Market Update, Paying staff, Practice Manager and more....

Nothing like a deadline. I am sitting here on the final working day for me of 2024. Still with the Newsletter for December unwritten. I have no wiggle room as we are soon off to watch Mufasa at the cinema.

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Update: I have never been the most prolific writer and so did not get this completed before Christmas. On the plus side I can tell you that Mufasa is definitely worth watching.

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Why am I sitting writing this over the Christmas period? It would be easy for me to find excuses, “I will do two in January”, “Noone will read it this time of year (still possible)” etc. The thing is that I am a firm believer that consistent positive action will eventually create positive results. I hope that this is something we can all take into 2025 and in particular to work more ‘ON’ the business ?and less ‘IN’ it! ?

Market Update?

I don’t want to be negative at this time of year, but it does seem that November was a poor month and unusually so for November. On average we have seen numbers somewhere between 10-20% down on the previous month. For some this has picked up slightly in December and for others this trend has continued (more on that in January).

Speaking to some of the people I work with in marketing this seems in part driven by a drop in new patient numbers. Talking to clinic owners we are also seeing a drop in rebooking rates which of course leads to a reduction in Patient Visit Average and ultimately how full the diary is. Money or lack of is always the topic that comes up in this scenario. The question as always here, is whether this is clients feeling the pinch or clinicians feeling the pinch and acting as the client’s bank manager.

Of course, having a poor November is not what you need when you have the normal quiet months of December and January on the way. To try and end on a positive note, although I am no economist, from people I speak to who are there are some green shoots coming in the early part of next year so hang tough. Make sure you focus on delivering the best care to all and better times are coming.

Paying Staff

This is always an interesting topic and one that of course there is no right and wrong answer to (although I have a personal preference).

Commission – Simply put you pay a % of all revenue generated. A model that was very popular in the 90’s and early 2000’s. In some ways it worked you had lots of physios who were highly motivated and generated their own lists and looked after their own clients.

Positives: Your clinical staff costs are fixed as a % of revenue

Negatives: Hard to get a coherent team. Difficult to get staff on commission to attend meetings, Inservice etc.

Salary – A fixed salary gives security to the employee. This is based on level of experience and what they can bring to the clinic. ?

Positives: Staff are there all the time. It is easier to build a positive culture, create a consistent team approach.

Negatives: Costs can rise if not monitored. Do staff get comfortable with just taking a wage and lack the incentive to keep a full diary. ?

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Salary + Bonus/Commission – Essentially a slightly lower salary although still something that an employee can live on and still based on experience. Then a % of revenue generated over a set threshold. The example here would be 40% of everything over 210% of total cost of employee.??

Positives: In theory this is the best of both worlds as it provides stability but still an incentive to perform at a high level

Negatives: Incentives are paid on revenue generated and not all business owners or physios are comfortable talking about money. ??

Practice Manager Vs Business Manager Vs PA

Traditionally in a physio clinic you have a practice manager who acts as the lead administrator, billing, payroll etc. This person has often become the right-hand man/woman to the clinic owner. Often, they will be the gatekeeper of all information and in many ways the business relies on them.?

The challenge with this is that they are often a highly paid member of the team. This is either due to longevity or to the fact that they have certain level of training/qualifications. There are a few problems with this:

o?? The reality is that when we review the financials of many clinics this is not a cost that is easily absorbed without affecting your profit margin.

o?? Due to the nature of the role despite being well paid these key members of staff often end up doing tasks that are basic such as cleaning, covering the desk, IT etc.

o?? They often become hard to replace if they move on.

Solutions:

Firstly, the below are just things to think about now. I plan to bring more content and training around how to optimise your admin team in 2025.

Business manager: Moving to a mindset of having a business manager in this role shifts away from administration to tasks that someone at this level of pay and experience should be doing.

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VA: Another option that is starting to filter into our sector is the use of virtual assistants.

This can be a significantly lower cost option to getting repeatable tasks completed within your business.

Exciting things coming for PBG in 2025

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Over the last month I have given significant thought to two questions: How can we improve the quality of service that we offer at PBG? How can we grow the business without compromising question 1?

It has led to some plans that I am really looking forward to sharing with you all in the next month. It will include more live events (online and in person), new and improved coaching programmes, an expanding team and enhanced content to help your business thrive in 2025. Watch this space … ??

Choosing a business coach

As part of the review of 2024 and planning for next year that I have done I have started to look at working with a business coach to help Physio Business Growth (almost all the business coaches I know have one). I have worked with coaches and coaching programmes before and always got something out of it. This time though I am looking for something specific and have booked some calls to see what a good fit for our needs would be.

It has been interesting seeing what is out there and working out what a good fit is. No matter what video you can watch and website you can review nothing beats speaking to someone about your needs and the solutions they provide.

We have never taken on a client at Physio Business Growth without at least one call and typically two. This is because we believe that it is essential to have a good fit for both us and you. So, if you are considering business coaching for the first time or looking for a different approach lets chat. Book a quick call here.

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Finally, my last quote of 2024…

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new” – Socrates

Happy New Year and here is to a great 2025!

Michael

M: 07940507969

E:?[email protected]