Ice, Ice Baby

Falling on ice can be painful.  Failing in practice is one of the most painful and embarrassing experiences.  My first practice in 1998 was a failure.

I was almost 2 years out of Chiropractic school.  I had been an Associate for less than a year when I got engaged, left the practice and moved 400 miles away from my family.  I thought NOW is the time to start my own business.

I was young, had no money, couldn't get a business loan(they laughed me out of the bank with my business plan), and knew very few people in the city I was in.  A great time to open a business.

I found the location on a busy street with lots of traffic and pretty good signage.  It was a second floor walk up with 2 rooms and a bathroom.  That's it!

I bought a desk from Wal-Mart to serve as my front desk , 2 bench tables(which I still have today) and a Subluxation Station.  I was ready to roll.  The peeps should be flocking in.

I did screenings at gyms and nutrition stores.  Talks at local businesses. People loved the "technology" I used but no one wanted to come in.

It took 3 months, but I finally made $500!  I was rolling in it.  

I had a coach, I was/am subluxation based, all cash and principled.  Why didn't anyone want to come to see me?  Didn't they know I could help them?

3 months later, my husband got laid off, I closed the doors to my practice and decided to become a fill-in doc until we moved, AGAIN.  Can you imagine the guilt I felt for not being able to support my family?  Not to mention the money we LOST with the all the costs of opening a new business.

You would think with that experience, not being able to fill my office with patients, that I would give up.  

No way.  I was not going to have that be my legacy.  I knew I could have the practice of my dreams.

We moved back home to where our families lived.  My husband got a job, and I started scouting the area for office space.

I still had no money and couldn't get a loan.   Thankfully, I have wonderful parents.  I shared with them my business plan, wrote out a loan contract and was granted money to open my business.

With 25K I got a 600 sq. ft. space that I was able to design,  a flexion distraction table (I still had the 2 bench tables) office furniture and eventually an X-ray machine.  (I referred out for X-ray to the local hospital for the first 6 months of being open).  I had a marketing budget and could pay overhead.  I was in business!!  This was May 2000.  By December 2000 I was seeing 125 people a week ALL CASH! YES!

Fast forward 21 years.  I have moved office space 2 times to accommodate growth.  I continue to run an ALL CASH business, have 2 team members and am currently looking to renovate my space to enlarge my practice.

It's all because I have a vision for what I want in practice and life.  I have not waivered from that vision.  I am still striving for the vision, but I did not let the failure of the first practice to be my only attempt. Or the failures of my current practice to deter me.  Yes it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows.  I continually have to work, make changes, even fail at some things to come out BETTER.

I learned from ALL the experiences.

1. I needed to have structure in office procedures

2. I needed consistent consultation, exam and ROF skills

3. I needed to surround myself with like-minded people

4. I needed to shut out all the noise from the nay-sayers and keep my vision in the fore-front of my brain, never lose sight of what I am working toward.

Today, I have freedom.  While running a practice is always a challenge, especially in the craziness we have been going through the last 9 plus months.  I have the freedom to expand my practice, take vacation whenever I want, I am handsomely compensated for my time, I contribute to a 401K for myself and staff, adjust only 3 days per week, help other docs build their dream practice and have confidence in what I do: Chiropractic.  

For the past 7 years I have been a part of the Everest Coaching System Team.  I can attribute much of my confidence to the skills I acquired for my consultation and ROF from attending Bootcamp(several bootcamps really).  It is a practice that I have been consistently doing for seven years and I consistently get better which allows me to help more people and have more freedom.

Isn't that why we got into Chiropractic? FREEDOM.

xoxo

Dr Misty Senz