Is Successorship Right for You?

Is Successorship Right for You?
ByDaniel A. Shaye, D.C., C.C.S.P., F.I.A.M.A.

Most of us entered practice considering 3 basic ways to launch our careers:

  • Start a brand new practice from scratch
  • Work as an independent contractor
  • Work as an employee (associate)

There are risks and benefits to all three; but what if there were a way to harness most or all of the benefits, while limiting the risks? That’s where the Successor model comes in.

Established doctors have huge advantages, especially in terms of experience and inertia. Unfortunately, newer doctors often lack business experience and typically carry tremendous debt loads, making starting out difficult and risky–especially when they are also relatively unattractive to lenders. Down the road, working with or for another doctor too often means conflicting interests that result in acrimonious splits that are costly and disruptive, often requiring the junior doctor to relocate (non-compete clause) and the senior doctor to start the cycle over by hiringa new doctor. Too often, the classic “associateship” just doesn’t work long-term for anyone.

The Successor model was the brainchild of SIDECAR. SIDECAR recognized the challenges of starting out, as well as the senior doctor’s interests, and aligned all parties’interests using their proprietary systems. With the Successor model, the new doctor (“Dr. New”) is never the junior doctor. From Day 1, he or she serves as an equal, a partner, with multiple doctors serving a single patient base. This requires a very intentional match of styles, techniques, goals, and personalities. In the Successor model, doctors provide patients with similar or identical care within the practice’s trademark style, avoiding personality-driven care, patient preferences, and egos.1

The Successor model also protects Dr. New from the senior doctor’s whims and moods. In the classic “associate” model, too often the senior doctor discovers he(or she) is making good money off the energetic younger doctor and moves the goal posts for a buy-in/buy-out; or egos get in the way and the partnership becomes an unhealthy competition. With the Successor model, Dr. New has a contractual right to buy into the practiceupon achieving set benchmarks. This protects him or her, setting the goal posts from Day 1. The Successor model allows Dr. New to learn the ropes without the risks of starting a new practice, independent contractor status, or associateship. Dr. New learns from the senior doctor, and the senior doctor eagerly mentors in order to grow the shared practice towards its potential. From Day 1, the model is a true partnership.

The Successorship model isn’t only about practice transition and sale. The senior doctor may want to sell sooner, or later; but another valid reason (beyond transition planning) for diversifying and growing the practice is flexibility. Perhaps the senior doctor wants to be able to take some spontaneous time off –or even extended time off.  Perhaps the senior doctor wants to avoid working Saturday mornings, but the practice needs to serve that niche. The single practice, multiple doctor model that is Successorship offers all of these options and strengths. Another advantage of the Successorship model is financial. In addition to mitigating start-up costs for Dr. New, lenders will look favorably upon Dr. New when he or she applies for financing. A single practice served by multiple doctors means that Dr. New is purchasing a known, highly-lucrative, thriving business. Essentially, Dr. New is purchasing into his or her own practice at that point. The patients already know, value, and love Dr. New. Dr. New knows the staff, and they recognize him as their supervisor, boss, and respected mentor. Dr. New knows all the business systems and the books. It’s a seamless, relatively low risk path to practice ownership that allows the senior doctor to grow and/or pass on a legacy, and Dr. New to proudly carry that torch forward to new levels of success.

For more information contact Dr. Shaye at pchiro@performancechiropractic.com, or SIDECAR

1See also The E-Myth Chiropractor: Why Most Chiropractic Practices Don’t Work and What to Do about It by Michael E. Gerber and Frank R. Sovinsky, D.C.

 

 

 

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Protect your business from malicious hackers

Now that you know more about the real threats from hacker software, let’s talk a little about how SIDECAR I.T. can help stay secure. 

SIDECAR I.T. offers a combination of products and processes that provide a baseline – or the foundation – for I.T. risk management.  

I.T. risk management is a complex and dynamic discipline.  However, there are fundamental goals that give us a guide for security. 

