You have been in practice for many years. You have been successful in building and maintaining your practice. The professional goals you established upon graduation have been far exceeded. Now you have ten, fifteen or twenty years before you complete your career. What are your options to grow personally and professionally?

Turning one practice into multiple practices would define growth by many mid-career Chiropractors. To be able to serve more of the community and in turn increase your passive income, lessen doctor/ patient time and increase practice equity would further expand the definition of your success.

As a co-owner of six Chiropractic practices my experiences can clarify, if multiple practice expansion is a viable option for you to reach a higher professional satisfaction. If asked, most Chiropractors would say they would love to own multiple practices and reap the rewards, but most Chiropractors that attempt expansion fail.

A common business plan is to open a second office and work in it on your days off. Build a small patient base and then an associate can take over the existing patent base. What invariably occurs is the existing practice decreases in profitability, a small practice is built at the satellite practice, overhead costs almost double, and the doctor is working an additional two days, in addition to the regular work week, with zero financial ability to hire an associate. The doctor now finds him or herself bleeding until they hemorrhage. The reality is every hour they spend at the satellite office they are losing money and enthusiasm.

This failed plan plays over and over. I have benefited by purchasing many of my satellite practices from doctors at the hemorrhage stage. The doctors all felt that selling their practices at an undervalued price is better than continuing to loose money and energy. For them, it was to sell or close the office completely.

The fundamental mistake these doctors have made is they have worked in their practice, not on their practice. This statement by Michael Gerber in the E-Myth must be understood completely before attempting any expansion.

Doctors tell me all of the time that they are working harder then they ever have before, spending time traveling from one practice to another, training new staff, and seeing more people. They are not accomplishing their goal of multiple practices; they are just doing more of what they're already doing with a lot more overhead. They are working in their practice.

The Chiropractor whose goal is multiple practices must work less as a Chiropractor and more as a visionary, administrator and motivator of staff. A transformation must occur from the practice of Chiropractic to the business of Chiropractic. A shift in thought from "This is what I do, I will do more of it myself" to "I must delegate responsibilities to grow" is a necessity for growth. Your interest will increase in other related areas such as computer technology for higher efficiency, human resources for quality hiring and training, and improvements in basic business modus operandi. Your responsibilities will include investigating the best purchasing opportunity for printing, phone, x-ray sales and service, malpractice and business liability insurance and durable Chiropractic supplies. The doctor that puts their energy into implementing specific systems that can evaluate productivity and efficiency within their practice is working on their practice.

There are three interdependent traits I have found that define success in any project but definitely in multiple office expansion; vision, motivation and system implementation. The vision you create will be the motivating force that develops quality systems that can be highly executed.

You, the Chiropractor must be the visionary; the leader that has a burning desire to climb this mountain. Your employees must understand, agree and follow this vision. Ideally, the Chiropractor, staff and patients should all be aligned in the mission of the practices. Know more here Chiropractor Toronto https://transform-chiropractic.business.site/


This vision must encompass satisfaction for all involved. Each person working with you must have a communal as well as a personal interest in reaching the goal. By serving the community, the practice, and oneself professionally and financially, solidifies the entire organization with the vision.

No one person can execute all of the needed tasks to build and sustain multiple practices; it is a true team effort. To acknowledge this statement exemplifies the need to motivate your team. Not all employees are motivated by the same compensation or by the same management style. My experience has found that evolving into a well defined corporate culture enables the leader to anticipate the needs of the team. High employee diversity leads to an increased difficulty to motivate and manage. Similar personalities are motivated with similar and predictable ethics, expectations and rewards.