Functional Medicine Business Institute Podcast

Mindset is the first step to growing your practice. Marketing your practice for growth. Customizing your programs and packages. Knowing your money. Engaging and maintaining your A-team.  Do not miss these highlights: 01:11 How having the right mindset can keep you going for the long game.  06:58 Letting people know who you are, what you do, why you do what you do, and having them connect with you before you get in the office is a tremendous benefit for you.   07:55 You'll be getting more patients from the internet itself. If you want to build your practice quickly, if you want to move your practice along that growth path quickly, you need to market it. 09:17 Why you need both an Ala Carte service and a package service.  10:15 Why understanding how to structure your payment options and understanding how you talk to clients about payment are important. 11:11 It's our responsibility to talk about the benefits and the risks. Offer your clients three options - a low, middle, and a high. 12:46 Your team all has to be willing and able to go after the same goal that you are. Resources MentionedJoin Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/

What is a sales funnel? How do you build a sales funnel? Why is this important for medical practices to have one? We'll be answering all those questions and more in today's video. Watch now for a rundown of sales funnels for beginners and how to develop a sales funnel strategy. Do not miss these highlights: 01:02 What is a sales funnel? How it can help grow your business, get you noticed,  and make you an authority in the functional or integrative medicine space 2:39 How to put in place the first step which is awareness, which is sharing your information/content with consumers using writing, short videos, podcasts 06:18 Using the internet as the next piece of your sales funnel 07:06 Whenever you deliver the content, you need to capture something 10:08 Consideration in sales funnel will have you thinking about what are you going to provide them once you have captured their contact information 10:51 3 free informational emails and then 1 ask 13:36 Constantly tweaking that sales funnel so that you can get it so that it's producing without you 14:46 Sales funnel - Intent and Content marketing funnel - what are the difference 16:59 Importance of walking your client through their journey, and what that look through their eyes is huge in how you actually get clients and keep them in your ecosystem so that you don't lose them Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/

Setting boundaries is the key to a successful business. It is necessary to maintain your sanity, personal life, and growing your business. Don't get caught up in shiny object syndrome. Do not miss these highlights: 01:02 Why we struggle in setting boundaries and why we should set those boundaries 03:28 Sometimes God derails us because we're going in the wrong path 04:22 It's very easy to get pulled away by every little opportunity that comes your way, and if you don't have good boundaries, it's very easy to get pulled everywhere 05:38 Part of being not in the right direction is our own doing and our own fault, because we're not staying true to what we had set up originally 07:23 Make sure you set enough boundaries - Know what your boundaries are - Stick to those boundaries 08:18 If you struggle with boundaries, start with something small 10:11 Your business will surely grow 10 times faster if you stick to that boundary Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/

Have you created a pricing strategy for your business? Spending time planning for pricing structure is key to the success of your business. Don't give up your business if you are changing your strategy think about selling it.  Do not miss these highlights: 02:00 It's important for you to identify what bucket (ticket) you're going to be in because this is how you attract your ideal client.  03:56 Nailing your pricing strategy is important - Product pricing strategy determines many different things. 06:25 In our practices we're charging for time.  08:03 Package prices ideas. 10:19 If you have a team, especially when you start doing higher ticket items, it's best for you to have a ‘Closer' - somebody else in your team who can talk money and can explain programs to the patients. 13:30 Start thinking about pricing, you need to make sure that you're looking at the pricing structure of what you're selling. 15:45 Just because there are hard times doesn't mean that your practice still can't grow. 16:39 The red flags in pricing that will create problems for you.  Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/

How do you get and stay motivated after being in practice a while? How do you connect with people? How do you learn and grow? Dr. Deb shares key ideas on how to keep yourself motivated.  Do not miss these highlights: 01:28  It's a challenge for all of us to keep learning, keep expanding our knowledge and get fresh ideas into our practice.  04:34 Regardless of the size of the business, regardless of how many people you have…we all suffer from the same concerns and problems in our business. 05:53 Recognize that how something presents on the outside is not exactly what's happening on the inside of that practice.  06:49 If you've been in practice for a while, and you're getting bored, you're getting burnt out, it's time to start finding something that will reignite you, something that will excite you. 09:16 Find a way to connect and learn with other people.  Resources MentionedJoin Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/

What is accountability? Accountability means being responsible and being able to follow through with what one is supposed to do? In business, accountability is important to grow your practice. But the type of accountability is determined by the leader. What type of leader are you? Ignore and hope, the heavy-handed leader or are you genuine and you share goals and ideas with your team so everyone wins?  Do not miss these highlights: What is accountability in business and how does it make you feel?Heavy-handed approach.How you choose to address your team creates your corporate culture, it's important to consciously decide what kind of corporate culture you want.Hands-off model, the leaders just pretend they don't see the problems or the issues going around going on around them or they're just too busy and they don't want to see them.How to talk to a team member about a situation that is not going so well.Accountability actually starts with the leader sharing their vision for the company and explaining to the team what winning looks like for the business and everyone.Opening up this dialogue and conversation, your team can help identify who's the best person to do something, what's the best fit for things? How do we process this? How do we accomplish this?You can not do it all, the importance of building a team. Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Episode #36: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Devin has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54Hello, welcome back to Functional MBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb, and I'm really excited to be with you here today. I hope everyone has done their halftime homework from last week. And I would love to hear where you're at with planning your second half of 2022. So if you haven't shared this in our social media, please do that. I'm excited to see what everyone's working on and would love to help in any way that you may need it. Today's show is about accountability. Everyone's favorite topic, right? What is accountability? Anyway, I think there's a lack of clarity around what accountability is, and what it looks like in business. You know, the word accountability is thrown around a lot. And it's used in different ways. And there's lots of emotions that come up with that word accountability, you might feel really excited or nervous about this word, because of what it means for you. And if you have had accountability in your business, or your team before, will completely determine how the word accountability makes you feel. You see from a personal experience, I have felt a little conflict around this word at various times in my life. I need to be accountable to my team, my patients, my family and my business partners. And I also want my team members to be responsible for their duties and accountable in business accountability relates to how we express ourselves how we communicate with our team and successfully get things done in practice. 2:40There's several different approaches to how to create accountability with your team. One of the approaches is called a heavy-handed approach. And some people say in order to be a good boss, you have to be kind of a jerk.

Where is your business at for 2022? Have you reached your goals? What changes are necessary to hit a grand slam for 2022? Dr. Deb inspires you to look at your goals, reset them or pivot to cross the finish line strong. Do not miss these highlights: 01:02 We are halfway through 2022, this is a great time for you to be evaluating your success in your business.  03:27 Figuring out how to reach your goals.  07:50 Add additional services and have some team members that want to expand into a different market area.  11:12Make sure that you're implementing what you're doing, and you're training your entire team. So they're successful with what we're doing as well.  11:50 Assess your practice, and figure out where you are and what you want to accomplish for 2022. 14:13 Think about creative ways that you can help your clients out during these difficult times. Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Episode #35: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Devin has a wealth of knowledge, and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54Welcome back to the show. I'm Dr. Deb. Hey, everybody, It is halftime. And what do I mean by that? You know, it's been a tremendous year, but we are halfway through 2022. And this is a great time for you to be evaluating your success in your business. Are you at a place in your business that you thought you would be at by the middle of 2022? If not, let's assess what's happened, what's gotten in the way, what's preventing you from moving forward, or maybe you are killing it. And 2022 is your year, like this has been the best year your business is growing, it's busy, you're making connections with people, doors are opening clients are flooding to you. And if that's the case, you rock to you guys, you guys are awesome. But if you're struggling a little bit, and you're halfway through the year, and 2022 just isn't quite what you wanted it to be. This is a great time to reassess your business and say, Okay, this is where I had hoped I would be by the end of June 2022. But I'm not. So what have I done in the first half of 2022? That's been successful? What have I done that's gotten in the way of me not reaching my goals for 2022? 2:29And then we want to sit back and we want to say, Okay, if something has gotten in the way, what is that? And how do I change it? This isn't a time where you just sit back and you say, Okay, I didn't meet the goal that I wanted to, you know, I thought I'd be billing or collecting a half a million dollars a year so far. And I'm only doing 250 or 175. So now I'm gonna adjust and I'm on track for a different figure by the time the end of 2022 comes. No, we're not in that game space anymore. We are looking at that goal and saying if our goal is to make half a million dollars a year, and you're only a quarter of the way there by the end of June, what do we need to put in place, so you're closer to reaching that half million dollar goal or whatever that dollar figure is for you. This isn't a time that we just sit back and we accept what we've got. This is the time that we forge forward, and we make a plan. And we figure out how we're going to reach that goal.

How to retain employees? Setting up a wellness program and encouraging them to learn about health and wellness. Empowering your employees to take care of themselves will improve your business.  Do not miss these highlights: 01:58 The three advantages of giving incentives to your employees. 02:48 The reasons to promote well-being in the workplace - Increase productivity and motivation - Bring teams together and build morale - Decrease work-related stress. 05:53 A great way to start a wellness strategy is by slowly rolling out your ideas so that your employees won't even realize that you're starting to initiate this wellness program. 07:19 Encourage work-life balance- Let them take downtime. 11:31 Encourage your employees to get up from their desks, move around and take breaks - Have them get up, walk around and talk to somebody. 12:45 The ideas of workplace initiatives - You could have an official wellness program, have healthy food be brought in, and allow them to take advantage of any of the things you have in the Office for free. 14:57 How to encourage your employees to exercise. 16:55 Offer them flexible hours - It helps to reduce burnout. 18:46 You could also pay for courses for them. Educate your staff, the more educated your staff is, the less work it actually is for you.  19:16 Look at their nutrition and eating habits.  21:32 Look at their emotional well-being and distress, so your employees can promote health, healthiness and happiness. Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Episode #34: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Devin has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54Welcome back to the FMBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb. And today I want to share with you wellbeing initiatives for your workplace for 2022. You know, I can't believe that we're halfway through the year already. There's so much time left, but yet there's not so much time left, right. I mean, it's it's crazy how quickly the year goes. And before you know it the years off and half the things we wanted to accomplish in the year for our business we haven't done. So what I want to talk about is investing in workplace wellness. You know, if you've been looking for a employee, and you have been hiring, you totally understand the problem that we're in right now with being able to hire quality employees, people that actually show up and want to work. And everybody wants way more money than what most of us can afford for the positions we're hiring these days. So it's getting harder and harder to find those quality people. So I want to talk a little bit today about incentives that we can do to one encourage people to join your practice to invest in your people so that you create an environment that they don't want to leave. And three, it helps to reduce reduce the stress within your office, which just makes it a really great environment for everybody if there's less stress, your research has shown that there are many reasons why workplace wellness pays back. And of course, we can actually put a number to that. But studies are very clear that there is a good ROI on investment into your team once they gain bett...

