Jack O'Brien: Don't start a clinic, risks, pitfalls and priorities for clinic startups | GYC Podcast E275

Stepping into the clinic ownership arena is no walk in the park, and we're pulling back the curtain to reveal the unvarnished truth. Alongside Jack, we've dedicated this episode to guiding you through the ownership odyssey, tackling topics from time management to the entrepreneurial mindset needed to flourish. If you've been pondering whether to leap into healthcare business ownership, we guarantee insights that'll arm you with the knowledge to make an informed decision.

Embarking on the journey of clinic ownership is an adventure that demands more than clinical expertise; it requires a complete overhaul of your outlook on business and life. This episode peels back the layers of the mental shifts that new clinic owners must undergo, drawing from our own experiences and the wisdom of our Elevate program. We dissect the 'build it and they will come' fallacy, highlight the necessity of networking, and stress the importance of financial acumen. We also share our strategies for prioritizing and investing time and resources in ways that not only advance your practice but also ensure its sustainability.

Finally, we don't just stop at the challenges; we also equip you with the tools for success. We discuss the art of leveraging every moment for business growth, the role of AI in optimizing operations, and the significance of smart financial investments. As we wrap up, we invite you to become an active part of our community by leaving a review and continuing your growth journey with us. Every clinic owner's path is unique, but with the right guidance and community support, it can lead to a thriving destination.

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Transcript

Jack O'Brien: 0:00

What you do matters Can't overstate how important accountability is with time. This is probably the biggest investment of your money and time. How do I prioritize what actually matters? Who are you spending time with? Who's challenging you? A good marker of progress for a clinic owner is are you in the majority or the minority of what the rest are doing? This is the Grow your Clinic podcast from Clinic Mastery. And what we see separates those who struggle from those who are thriving.

Ben Lynch: 0:30

Welcome to the Grow your Clinic podcast. My name is Ben Lynch. In this episode, I speak with Jack O'Brien, my partner here at Clinic Mastery and the leader of our Elevate program, which supports early stage and startup clinics to create something sustainable. In this episode, we talk about why you shouldn't start a clinic, the risks, the pitfalls, the challenges that face every startup or early stage clinic, the things you can do to overcome them, but a real question about whether you should embark on the journey in the first place. Stay tuned for when Jack talks about how to prioritize and use your time.

Ben Lynch: 1:11

One of the most common narratives that we hear from all clinic owners, no matter the stage of business they're in, is that there's just not enough time. In this episode, we talk about some of the practical things you can do with the time you have available and some different perspectives on how you might think about allocating your time as an investor, something that might just unlock a new level of progress and productivity. Let's join the conversation here with Jack as we explore why you shouldn't even start a clinic in the first place. I think it's reasonable for us to state that being in business is not for everyone.

Jack O'Brien: 1:52

Yeah, yeah, it's not for many at all.

Ben Lynch: 1:57

If you haven't started, definitely you've got an opportunity to think about not doing it and pursuing it. If you're already in it and like questioning it, there's a reasonable outcome, that is, you do move on from it. But we see a lot of people, let's say, at the start of their journey, considering going into business ownership and becoming a clinic owner. What are some of the conversations you've had with people over time as they contemplate should I do this? Could I do this?

Jack O'Brien: 2:31

it's a paradox, right? I think that everyone and broadly this isn't just limited to health care, but everyone should entertain the idea of entrepreneurship and business, right, we live in a? We live in a time where barriers to entry, arguably, are very low and it's a way to think think differently about your career, about the family, those types of things. But the same, the other side of the sword, or the the other side of the coin, is that entrepreneurship is for very few people, it's, uh, it's not sunshines and rainbows and lollipops and happy thoughts, and it's, it can be those things, but it's not always those things and very rarely is it those things from day one. In fact, I don't know any story where it's those things from day one or year one, uh, and arguably even decade one.

Jack O'Brien: 3:25

So I think the yeah, the realities of owning a clinic, um, maybe we can peek behind the curtain a little bit of the, the practicalities of what it actually looks like, specifically in the startup context, right, and maybe it's worth explaining a little bit of. Um, you know my role and contribution to cm over the last year or two. You know it's worth explaining a little bit of my role and contribution to CM over the last year or two. It's great to be back on the podcast, but probably my contribution has evolved over the last year or two and who I work with specifically, which allows us to then speak into these things.

Ben Lynch: 3:56

Absolutely. Let's go for it program which is broadly for startups, pre-startups all the way through to starting to grow. Maybe two, three, four team members are there and helping really create some stability, some certainty in the business. From the startup side of things. What are some of the common narratives that you hear with people who join Elevate and that are early on in their journey? What are they seeking to do with your company?

