Dec 27 2007
Business Assessment Tool
Regardless of the type of business you want to start, the Small Business Association has a free business assessment tool that will help you as you assess how prepared you are for starting a business. It will also guide you as to where your weaknesses are, and what you can do about them. It will direct you to free online courses you can take as well as point out some resources.
Check it out: Business Assessment Tool
Tags: business assessment tool, Business Basics, starting a business
Hi! So glad to have found you guys…but how in the world do I POST a general question? Instead of just replying to a post? I am opening my own practice in a rural town that has no other health care provider. I am very excited, have thought long and hard about this and have the finances available, have secured a collaborating MD and an office site. We will have to renovate the place though, and anticipate that starting in April of 2008. Thanks for being here! Jan
Hi Jan,
Congratulations! I don’t know how to do that either regarding “posting a question” other than on the “contact us” section. Then you will email Barbara Phillips herself and she will respond back to you. I have my own practice in Wilsonville Oregon for 5 months now. It is wonderful, but I do have competition, and sometimes wish I had lived in a remote area with no other health care, and an underserved population. As an employee for community health clinics in California we were always swamped, and advertising was unheard of… so starting a practice in an affluent area with many other clinics within 5 miles has been a challenge. I long to see the Medicaid patients and for some reason although the other clinics around are 2 months booked up or closed to these patients, they somehow do not know how to find me. Even the Care Oregon who has assigned me a panel of patients assigned me patients not in my home town but 20 miles away and the patients cannot come to me as the drive is too far. It would seem simple (just go by zip codes)..but whoever is working at that department is not making it easy for those patients or for me who wishes to see them! I am confident it will all work out though. I am going to post my cards and flyers at low income apartments in the town in which I live, as even though it is affluent, there are 3,000 apartments, and many are low income, which means many qualify for medicaid.
I did not have a lot of money, and was not able to make structural changes to the building per the landlord, and there are other tenants that are non medical in my building, but I am making it work, as the rent is low for this area, and it includes utilities, and is only a one year lease term, while most around here are 3-5 yrs. There have been many challenges, the biggest has been financial, and I live month to month, but it has been the best and most rewarding decision of my career.
I am happy you have secured the financing, your building and your collaborating physician. What state are you going to open your clinic in? So Exciting!
Carla Anderson, FNP, Healing Presence Family Practice, Wilsonville Or
I have also started my own practice in NC and would be interested in hearing how other practices are doing. WHat kind of numbers were you seeing in the first month, second etc?