The experience that your client/patient goes through at your office can make a difference between attracting and maintaining a client. Does your client see a nice clean and polished office, nice staff or crabby staff? Do they hear gossip and rude conversation or is your staff wonderful and engaging about health and wellness? Take a tour of your office through your client's eyes. Really pay attention to the details because we overlook them often. What digital footprint are you leaving behind? Do you have social content in multiple forms; video, blogs, pictures, and social posts? Do you educate your clients or are you always looking to get paid for your knowledge? Let people get to know you before they book an appointment with you by being on video. According to Google if you are trying to sell a high-ticket item people need to spend at least 7 hours with you. Do not miss these highlights: 01:17 It was the outside that gave that first impression, so it's important to pay attention to the look and the ambiance of the building. 04:27 It's very important for us to plan the experience that we want our clients to have instead of just leaving it to chance. 07:04 Make sure there's a very clear call to action even on your social media. 10:18 So it's really important to make sure that you have content out there, that's helping you connect to people. You need to consistently be producing content. So people know you love you. And like you. And they trust you. 11:43 Have a dabbling of things on every platform, so if one goes down, the other one can stay active, and you can pivot quickly. 13:05 Make sure that your client's journey is fully on digital assets as well. Resources MentionedJoin Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Episode #33: Debra Muth 0:01You're listening to The Functional Medicine Business podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Devin has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. Debra Muth 0:55Welcome back to the Functional MBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb. And today I want to talk about what journey does your potential client go through? You know, I think it's important for us to consider the experience that our clients go through when they're spending time and money with us. So from time to time, what we'll actually do in my practice, is walk through the journey of the client, literally from driving into the parking lot. Looking around our parking lot, what do they see? How does our parking lot? Look? Is it inviting? Is it dirty? Is their garbage sitting around? Do we have dead plants in our area around the building? Is there paint coming off of the building? Do we have Miss painted areas? What is our signage look like? Is it visible? Is it faded? Is there a tree branch hanging in front of it? So I think it's always important to look at every little one of these aspects. Now for many of us, we think this doesn't make a big deal for patients or clients. But I will tell you, it makes a huge first impression. So when you have that first impression of your business, and it's shabby and dirty, and there's no place to park, patients notice that. Debra Muth 2:19When I started out, I was in a building that was very old. And when you walked into the lower level,

What do you need to know before starting a private practice? Know your numbers, and talk to experts that understand the business better than you. Does it matter if I am an NP, DO, MD, DC can I start a private functional medicine practice? Anyone with a license can start a private practice. How do I prevent embezzlement in my practice? Manage your money carefully and be on top of where your money is going.  Do not miss these highlights: 01:26 How Dr. Deb started her own private integrative medicine practice 12 years ago. 02:44  It takes a huge leap of faith to be able to go into private practice for yourself. Have faith in yourself and trust that you can learn absolutely anything you put your mind to.  04:49 Private practices are up 6% since COVID, just in the first quarter of 2022 patients want to see per providers in private practice.  05:30 Don't be afraid to ask people that are experts - Ask people around you for their guidance, ask questions so you understand what you're doing and what you're liable for. 09:43 You can get more people in faster and have more money in your practice by not having that long waiting list. 11:04 If you build a good reputation, spend time with your clients and get them results, more people will come because word travels.  11:43 Don't niche down your market so narrowly that your patient population is limited. 12:12 Find your ideal client.  13:40 Know your numbers - You have to know the financial health of your practice, your numbers tell the health of your practice. Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Episode #32: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54Welcome to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast, FMBI. I'm your host, Dr. Deb and today's episode is the three keys to my success as a private practice nurse practitioner, we're going to talk about those exact three key steps to building a private integrative medical practitioner. So if you're a nurse practitioner, naturopath, physician, chiropractor, or do who is interested in starting their own medical practice, these tips are for you. Keep watching. I started my own private integrative medicine practice about 12 years ago, after I left another practice, I was an owner in this other practice by wanted to create a practice that shared like minded practitioners under the same roof. The goal was to share knowledge patients and provide a practice that could eventually run without me. When I tell you I was scared, that's an understatement. I remember telling my husband that we may not be able to survive, I didn't know how long it would take for me to collect a salary from this business. And it kept me up at night. I'm just going to throw it out there. Because we're all practitioners, whatever field you're in, we like to have a lot of data at our disposal. For our patients. We like to evaluate numbers, look at the evidence and make guided decisions. When you graduate from school, you don't get any business training, nothing, not how to hire staff, evaluate health insurance, sign up for accounts with vendors, how to set up a QuickBooks file.

5 Key business investors for your functional-integrative medical practitioners. How do I start an FM or Integrative medical practice with 0 money? Yup, I said 0 cash. It is possible and necessary. You can use investor cash, friends or family, SBA loans or Credit Cards to begin your practice today. It is easier than you think. There are people willing and ready to help you.  Do not miss these highlights: 02:17 In order to be successful, you have to think like an entrepreneur, you can't just think like an integrative practitioner.  04:19 When you ask friends and family to invest, make sure you outline the details before beginning and outline the responsibilities.  05:04 The SBA, Small Business Administration matches other agencies to find lenders that the SBA has already approved - guarantees certain loans, a generous repayment term with a lower interest rate for both parties.  05:24 Private investors can be either angel investors or venture capitalists in return for their investment, they will receive shares in the company or shares that are not publicly traded. 06:56 Crowdfunding platforms allows individuals and businesses to request funds online through a website that specialize in a specific form of funding.  10:35 Personal funding, life insurance policy that has some cash value, credit cards, or a loan could be a great way to start a small practice if there's not a lot of equipment involved that needs to be purchased. Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Epsiode #31: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54Welcome back to the functional MBI Podcast. Today we're going to talk about how to start a private functional medicine or integrative medicine clinic with no money. What are your funding options? I started my clinic with $0 outlaid out of my pocket and grew to a $4 million evaluation in less than 10 short years. There are lots of ways that we can get funding to start a Functional Medicine or Integrative Medical Practice, I'm going to share with you some of the five quickest ways to find investors to help you grow your idea of a functional medicine practice. 1:34Now you have an idea and you want to start a functional or integrative medical practice, you have an idea that will impact the world in a very large way. Your idea is creative. It's different than anyone else that has set forth a functional medicine practice today. This makes you an entrepreneur, welcome to the family. You're not just a medical practitioner anymore with these big ideas, you're visionary, you're creating an idea to change the lives of many people in your practice. But in order to be successful, you have to think like an entrepreneur. You can't just think like an integrative practitioner. You're not just looking to create a business and health and wellness, you're looking to create a legacy for your family. You're looking to do something that you're passionate about, that brings you joy brings you happiness, and on top of it helps other people have an amazing life that they've been looking for. You have the idea. But how do you make this a reality.

How much does it cost to acquire a new functional medicine client? It can be as little as 0.51 cents to $240.00 depending on the service. What does it take to have a successful marketing campaign? It takes planning, training your team, knowing what outcome you are looking to achieve, and a digital presence. Do not miss these highlights: 02:49 Why is it so important to understand what it costs to bring a client into your practice?  04:37 Lifelong clients provide the best value to your practice - How to keep them? 11:01 Avoid driving your ads for the client to fill out a form, drive them to call your office instead. You don't need to have a built-in scheduling link. 12:39 How to make cancellation or no show rate extremely low. 14:19 The importance of tracking your financial data as well as tracking your clinical data.  16:55 Another way of tracking your progress is through what's called a CRM. 18:33 The first milestone that you want to try to accomplish is a 3% conversion rate and then grow from there. 20:26 Don't just run ads and think it's enough - You need to provide a lot of value to the channels and make a connection with a person. 22:16 In your ads, social posts, and YouTube videos use normal everyday language or in layman's terms - Speak to them in a way that describes what and how they're feeling in their language. 24:19 Reviews are incredibly important - Get a video testimonial or a video review whenever you possibly can. 25:34 When you drive people to your practice via a phone call, the person answering the phone needs to be the one that can answer the questions and schedule the appointment. 29:53 It's important to rank organically in the search engine - The higher you rank, the lower the cost of conversion to bring a client in. Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript for Episode #30: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care, she will discuss it all with you. 0:54Welcome back to Functional MBI Podcast. Today I want to talk about client acquisition for functional medicine practitioners. Today's show is about the cost of acquisition. Now don't go running away just yet. It's not boring and even if you're a small business, this would work for you. Every business needs to know what it costs them to acquire a client. For most medical marketing services, the cost per client will fluctuate between $8 and $106 to get a new client into your practice, this is really a broad range. And I can tell you that this range can change even more. I've obtained clients in my practice for as little as 51 cents. Yes, you heard me right 51 cents. Now, we're not talking about how much you pay per click but how many times does someone have to land on your website, social page, or watch your video before they pick up the phone and call your office to schedule an appointment and actually show up for that appointment. We're talking about what the average cost to convert someone into scheduling an appointment, not just showing up on your website. 2:17This is crucial to every small business. But especially crucial to anyone in the Functional Medicine world.