Jack O'Brien: 4:31

I think, yeah, I mean we've got a team for Elevate, but, yes, it is those solo startups building a small team to then have the capacity to graduate through to the academy. There's a number of challenges, but often you don't know what you don't know in those early stages and I love being able to spend the majority of my week with these folks, these early stage clinic owners, helping them sometimes, uh, walk a path that is really well trodden in in the clinic mastery world but is the first time treading that path for these clinic owners. And, yeah, they're often going out and doing their own thing or it's solo startup space across all the health professions. If I had to broadly bucket the main challenges that these folks have, it would be challenges around mindset, time and money, and they're all connected. They are, yes, it's the Venn diagram, right.

Ben Lynch: 5:26

So let's go with mindset. Then what are you referring?

Jack O'Brien: 5:29

to. You must think differently. To be a clinic owner. It is a different mindset to being a clinician. It's a different skill set to being a clinician. And just because you're good at your craft as a practitioner has very little predictive capacity on whether you'll be a good clinic owner. Right, and think of it this way. It's different skill set.

Jack O'Brien: 5:48

So we all go to university for, you know, a number of years let's call it four years we all rack up a hex debt of about fifty thousand dollars and then we spend a number of years honing our craft as practitioners before we feel confident, even referring to ourselves in some level of expertise. Why do we assume it's going to be any different in business? Then we think we can just go out, sign up for a URL that's $49 a year, pay an ASIC fee and voila, we're a business owner. But no, this thing takes years as a skill to refine. You need to invest in your development in much the same way that we do as clinic owners. So, having that sorry, much the same way as we do as practitioners.

Jack O'Brien: 6:35

So the mindset of a business owner is very different to the mindset of a practitioner, or even put differently, the mindset of an employee, for instance, as practically one of the interesting conversations we often have is like how do I pay myself now as a startup clinic owner? Because you don't just. You know newsflash if you weren't aware. You don't just get an hourly wage anymore. You might or you could, but you're the. The value you extract from your clinic is comparable to the value that you provide your clients and you put into your clinic, and so dollars for time money for time isn't usually an equation in the startup space, particularly around a mindset shift.

Jack O'Brien: 7:17

I think is really important for early stage clinic owners to consider is being able to live on as little as possible and reinvesting every dollar you can back into your clinic growth. To appropriate something that Dave Ramsey says in the personal finance space, you need to live like no one else does now so that one day you might be able to live like no one else does later. And so this notion of I'm entitled to, or I should be earning all these expectations that we place on ourselves. I know from my personal journey and yours and so many dozens of the clinic owners that we work with who progress well, you need to live on as little as humanly possible and invest into your business, the vehicle that will grow you to, ultimately, where you want to get to. Does that make sense, mate?

Ben Lynch: 8:08

Yeah, I remember as a practitioner earning 70 grand approximately and then going into business and earning 30 for the year. That was for the year and you realize that perhaps you take a hit on some of the money side of things and you really need to be good at prioritizing how you use your time to create something sustainable, especially commercially. So the mindset side of things what do you commonly find Everyone's going to be different, but what do you commonly find you're encouraging or challenging those startup clinic owners to do? When it comes to mindset or how they think about things? You and I talk a lot about investing, having an investor mindset of sowing the seeds today and reaping later, similar to your Dave Ramsey quote there. What are some of the things that you encourage people to think about as they navigate, in particular, the early stages of business?

Jack O'Brien: 9:14

Expanding your world is really important Getting amongst people who have been there and done that and got the t-shirt. People who have been there and done that and got the T-shirt have endured the brain damage quote unquote of what it's like to build a successful clinic, so expanding your worldview and your circle of influence. It's that old paradigm of show me your friends and I'll show you your future type thing. Who are you spending time with? Who's challenging you? Number one, and probably the the part 1b of that, is the books that you're reading and the people that you're watching, the influencers that you're, uh, you're, learning from. How are you cultivating a growth mindset, an entrepreneur mindset, an investor mindset? Challenging your beliefs and your expectations and consistently evaluating how you think is really, really important because we do we sorry go ahead.

Ben Lynch: 10:12

Yeah, I was going to say with the expectation side of things, as you mentioned so often, we're having to have conversations around adjusting those expectations. What are some of the things that you find people have as expectations early on in their journey, that probably sort of false narratives to pursue or not right for their stage of business? You spoke to one around the time for money and the consistency of getting a wage as a startup. What are some of the other things that you find People often expect this early on in their journey?

Jack O'Brien: 10:46

It's just not the right thing to think, build it and they will come, is the mindset and that applies to both clients or patients and team members that if we just build things and do things well, that it will attract clients and team members. You have to get out and make things happen. One of our core values at cm is that we make it happen, and I think that notion of you you get to be the architect and the laborer of your future is something that we need to consistently remind ourselves. I think something that we need to consistently remind ourselves. I think we sometimes say default to our preferences or personality, styles or traits and accept those as limiting beliefs. Oh, I'm not an extrovert, I'm not good at networking, I don't want to learn ads. Oh, that's not for me. It's like, okay, that's fine. Again, no obligation, no pressure. If those things are really important to you, that's cool.

