by Dr. Jennifer Bonde
How to Build Strong Relationships in the Healthcare Business
Many things matter when you’re a healthcare business owner, including how to generate revenue, employee and patient retention, and your exit strategy. This can take up a lot of your time, and you could miss valuable networking opportunities. Building strong relationships is one of the most beneficial things you can do for yourself as a healthcare business owner.
Why Does Building Strong Relationships in the Healthcare Business Matter?
Building a strong relationship with new or potential customers, investors, and other business owners allows you to offer a personalized customer experience. Other business owners can teach you things from their personal experiences and offer their expertise. Building relationships with investors can only benefit you in the long run if you want to scale your business. Studies show that improving customers’ experience is a top business priority.
How Can a Healthcare Business Coach Help You Build Your Network?
As a healthcare business coach, I have access to an extensive network of healthcare professionals dedicated to thriving in their field and helping those around them. As a result, I can provide tips for building strong relationships and guide you along the way.
5 Tips for Building Strong Business Relationships:
Offer something
Build trust
Consistently reach out
Communicate
Listen
Focus On What Knowledge You Can Share
When looking to build a strong relationship, whether with a patient or other business owners, focus on what you bring to the table. Your strongest skill, also known as your genius zone, is your most valuable asset. By focusing on your strengths, you can provide top-notch service and create strong relationships.
Build Trust and Credibility
Once you know what value you are offering, it’s time to build trust and credibility. Trust is the glue that holds business relationships together. Business partners, patients, family, and friends benefit from a trustworthy relationship. When all parties trust each other, they spend more time working together for positive outcomes and success than protecting themselves from someone untrustworthy. Trust and credibility will take you far as you continue to create meaningful relationships and build your business.
Be Proactive and Consistently Check In
If you’ve spent a lot of time creating strong relationships, it’s imperative to put continued effort in on a consistent basis. Don’t reach out to your contacts only when you need something. Instead, reach out to chat, offer knowledge and insight, and send proactive communication.
For your patients, small touches, such as reaching out around their birthday, offering new services, and providing consistent updates via email and social media platforms are all great ways of being proactive and keeping your patients top of mind.
Have Open Communication and Transparency
When it comes to your business relationships, being transparent is one of the most important things you can do. By being open and honest when communicating with your stakeholders, employees, and customers about business-related matters, you are providing a clear overview of the company’s direction and offerings, ensuring everyone is aligned.
Take Time to Listen
While you may be a master of your craft, taking the time to listen to other people can benefit you greatly. Gathering feedback from all stakeholders is important for your business to grow and succeed. Many healthcare business owners have updated their roadmap based on valuable feedback they’ve received.
While several things can help build a solid business relationship, these five tips are great starting points for building new relationships that will benefit you greatly.
-Dr. Jennifer Bonde
by Dr. Jennifer Bonde
“High Level” Defined: What it Means and How to Keep Your Business Operating at That Level
As a healthcare business owner, staying away from day-to-day operations can be difficult. If you are getting bogged down in everyday tasks, you can’t focus on the big picture of your business, which can hinder your success. So, let’s start by discussing what operating at a high level means, how to get there, and most importantly, how to stay there.
What is High Level in Business?
High level means you are looking at things from the highest level of your business. When you look at initiatives, goals, processes, and growth from a high level, you aren’t getting bogged down in the details of each thing. High-level decision-makers in a business are generally those involved in decision-making due to ownership, costs, resources, and long-term effectiveness.
How Do You Operate at a High Level?
If you aren’t operating at a high level yet, it can be stressful to get yourself there. However, there are several things you should achieve first.
3 Ways to Take Your Healthcare Business to the Next Level:
Build your team
Utilize skills
Prioritize
Build a Strong Team
When bringing on employees, it’s crucial to hire a strong team that is aligned with the vision of the business. While it can take a lot of time, hiring quality people who feel encouraged to be innovative and help improve things will bring you and your business to the next level.
Surround yourself with team members who have different skill sets, are trustworthy, and work well together. As you build out this team, you will become more confident in delegating things, allowing you to begin operating at a high level.
Utilize Your Teams Genius Zone
Each team member will have a unique skillset that highlights their strong assets. That is their genius zone. By focusing on the strongest skills your team members have, you can run your healthcare business seamlessly and efficiently.