Goal setting can be fun and stressful at the same time. Dr. Deb shares how to stay on track to meet your goals and grow your practice while maintaining your sanity and personal life.  Do not miss these highlights: 02:08 Start making progress and changing the landscape of your life and your business to accomplish a bigger goal  02:24 You need to have a plan on how you're going to get there,  just like going on a trip  03:53  It's easy for things to derail us in our life, the same way for businesses. You might derail from your original goal. 04:40 Write down your goals for one year, five years and 10 years, break them down and reevaluate  06:17 Your desired future - Track your progress. 09:37 The desired future statement - It lays out where you're going in the next 12 months and how you plan to get there. 11:08 Define your objectives - Outline how you're going to reach that desired future, determine what must happen to achieve your goal over the next 12 months 12:24 Follow your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) - Define what it takes to accomplish your goals and your objectives.  15:15 It is your job as the leader in the practice, to tell people what you're thinking, share the objectives, goals, and the expectations to help reach the goal Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Epsiode #29: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Devin has a wealth of knowledge, and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care, she will discuss it all with you. 0:54Hi, welcome back to the FMBI podcast. And today I want to talk to you about accomplishing your goals. You know, every year we set goals, and oftentimes we set them and we forget them. Now, at the end of every year, I go through and I look at what did I accomplish last year, I pull out my goals that I wrote down at the end of the year before and I see what I accomplished and what I didn't. But part of the problem with doing that is when we set our goals and I was notorious for this, when I first started out in business, and even just in my personal life, I would write down all my goals and I would be excited about accomplishing them. But then I'd forget about them. I put them in a book and I'd never look at them again until the end of the year. And if I manifested them, and they came true, great. And if not, I'd put them on the list for next year, when I really got good at setting goals, and not only setting them, but each week writing down what are the big three things that I'm going to do in my personal life and my professional life to accomplish my bigger goal is when I really started making progress and changing the landscape of my life and my business. 2:18So it's important for us to know big picture, where are we going? What are we doing? But then we have to have a plan on how we're going to get there. If we don't have a plan, then oftentimes it doesn't happen. It's kind of like going on a trip right? Back in the day before we had GPS, we'd have to have a map. And we'd we'd write out like where are we going? Where were we going to stop? How are we going to get there. And then we knew by you know, 10 o'clock on Tuesday, we would arrive at whatever destination we were going to. With GPS,

How to chose a social media platform. Its important to chose a platform that you enjoy. If you gringe every time you think of being on that platform you won't use it to grow your business.How to get started building organic traffic on social platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Rumble, LinkedIn and more. Do not miss these highlights: 03:24 Three years ago, without paid marketing, Dr. Deb built a practice with 5000 patients but once she added paid marketing, that number doubled.  04:44 Overwhelmed with social media marketing, it doesn't have to be that way.  06:49 When you're building organic social media traffic, You need to keep in mind that it is a long game, not a short game - It can take months or even years to build your following, but don't give up! 07:33 Negativities and fears toward social media platforms 08:35  If we're true to who we are, we will attract the clients that are in the same space that we are, and it doesn't have to be so complicated. 09:32 You don't have to be on all social media platforms - Pick one platform, be good at it and keep working on it. 11:14 The time to begin social media is today.  11:47 These social media platforms offer what's absolutely groundbreaking - the ability to market yourself and your business in a way that's free, unlimited and accessible to anyone. 12:33 One of the biggest misconceptions I see in social media, oftentimes experts say you have to be everywhere, you've got to hustle. 13:42 It's never ever too late to build a following on social media. Don't stress yourself. 14:04 Setting up your social media task  16:12  For those of you in the integrative functional medicine world, Life Extension Magazine has tons of content that you can use to put on social media.  Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/

Finding employees in today's market can be a challenge. You may end up paying more for an employee so it's important to make sure it's the right fit. Ask current employees if they have friends that would be a good fit for your organization.Dr. deb shares tips to hiring in an employee's marketplace. You want to be clear and keep your culture true. Do not miss these highlights: 02:23 Have your core values, ideas, and where you want your company to go, be dialed in to bring on people that can help you grow and expand your business. 04:13 Enthusiasm and positivity attracts not only employees but also attracts clients. 05:46 You've got to stand out from the crowd, especially as we're in a competitive market - Have a competitive resume. 07:14 The best place to start spreading the word that you're hiring - Referrals from your team. 08:55 Filter out people that you don't want to work for your company - Before you do that first interview, do some pre-work for yourself. 11:27 Creating a clear job posting is important to find the right person - Be clear - Know your marketplace. 14:25 Protect your culture -  Be clear on what your hiring process is and follow it. Don't be afraid to fire quickly. 16:01 Don't play that game of where you're going to match their salary and hope it comes on the back end. 19:57 Retaining process is all about your onboarding process - Successful onboarding process ideas. 22:12 Don't be afraid to give your employees honest and constructive feedback. 22:55 Compensation - How to pay them competitively Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of #27: 0:00Welcome to FMBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb and today we're going to talk about all things hiring and firing. Yes, it's a challenging topic I know but it's so desperately needed right now. And I'm here to help you navigate through the weeds of exactly how to do this. 0:44At FMBI we understand how it feels created by medical professionals for medical professionals, are you racing from one patient to the next, skipping lunch and not sure how you're going to show up to your kids events? Not quite sure what that p&l sheet really means to your practice? And are you struggling to find the right partners in your business? Our program is based on the values of efficiency organization and prioritization. The FM bi 15k a day program will help you discover how to run an efficient operation and introduce health generating therapies for more income. Our business roadmap will help you scale your functional medicine practice using proven business approaches. We would like to invite you today to book a free discovery call with our founder Dr. Deb, simply go to our website at functional mba.com/book-free-call and schedule your time today. 1:48So welcome back, we're going to talk about how difficult is it to really find great employees these days, it is a challenge for sure. Half of this problem is solved by being a fantastic company. You want to live and breathe every day about your business. This will help you attract and retain team members. Now we're all aware of the employee shortage that's in our country today. We hear it on the news all day long. And it gets a little frustrating, I have to say. But when we're talking about recruiting and retaining, it's important now than ever before, to really have our process dialed in, to have our core values dialed in to have our idea of where we want our company to go and what we're doing to be dialed in so that we can bring on people that can help us grow and expand our business, not just bring on an employee that's going to be deadweight for you. Now, there are certainly different issues when we're dealing with a team of 50 versus a team of 1000. It isn't any easier when you're dealing with 50 or 1000 people to be a company that someone wants to work for mean...

One of our toughest things are employees. How do we get them to do what we need and want? How do we run a smooth business? Dr. Deb shares a shocking factor on how to get this to work!  Do not miss these highlights: 04:22 How will you know that the problem is YOU and not your employees nor your business  06:51 When you start to look at people differently in your business, it will help grow your business 08:36 Small businesses are both an art and a science  09:26 We need a process and a practice by which to obtain the information or a method to create good business productivity 10:40 If you can't recognize your own strengths and weaknesses, you're never going to figure out exactly how to make the business better, and how to build a business that is successful without you 11:20 We cannot wear all of those hats all of the time, as we're scaling our business 11:42 There are people out there that are better than we are at certain things, we need to learn to let go of some things 14:22 You can't create that four-hour workweek if you're doing everything by yourself Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Episode #26: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Devin has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54Hello, hello. Welcome back to FMBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb. And today I want to talk to you about what is the real problem of your business. 1:04At FMBI we understand how it feels created by medical professionals for medical professionals, are you racing from one patient to the next, skipping lunch and not sure how you're going to show up to your kids events? Not quite sure what that p&l sheet really means to your practice? And are you struggling to find the right partners in your business? Our program is based on the values of efficiency organization and prioritization. The FM bei 15k a day program will help you discover how to run an efficient operation and introduce health generating therapies for more income. Our business roadmap will help you scale your functional medicine practice using proven business approaches. We would like to invite you today to book a free discovery call with our founder Dr. Deb. Simply go to our website at functionalmbi.com/book-free-call and schedule your time today. 2:10So how many times do you ask yourself, "How can I get my people to work? But without my constant interference without me having to constantly tell them? What to do? How to do it and how to think?" Now I know that's a loaded question for some of you and if you're listening, you're gonna be like, Yes, she's right on I get this one. I'm so tired of it. But hold your horses here a little bit. It's not going to be all what you think it's going to be. Now also, in our last episode, we talked about creating a document that that explains everything that you do and how you do it. It's called Systemising. How can I systemize systemize my business in such a way that it could be replicated 200, 300, 400 times and it would run as smoothly as the first time. So if you missed that podcast episode, go back and check that out because it talks a lot about how we can systemize things so that we're not havin...

Dr. Deb shares what it takes to set structure to your business for growth and success.  Do not miss these highlights: 02:16 Your business is not your life, You personally should not define yourself by your business 03:49 If your business cannot earn revenue without you being present, you don't really have a business, you have a job 05:32 When and how much time you should spend seeing your clients  07:32 Create a model that's going to provide consistent value to your clients, your employees, and to any people that are going to help your business grow 10:18 Walk through your practice as though you are a client 11:28 Document all the work that you do and all the processes that you do in either a video and or written manual 12:50 Your clients should be greeted the exact same way by every single person in your office every single time 14:09 Provide consistent value, think about the value of what you're providing, not only the value of what you're charging them 15:51 The best compliment that we could get as a provider is to have our patients trust us with their family and friends  18:15  Your operations manual is your repository of documentation that describes your company's “How To” guide 19:56 Why you should set guidelines about the dress code Resources Mentioned: Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Episode #25: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Devin has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54Hello, hello. Welcome back to FMBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb and today I want to talk to you about working on your business not in your business. At FMBI we understand how it feels created by medical professionals for medical professionals, are you racing from one patient to the next, skipping lunch and not sure how you're going to show up to your kids events? Not quite sure what that P&L sheet really means to your practice? And are you struggling to find the right partners in your business? Our program is based on the values of efficiency organization and prioritization. The FMBI 15k a day program will help you discover how to run an efficient operation and introduce healthy generating therapies for more income. Our business roadmap will help you scale your functional medicine practice using proven business approaches, we would like to invite you today to book a free discovery call with our founder Dr. Deb, simply go to our website at functionalmbi.com/book-free-call and schedule your time today. You see, it's really critical that you understand that your business is not your life. And you personally should not define yourself by your business. We need to be separate entities, right? You need to be yourself your person, Susie, Joe, Mary, the wife, the mother, the grandmother, the biker, the hiker, the football player, the tennis player, that's you, but your business should be separate of you. Now most of us in business aren't like that will lead with what we do, not who we are. And it's really important for you to separate you from your business. You know, at best, I think it's something for you to be a part of you, rather than be you. And the business needs its own rules, it needs its own purpose.