Jack O'Brien: 11:56

But it may be a little incongruent with growing a clinic and amplifying your impact. But you get to choose. You get to choose if that belief is important or amplifying your impact is important. I don't mind it doesn't. You know? It's no water off this duck's back, but we've got to address those and you know I'll say, I'm not, I'm an introvert by nature.

Jack O'Brien: 12:17

I don't love networking, but what I do love more is amplifying impact, and so if that requires me to learn the skill of networking, then sign me up, right. So it's that mindset of I'll do whatever it takes at all costs. Is the mission, the purpose, the most important guiding star here, or is my comfort the most important thing?

Ben Lynch: 12:43

It's a great point. We have conversations often around what are the most important things, especially early on in your journey, and part of that is actually creating something commercially viable is being able to get the clients in. Like you said, you can't just build it and they'll come. It might seem like you said you can't just build it and they'll come. You know, if you're focusing on your decor and you know the setup of the building and templates and whatnot, those things have their place and their value points, conversation points, expectation points for people in this position is you need to be able to do the activities that bring in the clients and allow you to deliver great care and you know quote walk them through, nurture them through a journey of care to get great outcomes.

Jack O'Brien: 13:41

You can't just sort of wait for that to happen yeah and you know we say this to our kids at home a lot, but it's it's an important lesson for us as clinic owners as well is, if you do what everyone else does, you'll get what everyone else gets, and so if we just run through the motions and do the minimum that's expected, I think you're going to get the outcome that that produces. And so I often think a good marker of progress for a clinic owner is are you in the majority or the minority of what the rest are doing? And if you're in the majority, that's probably a little bit of a red flag, or at least a yellow flag, right? And so how can we be doing things that are different and adding things, not just settling for minimum expectations, not just doing the basics when it comes to client journeys and client experiences, but how can we get out of our comfort zone and and craft intentionally the future that we want to build and see? I think that that get up and go, that zip, that pizzazz, that creative thinking, that challenging beliefs, the doing something different, doing something more, stretching yourself that's out of the comfort zone and that's the growth zone that we need to put ourselves in.

Jack O'Brien: 15:04

You know, if we simply accept the, the status quo, the minimum required or what everyone else is, and it's never about a comparison game. Don't hear that in in the wrong sense. But we just do. What is the norm and the minimums and the status quo. How can we expect more than the norms and the minimums and the status quo? And the reality of those are? The norm is that 95% of small businesses don't work and I don't want to. I don't want anyone to be counted in the 95%, particularly startup clinics. So I'm super passionate and we at CM really passionate about helping clinic owners break out of that mold, break out of the. I see so many clinic owners. Yeah, comparison is not helpful usually, but the, the pressure of what our peers might think is such a limiting belief for for early stage clinic owners as well. Oh, what will you know X down the road think, or what will my association say about that, and what are the rules and regs that ARPRA might impose on me? They are considerations, but they shouldn't be our guiding stars.

Ben Lynch: 16:15

It's a great point, I think, seeing a lot of startup clinics. What we can really help is what we can really provide for them is helping them understand what is truly a priority, what is the main thing, what are value drivers? Because I think when you're starting up, you're not quite sure on where to allocate your time or money for the greatest return on it, and so being able to lean into, as you said, whether it's books or advice, can help make those progressions sustainable. So that's a really good point I think you're making is what truly is a priority. Especially early days is important to know what is a value driver. So you mentioned three things mindset, time and money were the elements that a startup clinic or early stage clinic needs to focus on. We've covered a bit there in the mindset side and they all intermingle From a time perspective. What are some of the common challenges or narrative points there and things to do when it comes to time?

Jack O'Brien: 17:32

So time and money are very interlinked right. Ultimately, they're resources that we have that we can choose how we deploy, and so, in the first instance, thinking about your time in that sense, it is a resource that you invest that you should get a return on around time, and so, broadly speaking, we need to be spending our time on things that either generate money now or generate money later. And again, let me preface that owning a clinic and amplifying your impact is not about the money, but the money is a commercial reality of what we do. It's often been said that money, cashflow, is like oxygen If you don't have it, you will suffocate, and that is true. If you run out of money, you run out of business. So money matters, and time is money.

Jack O'Brien: 18:22

So time, we must spend our time on things that generate revenue now or later, and so you need to see patients. I don't know why. I feel like I need to remind folks of that, but seeing clients generates revenue, and often in that solo, startup or smaller stage, boutique stage, revenue really matters. You need to be seeing clients. You need to be seeing patients, generating revenue, helping people. This keeps you grounded, keeps your fingers on the pulse, so you know what the client experience is like in your clinic. You can relate to the rest of your team as it grows and develops. So we need to be spending our time on things that generate revenue now or revenue later, and that might be recruitment activities. You might not feel like you need to recruit right now, but it's the recruitment activities today that grow your capacity to generate revenue in the future and, similarly, the new client attraction strategies and pillars that you work on today will ensure consistent flow of new clients tomorrow, and so it is the, the, the networking, the relationships, the connections that you make in the community. It's the content that you generate now, and it been for for my clinic and for us at cm. We still generate interest from content that was produced years ago, years ago, nearly decades ago these days, and so that investment of time then has continues to generate interest today.

