Q:

I have been struggling lately. My secreatry quit and blamed me ...saying I am very 
mean to her, I  can廠 believe that, I have been nothing but nice to her. I have been in 
practice for 5 motnhs, and am not perfect on running a practice. I know you get a 
million e-mails, but I am getting frustrated with chiropractic and running a successful 
practice, seems like all my hard earned work just keeps spinning its wheels.  My 
secretary gave me no notice and at first blamed my dad for leaving but now blames me.  
She said I lost all of the old patients bc of how I treat them, and people told her not to 
work for me but she thought to give it a try.
I am too damn naive and trusting and nice to her and it got thrown in my face. My 
family doesn廠 understand the chiropractice end of it. I had a lady meet me today who 
has worked in chiro. offices for awhile and she helped me learn some more of the 
business side of it.  I have to keep the faith in myself and in the profession and 
sometimes its hard.  
Thanks for listening!


A:

Thanks for the e-mail. I am sorry you are finding it hard to get established. Don't put 
all you thoughts into your CA .. and stop calling her a secretary .. possibly this is 
where you must start to change your mindset. You must hire a CA .. chiropractic 
assistant .. one that can be crossed trained to help establish and maintain an office not 
bring and tear it down. If you dwell on outside influences .. no matter how real .. you 
only lose .. someone else with a little more purpose and drive can turn things around .. 
but first they must start from the beginning .. why are you a chiropractor .. why did 
you sit through years of classes. The struggle is with any business except our business 
has a Bigger Purpose and too many people need to hear it. Never have a CA or outside 
influence affect your purpose .. the stronger it is the easier it is to overcome these 
pressures.

Consider hiring a new CA .. place an ad in the paper and just interview some people 
even if you do not hire anyone the first go around .. see what廣 out there. My Smart 
Start Book has an entire chapter on hiring and training the CA and an entire office 
manual with all the forms you need. If you own it .. start reading it .. if you were in 
my class at Life .. close your eyes and visualize what I said and how to use the book .. 
that was the purpose of the class and why I wrote the book. 

Also .. If you have access to the internet you have to visit my webpage: 
http://www.mindspring.com/~chirosmart and spend a few hours scrolling through the 
Practice Tips and Cyberconsulting sites. These areas will offer you some free and 
useful information and things to do. Take your time scrolling around and forget about 
the dates listed .. what was important for someone a year or so ago may apply to you 
today. Also .. there may be topics that have no interest for you but if you continue to 
scroll down the list you'll find some that do.

Second .. I need to know a little about yourself .. when you graduated .. what you 
have done since .. where you found the greatest obstacles are .. what you are doing to 
turn things around .. what is stopping it from happening .. where you are today .. 
what you are presently doing as you answer this .. what is your level of commitment to 
make the change .. where you practice and the area's potential .. and whatever else you 
can add. Furthermore . step aside now and elevate yourself on a cloud looking down 
on yourself .. if you could offer free advice without any thought of your present reality 
.. what would you say .. who would need to help you .. what would you need .. a 
BIG wish list without thought of the possibility .. just for fun.

Do this and take your time. Answers that are just a bunch of BS I'll disregard and think 
that is where you are headed. Give this some deep thought.

Third .. if you do not own my Smart Start Book .. I advise you to get it. 
It costs $59.95 via me .. 770-491-3639 or on-line via chirostore:  
(http://www.chirostore.com/cgi-bin/netcat.pl?page=cat8.htm)
but if you call Life University Bookstore (1-800 543-3514) they have it for the student 
price of $35 .. I think Palmer bookstore has some also.

Remember you are the administrator of your office and providing guidance comes from 
base information and then experince. If you need both and possibly some extra 
guidance .. there are seminars to go to and consultants to hire. Dr. Pete Fernandez has 
a successful Practice Starters Program .. his next weekend seminar will be in Atlanta 
(it廣 worth the trip if you need the assistance) and I could get you into the seminar as 
my guest for free .. is usually costs $195. If interested call them at 1-800-882-4476 
and be sure to tell them you are invited for free as my guest. If you are surrounded 
with chiropractic business information for a weekend and peak withothers about what 
to do you will have a headstart on making a better go of it .. languishing with CA廣 
providing you basic knowledge is better than nothing .. but there is more out there for 
you to choose from.

There will also be a Karl Parker Seminar in Philadelphia .. March 16-19. If interested 
.. this seminar is also $195. Dr. Karl expressed to me that any DC who needs 
assistance .. such as yourself .. can attend eiter for free or at a fee you can afford. This 
seminar is full of DC廣 wanting to get you off the ground. There are experinced CA廣 
and DC廣 that would spend all the time necessary to get you off the ground. If 
interested call them at 1-888-437-5275 or e-mail Dr. Karl at: behapy@karlparker.com. 

Trust me .. you need to clear your head and there is no better way than immersing it in 
a positive chiropractic weekend. The Parker seminar will afford you more hands on 
consuling .. I will be there as well .. and the Fernandez seminar will introduce you to 
his Practice Starters Program .. in either case the seminar fees can be free if necessary.

Have a Great Day

Dr. M