Dr. Deb shares what it takes to evaluate your business and why the new breakeven point is 10%. Do not miss these highlights: 02:21 Profit in your business is like oxygen and money is your fuel 03:21 It's really important for your business to be profitable enough for you to pay yourself a living wage 04:47 Find the right accountant who really knows the laws, learn about what is tax-deductible and what is not, this can save you a ton of money 06:04 You don't just have to look at what your profit is, but also what your salary is - You have to include that salary into your expenses 07:22 Within three months of marketing, you should see your profit change, you should see more clients, if that's not happening, you need to change your marketing strategy or your marketing person 08:10 Your lab profit should exceed your lab expenses by a minimum of 25% 09:27 Certain things in your business are going to have a higher profit margin than others 11:55 How to become profitable day in day out  13:43 Pre-tax profit is your earnings before taxes. This is a revenue-generating activity that you should look at to see how your business produces for your benefit 14:09 Pull your P&L from quarter to quarter and year to year, to see where your expenses lie and see where you're spending all your cash 15:13 You need to have the clients paying you cash, before you can start doing a lot of big expensive things like marketing, videos and photography 19:04 If you have all expenses and very little profit, your focus needs to be on getting patients in the door, getting the services done in your practice so that your profit margin comes up Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript of Episode #24: Debra Muth 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Devin has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. Hello, hello. Hello, and welcome back to FMBI podcasts. I'm your host, Dr. Deb. Today I'm going to talk to you about what does it take for a percentage of your business to be breakeven. And the new breakeven is actually 10%. At FM bi, we understand how it feels created by medical professionals for medical professionals. Are you racing from one patient to the next, skipping lunch and not sure how you're going to show up to your kids events? Not quite sure what that p&l sheet really means to your practice? And are you struggling to find the right partners in your business? Our program is based on the values of efficiency organization and prioritization. The FMBI 15k a day program will help you discover how to run an efficient operation and introduce healthy generating therapies for more income. Our business roadmap will help you scale your functional medicine practice using proven business approaches. We would like to invite you today to book a free discovery call with our founder Dr. Deb, simply go to our website at functional nbi.com/book free call and schedule your time today. So the truth of the matter is our profit in your business is like oxygen that we breathe every single day, your business can't hold its breath very long, without oxygen, right? Because we won't survive, we have to have fuel and in our businesses,

Dr. Deb shares discussions, money, teams, and happiness.  Do not miss these highlights: 01:01 Money won't heal your broken spots 01:54 What money can't buy and do 02:56 We get empty when we give so much of our team, family, community, clients or patients  03:54 Take care of yourself before you take care of others 04:08 It's not what you do that makes it great, It's how you do it  and why you do it 04:41 If work has become drudgery, it's the same thing as your marriage has become drudgery. You need to go back and remember what it was like when you were in love  05:46 You have to find ways to recharge your team, because they get beat down everyday by our clients 06:58 Take the right people in your business to help your business get to that place where it's amazing, fun and thriving Resources Mentioned Join Us in the FMBI Mastermind Group on Facebook.  You can find the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/5461914567153276/ Transcript to Episode #23: Debra Muth 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine busness practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. Welcome to FMBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb. Today I want to talk to about money, money won't heal your broken spots. That bad thing that happened to you when you were a child, it's not going away when you have money, it still happened. All the wonderful things that happen to you are not going away, it still happened to and the fact that you had an awesome dad or a horrible dad is not going to change. The fact is that whether you're rich, or whether you're poor, those experiences still happen to you. And they're still with you today. The fact that you had a mentor or coach that changed your life is not going to change one iota by the amount of money that you get in your business and in your life. All of that just gets expanded, whatever you've got, gets expanded. Money can buy a house, but it can't buy a home. It can buy a bed, but not sleep. Money can buy a clock but not time. Money can buy a book, but not knowledge. Money can buy food, but not an appetite. It can buy your friends but not love. The level of friendship you create in your business cannot be bought, nor can you make this up. You know, if the people hanging around, you are only hanging around you because you give them money, you don't have friends, it's just prostitution. You're buying everything. And that's not real. Money can't do any of this. But it can take care of your family. And you need money to get some things right like to put food on your table to put equipment in your business, to have employees help you in your office. But it won't make them stay. And it won't make them work hard for you. It won't make you more money. What happens when we give so much of our team, family community clients or patients is that we get empty. And it's our responsibility to take care of ourselves first. In order for us to continue to pour into our clients, community and family, we have to have something to muster up ourselves. Otherwise, we're cranky. And now I know that sounds really rude, but it's true. How many of you listening have been so burnt out that you just had nothing left to give? You were just exhausted. But there was just one more client to see. Did you give that client your all to do pour into them...

Zora Chase is Dr. Deb's marketing expert. Branding, customer acquisition, ROI, and the Lifetime Value of the client are topics covered in today's episode.  Do not miss these highlights: 05:16 What is Digital Marketing 06:37 Branding Strategy - How to brand your business  10:27 How to evaluate your Cost of Acquisition 14:14 Digital Marketing is very analytical 16:52 Why is it risky for your business if you rely on one channel like relying on Facebook alone 20:53 Why we have to get past that stigma of “ If you market to sick people, you're taking advantage of them” 21:35 You are serving your current customers by reminding them that you're there for them, you're there to help them About our Guest: Founder/CEO Chasing Nectar Marketing Zora Chase leverages more than 20 years combined in broadcast and digital media, guiding dozens of businesses with marketing needs that span from branding, product launches, experiential, and lead generation. Prior to Chasing Nectar, Zora held marketing positions at iHeart, CBS and Emmis where she conceived and implemented marketing programs for Fortune 500 brands such as Anheuser-Busch, Apple Music, Chrysler-Jeep-Fiat, Disney, Warner Brothers, to name a few. Her mission is always the same - to unify a team of trusted professionals who are. https://chasingnectar.com  IG @chasingnectr  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chasingnectarmm LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/zorachase/ Transcript of Episode #22: Debra Muth 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Devin has a wealth of knowledge and he's eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. Hello, and welcome back to Functional Medicine Business Podcast (FMB). I'm your host, Dr. Deb. And I have a guest with me today who is a dear friend of mine, and you guys are just going to love her. Her name is Zora Chase, and she is part of Chasing Nectar. And we're going to talk all about marketing today, and why it's important for functional medicine practitioners and integrative medicine practitioners to actually start a marketing plan and what's available for us today that is going to be worth us putting money towards to get clients and I also want her to share with us how she actually tracks what she's doing. And deciding whether or not it's profitable, and letting us know, how do we how do we track the cost of acquisition, the return on investment? Because I think in medicine, we don't think in the same terms and language as we do in business. Big Box businesses talk about this all the time, but as small practices or small businesses it's rare that you hear us talk about what's the cost of acquisition for a client? What's the return on investment? What's our lifetime value of our client? And Zoras going to talk to us today about this and how we evaluate it. And how do we choose which marketing is best for our practice. So let me bring her on right after this message from our sponsor. We will be back in two seconds and we will talk with Zora. At FMBI we understand how it feels. Created by medical professionals for medical professionals. Are you racing from one patient to the next, skipping lunch and not sure how you're going to show up to your kids events? Not quite sure what that p&l sheet really means to your practice?

Dr. Deb shares ideas on how to share your wins. Your team needs to celebrate the wins as well as you.  Do not miss these highlights: 02:07 Why you should celebrate your little wins in business 02:30 Sharing your positive feedback with your team doesn't cost you anything - Give them a shoutout 05:22 Acknowledging these little wins is huge for all of us, it makes us feel like what we're doing is worthwhile 06:08 Healthcare is a struggle every single day for most people, in order to stay in the game for 20 or 30 years, you need to make it fun and exciting 08:33 It's the victory that gets us to the end - Celebrating victories brings a personal touch to your practice 09:26 Sharing that excitement and love to the team as well as to the clients, builds longevity, loyalty and trust amongst your employees and patients Transcript for Episode #21: You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. Hello, hello. Hello, it is Dr. Deb and you're listening to the functional medicine business podcast FMBI. Today I want to talk to you about celebrating your wins. Now we have a tendency to think about our wins as little things in business. You know we celebrate the holidays, we celebrate the Super Bowl, we celebrate the new year. But I want to ask you do you celebrate your little wins in business? Do you even take the time to recognize them as wins and celebrate with your team? You know, many people that I talked to in this space never take time to celebrate the small wins. They never share the positives with their team, they only share the things that they find that they're doing wrong. And I think that that's a difficult thing for many of us to learn how to do I understand that. I remember when one of my business coaches told me to do this 10 years ago, and I was like, "are you kidding me? I'm not talking to them about that, then they're gonna want a raise and they're gonna want more money, and they're gonna want time off. And they're gonna complain about how hard they're working. I'm not telling them how good we're doing." But as time evolved, I realize that your dedicated, committed team that you work with day in and day out, and the people that are there supporting your mission in your goal, they need to hear about the wins just as much as you need to hear about the winds, they need to hear about the positive feedback that you get just as much as you need that positive feedback. That's what keeps them going as much as it keeps us going. So my first question to you is, are you sharing your positive feedback with your team? And if you're not, I would really encourage you to do that. What we do in our office is when a client gives us positive feedback, whether it's in writing or whether they verbally are telling you one of our team members, we asked that team member to send a message throughout the entire team and let them know what this client said. So patient, Susie came in and said, My god, you guys have the best support staff. I love Colleen, she's amazing. She talks me through things when times are difficult. And it's just nice to know you guys are here. That's the kind of message that we send, we try to send verbatim to our team so that everyone gets a shout out.