Jack O'Brien: 19:58

So spend your time on things that generate revenue. Number two is auditing your time and being aware of how you spend your time and being willing to make some changes, compromise, sacrifice, whichever language you like. I definitely have compassion for different seasons of life, when someone's, perhaps in their early mid, somewhere in their 20s, haven't yet embarked on a family or children, and work is life. That's awesome and that is a season to capitalize on and also have compassion for those who have perhaps responsibilities outside of work family, social, cultural commitments, et cetera. That said, if you're embarking on growing a business, this is probably the biggest investment of your money and time and you need to be realistic about that investment and, generally speaking, we don't sign up for a nine to four job.

Jack O'Brien: 20:59

When we grow a clinic, you have 24 hours in a day. You need to sleep a minimum number. To stay healthy and alive, you need to take care of your personal hygiene and eating and things like that. If you've got a family, do the family thing, but outside of that there's a lot of time that to stay healthy and alive, take care of your personal hygiene and eating and things like that. If you've got a family, do the family thing, but outside of that, there's a lot of time that you have available to grow your clinic. And if time is investment, you want to invest every spare cent or, in this case, every spare minute, every spare hour. You can, on your business, live like no one else does now that one day you can really live and give like no one else, so put in the hard yards.

Jack O'Brien: 21:35

What's the alternative? It's often a filter that I think through. What's the alternative? I could do some work and help some people and grow my business. Or I could sit back and scroll Instagram and be filled with the toxic, toxic messages of the world out there. Or I could chill out and watch more netflix, like do we really need to watch more things? The answer is probably no, right, we watch enough. Do I really need to watch that sporting event? Do I really need to stay up to date with the latest episode of this? Do I really need to consume that social media or do I want to amplify my impact and grow my business? Neither is right nor wrong, but just choose your bed. And so I think time and really being honest with ourselves. I think time is an honesty thing, right, which is ultimately integrity. Are we honest with ourselves on how we're spending our time and are we allocating it to our business and when it's allocated to our business, are we allocating it to the right activities? That move the needle.

Jack O'Brien: 22:39

To your point, we can, and Shane Davis, part of our team at CM, often talks about what are $10, $100 and larger decisions in life. Do we really need to be spending hours upon hours laboring over the decor or do we need to give it its due time and then move on to generating clients? Do we need to spend hours and hours polishing documents to make sure the font matches perfectly in the formatting, or do we need to get busy on recruitment activities today that will fill our team tomorrow? We need some pragmat. Early stage clinics. Smaller, boutique size clinics need pragmatism about what you're doing and do things that move the needle and I'll feel free to call this out of me, benny.

Jack O'Brien: 23:23

I realize I can be perhaps a little alpha or direct or blunt. There's probably that's just that comes from a place of care and really genuinely wanting the right thing for clinic owners, and that's maybe a little bit of my style, but I would encourage people to perhaps see beyond the style of my words and grab the essence of what we're talking about. Here is what you do matters and therefore we take these things very seriously and perhaps this is me getting a little bit ranty and soapboxy, because these things really matter your passion comes through jb and I think we need a commercial break we a coffee break, be really good to get some coffee sponsors.

Ben Lynch: 24:02

You know, if you're, for whatever reason, if anyone connected to coffee is, is watching or listening, we will happily be taste testers and consume your product. Come on, it's a really good point. Jb, I think that in healthcare we see a lot of really smart people. I think by nature of the industry you have to do pretty well at school in any of the professions to qualify to do your course. You get through it and so often we see type of people we're talking with have high standards, high expectations.

Ben Lynch: 24:41

The word perfection gets thrown around a lot and that can definitely be a rod for your own back at different points and to your point around the pragmatism often we've used that term progress over perfection is saying probably the most important thing you need to do early on is create commercial viability in your business, because beyond that you just can't help your community, you can't serve your family. You need to create something sustainable as soon as possible and then as sustainable as possible into the future, and so what you're really saying is that the focus on seeing and serving clients in your day, in your diary that generates revenue, allows you to have the quote oxygen to be able to do all the awesome things you want to do. I hear so many startups or early career clinic owners say that, for various reasons, they left their previous employment because they felt a ceiling or that the style of clinical care didn't quite match their philosophy or the vision they had, and so part of starting their own business is to create a really unique client experience, to deliver some of the best healthcare, progressive techniques, interventions, technologies, et cetera. Then you open up your doors and you realize, oh boy, this is tricky. There's so much demand on my time. That awesome client journey that I had in my head that I wanted to bring to life. I'm six months in, 18 months in. I haven't gotten around to it because the realities have just been so much pressure in trying to stay afloat that I haven't got around to that.

