Welcome to the Planning for Practice Success Newsletter

  Practice Startup Success

Information Advice Encouragement

August 6, 2007                                                                                   ISSN 1934-3248

 “Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”   Lao-Tzu

In this issue:  

So how do you nurture your dream?

1.      Cultivate optimism.  Push aside the negative thoughts that tend to crowd into your mind.  Don’t water these “weeds” and let them die.

2.      Create a visual representation of that dream.  Create a vision board, with photos and drawings of your ideal practice, your home and family.

3.      Think about your dream.  Take some time each day and meditate on your dream.  Create a mental picture of what it will be like, the more details the better.

4.      Talk about your dream.  Share it with family and friends.  Talk about it with your advisors.  Find a mentor or coach and share the dream with that person too.

5.      Help others with their dreams.  You’d be amazed at how excited you can get about your own dreams by helping others (fellow grads?) with theirs.

SBA 7(a) Loan

Someone asked me the other day, “I hear I’ll need a CPA to help me with my SBA loan.”  Well, I suppose you could pay a CPA if you want, but if you are looking for startup funding, I think you could probably fill the application form out yourself.  If you are buying a practice, there is more paperwork, but it’s still do-able.  Here’s what you will be asked to provide:

1.      Use of proceeds – how much you want and what you want it for (term loan, working capital).  You have that in your spreadsheet files.  These come with Planning for Practice Success or you can buy them separately at www.dcpracticesuccess.com

2.      Amounts of current SBA and other government debt, including student loan payments. 

3.      Business indebtedness.  If you’re just starting up, that would be $0.

4.      Information on all “Management” including SSN, address, sex, military service, disability. 

5.      Statement of personal history (Form 912)

6.      Collateral description – what assets you will be using (including cash) and a description of each asset.

7.      Personal balance sheet (SBA Form 413), otherwise known as your personal financial statement

8.      Financial statements for the business for the last 3 years (N/A if you’re just starting.)

9.      A brief history of the company (likewise)

10.  Resumes of all people listed in Management

11.  Name, address, SSN, personal balance sheets of co-signers

12.  Items to be purchased with proceeds.  (They would probably take this off your business plan.)

13.  Questions about involvement in previous bankruptcies, pending lawsuits, convictions, etc.

14.  Detailed one-year projections of income and finances, and how you will achieve these.

You should have all of this stuff or you can get it pretty easily.  Start collecting information now, before you go to the bank.  For more information, check out webpage with 7(a) checklists.  Don’t be too intimidated – most are not applicable to you.  Do check out items 1. and 2.  Small Business Administration 7(a) checklists.

You can also email the SBA to get answers to questions about the 7(a) loans: 7aquestions@sba.gov

What are some good places to practice?  This online article in Medical Economics lists cities by region based on such factors as doctor-to-patient ratio, managed care environment, and lower costs of doing business: 

Southeast:  Gainesville, GA  and Waynesville, Hendersonville, Clyde, NC

Southwest: The Woodland, TX and Fredericksburg, TX

Northeast:  Manchester, NH and Portland, ME

Midwest: Findlay and Lima, OH (near Toledo); Cincinnati, OH, and Indianapolis, IN

Northwest:  Boise, ID; Eugene and Springfield, OR; Everett and Bellingham, WA

West: Stockton and Modesto, CA  and Fresno, Visalia, and Bakersfield, CA

Still not sure where you want to locate?  Find information in Planning for Practice Success.  _________________________________________________________________________

 Ask Dr. Jean Murray a question (email jean@dcpracticesuccess.com )
Order Planning for Practice Success™ or one of our other products (http://www.dcpracticesuccess.com/p4ps_orderpage.html)
 
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