How Doctors Can Begin Working on Their Business for Better Results

How Doctors Can Begin Working on Their Business for Better Results

Dr. Linda Hancock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Hancock has written a regular weekly column entitled “All Psyched Up” for newspapers in two Canadian provinces for more than a dozen years. Over the years, her readers and clients have said that they have benefited from her common-sense solutions, wisdom, and sense of humour. Dr. Linda Hancock, the author of “Life is An Adventure…every step of the way” and “Open for Business Success” is a Registered Psychologist who has a private practice in Medicine Hat. She can be reached at 403-529-6877 or through email office@drlindahancock.com

Published

January 24 2011

Many people think that doctors have it made! They envy physicians, thinking that their income is enviable and that they have the time to do anything that they want when they want it. The truth is, however, that many doctors feel trapped in a situation where they have a number of staff members on the payroll, huge accounts payables and feel that they need to keep working hard in order to stay ahead of trouble.

There is a way out but it begins with being open to learning a new way of living and doing business. Time and energy need to be invested to understand all the key elements of the financial process before effective changes can be made.

The first step is one that many doctors never consider and therefore find it difficult to come up with an answer.

Let me ask the question "If all your bills were paid (both personal and business), how much money would you like to have to spend at the end of each month?"

The answers that I get are interesting and surprising. Sometimes a doctor will state "I don't know how much the business expenses are for a month".

I repeat and explain the question. "I mean money you would like to have AFTER all the expenses are paid".

Sometimes I hear guesses or get blank stares.

You see few people think this way.

Then I ask "How much do you earn an hour?" and again receive confusing answers. Usually doctors know what their accountant states was earned the previous year but that's as far as the details go.

You see, if you know how much you would like after expenses and how much you earn and hour it is easy to calculate the number of hours you need to work in order to earn that amount. It is probably about four hours a day. That means that all the other income is going to pay staff and other expenses which can be adjusted.

Think about it, if you only need to work half time, you won't need as much staff and other expenses.

The exercise is not meant to be comprehensive but merely to get you thinking. If you want freedom and more hours for personal interests, perhaps working less, paying fewer taxes and having lower office expenses, might offer you the dreams that you have been chasing. It's all about designing a business that will meet your needs.