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Hello, I am looking into the possibility of starting a private practice from scratch. I am newly graduated so any advice would be greatly appreciated. If you yourself have done this, how long did it take before the business became full-time?

Thank you in advance

 

Hi Podiatry Scholar,

:welcome: to Podiatry Arena.

Here's a previous thread RE: Setting up a private practice.

You may find more information in the Practice Management Forum.

Kind regards,

Mandy.

 

well, i admire any new dpm starting from scratch. this is what i did. i finished my training and moved to utah, one of the worst states to start a medical practice and i was very fortunate. words of wisdom: first, its great being your own boss..you come and go as you want. But be prepared to be married to your practice, you will spend 10-12 hours a day at work learning marketing, billing, and brown-nosing. there are a lot of dpms out there so decide what makes you special. what will set you apart. I became certified in wound care and a running coach and that helped a ton. i had a lot of runners and diabetics as patients. I was lucky b/c my father in law was a D.C and he rented me space cheap...so see if you know anyone who can offer you space cheap BUT PROFESSIONAL ATMOSPHERE.
I recently retired my private practice cap b/c i was hired by a group and LOVE IT. so unless you have to do private practice, maybe you should try doing both...ie., private practice and working in a wound care center or other facility.
one marketing tool that helped a ton: offer FREE classes from your office or at a local library or senior center. Discuss, obesity, weight losss, nutrition and topics like this that everyone can relate to...were americans and are all almost overweight.
last but not least...never get discouraged and start looking for assisted living facilities to work out of..not nursing homes... they are a great easy source of income and the folks appreciate what you offer. good luck

 

Pod scholar

It is a tough world at the moment and I dont know if the general guide that it takes one year per day of full business still appilies. There are multiple factors to take into account, not least is the number of foot health practitioners in your area-whether, pods of FHP or even age concern!
Research is vital- and maybe at the start you could build up your own practise while doing either locum or part time for someone else to at least bri ng in some money.
It took me 3 years-16 years ago- but I live in an area where few of us practise and I also had a lot of contacts from a previous job as well as a pharmacist friend who rented me a room. I now rent surgeries in GP practises and visit on 2 other days. This is a much cheaper option than having a shop front where overheads are extortionate. Hope this helps

All the best
cornmerchant

 

Pod scholar,
The SCP produce a private Practice Handbook for members which contains a wealth of information, covering all aspects of PP.

I would also use the yardstick that it takes 1 year of trading to obtain a full days work per week. So using that formula it takes about 5 years to build up to F/T PP.
I have started 3 chiropody businesses from scratch and have found that to be the case.
You also have to be prepared to take on additional part-time employment whilst your practice is building. I skilled up on IT , shorthand and office management courses via college, so I had another income while I was waiting for patients and filled some of the gaps in my diary with locum work.

hope that helps

Good Luck