Opening your own practice can be an exciting endeavor, whether you’re a doctor, physical therapist, or healthcare provider.
However, business ownership brings many obstacles and challenges to overcome. You’re no longer just a healthcare provider but a business owner who must make the right decisions to grow.
To help out, this article explores five ways to take your practice to the next level and succeed.
1. Hire Specialists to Expand Offerings
Hiring specialists opens access to more types of patients or clients, helping to establish additional revenue streams.
For example, if you are a general practitioner, you can already see various patients. However, if you are close to neighborhoods with many families, you could bring in a pediatrician to diversify your services. If you have an in-house cardiologist, you could refer patients experiencing high blood pressure or other cardiovascular issues.
This helps your practice take in more revenue and increases convenience for the patient, enhancing their experience.
2. Upgrade Your Location
Moving to a bigger or more strategic location could help continue rapid growth and make it more sustainable.
A larger location gives you more space for your team and equipment, meaning you can take on more patients and complete the work more efficiently.
If you can get into a busier location, you’ll also make your practice more prominent and accessible. This could pay off for years through increased brand awareness, new patients, and better patient retention.
Finally, a newer and thoughtfully designed facility can leave a stronger impression on patients or clients, building trust and increasing patient/client loyalty.
3. Invest in Marketing Campaigns
Marketing your practice effectively can attract new clients or patients by standing out from your competitors and helping customers decide to visit you instead of someone else.
Local SEO is key for private practices. It helps you appear at the top of digital search results when potential patients look for your kind of practice, dramatically increasing their trust and potentially causing them to book with you.
Writing helpful blog posts targeting specific keywords and optimizing your site for technical SEO can help here.
Another way to reach new patients is through paid online ads. These involve paying to run ads to potential new patients. If you craft a campaign with a positive ROI, you could maintain it for a long time and continue investing in it.
Strengthen your online presence with a clean, well-designed website, and add patient/client testimonials. Video testimonials in particular can be powerful assets.
Make sure new patients/clients also get onto your email list if they consent to receive marketing communications. This helps you keep in touch with them, stay top of mind, and increase the chance they come back for repeated services.
4. Securing Financing to Fuel Growth
The right financing source can provide much-needed capital to invest in projects with growth potential.
For example, you can apply for a small business loan to acquire critical equipment for your practice, such as computers and other relevant devices. This could improve your efficiency and customer service, helping you serve more patients and improve patient retention.
Another idea might be to secure a business line of credit. A line of credit lets you borrow as needed up to a certain limit for flexible needs, such as cash flow shortfalls or smaller unexpected purchases.
Regardless, shop with lenders to find the right financing type and the best terms.
5. Offer Telemedicine and Virtual Consultations
Remote services over the Internet have become much more popular due to their convenience and increased care accessibility.
By providing remote services, you can offer more options to regular patients while expanding into new markets without opening new locations. For instance, if your practice serves patients/clients with mobility issues, virtual consultations or telemedicine appointments make it much easier for them to seek care.
You’ll also reduce no-shows, keeping a tighter handle on your practice time. Plus, you could serve more patients without as much physical infrastructure, helping drive down costs.
Grow Your Practice and Succeed
Opening a private practice is a significant accomplishment in your career, but you’re just getting started.
Hiring specialists to expand your services, upgrading your location, investing in marketing, leveraging financing wisely, and offering telemedicine/virtual services each can help you grow your practice and position yourself for success.
With the right approach, you can overcome the challenges of running a practice and continue to grow your business in the long term.
