Join Meghan and Braden for the final episode of Season 2 of The Virtual Practice Podcast to dig deep into what you can do to truly invest in your future self.

When it comes to investing in your future self, it takes a certain level of discipline to target all the vital pieces that weave together. Balancing money and health is especially key for entrepreneurs and practitioners, as these two pieces need to be in congruence to see to your full potential – both in life and in business.

Tune in to learn more about these pieces at play in this final episode of Season 2! And stay tuned for Season 3 which starts up this September 2022!

Key Takeaways:

[:07] Meghan and Braden catch up.

[:48] What has Meghan done recently to invest in her future?

[4:07] Welcome back to the Virtual Practice Podcast!

[4:31] The important relationship between money and health.

[8:35] What is the first step we should take in investing in our future selves?

[10:49] Meghan and Braden's financial tips for staying on track for your future.

[15:09] Braden's insights on being future-focused with your health, while bringing your health and finances together.

[15:59] "The life you are living today is the reflection of the decisions that you made a year ago."

[17:38] Meghan's key takeaways for Season 2 of the podcast.

[20:38] Thanks for listening to Season 2 of The Virtual Practice Podcast! Stay tuned for Season 3 in September 2022.

[20:50] Regardless of your background or credentials, if you want to build a practice or business that creates impact and health for others, Meghan and Braden are your team!

[21:09] If you are looking for a place to see patients and you don't want the hassle of contracts, rent splits, or commitment, head on over to HealthHives.com to create your free account!

For More on the Virtual Practice Podcast:

Visit HealthHives.com/Podcast and join us on Facebook and Instagram @HealthHivesCo.

For future episodes, visit HealthHives.com/Podcast!

Tweetables:

"The energy of resistance to investing in your future self [health-wise] is the same energy [that] I feel with practitioners having reluctance to talk about money, acknowledge money, [and] hold responsibility around money." — Meghan Walker

"We can have all the tools in the world that we want with respect to accentuating our health but if we're carrying this massive financial burden … this is an unrelenting stress … [that] will [not] enable us to flourish with respect to our health." — Meghan Walker

"Get to it now and you can look back on it a year from now and say, "Yup, this is what I did and this is what I put in place." And you'll thank yourself for it." — Braden Urquhart

This week, Braden and Meghan are giving you the reality check you need in relation to money and your practice! They're counting down the top 10 things to consider when it comes to running a business and what you need to keep in mind when it comes to opportunity and profitability.

As a practitioner, it is key to work smarter; not harder — so tune in to get the 10 reality checks you might need when it comes to running your business!

Key Takeaways:

[:07] The different profit margins for practitioners, clinic owners, and the online space.

[4:10] Welcome back to the Virtual Practice Podcast!

[4:42] About today's episode.

[5:35] True or false? "You're going to make a minimum of six figures in your first year of practice."

[7:04] True or false? "Clinic owners make all the money."

[7:43] True or false? "You'll make money in your first month of practice."

[8:38] True or false? "Rent is better than split."

[12:10] True or false? "Making more money means working more."

[14:24] True or false? "If you don't work, you don't get paid."

[15:42] True or false? "I don't need to know my numbers. The clinic will do it for me."

[16:06] True or false? "I make the most money from my intakes."

[17:22] True or false? "I don't need to market my business."

[18:29] True or false? "Working as an associate with an awful clinic owner is a good reason to open your own clinic."

[19:44] Meghan's three big takeaways.

[21:08] About next week's episode.

[21:19] Regardless of your background or credentials, if you want to build a practice or business that creates impact and health for others, Meghan and Braden are your team!

[21:30] If you are looking for a place to see patients and you don't want the hassle of contracts, rent splits, or commitment, head on over to HealthHives.com to create your free account!

Mentioned in This Episode:

The Virtual Practice Podcast Ep. 30: "Financial Literacy Dos and Don'ts with April Stroink"

HealthHives.com/Calculator

For More on the Virtual Practice Podcast:

Visit HealthHives.com/Podcast and join us on Facebook and Instagram @HealthHivesCo.

