Featured RD: Working "ON" vs "IN" Your Business

WORKING “ON” VS “IN” YOUR BUSINESS

Beverly Price, RD, MA, E-RYT

As a solo practitioner, you might spend a lot of time working "in" your business. This means that your business depends on you. You are a one woman (or man) show. Your business will only get so far if you are spending all of your time personally generating revenue and putting out fires at the same time.

In the lifecycle of your Private Practice, you may want to evaluate what the next step of your business involves as you transition to working "on" your business. In an earlier blog post, I discussed the career life cycle. As I move from Life Stage 4 (Married with a Teenager) to Life Stage 5 in the next few years (Empty Nester), it becomes more important for me to move from counseling patients or running groups day in and day out (working “in” the business) to overseeing others that will counsel and generate revenue directly, while I oversee and direct the business (working “on” the business).

I recently opened an eating disorder treatment center. I have professional staff of 10 healthcare practitioners along with an office manager who has transformed the way that I do business. It has been a great relief to let go of the control that I needed to have for many years. My office manager oversees taking calls, booking appointments, billing and collecting fees from the patient along with the insurance companies. My staff is independent and talented, and delivers high quality patient care. My role is to make sure that our continuity of care remains strong. Although I still wear many hats in my business, my goal is for my business to run itself.