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:

• Lack of Strong Leadership

I believe that the real reason for the failure of many clinics is lack of leadership, which is driven by a purpose and vision. I have seen numerous examples, where clinics are not achieving their full potential, despite of a great business model, because of distracted or laid-back leadership, which creates an environment, where even the best of the admin and clinical staff end up giving sub-par performances.
My belief is that; majority of people generally perform only till the minimum acceptable standards. These standards could be perceived standards in their own heads or generally acceptable standards in the practice. When people are left to their own, they tend to just meet the lower of these two standards. An employee’s and or contractor’s success and performance is heavily influenced by the types of leaders & mentors, they can observe and learn from. One of the most important quality of the leader is to motivate the clinic team perform to their full potential if not beyond. Leadership commands an even more significant role in a start-up practice since it’s difficult for new practices to attract the best clinical talent.
If you dig the history of successful start-ups (any business start-up), you will find that besides a good business idea, most of these successful businesses, had leaders, who were never had all the resources in the world, but had a vision and were internally driven and motivated by a cause and purpose.
Basically, there are 2 kinds of leaders in any business (the same goes for a healthcare clinic). One with the trait of staying calm in tough market conditions and thereby giving a lot of comfort, assurance and freedom to the whole organization. This assurance and confidence brings out the best from the whole organization and allows them to express themselves. These kinds of leaders are able to think two steps ahead of situations, take the responsibility and make the right moves. Then you have leaders who take the lead in every situation and inspire the team just by their extraordinary work ethics and their desire to perform in every situation. This kind of leadership is so contagious that it pushes everybody in the organization to pick themselves up and perform exceedingly well in their roles.
Leaders who are motivated by wrong things attract employees who are motivated by pay checks. Leaders who are motivated by a purpose, attract and retain employees who will work with their blood, sweat and tears, as they share a common purpose & belief, as that of the leader.
The role and personality of the leaders is one of the most important determinant of the success of a practice, despite the actual type of clinic.