Some ‘key’ mistakes while developing your practice plan can cause your new clinic to fail; lack of research and lack of preparedness. Avoid becoming another failed clinic by making sure you don’t commit to those mistakes and the following:

1. Lack of a long-term clinic vision
It is too easy to lose sight of the long term as you focus on delivering results for your patients every week. Here are five steps for turning your vision into action in your clinic.

2. Assess the Current State
Speak to your clinic team, gathering facts and opinions about what is working well, what needed fixing, and what is completely broken. Then place every part of the practice on a spectrum of Working, Bent, or Broken.

3. Align on Financial Goals
Work out and understand your long-term financial goals for the practice. Break down these financial goals into a specific set of year-by-year financial metrics, so that you can measure progress toward the goals.

4. Align on a Compelling Vision
Even when people are challenged to meet quarterly numbers, I find that they want to understand and rally behind a long-term vision. You must work to “spread the gospel” to the practice, so that everyone understands then rally behind this.

5. Develop Long-Term Priorities and Initiatives
Your practice may have many initiatives already under way that are heading in various directions. Only take the ones completely consistent with the vision and incorporate them into a coherent, prioritized set of initiatives.

6. Build Confidence Through Getting Some Runs On the Board
Take some of the initiatives that are both critical and lacking a head of steam and work on the energy and elbow grease, get some runs on the board. These quick wins will help build overall momentum and build confidence for your team (and you).