to paying rent.

Here are some things to consider:
1. Working from Home. If you have a house you want to use as an office, you will need to check with the city where you live, to see what their zoning requirements are. They may have restrictions on how much of the home you can use, and parking restrictions. Many cities require you to poll the neighbors to see if someone objects, and then you must show up at a city council meeting to present your case. If no one objects, and you have met all the restrictions, you may be able to work from home. If you are in an apartment, you will also have to get permission from the landlord.
2. Traveling Office. If you want to work by going to people’s homes, all you need is a telephone and a portable table. This is a good way to get started in a small town, where you can build a patient base quickly. Be careful about going into homes of people you don’t know, especially in the city. You may want to schedule a brief first visit to talk to the family before you decide you want to continue going to this home. You may still need a license from the city, in addition to your chiropractic license, so check their requirements.

If you are in the process of starting a new practice, or you have recently started a practice, I would love to talk with you.  We will be featuring new DC’s over the next year, to provide information to students and others just starting out.  Sharing stories is also a powerful incentive; others would benefit from hearing of your successes and your mistakes.  Email me at  jean@dcpracticesuccess.com or just comment on this blog if you are interested.  Give me a phone number and email address and I’ll get back to you right away.

If someone said, “I have the perfect practice for you to purchase, but you have to act TODAY,” would you be ready?  It might happen; as a matter of fact, it did happen to a new DC I know.  She was ready because:

Her business plan was prepared (in general, not the specifics of this business)

Her credit rating was impeccable

She had established a relationship with a bank

She had lined up a CPA and, most important, an attorney

Her bank gave her a letter telling the seller that she was approved for the loan.  She is in the proces of working with her attorney to put together a preliminary contract.  She is in a position to take over the business early next year.

If you found the perfect practice to buy and you had to act quickly, would you be ready?  Think about it.  Then go through the list above, check StudentDC.com for specifics on

• checking your credit
• finding a CPA and attorney
• preparing your business plan
• working with a bank, and …

Go for it!

I received a question from someone who said the bank asked her: What percentage of new grads start into their own practices after graduation? To answer her question, I checked the recent Chiropractic Economics new practitioner profile, based on a survey. There is a lot of useful information in this survey. For example:

• 44.6 percent of the new grads started their own practices, 47.9 percent associated, and only 7.5 percent bought a practice.
• The average age of new DC’s is 29.
• Almost half of associateships (49.1 percent) last fewer than 3 years.
• Most new grads (53.9 percent) spent less than $25,000 to start their practices.
• Slightly less than one-third of new DC’s received help from a management consultant.

The profile also showed changes in the profile from grads in prior years (back to 1950). There were some interesting changes here.

I have to say this question from a bank is a new one; just when I think I’ve heard all the questions, someone comes up with a new one. But I’m sure this wasn’t a “deal breaker” kind of question. Even so, it’s good to be able to show that you have knowledge of the trends in chiropractic, to enhance your credibility with the banker.

If you get a question from a bank that you aren’t sure how to answer, post a comment on this site or email me directly at jean@dcpracticesuccess.com.