The founder of any clinic is bound to feel personally responsible for the success of their business – and this can often see them taking on a huge workload.

But Clinic Coach Alan S. Adams says they could actually be harming their clinic’s chance of success, as well as burning themselves out in the process:

"Working around the clock and doing it all in order to have it all are almost seen as badges of honor in the business world. But I’m seeing an increasing number of clients who are struggling under the weight of everything there is to do in their clinic – and they’re losing sight of the bigger picture because they’re so bogged down in all of these tasks that need doing.

“The answer is a very simple one: outsourcing. Sometimes it can be difficult to persuade clinic owners to hand over control of certain parts of the business to someone else – and it’s no wonder, they have been there every step of the way through from the original business inception until now. But, as long as you pick the right external agencies to work with, it’s guaranteed to have a positive impact on the clinic as a whole and on your own personal workload.

If you haven’t already, the first step would be to list everything you do within the clinic – whether it’s part of the sales warm up (which includes how your website functions, your social media output, PR, award submissions, events, and your reputation as a whole), the sale itself (consultation process, incentives, membership plans and the overall experience of a customer), or the after-sale (generating loyalty and advocacy).

“There are naturally certain parts of that process which must be completed by yourself or one of your own team: the consultation itself for example. But there are others which could very easily be outsourced. If you’re not a trained bookkeeper, keeping on top of the finances may not come naturally to you, so why not hand over the responsibility for working out the incomings and outgoings to a third party? Similarly, without a background in PR and marketing sorting out all of the clinic’s communications might be taking an inordinate amount of time, whereas an external agency could do wonders for your reputation as they’re experts in that field.

Of course, there is a cost associated with outsourcing – but you’re currently paying yourself or a member of the team to complete these actions anyway, whereas you could be paying an expert to do so much more - efficiently and effectively! Also, you are able to earn more money if you’re spending more time doing the most profitable treatments you offer. The added beauty of outsourcing is also that you can reduce or upscale that support when needed, much more quickly than you could recruit a new member of staff or training an existing one.

Another benefit is that you know something will be done on schedule – it’s easy for tasks to slip down to the bottom of the to-do list or to procrastinate, especially if it’s something you don’t particularly enjoy doing.

This way, you know something is getting done while your focus is elsewhere. It’s incredibly easy to become embroiled in the day to day running of the clinic and forget why you started the business in the first place, losing a little bit of the passion you have for it every time you force yourself to complete yet another part of the sales warm up, sale or after-sale process that you don’t particularly enjoy and/or which doesn’t come naturally.

But this way, you’re essentially cherry picking the parts of that process you are most proficient at, which most urgently need doing, and which you enjoy the most. This will undoubtedly have a positive impact on how much you’re able to do and how well you do it.

Trimming down your task list enables you to effectively juggle your workload and even block out your time so you work more productively.

There are simply not enough hours in the day for one person to do everything – and that same person can’t be an expert in everything, so it makes a lot of sense to outsource.

Pick tasks which are essential but not urgent, and take your time vetting and getting to know any external agency you’re planning to work with so you have trust in them to complete what you’ve tasked them with (there’s no point in paying someone else if you’re then calling or emailing every five minutes to check on the progress).

It’s also worth remembering that cheap typically isn’t good, and you need to be confident you know the difference between good and bad.

Whether you take on an IT firm, a marketing team or a business consultant – or perhaps all three - if you pick the right company to partner with then outsourcing is guaranteed to have a positive impact on your workload, your stress levels, and the success of the clinic too.”