Planning for Your Future - Part 2

Being a business person doesn't mean you'll go it alone.You'll need a team of professionals who will provide advice for decisions outside your area of expertise. Read on for three steps on how today's chiropractic students can begin preparing for their life post school. From deciding where to live and practice to understanding credit scores to building a business plan, those suggestions were designed to begin the planning process.

Posted in Planning on Thursday, September 29, 2016

Now, we’ll assume you’ve begun or completed those steps and look at what your next efforts should be.

Begin to Assemble Your Advisors

Being a business person doesn’t mean you’ll go it alone.You’ll need a team of professionals who will provide advice for decisions outside your area of expertise. These professionals include attorneys, CPAs, lenders, real estate agents and insurance professionals. The best way to find a good match can be done one of two ways. 

Ask friends, family and mentors for suggestions. While these suggestions might not be a good fit for your needs, it is a start because you will be introduced to people who are considered experts.  In your interviews, be prepared to articulate what is important to you and what your expectations are. 

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and listen carefully to their answers.  This will help you determine who will best serve your business needs.

You will also likely assemble team members through networking. I’ll talk more about that in a minute, but networking now will serve you well and beginning to develop relationships with professionals will help you down the road.

Networking

It is never too early to begin networking with others in the chiropractic professionals, as well as other business professionals in the community you plan to practice in. You can begin networking on both on two levels. 

First, no matter where you are in your planning process begin networking within the chiropractic profession. Attend events sponsored by your college.  Get involved with associations on campus. Connections you make now can last throughout your entire professional career.

Second, network outside the chiropractic community. If you know where you intend to practice, begin getting involved in that community. Use breaks from school to attend chamber and community events. Begin meeting community leaders and members. Again, connections are powerful and a head start developing your network will serve you well.

So that’s it. This is the answer to students who want to know what they can be doing to prepare for their future. It is isn’t difficult, but it will take time yet pay dividends in the end.