  • Prevent: Avoiding attempts by malicious parties to create I.T. security incidents.   
  • Detect: Identify real or potential I.T. security threats as quickly as possible.  
  • Contain: Minimize the affect of any I.T. security incident.  
  • Restore: Return data and systems to normal following a security incident.  
  • Respond: Conduct the most appropriate internal and external activities in reacting to a security incident or event.  

SIDECAR I.T. has many protections in place meet each of those objectives.  

Learn more by watching Founder and President Joe Zueger. 

Many insurance companies are raising the bar for coverage, requiring their customers to meet certain security standards. The cost of that insurance also is rising as the consequences of security breaches expands worldwide. 

That’s a conversation between you and your insurance company. 

However, what you’ll find is that many of the topics we’ve outlined will overlap that insurance discussion. 

As the challenges have evolved, SIDECAR I.T. has identified several security threats they strongly recommend our clients consider addressing:  

  • Threat No. 1: The lack of persistent, structured employee security awareness training. 
  • Threat No. 2: Reliance on single-factor authentication  
  • Threat No. 3: Insufficient network traffic analysis and logging  

We’ll touch on each of these threats in our next post. 

Don’t worry, it won’t take you hours to go through them. They are succinct summaries of what you need to know. 

 

SIDECAR I.T.
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Listen, this is serious

This may make your eyes roll back in your head. 

The threats to your computer and technology system is real.  

That means the potential threat to your extremely value information is also real. 

And it could cost you a lot of money. 

Yes, this is about I.T. security, not something that a lot of us want to spend our time thinking about.  

But you must.   

You might be thinking, sure, I hear about big companies getting hacked, what does that have to do with me? 

Don’t think it can’t happen to you, because it can, and it likely will in some form. Which is why we are spending time, energy and resources to illustrate the steps we can take now to prevent it. 

Recently, we’ve had some sobering conversations with Joe Zueger, president of SIDECAR I.T. 

You can watch Joe here. 

The reality is that too many of us haven’t headed the warnings about the threats to the technology that underpins our businesses.  

It’s time to take action. 

The threats to your systems and users are real and growing. They are happening every day. 

Inaction could cost you money – a lot of it. 

The hackers aren’t just breaking in and poking around. Ransomeware is a 24/7 concern, among other risks we face daily.  

There is an entire underworld of people who will lock down your information systems, preventing you – and us – from accessing your vital data. 

Then they blackmail you. 

Pay up or it all gets deleted.  

It’s a no-win proposition that many, many organizations – small businesses, non-profits, local governments – have had to navigate. 

You know what they do? 

They pay the ransom – often tens of thousands of dollars. Too often there’s no other choice. 

There’s very little we can do once this happens. The best defense is prevention. 

If you agree, there are measures we can take now to give you the best possible security available. 

After talking with Joe, we feel a responsibility to make sure our SIDECAR family understands how serious this is. 

Yes, it will cost a little more money to protect your information. But the alternative is a risk we don’t want to take. 

We know you’re busy. But we believe it’s worth the time for all of us to have this conversation with SIDECAR I.T.  

We believe in Joe. We also like the SIDECAR I.T. flat-rate fee system, which removes much of the burden of dealing with I.T. problems.  

And in situations like these, when the threats have serious implications for our businesses, it’s reassuring to have a professional watching your back. 

In the next installment, we’ll talk a little about how SIDECAR I.T. helps businesses with security. 

 

SIDECAR I.T.
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Are there brown M&Ms in your practice?

You know Van Halen, right? 

The great American rock band was well known for lots of chart-topping hits and sold-out concerts. 

What does that have to do with your business? 

Here’s a story. 

At one point in the early 1980s there was nobody bigger than Van Halen. Those mega-tours come with semis full of gear and dozens of hands constructing massive stages. 

It could be chaos.  

That’s why Van Halen always had in their requirements at each stop that in their dressing room they wanted a big bowl of M&Ms. 