Ben Lynch: 26:33

And I think that we've seen so many people get to that point where you're like that is the punchline is like create commercial viability, do the things that enable you to see and serve patients which are revenue generating, and then we can work on some of these things. I imagine most people get into business with a reasonably long time horizon, like you're not getting into business going. I'm going to start a business and get out of business in 12 months. I don't think I've ever heard that. Maybe there are people who exist, and so I think there is a long game to be played.

Ben Lynch: 27:10

And I say that, I think, because a lot of people don't realize you can get to those things down the track. Yes, only if you have a business, only if you actually have something that is viable for you personally and professionally, and so that's really important is being able to see and serve patients. So I think to your point there. Around the time side of things, I think practically one of the things I've seen a few people do is not consult nine to five, monday to Friday necessarily and have it blocked out because they don't then allow themselves time blocks to do those things that generate into the future. They kind of have this scattered diary and they're like I can't really ever get my teeth sunk into this because I've got a client and I kind of have these fits and spurts of progress. So I think being able to carefully design your diary and day your week to maximize, try and get those appointments as back to back as possible rather than dispersed throughout the week.

Jack O'Brien: 28:24

Yes.

Ben Lynch: 28:25

And then allocate you know you've got a solid four hour time block as an example to do those things, have those meetings, et cetera. What are some of the other things you find, you know, really useful and practical for people navigating the time side of things?

Jack O'Brien: 28:41

Yeah, I'll say this. I want to challenge folks to scrap from their dialect this notion of I don't have time, because we all have time. What you're actually saying is I don't have, this isn't a priority to me, and so it probably comes back to reflecting on your priorities. What are the thing? What are the actual things that we need to do? We need to see to your enough clients to satisfy the commercial realities, and that number is usually easier to hit than you think. It doesn't take us 40 hours to see enough patients.

Jack O'Brien: 29:20

Typically, as clinic owners to your point we're high performance. We're usually really good clinicians and we can do things quite effectively. Outside of that, it's how we allocate our time, how productive and efficient we are in that time. So scrap from the language that I don't have time. What we need to say is how do I prioritize what actually matters? And so perhaps that's again practically having a priority filter. We we talk a lot at Clinic Mastery on the impact and ease matrix of what is the most high impact and thing that works in our flow. That happens really easily. That's how we prioritize. Traditionally it's been the urgent and important matrix what is urgent and important that we need to take care of, and then perhaps what is non-urgent but important. So, thinking through priorities and being again back to the point of being honest with ourselves how long will things take and sticking to that commitment and that's a really important distinction that we allocate time for these things and we stick to that. We allocate fairly and then we stick to that time.

Ben Lynch: 30:36

It's a really easy way to get a good grip on your diary, mate to 30 minutes during the week to have a list and put it in those categories of what's high impact and of greatest ease, and they're going to be of different degrees. That just sets your priority. One of the things that we do in our huddle here at CM every day is just say what is the one priority Not priorities, but what is the one priority for today?

Jack O'Brien: 31:14

So okay, but here's the thing right, we've got a team, we've got a huddle what I see with particularly solo clinic owners you're in startup mode, you're it. All of a sudden you're your own boss and you've got no one else to lean on, to share with, to share with, to hold you accountable. So accountability to time is huge. I can't understate sorry, I can't overstate how important accountability is with time. One of our team here at Sam Ryan McCarthy often and we quote him a bit these days right, it's show me your diary. And so if you're solo, if you're in the startup stage, your boutique clinic, I would encourage you share your diary, open your diary to a trusted mentor, coach, even team, and get some external eyes on what you're doing regularly.

Jack O'Brien: 32:07

You know what we often talk about. What do we see the best doing and what do we see high performance, high impact clinic owners doing, specifically those quite larger clinics maybe that's what we're aspiring towards. They've got extreme accountability across their time. They're showing their diary, they're being accountable for how they're spending those minutes. Minutes matter. That's something that I try and remind myself often. Minutes matter, they're being accountable for how they're spending those minutes. Minutes matter. That's something that I try and remind myself. Often Minutes matter, and so being transparent and accountable with how you invest every minute, particularly when you're now your own boss, no one's watching you, no one's got you on the clock. It's a big vulnerability, ben.

Ben Lynch: 32:52

It is. I like that, I think, with the minutes mattering. I love that little run heuristic I guess of auditing how I'm approaching today or this week, I think in a similar sort of context to therapy, where you're looking at what are the outcomes, what are the meaningful outcomes we want to get with this patient, no matter your discipline, and then you sort of work backwards to, based on your assessment, what is the best intervention? We're trying to look at. You know the quickest path from A to B, but we're trying to get outcomes and you could choose a range of tools or a range of interventions to achieve that outcome. There are a range of tools, interventions, strategies for you to achieve your outcomes in business, but what is the outcome? And probably what I notice some of those people where it's really starts to click for them is that they do think in terms of outcomes, to your point of minutes matter matter. How and how am I going to be accountable to that mattering, like, how could I justify it? Well, if I know. And to your point of the fact that hitting your break-even point in a week is typically easier than people think. If you break down the numbers, for example, if you say well, I know I've got to get to 25 appointments this week or every week ongoing for the moment and I'm currently at 17. I know the gap and then I'm thinking how do I close that gap? Today, what is the highest impact, greatest ease thing to close that gap? And then tomorrow, what is the highest impact, greatest ease to close that gap? And I think, if it's anchored in some version of an outcome, and especially early days, when we're talking about the commercial viability which is a reflection of seeing and serving patients and generating billings from that, having an appointments per day, appointments per week target is actually a really good thing to know if you're on track or not, or how close you are or not, you are or not, and then sort of sorting your to-do list from there. I think is is useful to the mindset piece and the time piece.

