The 12 lessons of Clinic Ownership – A Christmas special

[00:00:00] Katie Bell: Merry Christmas and welcome to a very special episode of the Treat Your Business podcast. It’s Wednesday. It’s the 25th of December. I’m Katie Bell and you’re listening whilst unwrapping presents, sipping mulled wine, having the best time of your life, maybe sneaking a quiet moment away from the chaos. I am so glad you’re here whenever you are listening to this over the festive period.

[00:00:25] Katie Bell: If you’re watching me on camera, yes, I am dressed as a reindeer just bringing true Christmas spirit to this episode. So today we’re looking back on 2024 with a festive twist and I’m going to share the 12 lessons. of clinic ownership inspired by the 12 days of Christmas. And these are my biggest insights, wins, maybe a few funny moments that you, my amazing listeners, can take into the new year.

[00:00:52] Katie Bell: So grab yourself your favorite quality street and let’s get started. Let’s kick things off, first of all, with, I’m going to break these down into four lessons. So the first four, on the first day of clinic ownership, my true love said to me, clarity comes first. So I’m going to talk about the foundations here.

[00:01:13] Katie Bell: You can’t build a snowman, see what I did there, without a solid base. You cannot grow a clinic without absolute clarity. Your vision, your purpose, are the foundations for every decision you make. If you are listening to this episode and you are not super clear where you want to be in 12 months time, when next year I’ll probably dressed as something else stupid.

[00:01:43] Katie Bell: I’m bringing you this podcast episode because we’re still going to be around, still going to be doing what we’re doing now. What do you want to be celebrating? We need to have absolute clarity on where you want to be so that we can align your business decisions. The things that you do, the things that you don’t do, towards that.

[00:02:04] Katie Bell: On the second day of clinic ownership, my true love said to me, Processes save Christmas. Maybe I should say Nicola said to me with this one, Processes save Christmas. If Santa ran his workshop without clear processes, Christmas would be an absolute shit show. Whether it’s onboarding clients, whether it’s managing your team, whether it’s, discharging patients.

[00:02:28] Katie Bell: Whether it’s, coming up with new themes for your Pilates classes, whatever it is, if anything happens more than once in your business, it needs to have a process. Processes create consistency and they create sanity. And here’s the thing, you don’t have to be the one to put these processes in place because frankly, I would rather pluck my own toenails out.

[00:02:51] Katie Bell: They are so boring. I understand that. I am that person as well that doesn’t want to, doesn’t want to have to. I like them because they make my life easier but I don’t want to have to create them. I’m going to give you an example something I said yesterday to one of my team members in Thrive was that okay, this is the outcome that I need.

[00:03:10] Katie Bell: I need these guests booking in to the recording studio for the podcast, and then they need to be booked in by here. Here is the questionnaire they need to fill in. Here is the booking link to my calendar. Can you make that happen? And then can you put a process behind it? Because it creates consistency, then we can just follow that process over and over again.

[00:03:31] Katie Bell: So I’m not creating it. I’m just telling people that are great at creating processes to create a process. On the third day of clinic ownership, Nicola said to me, know your numbers. If you don’t know who Nicola is, she’s from Essex. She’s as fiesty as anything. And she talks, she’s our strategic coach and she’s our COO in Thrive.

[00:03:52] Katie Bell: And she’s constantly talking about numbers. You, just like you can’t keep count of Christmas stockings, knowing your clinic’s financials is non negotiable. From cash flow to profit margins, your numbers tell you the real story of your business, not what is in the bank.

[00:04:10] Katie Bell: So thinking about as you head into 2025, like, how do you know how well you have done in 2024? Are you waiting for your P& L to come back from your accountant, which will come months after year end? And you go, Wahoo! I made some money last year. Or, Oh shit, we actually on paper made nothing. Or, Wahoo! I made loads of money, but where is it actually?

[00:04:33] Katie Bell: Because it actually hasn’t, I haven’t got anything in my accounts. You don’t have to achieve everything in 2025, but you, these are like your foundations. You’ve got to know your numbers, you’ve got to know where you’re going and why you’re going there. And then you’ve got to put a process behind it, every single thing you possibly can, so that you don’t have to be the one to remember how to do it every time.