Plus – and this was critical – there could be no brown M&Ms in the bowl.  

Not one. 

Now, maybe you’ve heard this story in one form or another as an example of rock-n-roll excess gone mad. 

Who asks for such a silly thing? 

Cavier and champagne? Sure. But no brown M&Ms is just superstars being snobs. 

It turns out there was a very good reason. 

It goes back to the chaos. 

If a huge concert is going to come off perfect night after night, city after city, there are thousands of little things that must go just right. 

Van Halen knew this from experience. Over the years they built a checklist of everything that needed to be done before every show. 

It was a huge list. 

Buried in that list was one silly, little requirement that there be no brown M&Ms in the bowl. 

When the band showed up at the venue, the first thing they checked was the M&M bowl. 

No brown M&Ms meant the crew in that city paid attention to the details. 

If there were brown M&Ms – or worse yet, no M&Ms at all – that was a red flag. 

That meant they needed to double check everything to make sure it was up to their standards.  

Now, I don’t think Eddie Van Halen was hanging from the girders working on the lighting, but it was the band’s way of making sure everything was done properly.  

This story is such a good example of the importance of the SIDECAR Peak Performance Process system. 

Preparation is critical in order to ensure a great patient experience every single time.  

We teach the three P’s – Preparation, Performance and Polish.  

Within the Preparation component is a set of checklists. It’s no different than the brown M&M story about Van Halen.  

In my own office recently, I went to one room and all the Kleenex boxes were empty.  

Why did I know that? 

I had to grab a Kleenex because a patient was in a lot of pain and was in tears. I wanted to hand them a Kleenex but I didn’t have one on hand.  

I went into the next room. The Kleenex box was empty.  

Oh no!  

The Polish session is our opportunity to come back and say, hey guys I know Kleenex is a very simple thing, but I know you didn’t go through your checklist. Because, if you had gone through your checklist, you would have said, did I check everything or the bathrooms?  

It’s no different when we get on a plane. I doesn’t matter if the pilot is flying for the first time or for ten years.  

They have a specific checklist they’re required to undergo before that plane takes off. Our offices should be exactly the same.  

If you want to ensure great patient experience, honor people’s time, honor their money, get great clinical results and provide wonderful customer fulfillment, you need to put the time into the preparation process. 

Pick out those brown M&Ms. 

Preparation. Performance. Polish.
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How Many Hotdogs Can You Eat?

Joey Chestnut is the best competitive eater of all time. 

That’s right competitive eating, as in who can eat the most of a particular food item in a given period of time. 

Chestnut has excelled at eating everything from deep-fried asparagus to grilled cheese sandwiches. But the reason most people know his name is because of one thing – hot dogs. 

Specifically, the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, held every July 4 at Coney Island in New York. 

His current world record is 76 hotdogs – with the bun – in 10 minutes. 

In 10 minutes! 

If you can stomach it, you can check out some highlights here. 
 

Who Does That? 

76 hotdogs in 10 minutes.  

Who does that?! 

Furthermore, how does one even stumble upon the idea of eating that much food in that little time? 

How can any human do that?  

Well, while you and I tell ourselves we could never eat that many hotdogs. Joey Chestnut has never told himself that.  

Self-limiting beliefs 

The human brain is the most powerful computer on the planet. Nothing is more marvelous, powerful, or useful than the human brain.  

The only thing that limits the human brain is, well, the human brain.  

Self-limiting beliefs and behaviors are the self-imposed governor that we place on the engine of our mind.  

David Goggins, a retired Navy SEAL, ultramarathoner, and author has coined a concept known as the “40 Percent Rule.” Essentially, it’s his belief that the average human only achieves about 40 percent of what their mind and body are truly capable of. Most people, when they think they’ve done and achieved their best are really only reaching about 40 percent of their innate capability.  

So, where are we going with this?  

What is limiting you?  