Ben Lynch: 35:19

We often talk about that. If this, then that I certainly hear a lot of people say you know, know, if this thing happens, then that will be the outcome. An example might be as soon as I get a few more extra patients and I just get to five patients, then I'm going to be happier or less stressed or things will be much more viable and they kind of get to that point and then they realize, oh, okay, there's another challenge, there's the next thing. And then it's like, oh, when I just get through this season, there's a lot going on, I'll be much better. And then something else happens.

Ben Lynch: 36:00

I think that's probably one of the humbling experiences in business, maybe in life Even we face it today. Right, you get through a season and go, oh, now there's a new set of challenges and problems to face, new opportunities to pursue. I find when clinic owners, when business owners come to understand that just be at peace with that, just know that that's a reality, right, it so helps your mental state. I think, in going I'm always, I always feel like I'm like trying to get that next point, that next milestone, and like it just keeps eluding me in a sense, because there's always something next yeah, well, as you're speaking, it reminds me of sort of um gary vaynerchuk stuff, simon cynic stuff.

Jack O'Brien: 36:51

This is the infinite game yeah right, we're playing this for life and it is about the game more than anything. Uh, I heard someone once say and this was in the in the it was in the context of broad life and really that's you know. Yes, we talk specifically about clinic ownership, but it is the whole of life that it is likely that today is the simplest life will ever be. For the rest of your life, it's only going to get more complex. You're going to have more kids, you're going to have a bigger mortgage, you're going to have more team members and more HR challenges and more or Google reviews, like life does it. It is unlikely that life will be any simpler than today.

Jack O'Brien: 37:35

Hopefully, we step into seasons of ease at various times, but that life gets more complex from today onwards and to your point, just having having comfort in that like this is, this is the and that's the joy, right, we get to solve problems, we get to do this. We don't have to. We get to everything. That in clinic ownership is a choice and, uh, we, we get to do this and get to solve problems, but it ain't, it ain't getting easier necessarily it's a great.

Ben Lynch: 38:04

It's a great point the, I think, the love of the process. That's Gary V's quote, but I was watching last night. The new series of Full Swing is out.

Jack O'Brien: 38:19

Okay, which is the golf Netflix series. I'm not a Netflix subscriber, but that's a topic for a different podcast.

Ben Lynch: 38:26

So Full Swing is out. Season two is already way better than season one, uh, which, yeah, just basically didn't cover really any of the big, big uh players. So season two, maybe episode four I think it is tom kim, it's like this 20 yearyear-old from South Korea, gun, super talented, goes through a bit of a slump in form and engages this swing coach that previously worked with Tiger Woods and he was just talking about Tiger's love of the process and we love golf, but like Tiger's love of the process, like he was obsessed with the process and we love golf, but like tiger's love of the process, like he was obsessed with the process and the outcomes kind of came and that sort of uh dichotomy of to the point I made before, of having outcomes in mind, like working towards an outcome, you know, closing the gap between appointments per day or per week, and also loving and focusing on the process, as you said earlier, kind of sowing the seeds, doing the work for a later day, and I think that helps so much in enjoying the creation, enjoying the challenge, the intellectual challenge of trying to solve a problem that a team member might have left or you might've got an ATO bill. You weren't expecting or insert anything else, and that immediate reaction is frustration. Anything else, and that immediate reaction is frustration, anger, overwhelm, whatever it is. And I guess if you're really battling, seek professional help. There's psychologists out there who can absolutely help you out.

Ben Lynch: 40:23

But I think the distinction of whatever this season brings, I need to just be in it, be present with it and enjoy that. This is um all part of it. This is all part of it. If it were easy, you know broadly, everyone would probably have a crack. So I think I certainly find those those times I notice a lot of people still get frustrated, annoyed, pissed off, whatever it is, but you're quicker at like picking it up and not letting it ruin the whole day, like maybe it's a 10 minute thing where you're like, no, we're playing the long game, we're playing the infinite game here.

Ben Lynch: 41:04

This is all part of the character building, the joy, the intellectual challenge, the thrill, the adventure in life, of having fun trying to create, put some paint on the canvas of an idea I have in my head that I can bring to life and get other people to come around and support it, that I can bring to life and get other people to, you know, come around and support it. So I find that particularly useful. I think we all go through those moments. Hopefully, yeah, it's no longer than a few minutes or a day or so, where you can just kind of catch it and be like, no, this is part of it, and I was just thinking the other day, um, these it was just a self sort of talk of like these are the good old days as in, you know, in five years time, these are the moments we wish for.