No time! No worries! These tips and tricks can be completed in less than 15 min a week. Dr. Barb Hales and Dr. Deb discuss marketing tips that work to grow your practice regularly. Do not miss these highlights:03:39 Increasing your visibility - How to market yourself and be known to the public 12:23 Be busy with the right patients 15:03 Networking with people who are like-minded but offer different services are great for your practice 16:14 Why having a stellar website and a blog is important in your business 10:50 Written blog versus Video blog (Vlog) 25:25 Get started now! Run to the services that sell domain names 31:07 Some helpful tips to anybody who wants to start out in marketing, but are not sure how to get their feet wet and don't know who to trust About the Guest: After working in her OB/GYN practice for 30 years, Dr. Barbara Hales is uniquely qualified to help promote health professionals for their practice growth and captivates her audience when giving speeches. She has spoken at The NY Academy of Medicine, The Royal Society of Medicine in London, Cambridge University, The NY Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange among others. She published a best selling book, "Power to the Patient, the Medical Strategist" and has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and Fox news. Dr. Hales is a podcast producer of "Marketing Tips for Doctors" and is a coach for health professionals. www.TheMedicalStrategist.com www.linkedin.com/in/barbarahales twitter.com/DrBarbaraHales facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist facebook.com/barbarahales https://themedicalstrategist.as.me. to schedule free discovery call Transcript of Episode #20: Debra Muth 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. dabit has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice. With practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care, she will discuss it all with you. Welcome back. I have with me, Dr. Barbara Hales, and we're going to talk all about marketing for healthcare professionals. Dr. Barb, welcome to the show. Dr. Barb Hale 1:05Well, thank you for having me. It's a real pleasure to be here with you today. Debra Muth 1:09So I'm curious, how did you transition from being a doctor OB GYN working with ladies to becoming a marketing expert? Dr. Barb Hale 1:19Well, Dr. Deb, that is actually a question that I get asked a lot, because they don't really see how a doctor and being a marketer is, you know, in the same mind frame, but actually I discovered right at the very beginning, I decided after graduating my studies and all of my training that I would go into private practice, so that I could get a really personal relationship with each one of my patients and know them very well. I found a location that I thought would be perfect because it had high visibility on a main street. And it was a storefront originally being a candy store. My biggest regret there is that they didn't leave their inventory. So I decorated it with everything that would be appropriate for a medical office. And then I was open for business. But it was not a practice that I bought from someone else. Nor was it a practice that I joined with other people. So it didn't take more than a few minutes of being open to realize I have no patients. And in a few weeks, the bills were going to cascade in with no revenue to pay for anything. So right away,

Are you a renegade? What is a medical renegade? Design and implement changes in your business so you can grow and have a practice that is business not a job!  Do not miss these highlights: 01:03 It's so important that what we learn, we put to actual action 03:33 We build power within ourselves and within our team. We build for longevity when we build for our team and for ourselves. 04:05 There are ways in protecting you from losing the people that you invested in 04:56 You can have a life and lead your business at the same time - It's all about learning how to structure your business 07:04 You can design your business to run without you in certain aspects 08:13 What does it mean by “You have to resign as the General Manager” 10:04 If you can't generate revenue from them, it doesn't mean you failed, it's only the idea and the plan that failed 11:13 You just need to find the wheel to make it work, once you find the wheel that creates that profitability, you can just keep generating it 12:08 Become a renegade in your own practice, in your own business, in your own individuality Transcript for Episode #19: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54Welcome back to FMBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb and today I want to talk to you about what you put in action. It's so important that what we learn we put to actual action. And if you're like me, you read a lot of things, you look at a lot of things you learn a lot about your profession, your expertise in the medical industry. But maybe you're not learning enough about business. Or maybe you're learning a little bit about business, and you have every good intention to actually apply what you're learning. But somehow you never get around to it. It just time gets out from under you. You're busy seeing patients, you're doing your paperwork, you're doing your finances, you're with your family. And lo and behold, all of a sudden six months has gone by, or six years have gone by for some of you. And you haven't actually implemented anything that you've learned over the years. And so what do we do? We see the next latest and greatest book and we pick that up and we read it and somehow that seems familiar the information we're learning about, I've heard this before, how do I know this? And all of a sudden, it dawns on you that you learned this same inflammation information, and maybe even purchased the exact same book. I've done that before, five years earlier, and forgot that I had read it. And now lo and behold, there's new information. And it's exciting information. But it's actually the same old information I learned five years ago. 2:21How many of you have done that? Because I know I'm not the only one who's done that. But sometimes when we learn different things, it's just not the right timing for us to apply it to our business. So I want to share with you guys today one of my absolute favorite books, it was one of my first books that I ever purchased on business. And I remember I was in the airport looking for something to pick up and read while I was waiting for my delayed flight. And this was the book that was there. And it's called Rules for Renegades how to make more money, rock your career and revel in your individualit...

Dr. Deb shares how you can grow your practice today using a profit pyramid. Adding courses, group visits and more to enhance your revenue in 2022. Do not miss these highlights: 01:19  One on one model can get to a point where you've reached your maximum capacity, and no longer able to take on new patients 02:20 Getting those new clients to see your other providers is a huge planning process 02:53 One of the things you can do if you're driving your patients to your other providers is to create a Profit Pyramid 03:47 You could become a Virtual Practitioner, and have a virtual program 04:51 It takes time to create the program, though not as complicated as it sounds actually - You can earn money while you're creating the program 08:47 Creating a home study program  09:47 Low ticket vs Mid ticket vs High ticket Programs 11:13 When we're looking at dealing with the general population for health, you should be careful with high ticket prices 12:50 You can build a six to seven figure income profit stream for your practice without necessarily getting you involved in everything 14:33 Helpful tip from Dr. Deb in creating a program for those who are new, and maybe don't have a large practice yet  Transcript of Episode #18: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care, she will discuss it all with you. 0:54You're listening to the FMBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb. And today we're going to talk about profit pyramid. So for those of you who are in practice, and you are doing a one on one model, first, let me tell you, there is nothing wrong with the one on one model, I love the one on one model. That's where I really feel like I shine is working one on one with people. But let's be real, that one on one model can get to a point where you've reached your maximum capacity, you're no longer able to provide any more care for your clients. For me, actually, this week, we had the conversation of do I close my practice to new patients, because my practice is so full and I have such a large waiting list in a way to try to drive the new patients to see my other practitioners so that patients don't simply want to wait for me. And that's a really tough decision, right? Because you're closing off your practice and you're closing off the growth of your practice, you have to think long and hard about what that does to your practice, A) and B) how are you going to structure your practice so that people don't find out that you who's the face of the practice is no longer taking new clients? And how are you going to get those new clients to see your other providers. That is a huge planning process, not just something that you wake up one day and say, I'm going to close my practice to new patients, and everybody's going to see my other people, it'll be great, there'll be no problems and the practice will still thrive and grow. And I'm going to still continue to be the face of the practice. It doesn't work that way, let me tell you that, once you close off your practice, to new clients, you personally, if you're the face of the practice, you have got to have a plan in place for how you're going to drive those patients to your other providers. 3:01So one of the things that we can do is create a profit pyramid.

What is it that you are good at? Are you doing what you love to do? Good leaders spend their time doing what they love and they are good at. In return, these efforts bring them a return on investment in their business, unlike others. Developing a team of people who support you and grow with you is key to growing your business.  Do not miss these highlights: 01:02 We usually think we need to do it all, finding ourselves wearing all these hats 01:47 Why you need to focus on where your strengths are 02:25 You can outsource somebody who can do better, more efficient and at a cheaper rate 04:33 Just because you can do a task doesn't mean you should do a task  04:46 As a leader you are helping your team to grow not only as a practice but as individuals 05:58 Things that we're not good at, we're gonna put off 06:32 The exercise that is going to allow you to see what it is that you like to do 11:10  The goal is getting yourself known, create revenue that doesn't require so much of your time, so you can spend your time doing the things you love Transcript of Episode #17: 0:01You're listening to the functional medicine business podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54Welcome back to FMBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb. Today, we're going to focus on your strengths. You know, oftentimes, it's easy for us to think we can be the jack of all trades, especially in business. When we start out in business it's usually us wearing 50 different hats. We are doing the hiring, we're doing the firing, we're seeing the patient, we're doing the bookkeeping, we're doing our own schedules, we're doing our website design and our marketing. And we're wearing all these hats. We're doing all these things. And we get into this position where we think that we need to do it all. But I want to challenge you a little bit today to think about focusing on what are your strengths? And what is it that you love to do? Because I think once we focus on where your strengths are, we can work backwards and take some of these stressors off your plate of things that you've been doing over and over and over again, that you don't really need to do because somebody else can do them better, more efficiently and cheaper. 2:05So the first thing I want to challenge you to think about is what is your hourly rate right now? And then what is your ideal hourly rate? So for instance, if your hourly rate right now is $200 an hour, maybe you want to be $400 an hour. Okay? That is great. Now, I want you to write down on a piece of paper, all of the things that you're doing that you would have to well, let's back up, I want you to write down on a piece of paper, all the things that you're doing that are less than a $400 an hour job. Because these are the things that we can offset to someone else to do that's better and more efficient than you are. 2:51So for instance, if you're doing your web design, you can find somebody to do web design for less than $400 an hour, we can go over to Upwork or Fiverr. And we can see what somebody is charging per hour to do this work. Most of the time, it's going to be between $40-$60 an hour for a web designer on occasion, you're going to find somebody that's around the $20 mark, and a whole bunch of other things in between,

Kick out crazy, lock the down and windows behind it, and never let it back into your business! Today we talk about how crazy can be detrimental to your business. How it affects the culture of your business and the bottom line of your business.  Do not miss these highlights: 01:02 We've all hired a person and come to realize they weren't who they said they were 02:41 If you want your business to grow and you want your business to survive - You got to keep crazy out! 03:15 What happens when crazy comes into your business  04:32 There has to be a consistent experience for your patients 06:34  If crazy is in your building right now, you need to get that crazy out as quickly as possible - That crazy is going to make you crazy! 07:36 It is your fault as a leader if the expectation is not clear 07:54 The only way you are going to survive and grow your practice to a multimillion-dollar profitable practice is to have team players on your team Transcription of Episode #16: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care, she will discuss it all with you. 0:54How many of you have let crazy into your building? Y'all know what I'm talking about. We've all hired that person that sat across from us at the table and told us all these great things about themselves, how they could help grow our practice, how they could help make us more efficient, how they had all of the skills that you needed, they could stick, they knew how to process blood, they knew how to schedule great. And then yet, got them in the office. They started their first day and their second day. And then you realized that they weren't who they said they were, they didn't have the ability to stick, they were missing five out of six of your patients that you had in the office. They didn't know how to use a computer. They answered the phone like they were a truck driver, no offense to anybody out there. But we've all had these people in our practice, right? We've all had the person that was able to con us and we believed them. Or you're like me, you felt sorry for them. And you thought that you could help them grow as a person. But ultimately, the only thing it helped us do is grow you because you had to learn patience. And I had to learn how to handle somebody that wasn't who they said they were and wasn't who I thought they were. And they sat across from the table for me, and then they cried when I had to fire them. 2:35We've all had crazy in our building. I'm here to tell you that if you want your business to grow, you want your business to survive. You got to keep crazy out. And in once it gets through the door, lock that door behind you as hard and as tight as you possibly can to never let crazy back in. Because crazy in your building means crazy everywhere for your business and for your practice. Now, y'all know what I'm talking about when I'm saying this. It's not to be rude in any way, shape, or form. But when crazy comes into the building, all of a sudden you have drama everywhere. You have people that don't want to work with that. I had someone that worked for me one time, that was the best person that I could think of to protect me. She kept everybody away from me. She protected my time she protected my practice, she protected me.

