Does It Matter Where You Practice?
When we're at colleges presenting Starting into Practice workshops, we receive questions from chiropractic students as they prepare to go into practice. Here's one that was asked recently about choosing a location.
Posted in Planning on Monday, March 9, 2015
Question: I wanted to ask about picking a location. Since I don’t have a family or support structure I have the freedom to move anywhere. Would it matter where?
It absolutely matters where.
In my opinion, choosing a location boils down to these two questions you should ask yourself:
- Where do you want to be for the long haul?
- Do you love this location so much that serving the community will be an ongoing passion?
When you open a practice, you start to develop significant “roots” in the infrastructure of the influence the practice will have on the community.
In this way, the more time you invest in creating a solution and resource for the community, the harder it will be to change course or move the practice.
Whatever other elements of a location you like is fine, but the two concepts above must be achieved.
Once you found the ideal location, you can adapt to the business environment. The economics and business environment of every location is subject to change and adapting is a good skill to develop early in the launch of a practice.
Of course, it is still wise to understand the demographics of your chosen area and be observant for changes. Very simply, go where you love, where you would love to be for a long time and where you would love to make a difference!
This new home for your practice will then become your “family and support structure.”