As a plastic surgeon, you may have many career options at your disposal. You could work for an established plastic surgery practice, or work for a multi-speciality group. Some plastic surgeons decide to pursue further training or go into the academic side of the field. Still others decide to open their very own plastic surgery practice. If you’re in the last group, a long but exciting journey awaits you. Running your own practice is a great option, but it takes significant effort to get things off the ground. If you want to pursue creating your own practice from scratch, the following are important steps to keep in mind.
Write a Business Plan
Launching your own practice involves making calculated risks. To be successful, you’ll need to exercise a great deal of patience as you research and weigh all of your options. The first step is to create a vision and business plan for your future practice. You’ll need to write out a timeline and list of expenses. You will also need to create an executive statement for your business plan. Make sure you have data to back up your statements, and keep things as realistic as possible.
Find Funding
Of course, in order to get things up and running you’ll need money. There are a variety of options out there, including funding from:
- Bank loans
- A business partner
- Your friends and family
- Yourself
- Investors
You’ll need at least two years of funding available. Remember, you will also likely be skipping receiving a personal salary for a while, too. It’s impossible for your practice to see long-term success if you don’t have financial stability.
You will also need funding for marketing, as you’ll need to attract patients if you expect to ever be able to pay down your loans and become profitable. Planning is the foundation of your future practice– you don’t want to skimp on this stage! The time and energy you invest now will pay off years down the road.
Decide What Equipment You’ll Need
Although you may want to immediately jump in and buy the most cutting-edge equipment possible, you may need to take a step back and first consider the specifics of the equipment you will need. Ask yourself which equipment will help generate the most interest from your future patients.
To decide what types of surgeries you’ll be performing, you need to consider the needs and wants of the patient population, as well as current plastic surgery trends. You can stay up-to-date on these trends by reading issues of publications such as the American Society of Plastic Surgery, or ASPS.