Business Consultants/Guide to Starting Your Own Medical Practice

1. Self-employed means working long hours. Many people who work for themselves do work long hours, but this is frequently a choice. They simply love what they do. Many people can start practices that generate income even while they aren’t working. If you choose a practice that includes passive recurring income, you won’t necessarily have to spend a lot of time working once you get going.

2. Being an employee is less risky. This is one of the biggest myths. Employees get laid off all the time. And what if you need to raise some extra cash quickly? That’s tough to do when you’re working for someone else, and your income is fixed. Being self-employed gives you more control over your income and the assets of the practice. Control helps reduce risk.

3. Self-employment means putting all your eggs in one basket. If you’re an employee, how many patients do you have to lose in the practice in order to lose your paycheck? This can be as little as one patient. But if you have a number of patients, they all have to fire you for you to lose all of your income.

4. Self-employment equals stress. When you work for yourself, you can create whatever work environment you choose. You can have greater stability over the long term, and you have more control over your hours. You can also choose a practice that isn’t inherently stressful. Generally, you can make it whatever you want it to be, which will make your stress level only as high as you find acceptable.

5. Being self-employed is lonely. Working for yourself can be a much more pleasant lifestyle if you choose. With more flexibility, you can often rearrange your schedule to suit your social life. When you work for someone else, your coworkers tend to be your social life. Over time, that can get old.

6. Self-employment means doing everything yourself. While you’re the one that has to ensure that everything gets done, that doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself. Hire people to do the work for you. Your time should be spent growing and expanding the practice, not doing the grunt work.

7. Running your own practice is complicated. Yes, there is quite a bit to know, but none of it is difficult. There are books and experts available to help you along the way. Nothing is overly complex about insurance, payroll taxes, and bookkeeping. It’s just new to you. Plus, you only have to learn information once. Then you can start as many practices as you like.

8. You can’t start a practice without a lot of money. That largely depends on the practice. A website and accompanying social media platforms can cost less than $100 a year. Your home phone or cell phone is already paid for as part of your monthly expenses. A tank of gas isn’t that expensive, relatively speaking, nowadays, plus they have electric vehicles. And ads are inexpensive also. There are a lot of inexpensive ways to start and market a practice. You could market directly to other doctors and/or set up free educational webinars that describe your services.

Where there’s a will, there is a way. Don’t let a bunch of myths stop you from taking the plunge into self-employment. You can even start a practice on the side and continue working your regular job until your new practice brings in enough income to replace it. Now that we’ve separated myths from facts, what are you going to do? Put on your thinking cap and figure out a way to make your dream a reality. There’s no time like the present to take control of your life.

This article was contributed by Hassan Akinbiyi, M.D., https://drhassanrehab.com/about-dr-hassan/