At SIDECAR, we see people struggling with self-limiting beliefs every day. We hear things like: 

  • “My team isn’t doing their job” 
  • “Billing is too complicated” 
  • “I don’t have time” 
  • “This isn’t the life I expected”  

As chiropractors, it’s our belief that the human brain and body are truly amazing and capable of self-healing when given the opportunity. Especially when all the nerves in your body are functioning at optimal levels.  

It’s the same with our businesses. We can manage all the demands of business while still being an amazing doctor, dedicated to giving people a life free of pain.  

SIDECAR helps you find that extra 60 percent of innate capability.  

Let’s be Frank 

Joey Chestnut hasn’t set world records in competitive eating simply because he thinks he can do it. However, without that initial thought and belief that he could – he would have never even tried. 

So, what’s holding you back?  

If you’re tired of living with frustration and the pressure of running a business without enjoying the benefits? 

Give us a call. We’ll schedule a time to discuss your goals. Then, we can discuss how you can achieve them.  

 

 

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Bricklayers and the NASA Janitor

What is the vision for your business? 

Any vision worth holding needs to recruit people to help make it happen.  

The only vision that doesn’t require the help of others to achieve it is a small one. That means that your big vision must include a vivid picture of where you’re going.  

But the best vision statements do even more than that. They connect the everyday tasks of the team to that bigger picture vision. Here are two examples. 

After the Great Fire of London that leveled the city in 1666, the world’s most famous architect, Christopher Wren, was commissioned to rebuild St. Paul’s Cathedral.  

One day Wren was observing the construction site and saw three bricklayers on a scaffold, one crouched, one half-standing and one standing tall, working very hard and fast. Without telling them who he was, Wren approached the scaffold and struck up three separate conversations. 

To the first bricklayer who was crouching, he asked the question, “What are you doing?” to which the bricklayer replied, “I’m a bricklayer. I’m working hard laying bricks to feed my family.”  

The second bricklayer, the one half-standing, responded, “I’m a builder. I’m building a wall.”  

But the third brick layer, the most productive of the three, when asked the question, “What are you doing?” replied with a gleam in his eye, “I’m a cathedral builder. I’m building a great cathedral to The Almighty.”  

The third bricklayer had a vision of the final outcome and understood the importance of each brick to the project. Let me ask you a question, which bricklayer would you rather have on your team?  

Now, let’s look a little more recently. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy was visiting NASA headquarters for the first time. While touring the facility, he introduced himself to a janitor who was mopping the floor and asked him what he did at NASA.  

The janitor replied, “I’m helping put a man on the moon!”  

It wasn’t that long ago that JFK had cast the vision, saying, well, I’ll let the former President say it himself: https://youtu.be/GhgVZLrxiu0?t=144  

Here’s your takeaway today: make sure you’re regularly reviewing your vision and sharing it with others. The best, boldest vision doesn’t inspire anyone if it’s stuck if you aren’t regularly discussing it. You’ll know you’re talking about it enough when people tell you they’re sick of hearing about it. 

Will some people think you’re crazy?

  Maybe.

Most people thought JFK was crazy.

What did the janitor think? 

Got Time?
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Lions. Chairs. Business.

We tend to chase shiny objects and it creates confusion in our lives. When this happens, we lack focus, clarity, or whatever word helps gain that level of precision for you. I want you to think about how a lion is tamed, and there’s been many different methods over the years. Lions have been tamed using a whip, a gun, even a chair. Yes… a chair. Why would a lion tamer use a chair? How on Earth could a simple kitchen chair intimidate such a creature? Well, the truth is, the lion is not afraid of the chair, it’s just confused by it. Felines are single minded, and they only see the four prongs of the chair coming towards them, this makes the lion unsure which leg to focus on. The lion loses its concentration rendering it almost harmless. We need to sharpen our ability to focus on the vital and get rid of the minimal. Success is never about adding, it’s about shedding. As we look at how we serve others through our business, we must focus on the fundamentals. We must have a clear business path towards success. So, today I want you to ask yourself, where are you confusing the people you serve?