[00:04:54] Katie Bell: Or, if it is you doing it right now, putting a process behind it, recording you doing it on your screen, or whatever, is going to mean that when you delegate it, you just instantly go, Oh, can you just follow that thing? I’ve already done a process. It’s there. Follow it. Make it better. And on the fourth day of clinic ownership, my marketing team said to me, Google is your friend.

[00:05:19] Katie Bell: In 2024, I can’t stress how important it was to keep your Google, My Business profile updated. Clients are always looking for clinics near them. You are a local business. Connect with your community locally. It is a free tool. It is a gift that you should never overlook. Look. Okay. Lessons five to eight are all about growing pains and gains.

[00:05:40] Katie Bell: So we have got some lessons about growth because every clinic owner faces both challenges and opportunities as they expand. So on the fifth day of clinic ownership, my tutor said to me, the golden rule is boundaries. This year I have seen so many clinic owners learn the hard way that saying yes to everything leads to burnout.

[00:06:03] Katie Bell: Boundaries aren’t barriers, they’re the gift you give to yourself to stay energized, to stay focused and to actually live the life that you want to live, that running a business should give you. And if it’s not giving you it, then we need to change some stuff. So really think about what have, listen back to I think it was my episode at the beginning of December and I talked about what you are tolerating, what you have been tolerating.

[00:06:34] Katie Bell: And a lot of this is because you just feel like you can’t say no. Because we’re living in a state of fear, or you’re living in your adrenaline system. Your fight or flight response all the time. So we then don’t have these boundaries in place. So I want you to get really clear on, what do I need to regain here?

[00:06:51] Katie Bell: Where do I need to create some ground rules and some barriers? So that I can stay energized all year round. And not screech to Christmas next year looking like a wrung out snowman. On the sixth day of clinic ownership, I said to you, the right people make magic. So if you want to grow and you are a solopreneur but you can’t make the revenue by yourself because you have a revenue goal, yes of course you do because you’ve been listening to this podcast long enough now, we have a revenue goal and a profit goal and a take home goal, if you can’t achieve that by yourself then you’re gonna have to get teamed.

[00:07:35] Katie Bell: If you are a clinic owner that is growing and you want to scale to the next level of business, you are going to have to get the right people to make this magic happen. So whether it’s hiring a new team member or finally letting somebody off that bus, we talked about that last week, your clinic is only as strong as the people in it.

[00:07:53] Katie Bell: So surround yourself with people who really get the vision, but you have to be clear on what that vision is first of all. On the seventh day of clinic ownership, delegation is the key to joy. Oh, and who wants it is a season of joy, isn’t it? So remember, clinic ownership is not about doing it all yourself.

[00:08:17] Katie Bell: You’ve got to trust your team. You’ve got to outsource where you can and focus on what only you can do. Like I could not outsource this podcast. I can bring guest speakers in to reduce the load off me. I can, we’re going to have loads of great people talking next year on the podcast because it’s great for you to have different voices.

[00:08:36] Katie Bell: But this is the one thing I can’t outsource. I am not going to outsource running a big event like Clinic Growth Live because that is what I want to be doing and how I want to spend my time. So focus on what only you can do and start to plug the gaps that are going to bring you back most times.

[00:08:57] Katie Bell: And they’re going to allow you the opportunity to get out of your business, work on your business, and drive revenue in lots of different ways. On the eighth day of clinic ownership, marketing matters. Whether it’s email campaigns, videos, you’ve got a very specific targeted flyer campaign that’s going out, whether you are going to be running a workshop in a garden center, whether it’s you’re going to go and do a educational thing in a golf club, whatever it is.

[00:09:27] Katie Bell: Invest in consistent, authentic marketing. Those people saw the biggest wins last year. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. When things get tough in your business, what you should not do is stop marketing. People often hide under a rock when things get tough or when things quieten off. And I say why do you think it’s quietened off?