Ben Lynch: 41:56

Yeah, these.

Ben Lynch: 41:56

In five years time I'm going to look back and be like ha, remember when that was all happening, when that you know how stressed you might've felt or you know how chaotic it felt and you look back fondly on that period.

Ben Lynch: 42:12

But you're going through it and you're kind of grateful and thankful for the character you have to become to navigate that circumstance. So I think to so much of like business broadly, life being such a mental game, like the strategies, the tactics, the practicality of it all is all there. Like you said, kind of at the opening, the path has been trodden and while everyone's journey is nuanced, like there's things you just follow, like here's how to run your accounts and your finances, here's how to set up systems, here's how to recruit those things we can give you. But if you're not also being able to manage that sort of mental side of the game, which is largely all it is, that that is a key element to the sustainability of the journey, and I'm not an expert on this but certainly seek professional help, but we see a lot of it, we have conversations with a lot of people about this side of it well, yeah.

Jack O'Brien: 43:15

And when you say professional help, I think yes, if there's a, if there's an illness going on, but beyond or in addition to that, it's it's people who've been there, done that and got the t-shirt right. It is mentors, coaches. In a spot, in a time when you are solo, then one of the most important investments you can make is in your team around you of coaches, mentors, support services, etc. I'm actually going to push back a little bit on something you said I think it was an example. Be like, oh, it might get frustrating for a couple of hours, or hopefully, you only feel those feelings for for a day or so, in in the dynam, dynamicity, in the dynamics of being a small clinic owner. Uh, the challenge is to condense down that emotional response right to minutes or moments, even feel the frustration, the disappointment, the despair, the confusion, feel whatever it is. That's totally fine, but like a cloud that passes. Let it pass, hopefully, let it pass quickly and then move on and then step into. You know, I was taking some, some notes as you were talking there. It's like one of our roles as clinic owners in this stage of business and in the biggest stages of business is, you know, we're the ceos, but we're the chief problem solvers. Like, your job is to solve problems literally, and whether that's clinical problems for the patients in front of us or hr problems for our team or creative problems for our social we, we are in the business of solving problems and, again, embrace it Like if you don't have problems, you're probably doing something wrong. Right, we need problems to find a bigger problem to solve. So we are chief problem solvers and, particularly in this stage of business, you're an alchemist, right, you're creating something out of nothing. You're starting from zero and moving that to something. We're going from infinite to finite, and so reminding ourselves that we are pushing the boundaries, we're consistently moving into the unknown is an important reminder. Comma you're creating something from nothing, and others have done that as well, and so the nothing that you're turning into something someone else has turned nothing into something that you can learn from, glean from, accelerate the process, share the experiences alongside, but ultimately we need to be creating motion, we need to be moving, and even back to the minutes matter piece.

Jack O'Brien: 45:57

So often clinic owners get that analysis paralysis or they're paralyzed by procrastination. I don't have time. Find the moments, find the minutes right. Maybe you've got a refer, a nurturing dashboard to build out and you've got two minutes between clients, there's your time to build out, like, let's slot in the referrer that just referred the previous patient or send off the two or three emails, linkedin messages, to partners that we want to establish.

Jack O'Brien: 46:30

How can we utilize tools like AI and get from trusted mentors the priming, the prompting, the polishing to be able to leverage AI so that we can condense down time into moments, not hours? It's moving like finding the gaps, finding the bits. When you're mindlessly scrolling social media, mindlessly scroll social media on behalf of your business and start engaging with clients, referrers, how can we turn that time into opportunity? Because there are moments everywhere when we look for them and what we see separates those who struggle from those who are thriving is often those who take advantage of the minutes and the moments and don't use time as an excuse but find a way to prioritize what's important very important, very important indeed.

Ben Lynch: 47:20

The other important thing, just on the money side, is the advisors and setup and set up startups have around that bookkeeper accountant in particular. We certainly see some clinic owners who are afraid of their numbers, don't like numbers? Not sure, none of us. I'll say none of us. I'm sure there's someone who did healthcare and accounting. You're a unicorn. But none of us did accounting at health school. And yet we now step into the realm of business, which is so much about making good financial decisions. What are some of the pieces of advice that you have around that support team around bookkeeping that you have around that support team around bookkeeping reconciling your books, structure accounting so that people get set up right from the start, because we certainly see a number of people come to us and unfortunately maybe they haven't had the setup right from the beginning and they've got a bit of work to do. It's all able to be solved. What are some of those sound sound bites that you have for people in this realm of getting set up for sustainable growth?