Can you be an entrepreneur as a doctor running a medical practice? The simple answer is YES it is possible but you have to learn to leverage other people otherwise you are trading time for money and you have a JOB!  Do not miss these highlights: 01:03 The misconception of Entrepreneurship in Medicine 01:51 The different definition of being an Entrepreneur 04:48 You can earn revenue from your medical clinic, without you physically having to be the one to do the work 06:29 Learn how to be an Entrepreneur in your own business, in your own specialty, in your own expertise 07:23 You can provide the care that the patient wants and needs without having to worry about getting paid 08:50 When you use the right model and the right technique, you don't have to hope for a profit because there will be a profit at the end Transcription of Episode #15: 0:00You're listening to the functional medicine business podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:55Are you an entrepreneur? Or are you a medical professional? That's the question today. So there's this thought process that you cannot be an entrepreneur in medicine, unless what you're doing is working with a tech company working with a new medical device company working to create a different type of medicine or medical business, outside of your medical practice. Why is it that we think like that, why is it that we think that if I'm a healthcare practitioner, and I own a medical practice, that that's not being an entrepreneur? I'm gonna challenge you today to question is that right? Or is that wrong? And there's a couple of different descriptions of being an entrepreneur. So the definition of entrepreneurship is the activity of setting up a business or businesses taking on financial risks in hope of a profit. Okay, is that not what we're doing in setting up a medical clinic? We have created a business, we've taken on financial risk. We've bought equipment, we've set up employees, and we're hoping that there's going to be a profit at the end of that. We're not in it for a nonprofit organization. We're in it as a profitable organization. 2:38Now, Wikipedia defines entrepreneurship as the creation and extraction of value. With this definition entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values than simply economic ones. I'm pausing for just a second because I think this is a definition of a medical practice. Yeah, when I go to look and see who is a medical professional, and an entrepreneur, all I can find our medical profit professionals who are leaving the medical profession to become a quote unquote, entrepreneur. So is that because the only medical professional positions that we're seeing these days are hired positions, like in a large organization, so you're an employee, and you feel as though you couldn't branch out and start your own practice, because there'd be too much competition? Or maybe it'd be too difficult? Or maybe you don't feel like there's enough profit at the end of the day for that? 3:59Now, I like to listen to Rich Dad, Poor Dad quite a bit. And we he talks a lot about infinite money, money that comes into you for not doing anything in his definition of an entrepreneur is tha...

It's time to get creative with your scheduling in functional medicine practice. No more excuses that it's just you! If you want to earn more money, you either see more clients or you get better at what you do and charge more for it.  Do not miss these highlights: 00:54 Dr. Deb experience in hiring her first practitioner 05:50 Within the first year of Renee (a hire) and Dr. Deb tag-teaming things,  they had their revenues about $875,000 a year 08:03 As long as you had two people, you could make it work 08:53 Today Dr. Deb owns a $4 million business in Functional Medicine 10:01 It's about knowing what experts to listen to and which ones to prove wrong 10:58 Be creative. Think outside the box. Don't do what everybody else does. Do what you feel in your heart is really the best thing for your business 11:40 Figure out what your end game is, then structure your business to meet that end game Transcription of Episode #14: 0:00You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:54In 2011, I hired my first practitioner, some of you have yet to hire your first employee. Some of you like me, that was a long time ago, when I hired Rene my first practitioner, an RN, I was in such a precarious place because we had no money. I hadn't yet proven my practice would survive. I just couldn't carry the load by myself anymore. I was so insecure that when I hired Renee, I thought, gosh, she's doing me a favor. Y'all know how that felt? Do you remember those days when you felt like you didn't have anything to offer you were just grateful that somebody was willing to come to work for you. Do y'all remember when you were doing your first interviews, because I remember this. I did all the talking. And they didn't have anything to say. And I thought they were fantastic. You know, we oversell ourselves a lot of the time. And we do that because we're insecure, and as new business owners I think there's a place where we're all insecure, whether it's because we're just starting out, or whether you've been in business a really long time and you still just don't feel like you've got it all together, you just don't feel confident enough to be hiring people. So you know, when I hired Renee, I didn't know if we would bring in enough money to pay her. I really didn't. I just knew that if we worked really, really hard, and some more patients, I could pay her and I could pay myself, I had no idea how we were going to structure at that moment, the practice so that she could make money, because at the time, none of my clients wanted to see anyone else, they only wanted to see me. So I wasn't sure how I was going to do this, how I was going to pull this off. But I knew I couldn't carry the workload by myself anymore. I was working from seven in the morning until 11 o'clock at night. In the practice, I'd get there at seven in the morning, I do the management stuff, I'd start seeing clients at eight, I'd get done seeing patients at five or six, I finish up my messages and my refills and then I would head home for an hour have dinner with my kids and my husband. And I would spend the next three hours either charting what happened during the day, or doing more things to grow the business. And then at 11 o'clock,

Do you know what moves it takes to build a practice? Have you told yourself that you don't have the right moves to be in business? Dr. Deb will share with you the possibilities available for you to get into business. 

Are you interested in starting a functional medicine practice? Dr. Deb explains 5 things you should know before getting started and keep you in business for a lifetime!  Do not miss these highlights: 01:36 Why do you need to have an INNATE DESIRE to own a Practice, as well needing to be really INTERESTED in running a Business  02:37 First thing - There's going to be turnover 04:04 Second thing - Sharpen your pencils…Get ready, there's going to be more Paperwork and Protocols 05:24 Number three - Life Happens…Not everything is going to be perfect 06:13 Number four - It's your business…You have to be hands-on, be present, be aware, and be involved 07:26 Fifth thing - You get gratification by what you do, by helping people…Your business will grow over time Transcription of Episode #12: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative Functional Medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. Welcome to FM bi podcast, the functional medicine business podcast. 0:59I'm your host, Dr. Deb, and today I want to talk to you about the five things that you need to know before starting a functional medicine practice. Now there are many different rules and regulations in every state for who can practice independently who needs a practicing collaborating physician who can own a practice who can't own a practice. And those kinds of things we'll talk about on a different podcast. But today what I want to talk about is what is it that you actually need inside of you, before you start your medical practice. 1:34And first and foremost, I think you have to have this innate desire to want to own a practice, to want to be a entrepreneur, because you're no longer just a practitioner, once you own a practice, you are an entrepreneur. And what that means is you're not only taking on what's necessary to help the patients heal and get better. But you're also taking on a leadership role in business Excel itself. And it is up to you to make that practice be successful financially. Now your patients are counting on you, your employees are counting on you, their families are counting on you. So this is a lot of pressure and a lot of stress, once you start really thinking about it, that everyone's livelihood depends on the choices that you make. So you have to really be interested in running a business, to have a practice that's not only successful, but also grows and continues to go on beyond you. 2:37So the first thing I think that everybody needs to know once they figured out that they are an entrepreneur, and they can handle this is turnover, you are going to have turnover. When I started in my practice, I was lucky enough to join a practice that had a lot of longevity. They were in practice, my senior doc for 40 years. He had employees that were with him for 40 years, 20 years, 15 years. And I just assumed that was normal, everybody was going to have a practice like that everyone would have longevity. But that's not the case, especially today, people jump from from career to career to job to job depending on what's going on in their life at the time, depending on how much money they're making, depending on what they want to do. So the days of thinking that you're going to hire someone and they're going to stay with you for 40 years are gone,

Functional medicine lends itself to one of the best private practices models. It allows you to control your own salary and how you treat patients.

Dr. Deb reviews the top 5 medical innovations for 2022. Some will make our lives easier, while some offer great opportunities for Functional/Integrative medical providers.  Do not miss these highlights: 02:47 - One thing that was highlighted during the pandemic is the limitations to patient access to affordable Health Care 03:21 - Telemedicine will be a big part of how we deliver medicine in the future 05:26  - SkinVision - Skin check apps that provide a reliable skin assessment for the early detection of skin cancer 06:05 - What Artificial Intelligence can do in a variety of medical fields 07:12 - They're starting to look at using Chatbots for Health Care as the FIRST connection to a Healthcare System 10:10  - Many lab companies have started offering home testing in a variety of ways 12:11 - The Galleri Test is a test that looks at multiple types of cancers and a cancer early detection 12:28 - Insightech was developed as a focused ultrasound device for an image-guided acoustic surgery 15:07 - With AI Technology, the Insurance Companies are going to have access to a whole host of medical information about the patient that they've never had before Transcription of Episode #10: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. dabit has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry. Because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care, she will discuss it all with you. 0:54We're saying goodbye to 2021 the pandemic only accelerated some already established trends in digital health. And in 2022, I expect to see even more emphasis on AI solutions, remote care and home test. As the point of care keeps shifting to wherever the patient is. That has brought us an opportunity in medicine to work differently than we have in a very long time. I'm Dr. Deb, the host a functional medicine business podcast. Let's dive into specifically what we can look forward to in the next year. 1:39Vocal biomarkers, what's more futuristic than ending a conversation within AI. In return, they can tell a lot about the state of your mental health. And even if you've got COVID or not for an example. Now, voice tech startups are blooming, leveraging machine learning to detect vocal biomarkers that are red flags and for certain conditions by characteristics in your voice. These algorithms can be accurate, fast and cost effective solutions compared to the average checkout processes, which could essentially be the difference between life and death for some people. For example, a USB startup called Sanofi has a voice based app that looks for vocal features related to the presence of COVID-19. How does this actually work is still completely unknown. One thing that was highlighted during the pandemic is the limitations to patient access to affordable health care. It became very clear during this time that telemedicine could alleviate overburdened hospitals. In integrative medicine, many of us have been providing telemedicine to our patients for decades. We called it phone medicine back in the day. Thanks to the pandemic though it became more mainstream and acceptable. Insurance companies even decided to cover these visits for many people. 3:21Telemedicine is here to stay and will be a big part of how we deliver medicine in the future. Are you ready to deliver telemedicine in a HIPAA compliant fashion? Is your office set up for telemedicine yet?