For future episodes, visit HealthHives.com/Podcast!

Tweetables:

"Want to know why everyone's moving into the online space? Because you can literally create scale because it doesn't cost you more to make more online courses." — Meghan Walker

"The smart way to make more money is to leverage your time, leverage your methodology, leverage your reputation, leverage your book, leverage your course. It's not more work; it's different work." — Meghan Walker

"Work strategically. … Lean into diversifying your income as quickly as possible within your practice. " — Meghan Walker

"Tap into why you're doing what you're doing." — Meghan Walker

How do you actually spend money to make money? What does it look like to reinvest your money and time in a way that will actually drive the growth of your business forward and increase revenue?

In this conversation, Meghan and Braden are breaking down the different expenses we face as business owners and sharing what you can do to strategically reinvest in your business in a way that saves you time and gives you a return on investment. They discuss opportunity costs, #moneyhacks, delegation as a business owner, how to truly cut costs, share what you shouldn't spend your money (or time) on, and highlight the secret sauce that only you can bring to your business as a leader.

If you're feeling stuck or stagnant within your business, tune in to learn how you can reframe your mindset around managing the costs of your business and making the right moves to spend money to make money!

Key Takeaways:

[:13] Meghan and Braden catch up.

[:48] Meghan and Braden's favorite #moneyhacks.

[3:42] Welcome back to the Virtual Practice Podcast!

[4:10] About today's topic: how to strategically reinvest in your business.

[5:37] Braden outlines the different types of expenses we face as business owners.

[7:08] Dispelling the myth that time is "free" and why we need to account for it in our business.

[9:00] What is "opportunity cost" and how does it impact our business?

[10:10] The two things you can reinvest in your business at any given time.

[11:26] Your secret sauce: the unique value that you bring to your business (and how to leverage it instead of wasting it).

[14:00] How to truly cut costs.

[14:47] Why you need to delegate as a business owner ("80% done is 100% awesome").

[15:49] Smart expenses that Braden has in his businesses that help to drive growth and increase revenue.

[18:32] Meghan shares her smart expenses in her own business.

[22:28] The investments that Meghan always sees consistent value in.

[23:12] What you shouldn't spend money on or invest in as a business owner.

[23:58] Meghan and Braden's top three key takeaways.

[25:14] About next week's episode!

[25:28] Regardless of your background or credentials, if you want to build a practice or business that creates impact and health for others, Meghan and Braden are your team!

[26:07] If you are looking for a place to see patients and you don't want the hassle of contracts, rent splits, or commitment, head on over to HealthHives.com to create your free account!

[26:17] If you found today's episode helpful, please consider leaving a review wherever you listen to the podcast!

For More on the Virtual Practice Podcast:

Visit HealthHives.com/Podcast and join us on Facebook and Instagram @HealthHivesCo.

For future episodes, visit HealthHives.com/Podcast!

Tweetables:

"Taking your time/deploying your time to compensate for not spending money comes at a cost. It's something called 'opportunity cost.'" — Meghan Walker

"At any given moment, you have one of two things you can reinvest in your business. You can either reinvest money or you can invest your time." — Meghan Walker

"You get to decide the best way to use and deploy your time." — Meghan Walker

"When we talk about cutting costs, part of [it] is really getting clear on what your time is worth and how it is best spent. Because spending more for appropriate support is actually a way to cut some of the costs in your business." — Meghan Walker

"Your time is massively valuable and should be spent in a small arena of activity." — Meghan Walker

How do you determine what to create next in your business? How do you know if it's worth your (or your patients') time or money? How do you make sure that what you're creating is scalable and not a dead-end offering?

In this episode, Meghan and Braden are going through the top three ways to triage your next business offering and ensure that it is the right offering to create and focus on. They share how to stress-test your idea, which money questions you should be asking yourself, and how to know if your patients actually want your next offer!