Jack O'Brien: 48:35

it's probably two components that come to mind. Number one you need you often need to spend money to make money. Okay, so we'll use bookkeeping as a simple example. You could do your own bookkeeping and in in this stage of clinic that we're talking about, it might be, let's say, two hours. It will take you two hours per week to do your bookkeeping. That's eight hours a month that you might be able to build yourself out at fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars a month. So by you doing your bookkeeping, you're saying no to generating twenty20,000 a year. Therefore, if you can find a bookkeeper for less than $20,000 a year, which you absolutely can, you can find it for a fraction of that. You're in front.

Jack O'Brien: 49:26

So sometimes we think, oh, I'm going to save money by doing my own books, and sure you might be saving that couple of dollars of cashflow out, but you are sabotaging. So you're saving on one side, but you're sabotaging two, three, five, x more than that. So choose wisely and invest in things that free you up to do what only you can do. Spend the money. Invest in the bookkeeper. We were talking even this week inside our community of like should I get software A in the accounting space? Should I get software A that's worth $30 a month or software B that's worth $80 a month? That is infinitely better. It's a no-brainer $80, it's zero. Is the the choice. Make it happen and therefore use the additional time that it saves up to make money. So you've got to spend money to make money, invest wisely and then the the other challenge that we see clinic owners come to us with, particularly around accounting and finances, is they've received advice or education that says that every dollar out is an expense, and that is incorrect.

Jack O'Brien: 50:38

Well it's correct on, like an ATO taxation accountant level, but it's not true on a business leadership impact level. But it's not true on a business leadership impact level. What is true at that business level is that a dollar out could either be an expense or an investment. An expense is just necessary, that doesn't produce a return. And if I try and think of a simple example, let's say toilet paper right, you need to provide toilet paper at your clinic but I'm pretty sure that's not generating a return for you. Save the toilet humor contrasted with marketing, you know, as a simple example to ideally, when we spend one dollar on a marketing exercise, it would return for us $10 in lifetime value. When we spend money investing in investments, it will provide a return.

Jack O'Brien: 51:36

Toilet paper we spend an expense does not return when we invest. It does provide a return when people come to Clinic Mastery. Clinic Mastery is not an expense, it's an investment that provides a return of two, five, 10, x your investment so that you can grow your clinic. When you spend money on marketing, you might spend a thousand dollars on Google ads or getting someone to help you with your Google ads. You might spend a little bit extra thousand bucks on the ads five, six, seven, $800 on the assistance with those ads. That generates ten thousand dollars of lifetime value. Twenty thousand dollars of lifetime value. That is not an expense, ladies and gentlemen. You might as well turn the tap up as much as you can handle, because the return keeps coming. So that's a tricky mindset to wrap your heads around, or to wrap your head around as a solo startup, small boutique clinic. What is an expense and what is an investment? What is just going down the toilet to continue the analogy and what will continue to provide a return week on week, month on month, year on year?

Ben Lynch: 52:40

Jacobrin, very insightful stuff, especially for the early stage businesses that are out there. Maybe you're looking to start your business as a clinic owner or you're early stage. How awesome, what an exciting time. There's so many wonderful opportunities and we'd love the opportunity to be able to help you amplify your impact. If you are looking for that extra support and advice to accelerate time, it's likely you're going to be successful anyway. But if you want to take some of the quote scar tissue out of it for you, you can really tap into the systems and community that we have here. Elevate might just be the program for you if you're in the early stages of business. If you are interested, you can send an email through to Jack jackatclinicmasterycom and we can connect you with a conversation to see whether we're right to help you at your stage of business. Jack, any parting words before we put a bow on this episode.

Jack O'Brien: 53:44

I would say I love the community of of cm, both our members inside our community and the broader podcast listenership. I love engaging uh, for those who jump into our dms, my dms and engaging, and one of the things I love is that we are abundant, open-minded, impact driven, real, down to earth. Uh, folks, and particularly in this stage of business that we're describing here, that elevate type community, solo, startup, small boutique, ready to grow. I love that we, to quote the great Hamilton musical, I love that we're a bit young, scrappy and hungry and we just make it happen. And it's boots on the ground, practical advice so that we can help more people. And that's I mean.

Jack O'Brien: 54:30

I get out of bed and love helping clinic owners every day in this stage of business. It's super exciting, super fun, impact is huge. So stay young, scrappy and hungry. And even for those larger clinics perhaps you're maybe a CEO of a multi-site here, a multi-disciplinary clinic there's something about embodying the startup mindset that might just be the accelerant to perhaps some of the more complex challenges that you face in a larger, more cumbersome organizational structure. Get a little bit scrappy and hungry and see what happens.

Ben Lynch: 55:04

Timely and timeless advice. Thanks, jack, if you've liked this episode, we would love it if you could give us a review, on whatever platform you're tuning in or watching us here on YouTube. Give us a review. That helps us reach more people, and all the show notes are over at clinicmasterycom and we'll see you on another episode very soon. Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye.

Speaker 3: 55:31

Thanks for tuning in to the Grow your Clinic podcast. To find out more about past episodes or how we can help you, head to wwwclinicmasterycom. Forward slash podcast and please remember to rate and review us on your podcast player of choice. See you on the next episode.