Strategically planning for the end of the year is imperative to your business. Functional medicine is no different. We are not talking about taxes we are talking about growth and development in your business. Learn how to plan to grow your practice.  Do not miss these highlights: 02:49 - Sometimes as providers, we get amazing ideas of new services that sometimes doesn't take off as well as we thought it was going to 03:38 - One of the things that we do every year is to dissect our business and see what's working and what's not 04:32 - If we continue to put money into something that we can't make work in our practice, it's a loss 05:54 - Consider all the great companies out there and how they became great companies  07:32  - Be the world's best leader in what you do and what you love to do. When you're the best in the world, it's easy to market yourself. 08:51 - What questions should you ask yourself when you're strategically planning at the end of the year 12:24 - How to create a connection and build a relationship with your patients 14:43 - Do not choose too many things to get done in the year. Pick 3 big things that you want to work on and break them down even further. Transcription of Episode #9: 0:01You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools of how to manage money, taxes and patient care she will discuss it all with you. 0:54Hi, welcome to FMBI podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb and today I want to talk to you about strategic planning. Now oftentimes when we hear people talk about strategic planning, we're talking about end of the year, how do we manage our money? How do we move our money? How do we do what we can to prevent ourselves from paying taxes. But this is a little bit different. What I want to talk to you about today is strategic planning end of the year for looking at what you're going to do with your business moving forward. What are you going to plan for next year? So it is December of 2021 right now. My clinic is getting ready to plan for 2022? What are we going to do? And every year we take a look at how well we've done. Have we met our goal for new patients? Have we met our goal for follow up? Have we met our goal for finances? Are there services that we're offering that are doing really well? And are there services that we're offering that really aren't doing very well? And we want to decide what services we're going to continue to provide in the following year? Now I know that sounds kind of weird, like why would we get rid of services? Why couldn't we just keep doing all the services we always do. But if we take a little bit of knowledge from the restaurant business, you know, restaurants that have 60/70 things on the menu makes it great for the person coming to eat, but makes it really hard for the kitchen staff, they have to prepare all this food, they have to have all these different things available makes it really hard on the restaurant owner, because they have to have all of the ingredients to make these foods, even though maybe one of their foods or two of their foods really doesn't do well doesn't provide them a lot of money. They've got a lot of money invested in those foods to provide for you. Well, in our world, we want to do that same thing. So sometimes, oftentimes, as providers, we get this really great,

Are you tired of a stressful practice? It may not be your team, it may be you! How do you create a practice that you love again? Dr. Deb shares what it's like to revitalize a practice so that it thrives financially and gets your patients the results that they want. 0:01   You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you.  0:55   I'm excited to have our conversation with you today, because we're going to talk about the difference between being a practitioner and being a business leader. How? How could those two things be so different? Right? Well, they are, you know, being a practitioner and being an expert in your field of practice is one thing, telling a patient what to do. And being confident in that and knowing your truth and knowing what you need to do? Well, you've trained your whole career for that you've gone to school, you've studied with the best, and you know what's right for your client or your patient. But being a business leader is completely different, especially when you're used to telling people what they should do. Oftentimes, as business leaders, we treat our employees the same way. We tell them what to do, we do not engage them. We don't teach them, we don't encourage them, we tell them what to do. And you know, as a business leader, I was no different. I am a great practitioner, I have wonderful intuition with my patients. And I could make an amazing relationship with people out of the gate. But my employees on the other side, well, that was completely different. And I was a completely different person. I was demanding. I thought it was my way or the highway. I thought everyone knew what I knew. Or at least everyone should know what I know. And if they didn't, well, what the hell was wrong with them. I expected everyone to be like me. And it took me many years to realize that was not the way to be a leader. Needless to say, I went through a lot of employees, somewhere my decision was to ask them to leave, or some of them, they chose to leave. So here's my mentor, who had employees that stayed with them for 20,30, even 40 years. And I couldn't keep an employee for two years. But I knew something was wrong. Should so I went to him and I said, What am I doing wrong as a leader? Why can't they just do their jobs? Why can't they just show up? Why can't they just do the flippin job the way they're supposed to? This isn't rocket science. It's not difficult. And he'd say to me, my employees got better when I learned how to meditate. And I thought, oh, hell without I can't meditate. What does that have to do with running a practice and keeping employees happy? Anyway? 3:34   What I didn't hear in that conversation was him telling me that his ability to manage employees got better when he worked on himself instead of working on them. Oh, what a concept, right? And that was truly the difference. But I wouldn't learn that for many, many years after I had that conversation. I struggled. I hired people I hired the wrong people. I would feel sorry for people. So I would hire them. I would feel sorry for their situation, so I wouldn't let them go. And I finally got to the point where I said, I'm not hiring another person. Because I suck at picking employees. I suck at trying to figure out who's the best e...

Do you really understand your P&L (profit and loss) statements? Are you running your business by only looking at the P&L? If so, you may be doing yourself a disservice. Financial tools shape our business and the direction we move our businesses. 0:01   You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr.Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you.  0:55   And I want to talk to you today about the dreaded mastering your books. Yes, we're going to talk about finances today. You know, one of the scariest things that business owners have is to look at their books, understanding the dreaded profit and loss statement. Understanding where your money is going, understanding where it's coming from, and of course, balancing it, and then talking to your accountant about what you're doing. So what I want to talk to you about this is because when I started a business, the profit and loss statement meant absolutely nothing to me. I really had no clue what the hell was on it, how to read it, or what it meant. And interestingly enough, the first practice that I owned, we would meet with our accountant every month, and he'd hand us the profit and loss statement. And then we'd have lunch. And we talk about everyone's personal life. We never talked about the profit and loss statement. We never discussed, were we in the red, were we in the black, were we overspending in one area or not? We never looked at it from year to year to see if our practice was growing. So I never had a clue what to do with this profit and loss statement. When I went out on my own, I was determined to understand the profit and loss, I was determined to be able to answer the question, Am I profitable? Or am I not? And I want to set my business up from the beginning to be worth selling when I was ready to exit. Now I didn't have an exit strategy in mind. None of us usually do until we're ready to walk away, which I'm telling you is too late the day you should start planning your exit strategy is the day you open your practice, you should have your end in sight. Whether it's five years or 25 years or 55 years, it really doesn't matter. Have your exit strategy in mind. No one can change over time for sure. But you have to have that long term goal. What do you want your practice to be worth? What do you need to get out of it? What do you want to get out of it? How many days do you want to work? And for how long? How old? Do you want to retire with owning the business but not running it? You don't just want the business? Are you just going to close the door and walk away and not sell at all? All of these are questions that should be answered. When you're looking at having the end in mind. It's really important to do that sooner than later. Because trust me 20 years goes by very quickly. And if you didn't plan what you are going to do, you're going to work for a lot longer than you wanted to simply because you didn't plan. Okay, now that's my tangent on exit strategy. I just think it's super important.  3:49   Let's get back at looking at your books. Looking at your books is so important. Like I said, Where does your income from? How much is insurance paying you? How much are you getting from your cash patients? How much are you getting from your online dispensaries or your supplement sales or virtual medici...

We all set goals, monthly, quarterly or annually. We set personal and business goals, but how often do you break it down into daily goal setting? Once you master your goal setting, you will begin to crush your business! 0:01   You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care, she will discuss it all with you.  0:55   Today, I want to talk to you about really figuring out how to master your goals. You know, goal setting is so important. And to some extent, I think we all do it, whether we write it down or we keep it in our head or we plan. But there's a really great strategy to mastering your goals. And I want to talk a little bit about what I've learned in mastering goals and then I want to help you apply it to your situation. So for years and years, I would always sit down at the end of the year. And I would write down my goals and plan for the next year. And then I'd somehow put them away and I would forget about them and I wouldn't look at them again until the end of the next year. So that is not the way that you want to set goals. You want to actually work on your goals throughout the year. But what I would find is I look through my goals at the end of the year, and I'd see what I accomplished. And then I would see what's been put off. And what I didn't accomplish in the year, I would just push over to the next year. And so I would find myself pushing off goals five, six years sometimes. And I would never re-evaluate the goal to see if it's a goal I still had and I still actually wanted to do or was it just something I felt like I wrote it down as a goal five years ago, I need to do it. So I just keep pushing it ahead. And I don't do anything to make the goal become successful or come to life, so I wouldn't pay attention to that. Well, about three years ago, I looked at my goal sheet, and realized that I had written down a few things I had wanted to start a podcast, I wanted to start a education program for practitioners to learn to be successful in business. I wanted to start a gluten-free flour line. And I wanted to grow my practice to a place where I could sell it. Those were my four big main goals. And three years ago, when I looked at those goals, I said this is ridiculous. I keep pushing off all these goals, I just need to do them. Now, I am going to preface this and tell you that I do not recommend this at all. But this is what I did. I decided that I was going to make all these goals happen in one year time. So I launched my podcast, Let's Talk Wellness Now, because I had so much information and knowledge to share with patients that I couldn't do it in the hour time that I spent with them. But I could do it in a podcast and they could consume it when it was convenient for them. And this way they could get knowledge for me in a different way. So I launched my podcast, I set out to create a gluten-free flour. My daughter has celiac disease, and we had been working in crafting a gluten-free flour for many, many years, finally perfected it and decided we should bring this to market. So I launched my gluten-free flour line. And I started launching my program 15k A day doc, which is a training program for practitioners all in the same year. And set out to sell my practice.  4:04   Now I'm going to tell you all this is not the way you wa...

Structuring your business is key to financial success and freedom. If the past 18 months has taught us anything, it is that we need to be ready! Choosing the business structure that benefits you and your business is key to putting more money in your pocket. 0:01   You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and practice Management. Dr. De has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive. And for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr. Dad knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you.  0:55   We're going to talk about how do you set up a rainy day fund. You know, it's so easy for people to talk about having a rainy day fund. And what does that really mean? You know, in our personal world, that means that you want about six months worth of your expenses in a bank account, should something go wrong, you can cover your expenses. And in business, it's very similar to that you want to have six months worth of expenses set aside, in case you get into hard times you have something to draw from more than ever right now we know that that's what all of us in business should have done with COVID. And some of us have that some of us didn't, some of us were able to get stimulus money to keep us going. Some people didn't and many people lost their business as a result of that. So I think it's super important for us to talk about having that rainy day fund set up right now for you should something happen again, in the future, you don't have to worry about losing your practice as a result of this. Now, I like to have two rainy day funds set up actually, well, actually three. So I have a cash rainy day fund, where we have a set amount of money set aside to cover our payroll expenses, cover other expenses that we need, in case one of our practitioners has an accident goes out on maternity leave, we have another pandemic, whatever that may be, I don't want to have to be stressed that I don't have enough income coming into the practice to pay the bills. So we set that money up and set it aside and keep that for ourselves so we know that we're always comfortable. But something that I learned from my friend Garrett Gunderson is you should also make sure you have something set up like a disability policy on you and your key employees. So should one of them become injured, and can not work for three months, six months, a year or maybe permanently, the business actually gets paid for that disability. Now you could have a policy that pays them as well but you want the business to get paid, because when they're not there, they're not bringing in income for you. And if they're not bringing in income for you, you have a problem, either you're going to see more clients, you have to rush out and try to find somebody to fill in for them. And we all know what that's like new practitioner doesn't know your systems doesn't know your patients, patients get upset. And now you have another problem you're dealing with. Now, this isn't going to fix the problem of your patients being seen. But if those patients can get pushed out a little bit, too, that practitioner can come back or buy you a little time so you can train somebody, it'll be much less hectic. So I have a disability policy on my key employees so I don't ever have to worry about that. I have a disability policy on myself that pays my overhead business expenses. So should something happen to me, my business expenses are paid for.

