Is it time to work smarter not harder?

Although not quite as long as legendary founder Hans Bakker’s 4 decades of service – my white hair attests to the fact that I have been around for a while.  Yet yesterday, I spent an exciting day in brand-new territory at the excellent Canonbury Regional Podiatry Conference North in Leeds.

My company’s success has been built over more than 3 decades of working with opticians – and just over ½ a decade with audiologists; Two parallel vertical healthcare markets with a surprising number of similarities and commonalities with podiatry.

The best thing about immersing yourself in a new parallel vertical healthcare sector, is that you see everything with fresh eyes. This means that you can ask both simple and challenging questions without fear of reproach.  Yesterday I made full use of this opportunity and came away with a single, burning question that filled me with excitement about the possibilities:

“What would happen if independent podiatrists got really good at the business of selling and less worried about charging well for great products and services?”

You see in the world I have come from; the simple fact is that most independent opticians and audiologists would not survive commercially if they did not charge premium prices for their clinical services – or alternatively were not excellent at selling high-margin eyewear or hearing aids (at typical gross profit margins in the region of 65-70%.)

Throughout my 25 years in the healthcare sector, opticians and audiologists have had to adapt their models. Innovation in science, the development of new diagnostic and remedial equipment and new competition (such as laser eye surgery, online glasses stores and over the counter hearing aids) have challenged existing practices.  These developments and changes have necessitated that clinic owners evolve from trying to be all things to all people within their communities, to focus on specialisms, or alternatively specifically targeting patient profiles prepared to pay well for their products and services.  To put this another way – for you and your podiatry practice, having clinical skills is the foundational pre-requisite to be able to offer chiropody services to the public – but it is mastery of business and sales skills that are the defining factor for the success of your podiatry clinic and for your work-life balance.

Time for podiatry clinic owners to work smarter not harder? 

Most podiatry clinic owners will find that a high percentage of their patients are common with those of a local private optometry or audiology practice; Patients in common who are likely to have the means and be prepared to pay a premium for high quality podiatry services and products if the customer journey and business model are suitably premium too.

Yesterday’s seminars and workshops covered dermatology, the vascular system, and biomechanics; a whole new world and a whole new language for me, but a familiar lexicon for the clinical delegates around me (who were all very helpful in answering my questions.)  So let me pose a few questions for you, based on my knowledge and experience from the commercial world of independent healthcare.

Is your business knowledge more than skin deep?

Is the vascular system (cashflow and profit level) of your business blocked by the wrong type of patients or the wrong pricing or upsell model?

Are the ‘biomechanics’ of your podiatry clinic’s business model overpronating and lacking the right balance – and what interventions do you need to fix it?

Is it time to look at the history and symptoms of your podiatry business?

You know the success and often life-changing interventions achieved for your patients by successful deployment of your podiatry skill set; is it time to allow someone to help you to do the same thing for your business?  Potential outcomes for you from sharpening up on your business skills and model include, higher profits, a better work life balance and an improved store of wealth (in making your podiatry practice more valuable and saleable when the time comes for your exit and retirement.)