Starting Up Your Small Healthcare Clinic

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship ArticleIncreasing numbers of people are growing tired of working for someone else. Sure, employed life has its perks. Your employer takes responsibility over your safety and well-being in the workplace, they have to guarantee contracted hours (ensuring you always take home a livable pay packet), and you benefit from paid annual leave, sick leave, and parental leave. But it does grow tiresome building someone else’s dream on their behalf and only getting paid a portion of what they are gaining for your hard work. It’s not all too surprising that many people are turning to setting up their own businesses. Huge numbers of employees are becoming self-employed and heading to the world of E-commerce. This is a good idea – selling consumer products online can be extremely profitable and is a relatively simple path to pursue, as long as you have an innovative product concept. But it’s important to remember that this isn’t the only option out there. There are plenty of other paths you can follow when it comes to setting up a small business. One idea that you could undertake is setting up a small healthcare clinic. Here are a few of the basics you’d need to follow to do this!

Hire a Consultant

It is highly recommended that you hire a consultant who has dealt with opening medical practices before. There are numerous pitfalls that could get in your way during the startup process, so it’s a good idea to have someone on your side who can warn you of different steps that you need to take to be granted permission to open and operate your business.

Invest in High-Quality Equipment

One of the most expensive steps of setting up a private medical practice or clinic is purchasing the equipment necessary to treat patients safely. This will range from medical supplies such as needles, syringes, intravenous lines and solutions to furniture that can organise these supplies like Medical Supply Carts with Drawers.

Invest in Software

You will also have to invest in software such as electronic health record systems, practice management systems, medical billing systems, medical transcription software, background check systems, and credit card processors. This will all allow your staff to monitor patients’ conditions, keep records, and process payments.

Taking On Staff

You need to be extremely vigilant when taking on staff of any kind to work in your clinic. Medical staff must be fully educated, trained, and qualified to practice – you will require proof of this. Administrative staff must understand patient confidentiality and data protection law.

Marketing

You will have to market your small practice a lot in order to draw customers away from their current service provider. It’s generally best to collaborate with professional marketing services who can conduct market research and find the best way to reach out to your target demographic.

These are just a few brief steps that you should bear in mind when getting started on this journey. While setting up a small healthcare clinic isn’t the easiest of tasks, it can make you a whole lot of profit in the long run!

How to Hire the Best Employees for Your Company

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StrategyDriven Talent Management ArticleEmployees are the heart and soul of the company. It is due to these workers that success can be achieved, and that the day-to-day operations run smoothly. However, how do you find these types of employees? Not every single person will be a good fit for your company, and you need to find someone who is not only a fit for your sake, but for theirs as well. What’s the point of having employees that don’t perform their work? This doesn’t benefit the business in any way. On the other hand, there is no sense in working there for the individual either, if they aren’t happy with what they are doing, as they will not put in any effort if this is the case. There is a way to find and hire the best individuals for the job, and there are a few steps that must be taken in order to do this.

Think about who you need

Every single person has a certain role to play within the business operations. When it is time to hire someone new, you should already have a clear image in your mind about what role you need to fill. It could happen that someone unexpected comes along and talks about how much they want the job at hand, but when you put up a job posting online, the description needs to be detailed about the type of person you require. That being said, it could be that someone who doesn’t fit the exact criteria will be the best fit, so you shouldn’t close your mind off to the idea, either.

Reviewing applications

Reviewing applications is something that will take a while, and it’s the first course of action before you start calling people into interviews. Not everyone will be called, although it is also hard to judge someone based on simply a piece of paper. You can take a look at what they have worked in the past if they jotted down any extracurricular activities and so on. Some may even opt to do a quick search of the individual across social media platforms, to get a better feel for them before calling them into an interview.

Experience and credentials

If you are looking to hire someone that can fill up a graphic designer role, an electrical engineer, an architect or anything else it might be, you want to make sure the person has the experience or background in that field. You want them to be able to perform at work, and there is no sense in hiring an electrical engineer whose school and work experience lies in a marketing field. Thus, one of the first steps when reviewing applications more thoroughly is to take a look at what their past background is.

