Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/142672
establish a CAM clinic A Plan to Create a Plan Start by arranging preliminary consultations with professional advisors, which should include, at least, your attorney and accountant. Interview several to find a good fit. Start your business plan yesterday. Staring some big numbers in the face has a way of encouraging realism, so get a rough draft on paper. Use modern software and update your plan each quarter. Take classes. Read books. Investors need this plan to make sense about what they will be investing in. Start with a formal six-month action plan and a longer two-year version. If you're at all typical, when two years rolls around, your business won't look at all like your plan, but you will be ready to roll with the punches. Money, Money, Money You will need money to capitalize your venture. Unless you have ample cash in the bank, or a rich aunt, be prepared to apply for a loan, for which you will have to give a personal guarantee (also known as your house equity, my friend). Whatever you estimate to be your financial needs to start the business, multiply it by 10. You can always pay it back if you don't need it, but it's always better to have more money than less. As a reserve fund, you'll need enough money put away to sustain you for six to 12 months. Start with more than you think you will ever need. If you create a clinic from scratch, you'll need to purchase equipment, hire staff, and fund marketing efforts. You can start small and expand it slowly and make it your baby. Otherwise, consider purchasing an existing center. The client base is already established, and all the details have been worked out. This looks better to a bank than a start-up, too. In a pinch, plenty of successful people started a business with funds from their credit cards, bank automatic credit line, second mortgage, revolving charge accounts (for furniture and supplies), or by cashing in your life insurance. Once your new money generators are ensconced in their new offices, how do you get money out of them? You can lease spaces to a variety of qualified practitioners and collect rent based on the time they use their space, say $100 per month for use of the room all day every Monday. This rotating shift use of the same treatment room provides less risk for you, as the room rent is spread out over more therapists.