If things are working as expected (or better!), you can continue functioning at a high level and planning your exit strategy. By working smarter, not harder, you will continue to run an efficient wellness business.
Learn How to Prioritize and Stay Focused
It can be easy to get distracted by the day-to-day operations as a healthcare business owner. If you are trying to operate at a high level, it’s crucial to learn how to prioritize the needs of your business.
Prioritizing increases your team’s productivity, allowing you to focus on the big picture and larger-scale initiatives. If your team members can’t see your vision or aren’t sure what to prioritize, they end up wasting valuable time on the clock and are not working towards the overall goal of your business.
How to Stay High Level
While many factors can help you continue to operate at a high level, there are a few standouts that are crucial. Start by knowing your direct competitors and where you stand in your market and talk to them. Don’t be afraid to learn from them and challenge yourself.
Next, focus on your personal growth. If your healthcare business is growing, you should be, too. Stay proficient in your skills, but don’t be afraid to learn new ones. By focusing on yourself, you will continue to level up and bring your business along with you.
Finally, hold yourself accountable. Whether writing every challenge, lesson, and goal down in a private place or sharing them with your team, so you are all aligned, accountability is so important for keeping you on track to achieve your business goals.
If you aren’t sure what level you are operating at or need assistance getting yourself to the next level, reach out to me today. As a healthcare business coach, I can ensure you take all the necessary steps to succeed.
-Dr. Jennifer Bonde
by Dr. Jennifer Bonde
5 Goals to Set for Your Healthcare or Wellness Business
When you first start a business, setting your goals is crucial to your success. However, goals aren’t black and white. They can change with the economy, feedback, and even when a new idea comes to mind. While your goals can be whatever you want them to be, I’ve compiled some popular ones that stand out for wellness businesses.
5 Goals Every Wellness Business Should Have:
Retention
Inclusion
Experience
Costs
Expansion
Improve Employee & Patient Retention
Employee turnover can cost a company two times the employee’s annual salary. By focusing on employee retention, you can avoid productivity losses, your workers will be more engaged, and there will be a positive company culture. In addition, when you retain your employees, you create a better patient experience.
Happy employees who have worked at a business for extended periods of time are more experienced and can consistently provide positive interactions for each patient. In addition, patients who feel welcome and taken care of when they visit your practice will not only continue to return for future visits but will also recommend your business to friends, which will bring in new revenue.
Include Your Employees in the Discussion
Inclusion can be done in several ways. After all, your employees are your MVPs. They are in constant contact with patients, can run your office seamlessly, and manage some of the most important processes to keep your wellness business up and running. So when new goals need to be created, or processes need to be changed, including your employees in the discussion lets them know that you value their input.
Other important inclusion pieces include benefits for your staff, a healthy work-life balance, a sense of belonging, open discussion on large topics such as mental health, creating a safe space for all employees, and addressing conflict.
Create a Better Patient Experience
Even if everything is going well, there is always room for improvement. If you hire me, I can help you gather valuable patient data and align your goals with the feedback you’ve received. By putting time and resources into this, you are also increasing company loyalty.
By focusing on the needs of your patients and taking their feedback seriously, your patients will continue to stay loyal, even when pricing changes can occur. Brand loyalty is crucial for long-term success.
Reduce Your Costs While Increasing Revenue
If you don’t have to spend any more money on employee turnover because you’ve cracked the code for retaining your employees, you are already saving costs. In addition, as your experienced employees continue to increase their productivity and create better patient experiences, you can use that revenue to improve other parts of your business.
This could be an improved software that makes day-to-day tasks easier, refreshments in a waiting room, or even a new employee. By reducing costs in areas that are going well, you can invest in other areas of improvement, which will increase overall revenue.
Expand Your Healthcare or Wellness Business
Expanding your business is a great way to increase revenue. Whether you are looking to add new locations or new services, any expansion helps you bring in new profits allowing you to plan your exit strategy. By working smarter, not harder, you are setting yourself up for future success.
If you aren’t sure where to begin, reach out to me. As a healthcare business coach, I can help you plan and achieve your short- and long-term goals, ensure you’re utilizing your team’s genius zone, and help you bring your business to the next level.
-Dr. Jennifer Bonde
by Dr. Jennifer Bonde
What are KPIs and Why Do They Matter?
You did it. You opened your own wellness business, and you have been successful thus far. But how do you measure that success? How do you know how successful you’ve been?