Holding several interviews

The interview process is often lengthy, and it would also be worth your while, as a company, to hold several interviews with an individual, as opposed to just one. Having different workers from the business involved would be a good idea as well in order to get a true feel for that prospective employee. Both parties should ask plenty of questions, but you should also keep an open mind during the process.

Aligned with company culture and values

It’s more than experience that is necessary for an employee to work effectively within a certain company setting. A big part of it is also fitting in with the company culture, but even more so, about aligning with the values of the work. Does the prospective employee believe in what the business is doing? If they do, the work they produce will also showcase that fact.

Offering a different perspective

You want people to bring a different perspective and approach to the table. This is often how the best ideas end up forming together, and it is something that should be encouraged. However, more than just this, you should consider hiring different types of employees. While having individuals that are employed full-time is important, you should also consider what options there are for outsourcing some people for certain projects. When someone is not accustomed and integrated into the company and the way it thinks, they will bring something completely new to the table. For instance, you can outsource a chief financial officer that can offer advice to the company on how to best improve their profitability. Having these type of employees around is like having a secret weapon at your disposal, and you can discover more about the benefits of doing this.

Set expectations

Leaders need to set expectations and guidelines for what is expected of the employees. While it is important to take into consideration everyone’s advice, there also needs to be a type of structure set in place that helps move things along. There shouldn’t be a finger of blame pointed at an employee that didn’t accomplish something that was assumedly expected. First, the manager should consider whether or not they were clear about their expectations.

Treat them well

When a company treats employees well, they will also work better and more efficiently. This isn’t something that your organization should do for the purpose of productivity, but because it’s important and the best course of action in this aspect. A successful business is built on hard-working people who believe in the company, and vice versa, as they work together in order to achieve the various goals and tasks in question. At the end of the day, treat people with respect, and demonstrate through action, not merely words, that they are a valuable asset to the day-to-day work.

A company should never under-estimate the importance of its people. If the people working for you aren’t happy, you will not succeed. It’s not only up to the workers to be experts in what they do, but the as an organization, you need to show that you value what they are doing. Give them positive feedback, and most importantly, listen to what they have to say. The decisions that make up the company is something that should involve everyone, as it also affects everyone.

Leadership Inspirations – Calm Seas

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StrategyDriven Leadership Inspirations Quote“Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.”

Publilius Syrus (85 – 43 B.C.)
Latin writer

Getting Started with Small Business Protection

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Safety is paramount to the success of your business, which is why larger companies dedicate entire departments to protective measures. Small business owners don’t always have that luxury, leaving them to handle unique risks without a massive amount of protective resources. That creates a real challenge, one that can often lead to digital, physical, and even legal issues most are unprepared to handle.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article
 
So, what can you do? Before leaving your failsafes and security protocols to the wind, check out these tips to help make protection a top priority at your small business. From simple office rules to management tools, here’s the ultimate safety strategy.

Get Rid of Personal Devices

Step one to your plan of action should be eliminating personal or bring-your-own devices in the workplace. This reduces the risk of weak links in your security plan, helping to keep the lid tight on your operations.

While this isn’t always possible, there are workarounds to achieve the same result. Instead of removing these devices from your place of business, adopt a universal security package for your employees. The usefulness of managing and auditing your entire IT infrastructure’s user access rights with a tool like SolarWinds can’t be understated.

Malware Matters

As tight as security may be on your employee end, the world of the web is a malicious place. Malware protection is a vital safeguard for your business, manning the front lines while data enters and leaves your servers. It’s still important to train employees on security and safety measures, but this set-it-and-forget-it protection is something you can’t do without.

Unique Passwords

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article
 
While this 90’s rhetoric shouldn’t need restated in 2018, the number of hacks from even seemingly airtight corporations in the past few years suggests that it hasn’t set in just yet. With a single data breach costing upwards of $1 million on average, this is one area of security you literally can’t afford to overlook.

Ensuring every member of your staff uses a strong password is crucial these days. Have them keep the word used unique, add numbers, and make sure they utilize symbols if possible for the best results. Also, it helps to have your employees change their password every six months to a year.