[00:09:50] Katie Bell: And it’s often because they’ve been inconsistent in their marketing. And then in lessons 9 to 12, let’s reflect and celebrate. Let’s wrap up with the final four lessons because the end of the year is the perfect time to reflect, celebrate, plan for 2025. So on the ninth day of clinic ownership, I want you to celebrate your wins.

[00:10:11] Katie Bell: Whether it’s a client transformation story, a record breaking month, simply making it through the year, take time to celebrate. Wins, big or small, they deserve recognition, and I am the worst person at this. Don’t get me wrong, I have to work on this consistently, but you have to take a moment to pause about what, and just reflect and look back at your diary of all the things that you have achieved.

[00:10:38] Katie Bell: We make our members do this on a regular basis because it’s a habit, and when we and it’s a behavior, and when we start to really tune that behavior in so it becomes like just something that they do. They’re generally then shifting their mindset onto the wins big or small rather than all the things they haven’t done or what they failed on or whatever it is.

[00:10:59] Katie Bell: So just take a moment to celebrate you on Christmas day. And on the 10th day of clinic ownership, I want you to know that failures teach the best lessons. Not every year goes smoothly, guys. And that’s okay. Not every month goes smoothly. Smoothly. There’s mistakes, there’s setbacks. Those things that have gone on in 2024 are literally your stepping stones for 2025.

[00:11:27] Katie Bell: The most successful clinic owners are the most resilient ones are those that learn from them and they just move forward. They go okay, why was this sent for me? What do I need to learn from this? Because it was really quick and convenient. And it was really traumatic at the time. And. It wasn’t something that I particularly wanted to have to deal with, but what can I take from this that’s going to allow me to move forward and grow on the other side of it?

[00:11:50] Katie Bell: And on the 11th day of clinic ownership, I want you to know that gratitude changes everything. Now, I’m really grateful for all of you, my listeners, the amazing work that you do in your clinics. Take a moment today to thank, it could just be to yourself, or it could be more verbally than that, but just take a moment to team, to your clients.

[00:12:11] Katie Bell: And yourself for showing up every single day. Because gratitude, whether you believe in this woo shit or not, just go with me on this, right? Everything is energy. And gratitude has a, frequency. Like joy, love positivity, fear, apathy, guilt, shame, they all have frequencies. That means that when we feel in a certain state, we are resonating a certain frequency out there into the universe and we are like a big massive magnet attracting it back to us.

[00:12:43] Katie Bell: So when we are in a state of gratitude, it’s one of the most highest frequencies. I can’t even say the word. Frequencies. I haven’t even started on the Baileys as yet. Frequencies. That you can be, that state that you can be in, and you will get more of what you want back to you. So take a moment today to thank yourself, your team, your clients, your family, for the presents, for the tree, for the warm house, for the food that you’re going to eat, for the crackers that you get to open, for the wreath on your front door, for the probably shite weather that we’ve got on Christmas Day, just take a moment to thank, whoever needs to hear it.

[00:13:22] Katie Bell: And on the 12th day, for the Clinic ownership. I want you to know that rest is one of the greatest gifts. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so you need to take this holiday season to turn your emails off, put an out of office on that clearly explains when you will next be available. You need to rest, you need to recharge, because that is the space and the clarity you need to know what 2025 needs to look like for you.

[00:13:52] Katie Bell: So there you have it, the 12 lessons of clinic ownership. I hope they inspire you. I hope one of them resonates with you enough for you to take action and, change things and reflect on your own journey and step into 2025 with excitement and with clarity. Thank you for tuning in every week, for sharing this podcast with clinic owners, for being part of this incredible community.

[00:14:20] Katie Bell: You are the heart of everything that I do, and I am so, grateful for you all.

[00:14:27] Katie Bell: Have a wonderful Christmas. Filled with love, laughter, and maybe even, who am I even kidding, I was going to say a cheeky mulled wine. Have whatever fills you with joy. Until next time, which will be next week because we don’t miss a beat you’re here, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and remember you’ve totally got this.