Great questions! Tracking metrics for your wellness business can help you measure success and see what the future of your business could look like.
What are KPIs in the Healthcare Business?
Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are data trends that can be tracked to evaluate the health of your business on a regular basis. For example, a standard healthcare business KPI would measure the quality of healthcare provided by your business and the overall success of your business.
5 Important Healthcare Business KPIs:
Revenue
Expenses
Overhead
Gross Profit
Net Profit
Business Revenue
Tracking business revenue is any business owner’s top priority. Tracking revenue consistently allows healthcare business owners to ensure their income is maintained. Revenue as a KPI metric is used for seeing trends. If your business is struggling with retaining consistent revenue in the middle of each month, it may be time for a new marketing strategy.
As a healthcare business coach, I can ensure your goals align with the data from your KPIs. This allows you to focus on other aspects of the business while I work on the big picture and strategy.
Business Expenses
If you ask any healthcare business owner if they keep track of their spending, chances are they will say yes. But are they really tracking every expense down to the penny? Probably not. Using KPIs for data on your expenses can be an eye-opening experience for many. While you may think you’ve been tracking your expenses consistently, KPIs will show the trends behind your spending.
If you need someone to gather this information or have received it and aren’t sure what to do next, reach out to me today. Expenses can get messy, and a good budget isn’t all that goes into expenses and planning. I will help you work smarter, not harder, and ensure you maximize every dollar.
Business Overhead
If you aren’t sure what overhead is or you don’t know if you are tracking it, I suggest starting to do so right away. Overhead costs are typically associated with the costs of your business that do not relate to profits. This can include paying your employees, leasing office space, travel expenses, and more.
Tracking overhead as a KPI will provide crucial data on how much cash flow you have going out. If you are spending money as fast as you are making it, you could run into a sticky situation sooner than you think. I can help you look at your overhead costs and cut or reduce spending to ensure your exit strategy can be executed.
Gross Profit Margin
Gross profit margin is the percentage of each dollar earned after subtracting the direct expenses of your wellness business. While numbers aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, knowing how your income stacks up to your output is crucial for ongoing success.
As inflation continues to rise, following this KPI for your business can keep you ahead of the game and allow you to increase and adjust pricing as needed. Your gross profit margin is essentially your wellness business’ financial health score.
Net Profit Margin
We’ve all gotten our paycheck only to see the line items that were deducted before it made its way to us. That final number is your net profit margin. Net profit margin accounts for overhead and the cost of services and goods. So, stay on top of KPI trends and educate yourself the best you can. If you hire me, I will assist you in the big picture and the day-to-day operations that will pay off long term.
Not too terrible, right? Use KPIs and the trending data they offer to build out your company in the way that best fits you. While these are my favorite and most important KPI indicators, any wellness business owner should decide what matters to them most.
-Dr. Jennifer Bonde
by Dr. Jennifer Bonde
5 Easy Financial Tips for Your Wellness Business
Owning a small business is an exciting adventure, but it can also be nerve-wracking at times. Unfortunately, many businesses experience economic hardship, which can ultimately turn an exciting adventure into a stressful one. That’s why I’ve compiled a list of my five favorite financial tips for your small business.
Our 5 Most Popular Financial Tips for Your Small Business:
Pay yourself
ROI
Invest in growth
Monitor your money
Plan ahead
Always Pay Yourself First
Many business owners are quick to pay their new employees as they grow their business but often forget to pay themselves first. While investing in your day-to-day operations, it’s important to set other funds aside as well.
One thing to remember is that if something were to happen to you or your business, you need to have paid yourself to make it through that. After all, most small business owners start their businesses to provide themselves with financial security and stability.
Focus on Your ROI
Focusing on your small business’s ROI can provide a clear picture of what is going well and what isn’t. By calculating ROI for different aspects of your business, you can see which investments are paying off and which ones are still costing you money.
Many small business owners use ROI as a metric to understand if their new revenue streams are successful. A good ROI for small businesses is between 15 and 30 percent.
What is ROI?
ROI stands for return on investment. It is used to calculate an investment’s monetary value versus its cost.
Take the Time to Invest in Your Growth
While paying yourself is important, it’s also crucial to set aside funds for future growth opportunities for your small business. By preparing for growth opportunities when they arise, your business will continue to thrive and move in a positive and healthy direction financially. Investing in growth also allows you to work smarter, not harder.