Physical Security

It isn’t something most business owners want to think about, but individuals within your operation can be just as dangerous as those on the outside. While it is important to trust your employees, it never hurts to utilize cameras and locks when possible. Plus, these tools are an excellent means of theft prevention.

Backup Your Data

From contracts to daily sales, today’s businesses record almost everything online. Technical malfunctions happen at the most inconvenient times, which is why backing up your data is essential. Instead of opting for pricey equipment, consider cloud storage as a frugal yet secure alternative. There are numerous cloud storage services available that can help you create “hard” copies of important information.

Insurance

Even if you’re in the earliest stages of operation, business insurance can save you an enormous headache. Depending on what your business entails, you may need varying types of insurance. Public liability, home business, and indemnity are a few popular examples. Regardless of which kind your business needs, protecting yourself in the event of a worst-case scenario is vital.
Other small business insurance needs include:

  • General liability
  • Professional liability
  • Errors and omissions
  • Owners policy
  • Workers compensation
  • Property
  • Home-based
  • Product liability
  • Vehicle
  • And business interruption

Physical Protection

No, not bodyguards. Physical protection and security come in a wide variety of forms. Each of which is equally as important as the digital ones you’ve set in place. A simple example would be ensuring that your brand is unique to avoid any litigation or legal ramifications.

Another example would be the use of physical documents for contracts and agreements. Aside from creating a professional look, it further protects agreements made between you, your employees, and your clients with a hard copy. Adding arbitration clauses to those contracts is another physical security measure that can prevent legal ramifications down the road.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article
 
Finally, physical protection for a small business can be as simple as creating a safe work environment. Working to prevent accidents and encouraging non-discrimination as well as non-harassment policies might not be the first thing on your mind when the word protection comes to mind, but they are just as important as cyber security measures.

Protecting Your Business

Security isn’t something to take lightly in any business venture, but you don’t have to shell out your earnings on an entire department just to make sure your organization is protected. By following the tips and advice above, you can keep every aspect of your small business from digital to physical secure while keeping things affordable.

Are You Looking For Customers In All The Wrong Places?

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article
 
Marketing any business can be a serious challenge. This is especially true if your business is relatively new. After all, trying to take your business from something that no one knows about to something that has a firmly established customer base can be incredibly difficult. In fact, when you’re just starting out, it can seem borderline impossible. And there are plenty of very promising businesses that end up falling at the starting line for this very reason. They end up looking for customers in all of the wrong places and they’re never able to build up the kind of audience that they really need. With that in mind, here are some things that you can do in order to stop that from happening to your business.

Know your demographics

Every business is different, and because of that, every business is going to connect with a different customer base. One of the most common mistakes that a lot of new businesses make is that they try to please everyone and, in doing so, end up not really pleasing anyone. The truth is that you need to figure out what your business’s demographic actually is. Otherwise, you could end up putting a huge amount of effort into a marketing to a group of people who are simply never going to be interested in your business or your product.

Know your techniques

Different techniques are effective in different ways when it comes to marketing your business. In the same way that different customers connect with different businesses, different marketing techniques are going to be better and worse for different demographics. Whether it’s b2b sales VS b2c, social media marketing vs traditional marketing, or even understanding how the tone of your marketing attracts different customers, if you don’t know which techniques are right for marketing your business, you’re going to end up flailing around, trying everything, and wasting a huge amount of time, effort, and resources without much return.

Know your strengths

It’s amazing how often businesses aren’t able to connect with customers simply because they don’t know how to play to their own strengths. After all, if your business is exactly the same as its competitors, then there’s no real point in it existing at all. Because of that, you need to focus on leaning into what makes your business different. What sets your business apart from all of the others that a customer could choose from? By highlighting and focusing in on your business’s unique selling point, you’re going to be able to attract customers much more quickly and easily.

Of course, understanding these things isn’t going to suddenly make marketing your business into a cakewalk. It’s always going to a challenge and one that you need to dedicate a decent amount of time and resources to. Whether you put together a dedicated marketing team in-house or you outsource it to someone else, making sure that your marketing is getting the time and attention it deserves is essential for making the most out of your business.