Fail Forward
PRACTICE
MANAGEMENT
Start a Practice and Grow in Spite of the Obstacles
Steven Visentin
On your way to success in building a practice, you will encounter obstacles that will cause you to grow in unexpected ways. Starting your own practice is difficult, but it will be rewarding because it will force you to become the best version
of yourself.
Over the pasts three decades, I served nearly 20,000 new patients in a highly competitive market. To do this takes total commitment, resourcefulness, and a good sense of humor. Here’s how I started.
Beggar in a Suit
I went horn bank to bank begging for money to start my practice. Each banker said the same thing, “We can lend you $20,000 if you’ll deposit $20,000 in our bank.” To which I’d respond, “If I had $20,000,1 wouldn’t be here.” This ridiculous conversation would continue until eventually they would say in a condescending fashion, “We don’t speculate with our depositors’ money.”
These same bankers were speculating wildly. Shortly after I was turned down for my modest loan, I read in the papers how they had lost more than $3 million to scammers who had pro-
posed a “sci-fi park.” They lost millions on a fraudulent venture but wouldn’t loan me a penny.
Unexpected Help
Finally, hi desperation, I borrowed money h orn my relatives. Soon after, they began calling me at home and asking, “What are you doing with our money? What have you done so far?”
What I had done was rent the cheapest space I could find so I could work 17 hours a day to develop a practice.
I Nearly Drop Dead
I had a tuna sandwich in one hand and a paint brush in the other. The phone rang and I cradled it between my shoulder and ear to respond. I was shocked to hear these words, “I’m going to sue you!” I felt exhausted and nearly dropped dead. The doctor on the phone angrily explained, “You have a deceptively similar name.” I hadn’t even opened the door and I was getting sued. He said, “You’ll be healing from my lawyer.”
I had spent some of my relative’s money to have the words “Family Chiropractic Services” printed on the windows and on paper products for my future clinic. Another chiropractor had already registered a similar name.
That night, I had dinner with a business attorney. I told him the words “family chiropractic” were generic and I had every right to use them. He replied, “You can’t afford my services. Just to begin would cost more money than you have. The way I see it, you invested your relative’s money in paper products and signage for your new practice. I suggest you chip the name off the window, throw the forms away, and start again.” I felt upset but did what he told me to do.
Fortunately, my wife came up with a much better name, “Care Chiropractic.”
Lesson Learned
Get an original name and register it. Most of all, find ways around obstacles and capitalize on mistakes. Certainly, don’t quit.
My First Patient
The wife of another chiropractor became my first patient. She was very challenging, wanted all of my time, and wanted to tell me exactly how to care for her. She would complain a lot and tell me how everything I was doing for her was wrong. Because her husband was in the profession, she also didn’t expect to pay my fee. After a few weeks of this, I explained to her, “I’d like you to choose a new doctor.” She blurted, “Are you firing me?” I said, “Yes, I’ve done my best for you and you’re not progressing.”
The very next day, I met her husband by chance in a barbershop. He asked, “Are you Dr. Visentin?” In a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, he continued, “Did you throw my wife out of your clinic?” There was a long, awkward pause. He then continued, “That was the smartest thing you did. Working this way will ensure your success. You have to be selective about your clientele.” Needless to say, I was shocked.
Lesson Learned
It is a good idea to let patients whom you can’t help go elsewhere.
The Escort Service
The neighborhood I started in was so bad that someone tried to put an “escort service” next to my clinic. It forced me to introduce my self to other business people in the neighborhood and gather signatures on a petition to block this sleazy enterprise. I also called neighborhood associations and rallied them to stop this veiled front for prostitution.
Lesson Learned
Without ever trying to do so, I became a leader in a popular cause. I met the community, we stopped the escort service, and people discovered who I am. This problem I encountered and helped to solve became a stimulus to growth.
My First Seminar
Before I opened the doors to my new practice, I attended a very inspiring seminal'. I listened to doctor after doctor talk about die miracles they saw in their clinics. I was feeling so enthusiastic that I felt as if I wanted to adjust the entire world or at least let everyone know about chiropractic. As the last speaker finished, I gathered my notes, asked questions, and followed the last doctor out of the huge hall.
As I walked back to my hotel, a man in a cervical collar was coming toward me in the opposite direction. He was bent over in pain and was trudging through wave after wave of highly motivated chiropractors. Before I met the man, he waded through hundreds of other doctors who were feeling just as pumped up as I was. Many of them saw how bad he looked and told him, “Go see the chiropractor!” Some asked, “Have
you tried chiropractic?” With each suggestion, he bent lower.
Finally, he walked tow aid me. I looked at him and felt an urge to adjust him. I tried to contain myself and said, “Excuse me, sir. Has anyone told you about chiropractic?” He paused and gave me a perplexed look. As he stared into my eyes, he said, “My wife has been telling me, ‘Go see the chiropractor.’ Everyone at work is telling me, ‘Go see the chiropractor.’ Now, this entire town is telling me, ‘Go see the chiropractor.’ If one more person tells me to see the chiropractor, I’m going to kill ’em!”
Lesson Learned
Rejection is easier to cope with when you realize there are countless outside factors you can’t control.
There is no “perfect practice.” It’s an uphill battle. At times, finding the willpower to continue will require minute-by-minute self-motivation. The adventure begins, however, when you’re forced to create solutions and grow in spite of challenges. Overcoming resistance will make you stronger; it’s the key to success. If you can stay tough but be kind, you’ll have a glorious career and do a lot of good in a crazy world.
Steven Visentin, DC, is a Denver chiropractor and a 1982 graduate of the National College of Chiropractic. He's the clinic director for Care Chiropractic (www .care chir opr acand the author
of an e-book titled, Blow Your Head Off Practice Building Secrets.
