A Business Plan is Your Recipe for Success

A coach wouldn't think of going into a big game without a detailed game plan, and you shouldn't think of going into the medical spa business or expanding your practice into that arena without a detailed plan, either.

A solid business plan provides the foundation for almost everything you'll need to address, from staffing to financing to your menu of services. And, taken one step at a time with an expert in the medical spa business industry and an attorney, it provides a painless and logical path to success.

I always recommend that physicians or business owners consult experts already involved in the industry, because it's just common sense to get your advice from people who do these plans regularly-say two to three plans a week-as opposed to perhaps your regular accountant or attorney who may devise one business plan a month.

Working with someone with experience gives you the head-start knowledge of a veteran to move forward in a timely and cost-efficient fashion. As the owner of such a consulting company, I tell my clients, "We are not general practitioners. We are the brain surgeons of medical spa consulting."

Of course, the best plans may, and often do, change. So, the first rule of forging a plan is to think of it as a kind of flexible blueprint that you may have to change along the way to accommodate zoning laws, bank financing requirements, environmental regulations, even your services or treatments menu.

The most important function of your business plan will be to project the finances of the venture. Set yourself a minimum of six months to go through the steps of the process, and just as you do when you build a house, add on a generous cushion of time for construction delays, permit processing, financial paperwork.

"We identify a wish list," says Doug Sce, vice president of business development for Beautiful Forever. "Then we put a price tag on it."

That price tag is what your bank or financial institution will be looking at to determine if you can afford your venture. A good rule of thumb is to present a two- or three-year plan.

Your detailed plan should address all the components of your business, starting with your physical plant. Are you planning to merely renovate, or expand your present facility? Are you a new owner starting from scratch and looking to buy a building? Are you a physician looking to partner with an already existing venture that is interested in adding the "medical" to "medical spa?"

Are you, like New Jersey fire captain Brian Boele, a savvy investor with an eye for a hot trend? Boele researched the medical spa industry for a year, and decided it was "a promising new industry which would provide important benefits to a health and youth-conscious society." But he didn't know the process and turned to experts for a step-by-step plan.

Physicians already involved in the aesthetic treatment business, i.e., plastic surgeons, cosmetic dermatologists, are the most likely to expand their practices into the medical spa business, but more and more entrepreneurs are partnering with nonphysicians to offer full-service medical and aesthetic service centers.

Nina Howard was well established in the aesthetics industry as owner and director of two businesses, the Bella Nina Spa and the Bella Nina Institute in Ann Arbor, MI. She recently attracted the attention of a local plastic surgeon who wanted to team up with her to expand the aesthetics treatment side of his practice. The physical process of adding his clientele to hers and setting up the administrative end of the deal has been in the works for six months, during which time Howard consulted with industry experts.

"I wanted someone to tell me what to expect from a business relationship with a physician," she says, "how to set it up to be a win-win situation, cover the legalities, tell me what the structure is for setting up the partnership even though it's not called a partnership. I felt if I did my homework in the beginning, and got the additional expertise, I'd be much better off in the long run.

"Many physicians find the medical spa industry an exciting way to pursue an investment opportunity as well as redirect and revitalize their present careers. Even though they have established practices and may not have to start the process from scratch, it doesn't hurt to still draw up a plan and tick off the "must-haves" and must do's" item-by-item.

By Cheryl Whitman, CEO

Two Critical Components to Building a Dynamic Team

Perhaps the two most important steps to building a dynamic team are retaining top performers and creating a winning environment. Unfortunately, many practices realize from experience that a lack of teamwork leads to office inefficiencies, low morale, staff turnover, and many lost hours sorting out staff controversies. How then does a practice create a winning team?

The first step to creating a winning team is hiring and retaining top performers. Management should assess its current and future personnel needs and ask itself the tough questions. Do we encourage high performers to excel in our practice? Do we consistently ask our staff what is going well and where can we improve? Have we created an environment that attracts quality people? When management asks these types of questions, they also need to understand why staff members leave the practice. The most commonly reported reasons why individuals leave a company are:

1. Lack of recognition and appreciation.
2. Feeling stressed and overworked.
3. Not feeling a part of a team and not getting along with fellow employees.
4. Lack of leadership/management.
5. Work is not meaningful.
6. They feel as though they are not contributing.
7. They lack clear job descriptions.
8. There is no career path or training.
9. Higher salaries and/or benefits.
10. Lack of vision or understanding of their role.

These reasons focus on the employee and how they felt they were treated by management and coworkers. How does your practice rank in these 10 areas? A practice must commit to these fundamentals if it wants to attract and retain the right personnel to build a high-performance team.

An important second step in team development is creating a winning environment. To motivate employees to work as a team, management needs to create the right environment by setting goals, communicating everyone's roles, recognizing team members, and sharing practice success.

Retaining good people and creating high performance teams can only happen with strong leadership. It is imperative that management (physicians, managers, and administrators) create goals for the practice. A goal may simply be providing high quality patient care. Whatever the goals, team members must clearly understand them and how they individually fit into attaining them.

Detailed job descriptions are a good way to communicate team member roles. Each team member must know his or her job specifics and expectations. They must clearly understand how their position fits into the vision of the practice. They also must be held accountable for performing those duties appropriately through annual reviews. An annual review serves as a report card that measures what team members are doing well and where they need to improve.

Building a team starts with goals, roles, and reviews; however, a team will only succeed if management recognizes team members, shows appreciation for their efforts, and shares successes with them. Recognition and showing appreciation does not have to be complicated. Simply saying hello or good morning to team members, thanking them after a difficult session, or complimenting them on handling a difficult patient can have a tremendous impact on morale. Make it a habit to "catch" team members doing things right.and acknowledge them for it. Praise works wonders on staff morale.

A firm commitment to attracting and retaining top personnel, developing goals, defining roles, and recognizing team member's accomplishments will eliminate many battle lines and lay a firm foundation on which to build an enduring, winning team.

By Thom Schildmeyer, MBA