Revenues and Accounts Receivables

Class 111 - This week we discusses the topic of revenue generation; price and compentative advantage and how that relates to ways your will market yourself and your business. We also discussed the importance of tracking your accounts receivables. Remember revenues are not cash and cash is king so it is vital that you know what your makes up your accounts receiveable aging.

Please comment on the following:

In regard to completing the revenue template...how you will determine:
how many new pts each month?
how much will you charge for each of your services?
how often will you see your patients?
how many patients do you need in your patient pool?
how will you determine your patent attrition rate?

The second topic to comment on will be:
What specific marketing and advertising plans will you do the first 3-6 months of practice to meet your goals stated above? Be specific to the process. If you plan to host a health talk...what specifically does this mean and how exactly will you do this...

Comments are by "even" teams and due January 3rd. Have a safe and happy holiday break!

Alexis

Personnel Plan

Warning Even Teams - do not post to this blog - I have posted early due to having limited access to the internet...Even teams please refer to the Operating Plan posting to comment on which is the previous one. Odd Teams please blog after the Dec 8th class period. Thanks.

Class 111

Thank you Michelle Walker, Senior Director for Human Resources and Tom Tiemeier, CFO, on taking the time to share on the topics of hiring, firing, outside contractors, and other personnel issues.

This week we are thinking about the professional and hourly staff that we plan to have in our office. Don't forget to take into consideration any outside contractors you plan to use. You will want to keep in mind the hours and days of the week you plan to be open. The template - Page 8, has 3 employees listed but feel free to insert other columns. You will want to change the headings: Employee 1 to a position name - example: front desk am. You will want to have your narrative as well as your spreadsheet completed.

"Odd" Teams comment by December 13th.

This week's topics to comment on are:

• what are three interview questions you would use when hiring a front desk person
• what type of services might use an outside contractor for and
• what are the pros and cons of using an outside contractor - be specific
• do you plan to accept insurance in your practice; why or why not

Have a great week. Alexis

Operating Plan

Class 111

We are down to around 85 days until graduation...the time is flying. Some challenges this term are the routine interuptions of part IV boards and the holidays. Time management is more important than ever.

This week in class, we talked about the operating plan for your business, goal setting, and how you can use a SWOT analysis to help clarify goal setting. This section is a major narrative you should be writing for the plan. Cumulatively your reader should now have a good understanding of who you are and what your are about...they should know where you plan to be in 5 years, understand the layout and scope of your office, who will be your support team - internal and external, how you plan to attract and retain your patients. You should have completed the template sheets that support these sections.

SWOT analysis is a good tool in helping in goal setting. I will link the utube vignette that relates to SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. S & W are internal, O & T are external. When you are setting your goals for your first year of business remember to make them quantatative, measureable, with the end result in mind.

"Even" Teams comment by December 6th.

This week's topics to comment on are:
· specifically what resources will you use to research your start up costs
· what four goals will you establish as benchmarks during your first year ; one for each of the following areas - marketing, finance, human resource and production or number of pts/visits (new and est)
· comment on the time management you/your team is using for this project.

Have a great week. Alexis

General Company Description

Class 111 - Thanks to everyone for their participation in class this week as we discussed the legal structure of your company, deciding on a location, and segued into leadership with the YouTube presentation by Simon Sinek. It is all about the “why” in why you do it…The YouTube link can be found on the web page.

Class topic included the pros and cons of the different legal structures in setting up your business, licensing, insurance & permit requirements. These are all important considerations in deciding where and when you will be opening your door. Next week we will continue to discuss more aspects of this topic specific in regard to your daily operations.

The assignment due next week is to write the general business description narrative that you will include in your business plan. You can find some guidance as to what you should include on the syllabus as well as the class power point. It is also time to open the financial template in excel. You should start with pages 3,4,5. Keep in mind that what your write in your narrative will have costs associated and you will need to include these costs in the excel template. The banker will be looking for this specifically. Please share your narrative with your team for feedback. On-campus students, please bring to class to discuss and share.

"Odd" Teams comment by November 29th.

This week topic to comment on is:
· what are your top three considerations in regard to picking a location for your office
· how and where did you gather the data needed to write general business description
· compare and contrast a LLC and Subchapter S Corp

Have a great and grateful Thanksgiving weekend. Alexis

Vision & Mission Statements

Class 111 - Happy Friday!


Great job to the "ODD" Teams on your comments to last week's post. There was something unique and of value in each of the team’s comments. I encourage you to read them weekly whether you are to comment on the blog or not. Thanks to Team 13 who put together a listing of things to do 3 months before opening. I have included them in the power point.

Keep up all the positive energy that is apparent with your class...even after Part IV boards. :)

This week we discussed the difference between a vision and mission statement. We also discussed the value of writing a vision and mission statement for your business. You will find the links to this week’s power point, YouTube examples and the Franklin Covey Website under the lectures and PowerPoint section of the class web page.


This week's assignment is for you to write a vision and mission statement which will be included in your personal business plan. Your vision statement should be approx. 3/4 of a page long and your mission statement 3-4 sentences. This is not necessarily a slam dunk assignment and I would encourage you to take some extra time to really think of where you want to be in 5 years and what the mission of your business will be.

Points to remember:
The vision statement is about your values and beliefs.
The mission statement is about who you will serve, what value they will receive, and what is the ultimate result you seek.

Also remember to write this assignment in 3rd person.

After you write your two statements, share them with your team mates for feedback and critique.

Blog Comments due - November 22. - “Even” teams are to comment on this Blog. Please keep comments to 2-3 sentences per question below.

Topic to comment on is:
What resources - other than ones listed above - did you use to help you with writing your vision and mission statements?
When critiquing your team mate's statements, what advice did you give them?
What was easy and what was hard about writing this assignment?
Lastly, share your mission statement.

Have a great week. Alexis

Marketing Plan

Hello Class 111 from Palmer West -

Thanks again to Lori Leipold for sharing her insights on marketing at a grass roots level, public relations and direct mail. You can read her notes on the class web page under the marketing section.

I would also like to direct you the the October 8, 2010 edition of Chiropractic Economics. There are several good articles on marketing you will want to read. One of the articles, "Marketing made easier", by Don Macdonald, DC, talks about three good options for increasing business:

1. Internal events - which are staged to create exicitement, referals and retention.


2. Reactivation - keeping up with patients who have lapsed in their care.


3. External events - or external communication involving going out to the community to spread the word of chiropractic and your office.

The article also talks about the power of communication. It outlines three aspects:

1. Careful communication - where you are more concerned about the values of others that you tend to lose your own principles


2. Careless communication - where you only honor your values and force others to see your point of view


3. Optimally - Caring communication - which is the most effective - where you get to know your patient and their values and communicate your values through theirs.

This week's blog topic is - Marketing your business and turning marketing into revenue.

Teams with an "odd" number are to comment by/no later than Monday November 15, 2010.

Please discuss how you plan to apply marketing strategies to your business. Please address thoughts, plans on using direct mailing, internal and external marketing. Be specific. Also what processes do you plan to use for feedback to know that the dollars you are spending are bringing in patients? Those on preceptor please get thoughts and input from your doctor to share in this format.

Just click on the "comment" link below to get started. For more directions, please refer to the class website and the powerpoint with the "how to" directions.

Have a great week. Alexis

Welcome Class 111

Welcome to your class blog. Here in this space will be an opportunity for you to share on a regular basis your journey through this last trimester of school and planning for your future.

This space is to share information that will assist you in creating your business plan.

Best of Luck. Alexis