When your practice is diversified, it can withstand any storm. Everyone wants you to niche down, but if you niche down too much and the economy changes or a pandemic happens, you might lose too many of your clients and will not be able to pivot or keep your doors open. Don't let this happen to you! 0:01   You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. I want to talk to you about whether or not you need to diversify your practice. And I think in today's age of marketing and goal setting, everyone talks about niching down in your practice. And because it makes it easier to market if you niche down, you know your ideal client, you speak to your ideal client and you only have one person in mind. But I'm going to tell you being in practice for 20 years, if I had only niched down to one thing and had one client, I would have never survived the rock the rough times the rocky storms of financial imbalances and crashes and COVID and economic downturn. Because what I love to do, people could go without, you know, I love to work with menopausal women, could they go without hormones? Yes, they can do they want to know. But if money becomes an issue, it's one of the first things that comes off the table for them are things that they don't absolutely need to have. And so I think it's really important to not totally niche down your practice into one thing. Now, I'm probably the only person you're hearing talk about this right now, because everyone's talking about the opposite. But I think it's really important for you if your practice is going to sustain the ups and the downs of the financial changes that we're all going to go through for, you know, the next 50 years, it's never going to be a time where we're not going to have some financial downturns. Your practice has to be in a place where it can still survive, where patients still need you. During COVID, our practice actually grew. And we were giving a 20% off to all of our existing patients, because we knew they were hurting. But we still grew almost $250,000 at the end of the year by doing that, that never happens. But I will tell you, I started my practice in 2011, when we were in the heart of the Depression, and my practice grew, and it continued to grow and grow. And why is that? Well, part of it is, I work with people who have complex, chronic illnesses. And there's not a lot of practitioners that will work with them. There's not a lot of practitioners that will listen to them. And so they need somebody in that niche, they need somebody that's going to listen to them, I created a practice where my patients need me as much as I need them. Now, that doesn't mean that there's a disadvantage, and you're taking advantage of them in any way, shape, or form. But they need you and they want to get better. And it's important for them to see you even when things are hard, and they figure out a way to do that. And being in that kind of position, you have the luxury of being able to help them when times are hard. And you can give them discounts because your practice is flourishing. It's not in a starvation mode. It's in a growth mode. And you always want your practice to be in a growth mode. You want to be looking at where can you have ancillary services being done in your office by s...

Do you know what your clients experience in your office? Be a secret shopper someday, so you know what your clients experience. Everything we do should be looked at from the eyes of our ideal client. From what they see outside our office to how they are treated inside the office. Are you delivering the experience you want them to have? Dr. Deb shares how to create the ideal client experience. 0:01   You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you. 0:59   Why is the customer experience so important for business? That's what we're going to discuss today. You see customers have come to expect more out of companies. But who can blame them. We've all had customer experiences that range from outstanding to infuriating. It puts more pressure on companies to find a balance between the experience they want to offer and limited internal resources and other priorities, especially when the well known customer centric companies are the ones reaping the rewards. Now I want to share with you a customer experience that I recently had. I was at a conference away in Florida. And I have a severe mold allergy. And I got to my room and I opened the door and this waft of musty moldy smell came over me. And I walked in the room and thought, oh my god, I there's no way I can stay in this room. Absolutely not. And I debated calling and complaining because I didn't want to be that customer that complained and whined, and I knew that the entire resort was really full, and they probably didn't have any rooms left. And so I opened the patio door and thought, okay, maybe if I get some fresh air in here, I can do this. And I called my husband and I looked around and I could see the multiple areas of water damage. And I said, There's no way I can stay here. I'm going to be here six days, there is no way I can stay in this room for six days. And so I decided to call the desk. And I waited on hold for 10 minutes. And during that 10 minute time, I was already having heart racing and shortness of breath and I was getting a headache. And I was just like, oh my gosh, there's no way I can do this. And I paid a lot of money to stay at this fancy place. And I was expecting some pushback at the desk. And I was already a little anxious. And I remember saying to the desk clerk I'm so sorry, I don't want to be one of those customers. But the room I have is moldy and I have some severe mold allergies. And I'm already not feeling well. Is there any way I could possibly have another room. And his response on the other side was absolutely don't worry about it, we'll move you to this room. I'm going to sell him a bellhop over to help you get your things and bring you new keys. And we're going to take care of this. And this is a very large resort. It sits on 1300 acres in Florida. So I grabbed my bag I waited out on the deck for him. And it took them about 10 minutes to come over and help me and the Bell clerk brought my stuff to this room. And when I got to the room that they brought me into, they had an air purifier running for me. And a completely different setup of a room that was totally clean and safe. And I was so blown away by that customer experience. Like they took me very seriously. They didn't say oh no, we don't have all the rooms here at this place.

Functional Medicine Business Institute is an exclusive company that helps practitioners who want to start or grow a functional or integrative medical practice. We focus on what it takes to build a successful brick-and-mortar practice, not just a virtual practice. As practitioners, we spend a lot of money training to heal others, but medical training doesn't teach us business. FMBI helps you structure and grow your business so that you can earn the money you deserve. You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and Practice Management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care, she will discuss it all with you. So what is actual "functional medicine", we call it FM for short. And some people will actually call this integrative medicine as well. But a functional medicine approach is a system of biology based on an approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or different diagnosis may be one of many contributing to the illnesses of the individual. Functional Medicine model evolved from the insights and perspectives of a small group of influential thought leaders who realize the importance of an individualized approach to disease. Looking at this, from a cause and effect standpoint, they looked at research from a nutritional science genomic and epigenetic background. And these thought leaders found ways to apply these new advances in the clinical setting to address root causes, using low-risk interventions that modified molecular and or cellular systems to reverse disease. So as we look at functional medicine, we can be a variety of practitioners that are implementing the functional medicine model, right? You can be a nurse practitioner, a do an MD, an ND a health coach, a nutritionist, there's a whole host of titles we can use to implement the functional medicine practices or the functional medicine lifestyle. And basically, what we're all trying to do as thought leaders is to teach people this functional medicine model, so that we can help them grow. And we can help them thrive in their life, and be the best person that they can be for as long as they can possibly be, right? So that's really what functional medicine is.  Now, on this podcast, what we talk about is not just "What is functional medicine?", and "What can we do clinically?" But what do we do from the business side of things? Where is the business implementation process that happens, so that we can actually create a business out of functional medicine. And there's a whole host of people doing amazing things these days. We have people that have a brick-and-mortar practice, we have people that have a telemedicine or a virtual practice. We have high ticket, low ticket coaching, group. I mean, there's just when I started out, the only thing there was a brick and mortar that dates me quite a bit. Now we have all of these amazing tools of things that we can do to help us deliver our messages. Not to mention, we have courses that we can do online and we have podcasts like this, and we have YouTube videos. We have Facebook lives that we can do. It is so different today than it was 20 years ago when I started. When I started there was one way to get your message to people and that was to lecture in front of them and market to them and bring them all together and hope that some of those people became your clients.

Dr. Deb is a functional medicine practitioner and entrepreneur. A pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership, and practice management, Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive and live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and bad of our industry because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice. With practical tools on how to manage money, taxes, and patient care, she will discuss it all. You're listening to the Functional Medicine Business Podcast featuring Dr. Deb, one of the most creative functional medicine business practitioners in her industry. She shares the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over 25 years of functional medicine, a pioneer in functional medicine, scheduling, leadership and practice management. Dr. Deb has a wealth of knowledge and is eager to share to help functional medicine become more productive, and for the practitioners and patients to live better lives. Our podcast shares the good and the bad of our industry, because Dr. Deb knows the pain you live every day building a functional medicine practice with practical tools on how to manage money, taxes and patient care. She will discuss it all with you.  Welcome to the functional medicine business podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Deb. You know, I have been in podcasting for a few years now. And when I told my team, I wanted to start a second podcast, they thought I was crazy. Like you're so busy, you have so much going on. Why do you want to take on another podcast show. And what I realized is, there are lots of podcasts out there talking about health and wellness and my own show does that as well. But there's very few people talking about the business side of functional or integrative medicine. We talk about marketing on various podcasts. We talk about client development, and how to use different tests and things like that. But nobody's talking actually about the business side of things. And I realized many years ago when I went into private practice, that we learn everything to be experts in the health side of things. We learn very little, if anything, about the business side of things, how to run a business, what do we do with our business? How do we grow our business, all of those things are pushed to the side. And we're just supposed to learn them as we go. Well, I learned when I was in business for the first time with a partner, that it's difficult to learn as you go. If you learn as you go, you make a lot of mistakes. And you don't really have anybody to mentor you, unless it's been somebody that's been in business for a while. And just because they've been in business for a while, doesn't actually mean they're running a business, correct. I mean, they're running a clinic. And they may be doing fantastic with their patients or clients. But they may not be profiting very much in their business. And it was in that first practice that I really learned what not to do in business, and what to do in business. You see, I joined a practice. That wasn't existence for about 30 years before I joined it was very established, had great clientele, loyal, loyal patients that had been with the practice for all but 20 or 30 years. So it was a very seasoned practice. And I was going to buy into that practice. And I was so excited because I never thought I'd be buying into a practice and partnering with a medical doctor. And, and I don't say that from a negative side of things. But it's, it's really from where I grew up that business wasn't something that we were taught in my family. So that's why I say I was so excited and never thought I could do it. But I did. And I remember getting to the point where I was going to buy this practice. And I thought, you know, I better look at their books and see what they're doing. And I would go to the meetings with the accountant every month or every quarter.