How to start a business 101

I'm going to squeeze in a quick post before I forget, and my next patient.

Its basically a 4 step process:

• file with your state to form a business,
• apply for a tax ID,
• get sales tax permits,
• and learn labor laws. Great.

Next, I'm in the middle of making a "timeline" style reminder list to organize everything that needs to be done before we open our doors. Doc Softy stressed that she really wanted to be on the same page, and figure out which tasks needed to be delegated. No prob!

Conundrums & Dilemmas.. What to do?

Well the last two days have been interesting. Doc Softy and I have been planning out our options so that we can get the ball rolling on our first private practice. We knew we were going to extend our contract for one more year with the seniordoc we currently work for. I actually asked her for a raise. I was expecting a counteroffer but to my suprise, thats not what I got.

Well here's whats changed. They accepted my raise but proposed a counter offer. If we extend our contract for two years, it would effectively be giving us a $40,000 raise annually!! Damn! I wasn't expecting that. For them, its a smart move because it keeps their practice stable and they dont have to go through the energy of finding new doctors.

So we quickly had to decide what we were going to do:

• Extend our contract for one year and try to startup cold next year in "Smalltown"
• or Extend our contract for two years, save more money.. but possibly lose our opportunity in Smalltown if another doctor opens up before us

Thinking we had to make this decision quick, we decided to visit Smalltown this weekend. When we got here we toured the location's main streets, spoke to a few locals, walked into the Wal-Mart to get a feel of the community mix, and met up with a realtor.

Heres our next problem... we calculated that we could open up in Smalltown and do well our first year BUT (theres always a but right?) we cant find a good location!! We want to be open close to Doc Competition and on the main drag, but after our recent search there seems to be nothing available for sale, or lease :(

What to do...

Current situation

On an average day at this practice, I see anywhere from 18-24 patients depending on the schedule. The seniordoc purchased this practice from a retiring doctor when it had yearly sales of about 650K. About 5 years later plus some elbow grease, the doc brought it up to 1.6 million!! Amazing.

On average an optometric practice will net about 30%. I wouldnt be suprised if the seniordoc took home about 500K. This is by far the exception and not the rule.

Ever since I joined this practice, I've helped boost the practice gross in several ways: fee increases, properly billing/coding, optical recommendations.

So why did I take this job? Well, the pay is great! More importantly, we actually had the opportunity to work a few days together at a second office. We wanted to try it so Doc Softy and I could see if we could handle owning a business together someday. 10 months later, we've realized that we work together well and that we can do this on our own. Its definitely scary, and risky.. considering we've got a mountain of loans (300K owed) and we've got one extra mouth to feed. The other reason we've decided to get out of here is because our boss is simply ungrateful, and mean. Doc Softy gets along with everyone, and even she agrees that our boss is difficult to work for. Another reason to start your own practice folks!!

During my downtime at this practice, I've been looking at getting a practice loan, "window shopping" for my practice, and researching towns to open in.

As Borat would say.. "grrreat succccess", I've found a town that I think would work.

Woowee! First post

What's up readers? I'm excited about this blog for several reasons:

• one.. because, its going to give me something extra to do because I'm a chronic self-actualizer,
• two.. maybe someone might find this blog useful enough to help themselves

Background: Im in my late-twenties and have been married to my college sweetheart since. I graduated from optometry school and have been practicing for another doctor since then..

My wife is also an optometrist and she is the love of my life. My dream has always been to own a private practice for as long as I can remember... I love the business aspects of optometry and love to be a clinician.

For obvious reasons, our personal details have been omitted.