A genuine entrepreneur is interested in creating a business from the ground up without extra help. However, as one moves forward in creating a business plan, it becomes obvious that extra help is necessary. Such business plans require one to make something out of nothing. It takes a great deal of time, discipline, and tons of motivation to engage in cntrcprcncurship. The entrepreneurial chiropractor graduates with a degree and begins to build a business from scratch with no backing. It's difficult for a chiropractor to maintain a steady profit inflow at the very beginning of this endeavor because there is no business prototype. This gives the chiropractor more of a challenge to overcome, unlike other healthcare professionals who have a profitable system set up within a hospital setting from the start. Therefore, investing in a sclf-dcvclopmcnt program or hiring a consultant is vital for the chiropractor who desires to attain success and profitability. It might take more time and effort than initially expected. However, the chiropractor can save time and money through these investments since it will be much easier to accomplish his or her goals with the increased knowledge and expertise learned. With that said, lets look at three advantages you'll gain from self-dcvclopmcnt. Better Care for Patients - Patient care takes precedence above all else. A chiropractor can easily accomplish this by making sure he or she incorporates a system into a practice designed around efficiency. This not only helps keep patients happy, but also directly affects the practice's bottom line. Business Promotion Opportunities - By investing time in entrepreneurial sclf-dcvclopmcnt. you" 11 find that it will also become much easier to promote a growing practice over time. By doing so. you" 11 have the right knowledge for how to attract quality new patients, which in return will expand your business. Know ledge is power, and you can never have too much of both. Professional Growth - Any and every professional must participate in continued learning to keep up with current research and development, which is always changing. If you arc not keeping up with this "information age"" that we live in. how will you stay motivated for the long run? Sclf-dcvclopmcnt is popular for mam working professionals, especially chiropractors, because it challenges them and steers them in the right direction toward their goals of cntrcprcncurship. It may be costly, but anything worthwhile takes a risky investment. It doesn't have to be viewed as an actual expense, either. Look at it as an investment that will produce great dividends. Developing skills and faculties as a professional by broadening ones horizons through continued education should never be overlooked. Learning opportunities and professional development can be deducted from yearly taxes. Its vital for the chiropractor to keep an account of the courses and corresponding expenses to ensure reimbursement of the proper amount from the IRS. For all chiropractors, especially self-practitioners, this deductible business investment creates a greater interest in sclf-dcvclopmcnt and learning because of the increased affordability. The bottom line is that chiropractors who decide to invest in their future through sclf-dcvclopmcnt will profit handsomely in the end. Their ability to serve their patients while building the business through networking and creating a more advanced industry profile will continue to expand because of these sclf-dcvclopmcnt programs. It's also vital to engage in continuing education from the patient's point of view. Educational and sclf-dcvclopmcnt programs will enhance patients" overall experiences because the sen ice being offered to them is superior. This is because of the chiropractor's knowledge of the latest research and utilization of the newest techniques that wouldn't be accessible otherwise. Tom Owen III, President ofAMC, lectures extensively from coast-to-coast to thousands of chiropractors and students annually. He is the author of Chiropractic from a Business Man s Perspective, and has spent the last 25 years in the day-to-day trenches of the chiropractic profession. He lives by his quote that "In the end, all that is left are the lives we 've touched and to what extent they were changed."