The Entrepreneurial Advantage

And the Structure That Makes It Work

If you started a chiropractic practice, or took one over, you are an entrepreneur.

And if you work alongside a chiropractor, you are working in an entrepreneurial business.

The entrepreneurial business is a completely different animal.

Think of Steve Jobs and Apple, Elon Musk and SpaceX, the McDonald brothers and McDonald's restaurants, Yvon Chouinard and Patagonia, the clothing company, or Mari Medill Petty and Mari's dress shop.

The list goes on and on.

Each one, in their own way, is a pioneer.

An entrepreneurial business is the epitome of the American way of life. Independent, seizing opportunities, and demonstrating courage and exceptional industriousness.

By working in this kind of business, like a chiropractic practice, whether you know it or not, you stand for something bigger than yourself: freedom.

And you may not have considered this: that chiropractic itself, as an industry, is still very entrepreneurial.

I have some experience with this subject. Our company, Petty, Michel & Associates, has been helping chiropractors and chiropractic offices for nearly 40 years.

We've also partnered with chiropractors to open and operate 25 clinics, so I've sat on your side of the desk: payroll, slow months, the whole enchilada.

But before Dave Michel and I started these companies, I had years of youthful exposure to entrepreneurs. Both my parents started and operated their own business in a small town. They employed many people and helped the local economy by providing useful services and products.

They enriched the fabric of the community they were part of.

This is what you do as well.

Your homemade business has more freedom. But every business has requirements. Meet them, and it's still hard work. Miss the key ones, and it can be disastrous.

In simple terms, you need good systems, procedures, and team members to support the services and products you provide. If your practice is struggling, you are missing one of these elements.

This is well-known advice -- though often ignored.

What is usually missed is this: these systems need to be kept in place.

Kept in place -- is that so hard?

Yes, for an entrepreneur who is restlessly seeking improvements, or a doctor focused more on patient care than business, it can be.

The solution, even more than the systems and procedures and people, IS CONSISTENCY!

It's not having a system so much as it is continuing to follow and improve that system.

All this leads us to a missing role in most offices: the manager. Or even an administrative assistant tasked with ensuring all procedures stay in place and are continually improved.

Corporations and governments have structure. What they don't have is what you have – the vision, the freedom, the energy to create something new.

And the tight-knit rebel team to make it happen.

Add structure to your practice, assign someone to tend it, and you'll have a more prosperous and rewarding 2027.

And stay Goal Driven.

Ed, and all of us at Petty, Michel & Associates.

P.S. Stay tuned for our new Goal Driven MBA for practice managers – coming in January.

Questions, ideas, help…! Contact us