The beginning of the year is a good time to stand back and take a look at yourself and your practice, and decide what changes, if any, are needed. Such decisions are seldom easy.

You can find an argument both for and against almost any course of action such as:

• Raising your fees;

• Hiring an associate;

• Breaking up a partnership that’s gone sour;

• Buying a building;

• Dropping out of low-paying, managed-care plans;

• Joining Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networks;

• Buying new equipment;

• Bringing other specialists into your practice;

• Obtaining a certification or diplomate in a specialty;

• Trying to combine career and family successfully;

• And on and on.

Four methods

Most chiropractors rely on the following four methods of decision-making about such matters:

1. Conformity. When it comes to fees and hours, many of you check around, see what others are doing, and then follow suit. Conformity is easy, but it can stifle practice growth.

Practitioners often worry that if they are the first to raise fees or shorten hours, patients will leave. When the big day comes, however, patients take such changes in stride. It’s often their colleagues who then follow suit.

2. Habit. “We’ve done well without it until now” type thinking is often a problem in many practices. The marketplace has changed and become more competitive, and patients have higher expectations.

Your basic services and marketing efforts have served you well, but it could be time for a change. Bernard Marcus, CEO of Home Depot, says, “In today’s highly competitive environment, the sure path to oblivion is to stay exactly where you are.”

3. Default. When it comes to making a decision about whether to raise fees, buy new equipment, hire a new associate, or, perhaps, fire someone who’s become more of an irritant than an asset to the practice, some chiropractors do nothing.

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