Time management mastery tip for entrepreneurial physicians

As I was watching a video from the Small Business School on Working on Your Business, I realized that one of the points they were making had the potential to transform how I think about all the activities and tasks on my action item list each day.

This simple time management idea can best be illustrated this way:

(click here to see the image)

Too often, folks who are getting a business started find themselves stuck in the gloomy Not Important/Not Urgent corner - fiddling with business card font, creating detailed workshop content or figuring out how to find a product packaging company, when they haven't yet spent the time on finding out who their clients or workshop attendees are likely to be.

Maybe they've convinced themselves that what they are doing is Urgent, but which on closer inspection turns out to be Not Important. This might happen if they're intent on getting a beautiful website up before they have determined what their best business model and marketing message are. Or they are spending hours organizing filing cabinets and desks, instead of making those tough calls intended to generate revenue.

When it comes to starting a business and prioritizing the use of your time, you'll be the champ when you spend your time largely in the Important/Urgent quadrant, and to a lesser extent on the Important/Not Urgent side.

A promising start-a-business task list might look something like this:

I/U:

• sketch out biz plan, with one year's financials
• write short description of my ideal client/patient
• find and contact colleagues/affiliates serving my desired target market; ask if I can survey their list in exchange for writing an article for their newsletter
• set up 5-question survey in SurveyMonkey
• set prices for services/products (if you have a pending client - otherwise that can come a little later in the I/NU category)
• prepare my Marketing Syntax script
  
• attend 5 networking meetings this month where ideal clients or ideal referrers might be present
• make 10 calls a week to potential clients

I/NU:

• set up meeting with my banker
• set up meeting with my business attorney to determine business structure
• decide on company name; secure domain name(s) for website
• get business cards made
• get computer(s) set up in office
• make a decision re hiring support personnel 
• talk to business insurance person to decide on what insurance to purchase (depending on what kind of business you're starting and what your level of immediate risk is)
• begin mapping out a website strategy based on earlier decisions; request referrals to website designers/webmasters.

I hope you are spotting the underlying theme. I like to call it the "What is the shortest route to income in 90 days for my business?" approach!   

For the tasks you're currently spending time on, what are their importance and urgency?

Lawyerly help for physicians in business

As much as I don't like to pay lawyers' fees (how come I can't get away with $500 a hour and a $15,000 retainer yet?), I am a big believer in getting the right kind of legal advice early on in the process of starting a business. Saves the big headaches later!

But what if those fees are beyond the typical startup budget?

Happily, all kinds of intriguing resources abound, to help you get legal advice from the experts without blowing a month of income.

Here then are a few that I have come across recently (although I can't vouch for them):

Lawbidding.com

This seems to be the eHarmony of legal services, matching clients and their various legal needs to lawyers who in turn are seeking clients.

From their website:

... a free, easy-to-use website which connects individuals and businesses with attorneys. By connecting those who are seeking legal help with those providing these services, LawBidding.com's mission is to make retaining an attorney more efficient and less expensive for clients and to make it easier for attorneys to find potential clients!

...Because these bids can be based on three fee structures: flat fee, hourly rate or contingent basis, this site will allow for options beyond the expensive and sometimes inefficient hourly rate . More bids make it far more likely clients find what they are looking for; whether that be a good price, experience, or location.  Also, there are more attorneys than ever before who are very well qualified to assist clients.

RocketLawyer

This business goes one step further and provides you with the ability to generate your own legal documents, in addition to locating a lawyer in your area, with the expertise you need.

You can even incorporate for free.