Financial forecasting is one of the most important aspects of investing in your growth. Financial forecasting is predicting how a business will perform in the future using estimates of future income and business expenses.
Monitor Your Finances
I know this is an obvious one, but it’s crucial to your success. By setting time aside on a consistent cadence, you keep yourself apprised of your business’s finances, which allows you to plan accordingly and catch anything out of the ordinary before it can put a large financial strain on your business.
Business owners who keep a close eye on their finances are more likely to avoid embezzlement and unnecessary spending. Anyone can make mistakes, including banks. Your time and money are valuable, so reviewing your finances consistently ensures that no money is mishandled, and if mistakes were made, they can be corrected.
I work with a few excellent bookkeepers and they play a critical role in ensuring you keep an eye on your financials. I recommend meeting with them at least monthly to review the status of your P&L and Balance Sheet.
Plan Ahead & Re-Evaluate Consistently
When it comes to your business’s finances, you should always be planning for the future. While planning ahead may not always pan out as intended, it’s important to re-evaluate your finances on a routine basis. For example, if you have taken out any loans, make sure to pay off your debt in a timely fashion and ensure you are keeping track of your business credit.
Whether it’s planning for your taxes, looking to invest, saving for retirement, or handling day-to-day operations, planning for all of the above helps avoid unexpected costs and ensures your long-term goals can stay on track.
I know there are many moving parts when starting a small business, but I am here to help you. Whether you are looking to reassess the plan you put into place when you first started your business, are starting at the beginning, or just need a second pair of eyes, we can sit together and ensure your financial future is secure.
-Dr. Jennifer Bonde
by Dr. Jennifer Bonde
Why You Need a Business Roadmap
It can be easy to get wrapped up in starting your wellness business, but before you know it, you are stuck in the day-to-day routine and are struggling to take your business to the next level. So how do you ensure your long-term goals don’t get pushed to the side? A business roadmap! If you aren’t sure what that is or what you should include, that’s what I’m here for.
What is a Business Roadmap?
A business roadmap outlines the direction you plan to take to achieve the long-term goals and plans you set. A well-thought-out roadmap can be used at every stage, from early startup to being an established company. As a wellness business coach, I can help you build out your roadmap and plan for each stage.
5 Things to Include in Your Business Roadmap:
High-level overview
Products
Market
Marketing
Financials
Executive High-Level Summary
If your wellness business has a mission statement, use it to start your roadmap. Make sure to add details about your company, like the name and location. You can also include a brief history of the company, senior management, and other trusted advisors. Finally, don’t forget to add what your company does!
What Are Your Products & Services?
The next part of your roadmap should include the products and services your wellness business offers. Focus on what you sell, the cost, the profits, pricing, and any manufacturing information. If you offer subscription services or only accept transactions for payment, note that as well.
Who Is Your Target Market?
Your target market should include your ideal customer profile or ICP. Your wellness business should know exactly what specifications would make up its ideal customer profile and how it will reach those customers. Once you know your target market, do your research on competitors and other market trends for similar wellness businesses.
How to Explain Your Marketing Strategy
Now that you’ve done your research on the current market and your competitors and come up with the ideal customer profile, how will you market your business to those customers while ensuring you are setting yourself apart. Explain the marketing activities you plan to do and how you plan to distribute information about your company. Don’t forget to include your communication templates and brand book if you have one!
Why You Should Share Your Financials and Budget
If you are a new business, you may be working off of projected numbers to start, but for more well-established businesses, you will have bank statements, balance sheets, and other financial details. Speaking of financials, don’t forget to include your budget. This should include business expenses from staff to marketing to retention.
Why You Need a Business Roadmap
If you are an early-stage startup planning to reach out to investors in the future, they will want to see your roadmap and will most likely ask you to present and explain it. A well-thought-out roadmap allows you to have your vision and plans in one place so you can easily communicate them. This is also very important to help plan the future of your business – do you want to eventually sell your practice?
It also allows you to visualize your overall strategy and make changes when needed while ensuring everything stays aligned with business changes and outcomes. By creating this picture in a clear and concise way, you will be able to execute accordingly and bring your wellness business dreams into a reality.
That’s it. If you are struggling to find the time to create your business roadmap, hire me today, so I can help you think of the future of your business. Whether you are trying to work smarter, not harder, add dates to your exit strategy, or improve revenue, your business roadmap can include it all!
