I’m Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their own profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits.

A Physiatry Practice Lone Ranger is a practice owner who does all the work themselves. No matter how big or small the project, the lone ranger handles 100% of it. That’s either because they’re afraid to let go of control or because they feel they can’t afford to hire help. Can you relate? I know I can.

So what’s wrong with doing everything yourself? Well, it’s tough to grow your practice if you’re busy managing every single detail. I know it’s a bit scary to let go control or to consider hiring help, but I also know it’s necessary if you want to grow your practice to its fullest potential.

Take my 10-question quiz to determine if you are a lone ranger.

(And don’t worry if you are. I’ve got some suggestions to help you rid yourself of this practice-stifling affliction.) For every yes, give yourself one point.

  1. Do you work alone? 
  2. Do you feel no one can do your work quite as well as you?
  3. Do you often feel there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done?
  4. Do you maintain your own website?
  5. Do you do your own accounting and billing?
  6. Do you write your own sales and marketing copy?
  7. Do you get your own mail?
  8. Do you buy your own office supplies?
  9. Do you provide all of your services by yourself?
  10. Do you fulfill and ship all of your products yourself? 

This list can go on and on, but you get the idea. If you scored at least a 6 (or answered yes to most or all of these questions), then guess what? You’re a lone ranger!

That’s okay. I’ve been one too. When your practice is small, you have to wear many hats, because you can’t afford to hire help. At what point do you decide to start delegating tasks to someone else though? When the time you’re spending on administrative tasks prevents you from spending time growing your practice, it’s time to start delegating.

As a practice owner, you should aim to spend at least 60% of your time marketing. You’re the best person to market your services, and marketing is the only way your practice will grow and flourish. So if you’re too busy paying bills, getting the mail, responding to email, and running out to pick up office supply, then guess what? You don’t have time to market and your practice can’t grow.

What’s a Physiatry Practice Lone Ranger to do? Here are 6 tips:

  1. Make a list of all the tasks that don’t require your specific expertise or talent (e.g., sorting mail, buying office supplies, and filing).
  2. Make a second list of the tasks that consume a lot of your time but are outside of your specific area of expertise (e.g., maintaining your website and managing your practice’s finances and accounting).
  3. Determine how many hours per week you spend doing these tasks.
  4. Determine what additional sales and marketing, or other practice-building activities, you would have time for if you didn’t have to do these other tasks.
  5. Estimate how many additional patients you could generate with this extra time spent on marketing and building your practice. (Determine what you can afford based on your estimate.)
  6. Make a decision to hire an assistant, bookkeeper, website manager, or whatever specialists are appropriate to handle these tasks.

You’re probably wondering how you’ll be able to afford it, but you really can’t afford not to hire help—unless you’re satisfied with keeping your practice small. And don’t get me wrong: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But if you have a bigger vision, like I do, you need a team to make that vision a reality.

First, your team should include an assistant to do the work that is not a good use of your time. This does not have to be a full-time employee. I’m starting out with someone just a few hours a week. You’ll also want to get a bookkeeper and a CPA to manage your finances. They’ll not only free you up from your accounting tasks, but they’ll also help you keep more of what you do make.

So take a moment to get a clear vision of what kind of practice you want to create. If that vision is larger than you can accomplish on your own, take the six steps above to get a team to help you make it a reality. If your team could possibly benefit from the help of a virtual assistant, here are 5 things to consider when hiring one.

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Attention, Physiatrists! Stop leaving money on the table. Sign up for the free video series: How To Build A Profitable Practice in 90 Days or Less: http://www.sixtytosuccess.com

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I’m Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their own profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits. Follow me on social media @DrHassanRehab.