Health and Psychology

I work with a couple of start up companies.  This is volunteer work that pays itself back to me a zillion times over. Over the years I've seen a lot of companies struggle with problems that were avoidable and will take a lot of time to correct.  It's much easier to start off on the right foot and do it right from the beginning than to have to figure out how to fix things later.  This is especially true in the field of mental health.  

My employment life started off literally in infancy.  I was a baby and child model and actress from age 5 months up until I was about 4 years old.  My family owned a compounding pharmacy and I started working there doing stock work when I was three, and started running departments when I was 15.  I was formally employed at 16 by the business.  So I don't remember not working.  So I had a fairly significant amount of on the job training.  When my father had his heart attack I took over running the business until he could come in and sell it.  I was fully prepared at that point to run a small corporation, review and proof ads for the weekly specials, negotiate with vendors, hire and fire employees and balance the hand written books (computers wouldn't exist for several years after the business was sold).

My decision a couple of years ago to open up my own firm was very solid.  I knew what I wanted to do.  I had enough capital to bankroll the business for at least a year and had a part-time job that would help with living expenses while I grew my business.  I decided to incorporate when I decided to hire other people to work with me.  I now have three employees in addition to myself and I'm looking at expanding further.

All of this is being done in conjunction with a formal written business plan.  It's the best way to understand and clarify what you as a business owner are intending to do.  I've worked on business plans with some major companies in insurance for health care, retail, and service based businesses.  So my first piece of advice is to have a plan.  There are several computer programs that can help business owners in writing up a business plan.  They are available off the shelf.  By one and go through it.

Decide exactly what the business is going to do.  My business has several areas of focus.  Health and medical psychology, psychological and neuropsychological testing, and the interface of psychology with law.  I have two psychological assistants.  One is specializing in immigration law, victims of crime, and learning disorders.  Her focus is on native Spanish speakers.  My other psychological assistant is focusing on psychological and neuropsychological testing for as wide a client base as possible.  He's completed his hours and will be sitting for the licensing exam shortly.    So I'm spending time with him asking for the basics I'd ask for any start up.  What's your business plan?  What are the financials for your business?  What's your marketing strategy?  Growing too slowly loses opportunity while growing too quickly can run through capital and collapse the business.

When I'm working with a business I expect the owner, President, or head of the company to know some basics.  I expect them to know their financials.  I expect they have some understanding of what's supposed to be on a profit and loss statement.  I expect they have clarified their role to themselves and to any of their employees.  In any service related business the key is service.  The company head sets the tone for how service is defined for the work-force.  I've met a few owners that really don't want to work.  They had an idea that by simply opening up a business people would beat a path to their door.  The focus is only on profit.  Only reluctantly did the company head put together a marketing plan.  Only relucantly did they get involved.  These are businesses that are not likely to succeed.  They may make it if they have a rare product or are in an area where services ae limited.  But they are likely to fail if the market develops competition.

The other extreme is the business owner that doesn't want to delegate.  They don't want to train and dislike supervision.  They tend to micromanage.  They turn employees into robots, cubicle hampsters, whatever you want to call mindless drones doing repetitive work.  There needs to be a balance.  The way a balance is achieved is to clarify the standards required for the work.  Hire people that match your business values.  Training is done to make sure the standards are understood by the employee.  Once training is complete then the job is supervision.  Routine feedback about quality of work in terms of meeting standards, exceeding standards or not meeting standards is the job of supervision.  The employers that don't train, supervise or delegate adequately lose their workforce, have a higher rate of injury, accident and illness, and produce disgruntled workers.

So here's the list:

1. Have a business plan and review it regularly
2. Know the financials
3. Have a marketing strategy
4. Plan for modest growth
5. Hire people that match your business values
6. Train employees
7. Supervise work to meet standards
8. Delegate work to free up time for essential business functions
9. Provide feedback
10. Watch for challenges and opportunities in the market