Not sure how to sharpen your focus? No worries, click below!

Sharpen Your Focus Clarify Your Goals
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Intentions Only Go So Far

We dip our toe in the water but don’t take a swim.  

We hear about a great exercise plan but don’t go to the gym. 

We see a business opportunity but don’t take the chance.  

We encounter this every day. People talk a big game but never seem to follow through. Some of them might be staring back at us in the mirror in the morning. 

Being intentional is important, yet, simply having good intentions won’t cut it. Think if we took action on just 50% of the activities we spoke about completing… there would be a lot more “walk” instead of all “talk”, and the results would show! They would show through our work, achievements, and attitude.

So, this week we dare you to pick three things that you have been “intending” to do, and simply start. It will be awkward at first, and there will be curveballs along the way, but at least you can say you followed through. Don’t be complacent, take action! 

Little voice in your head saying, “But I just don’t have time”? Let’s see about that. Take the quiz below.

Got Time?
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The Best Marketing Tool a Chiropractor Could Ask For

At some point in the lifespan of the practice, every chiropractor hits a point where they are struggling to get new patients. We see this all the time. Many chiropractors think they need to turn to social media to get their name out there. Maybe a radio spot or a TV commercial will do the trick. That might get a few new faces in the building, but would you rather have a sudden rush of patients show up one time only? Or multiple patients showing up consistently, week in and week out?

I think we all know the answer to that one…

Want to know the secret?

It’s simple, it starts with you.

Within the first seven seconds of meeting someone, we all form judgements about each other. It is a sad truth, but it is the truth. Knowing this, how you provide your service, how you treat your patients, and how you carry yourself will be your biggest marketing tool for acquiring new patients. You are giving your patients an experience, not just a service.

Want to know how to give the best experience? Click below!

Experiences! Free Resources The Best Experience of Them All!
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Not What You’re Born With…

Need More Motivation? Click Here!

Based on decades of research, Andre Erickson at the University of Florida has proven that exceptional performance really doesn’t happen overnight, nor is it determined by just innate talent. In his research, there are seven concepts that are important to consider when thinking about this idea.  

  1. The 10-year rule. It takes approximately 10 years of daily deliberate practice to become an expert. Roughly four hours a day. That’s how we develop mastery. You can’t do something one time and then expect to be a master of it. If you do the right things deliberately over and over again, with time, you develop mastery. 
  1. Training trumps talent. I know we’ve all heard this, but I don’t think we can repeat this fundamental truth enough. Becoming an expert takes effective and efficient training. Experts give themselves direct access to the best techniques, whether that be coaching, pit crews, peer-to-peer discussions, books, seminars, etc. Experts never stop taking the opportunity to train. 
  1. A relentless pursuit for excellence. Once top performers achieve something, they realize that exceptional performance can’t be maintained without continued effort. You can’t just perfect it one time to do it once. You have to continue to be relentless and pursue excellence. Train until you can’t do it wrong. 
  1. More effort, not more success. In my lifetime, the harder I work, the luckier I get. The reality is that exceptional performers do not have higher success rates, they just simply do more. Take massive action. 
  1. Effortful study. Challenging yourself beyond your present competencies makes room for growth. If you’re saying, “That’s not how we do it,” or “you’re doing the same things you’ve always been doing”, you’re full mentally in both your practice and personal life. You’ve got to push yourself. A muscle does not grow without stressing it, nor do our businesses or personal lives.
  1. Successful people don’t have hot streaks. The period when successful people produce the most successes are the times when they produce the most failures. Make the routine your award. 
  1. A higher source of motivation. What’s your why? Why do you exist? Why do you get up every day? Experts are intrinsically motivated to be the best they can be. That’s what mastery is all about. They’re not motivated by fear of failure or by greed. I can only imagine how incredible it would be for you if the person you are today meets the person you are destined to be. 

Remember: It’s not what you were born with, it’s what you become. 

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