Key Takeaways:

[:13] How do Meghan and Braden decide what to create? How do they come up with their ideas?

[2:35] Welcome back to the Virtual Practice Podcast!

[3:00] About today's topic: creating new offers.

[3:46] What it means to "gut test" your ideas and avoid "dead-end offers."

[4:36] How to know when you're ready to create something new.

[6:33] Meghan's three-part methodology (T.A.M) will help you know when to create something new for your business.

[6:57] T = Tension (i.e. Where do you currently have tension in your business?)

[10:15] A = Asking (i.e. How to figure out what kind of offer to create through validation)

[11:43] M = Money Test (i.e. Making sure that it passes the money test and will give you a meaningful return on investment)

[15:08] How to know when to pursue a passion project (aka a "5 a.m. project") and how you can leverage it for your business.

[19:22] Meghan's four key takeaways.

[20:14] About next week's episode!

[20:21] Regardless of your background or credentials, if you want to build a practice or business that creates impact and health for others, Meghan and Braden are your team!

[20:36] If you are looking for a place to see patients and you don't want the hassle of contracts, rent splits, or commitment, head on over to HealthHives.com to create your free account!

[20:47] If you found today's episode helpful, please consider leaving a review wherever you listen to the podcast!

Mentioned in This Episode:

The Entrepology Planner

More about 5 a.m. projects

For More on the Virtual Practice Podcast:

Visit HealthHives.com/Podcast and join us on Facebook and Instagram @HealthHivesCo.

For future episodes, visit HealthHives.com/Podcast!

Tweetables:

"I 'gut test' everything. [I ask myself:] Is this thing I'm making inherently scalable? … Don't put your time and energy into, what I call, 'dead-end offers.'" — Meghan Walker

"For you to create something new in your business; a new offering in your business, the first place I think you should look is: where do you currently have tension in your business?" — Meghan Walker

"Don't go make things until you've asked people and you know that they would be interested in it." — Meghan Walker

"Even if you're running a not-for-profit, you still have to make sure that you're making financially sound decisions. There's no profession or nature of professions that's exempt from that." — Meghan Walker

"Not everything you do has to be this grand ol' idea that's going to scale to millions. You can start with those little things that will increase your margin from 20% to 30%." — Braden Urquhart

Description:

Today, Meghan and Braden are super excited to be joined by their guest, April Stroink! April is a financial guru and strategist, a profit-first certified coach, and is demystifying money for practitioners worldwide.

Having been in this space for over 20 years, April knows a lot when it comes to the relationship between health and finances — especially when it comes to healthcare practitioners and clinic owners. Every day she works with small business owners to help them develop systems within their businesses so that their finances do not control them and they can truly move towards the state of freedom that all entrepreneurs desire.

In this conversation, April shares the dos and don'ts of financial literacy, how to begin taking control of your finances, where you should be (and should not be) investing your money, what you should be aiming for with your profit margin, and what it really means to be profit-first.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] What is one of the best things that Braden and Meghan have done in their lives with regard to the management of their money?

[3:22] Welcome back to the Virtual Practice Podcast!

[4:16] About today's guest, April Stroink.

[5:01] Meghan and Braden welcome April to the podcast!

[5:37] April shares her story and what led her to work with naturopathic doctors. April also shares her worst money mistake.

[8:26] April highlights the common areas of improvement around money that we can collectively tackle as practitioners.

[9:50] What does it mean to be profit-first?

[11:55] Why do some practitioners see being profitable as being a negative thing? How does April assist practitioners that feel this way?

[14:55] What is the profit margin of a typical associate and/or practice? And what is the benchmark that we should all be aiming for?

[18:36] Expectations vs. reality for the clinic owners regarding profit margins.

[21:10] Why 1:1 models are not scalable.

[22:07] A common problem that April sees with clinics: pooling all your revenue into one area, and her advice on where you should be investing your money.

