In response to the question I ask of anyone opting in for my "Crack the Code to Becoming an Entrepreneurial Physician" free report (I ask: "What is your BIGGEST question about starting or managing a business?"), I received this great reply the other day:

My biggest question about starting or managing a business is whether or not the business I am considering will thrive for the long-term and be able to provide significant financial support (or be a side business).  I do not feel that I have a great business background so it's hard trying to figure out "where do I start".

This was my reply:

The best chance for success occur when you have the following:

1. a well-defined problem you are solving
2. a well- and clearly-defined target market with that problem that you care enough about to want to solve their problem(s)
3. a target market that can afford to pay for your solution, and values your solution
4. a relatively easy way to access your target market without having to find them all one by one, unless you have a really high ticket item you can sell and then deliver without much overhead (consultants can sometimes do this - just one $50,000 or $100,000 project can be enough, and you have to usually find your customers one on one for those)
5. a clear message about the benefits of your solution, with a plan for how to get that message out (your marketing plan)
6. a clear business plan that outlines your business model, what you have discovered about 1-4 above, your path to revenues, your anticipated costs, your financing, and your team (of advisors or employees)
7. sheer tenacity and dogged persistence to weather the rough times
8. and a touch of luck will help!

Do you agree? 

Two interesting articles from HealthLeaders Media surfaced today that got me thinking about one of the less-emphasized areas of hospital-physician relationships.

In one article, "Your Hospital, The Entrepreneur", hospitals and health plans are investors in new businesses, providing venture capital.

"Schulz's funds aren't much different from many other venture capital funds except for two unusual characteristics: They focus on healthcare innovation, and their investors are primarily hospitals and health plans. The funds are among a small number of funds that have been introduced since the dawn of the century that feature hospitals and health systems, rather than financial institutions, tech companies or wealthy individuals, as investment capital partners.

For a hospital investment committee used to safe investments in fixed income instruments and equities, investing this way may sound risky. But hospitals are uniquely positioned to benefit financially from discoveries in the medical field--not only in cutting edge research but also in more mundane areas, such as billing, collections, supply chain and quality of care innovations. What's more, hospitals can prove to be essential development partners for nascent companies that hope to sell hospitals on the effectiveness of their goods and services."

In the other, "SSM partners with doctors in joint venture", hospitals are partnering with physicians in business, to generate mutually desired and hopefully profitable outcomes.

"SSM St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood said Tuesday it is partnering with six area physician practices in a joint venture aimed at improving patient care and satisfaction. The new company will design and test new patient care processes in a pilot nursing unit in the hospital.....

...... Under the agreement, the physician groups own 75 percent of the new company and the hospital owns 25 percent. The hospital then pays the company to provide management services.

The company's board has nine seats. Six are occupied by the physician practices and the rest are controlled by the hospital.....

..... Physicians will be paid a base salary for time spent managing the unit. Achieving improvement milestones, such as improved patient satisfaction scores, will earn the physicians bonuses. Physicians will also be paid to develop improvement strategies. Whether the unit makes or loses money will remain the responsibility of the hospital, thus freeing the physician groups from financial risk."

It occurred to me that there are several opportunities for savvy aspiring entrepreneurial physicians to learn more about business and leadership, without having to fork over $60,000 for business school.

What if you could:

• Position yourself to be invited to sit on a hospital investment committee, and observe first hand how financial and investment decisions are made?
• Be a practice leader sitting on a board that makes decisions about how a hospital-physician management company is run?
• Be that same practice leader participating in the management company, learning the skills of influence and persuasion, with the responsibility of encouraging your physician partners to collaborate to achieve the desired outcomes?
• Be a physician with a new device, patentable process or software product, taking it before the hospital investment committee and learning how your offering is evaluated from not only a clinical or utility standpoint, but also a financial one?

On a personal note, my journey into leadership and business began years ago when I volunteered to serve on the more financially- and strategy-oriented hospital committees in my two local hospitals. Little did I foresee back then the direction my career would take, but I certainly was fascinated by what I was learning.  

If you are curious about business and don't have a chunk of change and time to devote to getting a business degree, you might consider applying instead to your local hospital!

Sometimes I discover that two of my favorite people have crossed paths and are making a little music together.

This time it's my own business coach, Adam Urbanski of Marketing Mentors, Inc. and Denise Wakeman of The Blog Squad. In a blog post from Biz Tips Blog of a couple of days ago , titled "11 Internet Business Mistakes to Avoid", Adam describes eleven errors commonly made by business owners.

They are:

Mistake #1 - Not Treating What You Do as a Business.