From the press release:

Professionals who use the RocketLawyer.com free incorporation service also receive a free trial of Easy Legal Care. With an Easy Legal Care professional plan, anyone can create essential business legal documents like corporate minutes, employment agreements and business contracts. Additional Easy Legal Care benefits for professionals include:

* Free Registered Agent service - a $200 value
* Unlimited do it yourself business legal documents
* Access to free legal consultation from business lawyers nationwide
* Easy collaboration and sharing of legal documents online with anyone
* RocketSign Electronic Signature Service
* Safe, secure online storage of vital documents in the FileSafekeeper

I'm all for saving money in your business where appropriate, and I feel certain that there are many simple documents that you could benefit from creating without the lofty knowledge and fees of a business attorney, but I will offer this caveat:

You need to be judicious in your use of low-cost services as you don't want your frugality to come back and bite you later.

One valuable use of these tools might be to prepare an initial document for review and comment/amendment by your attorney (hopefully one who knows you well and cares for your business's welfare). That way, you may save time and expense, paying for minimal modification instead of the  creation of a new piece of gorgeous legal work!

Anyone else with any good legal tools or resources to share?

Happy Horrible Haunted Halloween

Click here if you can't see this brief holiday video!

(It's a super-quick simple video so pardon my non-professional lighting!!)

Physicians - build a faster, smarter and better business in 2010

Every once in a while a little gem is tossed into my path. Tonight I received this email from vSmallBusiness.com, in a collaboration with the Small Business School (from PBS TV) run by Bruce Camber and Hattie Bryant.

Everybody agrees, "Small Business is the backbone of most every economy."  In 1994 when we started, small businesses were ignored. Our mission, then and now, is "... to help entrepreneurs and business owners by providing information, case studies and examples from people who've done it.."  No matter how strong your skills are, there is always more to learn.  No matter what your issue is, someone else who has been there, they gotten over the hurdles, and they can be a guide.  

We begin each program this way:  Small business is about courage, risk-taking, independence.  And we small business owners are survivors.

There are 27 million of us survivors in the USA alone!   

To act on our promise, ...to learn about business from the inside out, from the people who've done it, we are opening the doors to experts who can help.

Hattie says:  "When you have your own business, you're free to act on those ideas. So we can't just do the ordinary; we have to do the extraordinary. The only way we can compete with big business is to be faster, smarter and better.  

So this letter is to explore ways to help you grow your business.

We are stepping up our support for you.  We've created an alliance with vSmallBusiness to give you access to a 7-day program that is rich with business building ideas to help you prepare for 2010.  We are opening up a unique tool chest at no cost to you.

In the program you'll receive tools to assess the following:

1. Leadership: How to Find Time to Work on Your Business, Not Just in It
2. Strategy: Why a Documented Vision Can Improve Your Odds of Success by 300%
3. Process Improvement: Begin to Plug the Leaks in 2010 Cash Flow through Speed and Simplification
4. Marketing and Sales: Three Tools to Drive Successful Marketing Results
5. Integrating the Core Competencies: Part 1 - Vision and Customer Focus
6. Integrating the Core Competencies: Part 2 - Leadership & Organization Development Focus
7. Integrating the Core Competencies: Part 3 - Knowing Your Numbers and Leading for Results

While some of this material may be familiar, as a package it represents a series of core competencies that form the backbone of any small business development program.

This complete package has a commercial market value that approaches $300. Because of our active working relation with vSmallBusiness, it's available to you at no cost.  Of course, if you put even one idea to work, the value could readily become priceless

To take action now, CLICK HERE.

You only have until Monday, November 2nd, to sign up.  Your first tool to help you save time by seeing your use of it in a fresh and strategic light is scheduled to arrive in your in-box on November 3rd.  Don't miss out.

We send you our every wish for your greatest success,

Bruce Camber

I've taken advantage of the many free programs Small Business School has offered, and although I only signed up for the new 2010 Challenge course a few minutes ago and can't yet vouch for it, I feel confident that it is being recommended by a worthy organization.

Let's accept the challenge together, shall we? 

(Image from vSmallBusiness website)

Medical knowledge + Fun theory = Sheer Brilliant Behavior Change

How cool is this?

From an initiative called The Fun Theory by Volkswagen
(Click here to see the video if you are getting this by email)

What fun could you have making a difference?