Why Private Practitioners BURN OUT And What To Do About It?

The ultimate aim for most private practice owners is to have a business that can work with or without them. However, most never achieve this. Which begs the question - why?

To answer this I would like you to think of 2 interconnecting cogs, one cog being the MOTOR (that's you) and the other cog is the MACHINE (that’s your business).

When your business is in its infancy (the growth period) the motor is bigger than the machine. Therefore, the greater the effort you put into the motor, the greater the output you get out of your machine.

This interdependency works well for a while until the machine grows bigger than the motor. This generally happens as the business matures, and the machine starts to exert greater forces on the motor causing the motor to overwork to keep driving the machine forward.

It's at this point where business owners start working long hours to keep driving the machine, leaving them to feel overwhelmed, underpaid and trapped in a cycle of treat-feet-sleep-repeat!

Sound familiar?

So the question is ‘if this happens to most business owners - why would anyone go into private practice’?

The answer is: FREADOM.

From the moment you were born, through childhood, school, university and working for that boss you hate - you have always been told what to do. And the truth is - you don’t want to be told anymore.

So you open your own business - where you can finally have the freedom to make your own choices, earn your worth and be the master of your own destiny.

And this works well in the honeymoon period until that business maturity kicks in.

Let's go back to  the cogs again. As a business matures, the machine becomes more complex (patients, staff, accounting, marketing)  but the motor (you) remain the same. So how can the motor ever drive the machine?

The answer is a GEARING system.

By adding a third cog between the motor and the machine you have now separated yourself from your business - you are not directly dependent on each other.

The third cog (or the middle cog as I like to think of it) is the SYSTEMS cog that drives the business.

This is how the franchise model works.

When you buy a franchise you do-not buy a business, you buy a SYSTEM that runs a successful business.

That’s why franchises work with or without the owner because it’s the system drives the business not the owner.

The most famous example of a franchise system is McDonald’s Operations Manual. Legendary in the business world, the McDonald’s Operations Manual is the ‘Standard operating polices and procedures for working at McDonald's’. 

The manual details everything that you would need to know, and most importantly what to do - to run a successful McDonalds restaurant.

The only thing that stopping you (the motor) from running a successful business (the machine) is the operations manual (the system).

So why not write one?

And the answer is: because you are too busy working IN your business to find the time to work ON your business. And so the machine keeps grinding on the motor…until (and all too often) the motor breaks down!!

Surely this shouldn’t not be the future for private practice? This is why I created the Chaos Control System.

The Chaos Control System will create an Operations Manual for your business if your just dedicating one-hour-per-week to work on it.

The system is no quick fix.

The system requires commitment.

The system will take you 6-12 months to complete, and a business lifetime to maintain.

Sadly I guesstimate  that 90% of you reading this won’t ever create an operations manual for your business :-( However, for the 10% that do, I guarantee the SYSTEM you put between yourself and your business will reward you with more freedom, control, time and money.

For the future of private practice, I hope the 90% prove me wrong.

If you would like to know more about the Chaos Control System, click HERE. Or post a comment in the group chat in the forum HERE.