Mistake #2 - Being Distracted by Too Many Good Ideas.

Mistake #3 - Not Selecting a Specific Niche.

Mistake #4 - Falling in Love With the Wrong Product Idea.

Mistake #5 - Falling for the Get Rich Quick Scheme!

Mistake #6 - Going Into It, Instead of Growing Into It.

Mistake #7 - Being a Copy-Cat!

Mistake #8 - Wasting Time and Money on Developing Pretty but Useless Websites.

Mistake #9 - Not Building Relationship with Clients.

Mistake #10 - Calling It QUITS Too Soon!

Mistake #11 - Being too cheap!

Read the article details here.

While his focus is on Internet Business, I believe that these are mistakes for ANY physician business owner to be aware of.

And if any of you have known me for a while, or attended my recent teleclass on "5 'Dirty Secrets" to Sleaze-Free Marketing", much of this will sound familiar. It's nice to have someone else do the nagging instead!

PS: If you want to avoid making these errors as you set up your new business or practice, or upgrade it, then consider registering for the 4-week The Entrepreneurial MD Marketing Mastery Program -- an affordable and very practical teleseminar created in response to the needs expressed to me by physicians who are struggling to attract "ideal" prospective clients or patients to grow their business, AND revenues!

You too can open for business in 30 days!

Now it seems like a bit of a stretch to me, but Entrepreneur.com (the online version of one of my favorite magazines) has a handy 6-page article making such a claim -- in "Up and Running" -- and I thought it would at least serve as a handy guide to some of the key decisions and steps that you have to consider when starting your new business.

I was also intrigued by the smart page-turning presentation - click on the bottom right corner of the right page and you will flip it over to the next.

Let me know what you think!

PS: You may have to register, for free, to get access to the article -- as I am signed up it comes up automatically for me. When I click on the article link above, I'm taken to an Instructions page. To access the article, click on Content on the top line and then the article on page 50.

I love receiving emails from the physicians who have visited The Entrepreneurial MD and downloaded the free report. One of the ways I always hope to stimulate a conversation with my intended audience is to ask, in the report: What is the biggest question facing you regarding your business right now?".

I get great replies.

A recent subscriber asked "Is there another business I could go into which would allow me the same income as I get now as a physician?"

This is a great question, and one that causes many physicians to pause as they consider the ramifications of a transition and career change. The unsatisfying answer is "It depends!" 
 
If I may take a moment to get personal here and share a bit about my situation, it took me about 5 years to reach an income level that matched mine as a Family Practitioner in private practice and later as a hospital administrator. I got there because I was so determined to pull it off, I paid my dues in terms of obtaining training, taking courses and paying for other people's expertise, AND I had the luxury of a supportive spouse. Bless him!
 
It depends mostly on whether you choose to start the business that most deeply stirs your interest and passion. Are you willing to be a craftsman or -woman, patiently shaping what lives only in your imagination into a real-life entity?

It makes a huge difference if you really care about what you are doing, as it gives you the "legs" and persistence to learn all that you need to, and to hang in there when things don't go quite as planned.

And if your idea is good and you truly focus on implementing terrific business and marketing plans, you'll get there a lot faster.

Here's another question I offered the physician to explore: Do you really need to quit being a practicing clinician? Perhaps you don't need to leave your practice or job as a physician. Instead, can you find a way to redesign it to be much more creative and entrepreneurial?
 
A lot of people ask me how I learned all of this "business stuff" to be able to have a thriving coaching business.  

Well, the honest answer is I learned it the hard way. From being in practice when I didn't have a clue I was in a business. From runing the big bureaucratic institution that a hospital is. And mostly from running my two small businesses over the past 6 years.

My first coaching business, or practice as I thought of it back then, (Oya Consulting) grew very slowly because I used very traditional marketing methods -- speaking, networking, some writing, and sitting around waiting for word-of-mouth referrals. I wish I had figured out then what I know now.

Using "the new marketing" with blogging, commenting on blog posts written by others for physicians, creating podcasts, and attracting the attention online of the media who write for offline publications, I have crafted and moulded The Entrepreneurial MD far quicker -- I have way better results in 15 months than I had in almost four years with my first coaching business.

So my answer to the physician who took the time to ask the question, and for those of you who may be pondering it, is YES ... it is possible to have a business that brings in more than you earned as a physician, but it is not guaranteed!

To be successful, the new business is going to demand your persistence, tenacity, courage, patience and the willingness to DO THE WORK. And in return, it will offer you joy, independence, creative expression, excitement, aliveness and a satisfying lifestyle that no big salary as an unhappy doctor could ever match!