Whether you are expanding your existing chiropractic business or planning to venture out on your own, you need a detailed business plan. A chiropractic business plan contains many of the same elements as other business plans, but some are unique to the profession.
Elements of a Chiropractic Business Plan
Your business plan should contain everything a person needs to know to understand your services and how you monetize your services. It answers the basic questions any individual or company wants to know before lending or investing in your company.
In developing your business plan, you must identify your goals and create strategies to support these goals. Once complete, your business plan can also be a tool for measuring your progress.
The standard sections of a chiropractic business plan include:
- Executive Summary
- Practice Description
- Services and Products Offered
- Marketing Plan
- Operational Plan
- Practice Management and Organization
- Startup Expenses and Capitalization
- Financial Plan
- Appendices
The more thought and planning you put into your business plan, the better the chances of you obtaining the funding you need. Through the development process, you’ll discover and fill gaps, create milestones, and visualize your success.
Executive Summary
This is a high-level summary of your chiropractic practice. It should be no more than two pages, and one page is optimal. It’s the last part of the business plan you will write, as it summarizes the contents. The summary should include:
- A one or two-sentence overview of your chiropractic practice.
- How your services and products will solve problems or improve the life of your target market.
- Goals that your practice will achieve in one year, three years, and five years.
- The market you will target.
- The unique selling proposition that sets you apart from other chiropractors already serving the market.
- Your experience and the experience of your team.
- Financial projections.
Practice Description
This section defines your practice. It should include your mission statement, the philosophy of your practice, and the competitive aspects of the chiropractic market you will serve.
You’ll also include information about the market you are targeting. You’ll want to include the rationale behind selecting this market and why you think their needs aren’t currently served.
Introduce your short-term and long-term goals and identify benchmarks for success. For example, how many patients will you treat each year?
Finally, conclude with a description of the legal organization of your practice. Will you form a limited liability corporation, a sole practice, or a sub-S corporation? This decision should be made in conjunction with consultation with your legal and tax advisors.
Services and Products Offered
This is where you get down to the meat and potatoes of what your practice will do on a daily basis. While all chiropractors offer osseous adjustments, will that be the extent of your practice?
If you plan on offering nutritional counseling, massage therapy, medical-grade nutritional supplements, or even yoga in the park include those services here. Even if the services won’t initially be offered, you want to include them, as well as the timeframe for implementation of supplements to your practice, and the amount of revenue you believe the additional services will generate.
When writing this section, focus on the problems your services and products will solve for the target market. Be sure to include any competitive advantage you might have, such as an exclusive agreement to sell certain supplements or a license to use technology that is in short supply. This is also the spot to share your pricing philosophy.
Marketing Plan
In this section of your chiropractic business plan, you’ll describe the chiropractic industry as a whole, the competitive landscape in your area, the market you will target, and your plans for marketing your services and products to these patients.
This section will include your SWOT Analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). This analysis is crucial to identifying barriers to market entry, brand recognition issues, industry trends, potential changes to government regulation, and a host of other factors that impact your success.
You will also use this section to build your target persona. This is the demographic and infographic information about your potential patients. It includes information such as:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Income
- Occupation
- Education level
- Hobbies/Personal Interests
- Publications Read/Sources of Information
This section also includes data on your direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors are other practices offering similar services (such as other chiropractors) indirect competitors are companies and practices that are competing for the same dollars, by offering similar or complementary services (such as acupuncturists).
As a chiropractor, you are uniquely qualified to offer lay lectures and serve as a speaker at community gatherings. Use these opportunities as marketing opportunities and include them in your marketing plan. If you have already developed patient handouts, provide samples in the appendices and include how they will be used as part of your overall marketing plan.
Finally, the marketing section wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t contain your marketing budget, the marketing channels you will use, the design elements of your campaigns, and your marketing image. This should include an assessment of each channel used as well as income generated from each channel.
Operational Plan
This section describes how you will operate your practice. It includes the staff you need, the location you use, the equipment and supplies necessary for operations, vendors you will rely upon, and billing practices. Here’s where we can help! At Nutri West NY we can show you how you can grow your practice into a cash practice.
For a new business or an expanding practice, if you need capital for building out your location this is where you will describe your capital needs and how funds will be used. Maybe you have an existing location with accessibility issues and need funding to relocate your practice or to modify the existing structure to make it more accessible. You include that information in this section.
When it comes to staff information, remember to include job descriptions, pay structure, the legal relationship (employee or independent contractor), and any training that may be necessary.
Don’t forget to cover your technology needs for patient information management, billing, and scheduling.
Practice Management and Organization
This section should provide background on the principal and the advisors. Its purpose is to reassure the lender or investor that you have a qualified team leading the business.
Start by including your education and work history. Explain your strengths and identify your weaknesses. Since each weakness is a potential gap, you’ll want to identify how you plan to close the gap. For example, if finance is your weak point, are you hiring a CFO, business manager, or relying upon the financial acumen of others?
Do you have a trusted group of advisors, such as your attorney or CPA? If so, be sure to include their information and the role they play as well.
Startup Expenses and Capitalization
This section includes the initial financial information for the chiropractic business. It should include all initial expenses, reserve for contingencies (20% to 25%), and the initial balance sheet.
Be sure to include all assumptions and initial sources of financing. Even if the financing is a personal credit card, it’s important to disclose the repayment terms and interest rate.
You will need to include your personal financial statement here as well.
Financial Plan
As you create your financial plan, you’ll set financial goals and identify your financing needs. Most investors and lenders will want to see the following:
- 12-month projected income statement providing your projected sales, cost of goods, and loss or profit on sales.
- Cash flow projection showing how money will flow in and out of the practice. Remember, if you rely on Medicaid Part B or Medicare Advantage for income, payment will come well after services are rendered.
- Projected balance sheet showing the financial health of the practice at the end of one year.
- Break-even calculation shows how much revenue you must generate to cover expenses and break even.
- Capital utilization explaining how capital will be expended and the results of the expenditures.
Appendices
This section includes all the material you need to back up the details of the business plan. For example, you can include marketing channel analysis, competitor analysis, physician biographies, and organization charts in this section.
Getting Help With Your Chiropractic Business Plan
Does the process of developing your chiropractic business plan seem overwhelming? There are resources available to help.
The seasoned professionals at Nutri-West of New York are here to help you in the development of your chiropractic business plan. Contact us to schedule a consultation. We’ll be happy to help you develop your business plan or review your existing plan.