[24:58] April's experiences with working with resistant clinic owners and practitioners.

[27:22] If April could change one thing about how the industry runs or structures its business, what would it be?

[28:38] Braden's top key takeaways from today's conversation with April.

[30:11] About next week's episode!

[30:29] Regardless of your background or credentials, if you want to build a practice or business that creates impact and health for others, Meghan and Braden are your team!

[30:50] If you are looking for a place to see patients and you don't want the hassle of contracts, rent splits, or commitment, head on over to HealthHives.com to create your free account!

[31:00] If you found today's episode helpful, please consider leaving a review wherever you listen to the podcast!

Mentioned in This Episode:

April Stroink

Clinician Business Labs

For More on the Virtual Practice Podcast:

Visit HealthHives.com/Podcast and join us on Facebook and Instagram @HealthHivesCo.

For future episodes, visit HealthHives.com/Podcast!

Tweetables:

"[A common problem I see with practitioners is that] they are passionate about their products, their services, [and] the community that they service, but do not want to look under the hood of their business – and especially not at their finances." — April Stroink

"Profit-first is ... making sure that everything you are producing in your business, ... is baking growth margin or profitability into it. Because, if you are not profitable, you will not be staying in business. … And … who's going to serve your community?" — April Stroink

"You really have to have your finger on the pulse of your numbers if you're going to run a business. You just have to." — April Stroink

From not having a pricing strategy in place to not knowing how to leverage the money that you are making — Meghan and Braden are highlighting all of the biggest mistakes that they've seen (and have made themselves) in the healthcare industry so you don't have to make the same ones!

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's episode.

[:44] What are the biggest money mistakes Meghan and Braden have made?

[4:56] Welcome back to the Virtual Practice Podcast!

[5:25] Why it is important to study mistakes that others are making in the industry.

[5:57] Mistake #1: A lack of intention about what is needed.

[7:16] Mistake #2: No pricing strategy.

[9:00] Mistake #4: No separation of personal and professional finances.

[9:28] When is the right time to hire a bookkeeper or an accountant?

[9:45] Mistake #5: Not understanding the cost of running a business.

[10:44] Mistake #6: Banking everything on the next launch, sale, or tax return to pay for things in your business.

[12:21] Mistake #7: Not setting money aside for taxes.

[13:28] Mistake #8: Not investing in yourself, your business, and your people.

[14:40] Mistake #9: Not understanding the difference between net income or income in your business versus solid, consistent cash flow.

[16:20] Mistake #10: Not understanding the difference between leveraging yourself and spending money you don't have.

[18:49] Braden's top key takeaways.

[19:43] About next week's episode!

[20:03] Regardless of your background or credentials, if you want to build a practice or business that creates impact and health for others, Meghan and Braden are your team!

[20:20] If you are looking for a place to see patients and you don't want the hassle of contracts, rent splits, or commitment, head on over to HealthHives.com to create your free account!

Mentioned in This Episode:

The DNA Company

Kashif Khan

For More on the Virtual Practice Podcast:

Visit HealthHives.com/Podcast and join us on Facebook and Instagram @HealthHivesCo.

For future episodes, visit HealthHives.com/Podcast!

Tweetables:

"Sometimes for us to understand the solutions we need to have in place, we need to just call out the mistakes that we're making." — Meghan Walker

"When you start to differentiate yourself not by location or by credentials, but by the outcome that you deliver for a specific group of people, you're no longer beholden to that piece." — Meghan Walker

"You need to set your prices so that you can afford to have people who help you leverage your time. If you sell your time, you cannot spend your time on everything." — Meghan Walker

"Your job as the CEO of your business is to constantly understand: … Will this particular investment yield me a return on investment? Yes or no?" — Meghan Walker

"Money is something you're not born learning about. You need to take responsibility and learn — and part of that is learning from your mistakes." — Braden Urquhart