When an entrepreneurial doc doesn't have time for a start-up...

... but lots of ideas and gusto, what is a guy or gal to do?

One depressing option is to shelve the ideas.

Another (bolder one) is to take the plunge anyway!

In the face of a looming recession (BTW - when are we going to decide if the recession has arrived?), it seems foolhardy to walk away from a good, steady paycheck, no matter how unhappy the genesis of that paycheck makes you.

If you're working harder than ever to generate that paycheck, how will you find the time to devote to starting and then running a business, nurturing it to the point that you can step away from your imprisoning clinical job and gleefully jump into the new business full-time?

And yet we keep hearing that now is the time to take advantage of the business opportunities that arise.

So how does one resolve this dilemma?

Well, what if you could keep working and producing your steady paycheck while someone else helps create your business? Not your idea (you start with that), but the execution of your idea! 

One of the growing trends in service businesses is to provide not just the knowledge and training for achieving a goal (we teach you and you do it), but the actual "we-do-it-for-you" support that flattens the learning curve and shortens time to start-up dramatically.

At The Entrepreneurial MD, I've been scratching my head as to how to be helpful with these challenges. And here's how I think we have done just that, with a new comprehensive Business Start-Up Program.

I spent the summer doing lots of planning and writing with Jeff Williams of BizStarters (a business coaching venture that comprehensively supports the start-ups for boomers who are retiring early or being laid off in big numbers) to create a first:

An all-inclusive program for physicians that not only provides business coaching but that also does all the grunt work needed to launch a business.

There isn't another program like it, at least for now (remember what I teach about "first mover's advantage"?). 

The program isn't for anyone who is vague about wanting to quit practice someday and doesn't know what else to do. Or for doctors who are way to busy to make the crucial decisions that need to be made to get a business launched.

If you've been following me for a while, you'll know the emphasis I place on defining your "ideal client or patient". Well, our ideal client is rearing to go, despite some reservations or fears (we all have those!) and willing to commit to meeting for a couple of hours a month to:

a. get clear on the business model

b. work on a business and marketing plan

c. make the 28 key decisions that constitute the heart of the program and that guide to our team to produce the goods.

Read more about The Entrepreneurial MD Business Start-Up program here to see if this is the answer to your start-up prayer !

Anyone ready yet? 

Comments

[DR Schoor]

The only problem I see with this, excellent!!, idea is the potential for conflict of interest. No one cares more about you then you. Giving over the reigns to someone else when it comes to the important grunt work of start-up seems risky to me. It would only work if you and your partner do not have anything financial to gain from the services you select to assist in this "turnkey" process for the recipient. If I had allowed someone else to find my office space for me, I'd be paying double than what I pay now.
Am I wrong?

[Philippa Kennealy]

Good observation Dr Schoor - thank you for your viewpoint. I agree that it's ideal if the physician takes responsibility for the outcome and gets involved in the start-up process. However, in reality, he or she is likely to feel so overwhelmed by all that needs to be accomplished that the course of least resistance is to do nothing, or at minimum procrastinate.

This program cannot get results if the physician completely hands over the reins and won't or can't make the vitally important decisions that every start-up demands. That alone would make me doubt the likelihood of the business succeeding.

The ideal client is involved, asks tough questions like yours, expects the best, and realizes that were he or she doing this all alone, the costs of the learning curve, with its avoidable mistakes would be much greater than having an experienced team create the website, set up the Quickbooks, set up the online tools, arrange for an option of business logos etc. And we are transparent about our pricing - if you were to add up the costs of arranging by yourself all the services we provide (including the business coaching), you'd quickly discover that they'd far exceed the cost of the program. It is only through Jeff's extensive connections built over years of doing this that we can negotiate for volume discounts and price the overall program service as low as we do.

Glad to be pushed to clarify the program goals! Thanks again.