Q:

Dr. M

You said something in your notes about one's practice
area being too small to accomodate growth. I was
wondering what you would consider "too small"? Right
now I have one room only, no C.A., no xray and the
waiting room is shared between three health
professionals. I definitely am beginning to think it
may be impedeing my grownth; however, I don't see
enough patients to pay the expenses yet, even WITH a
low overhead.

A:

I have told the story to my class a number of times. I heard somewhere that elephant 
keepers tie the leg of young elephants to a pole with a strong chain. After a few weeks the 
elephant learns it can travel just so far and then the chain is removed. The same holds true 
for us .. if we create a capacity problem where any more patients will be just too much (too 
much for the park spaces .. too much for the CA to handle .. too much for the office to 
hold .. etc) stopping our forward growth .. we must move on or be like that elephant .. just 
go so far. It seems you are in such a rut .. you will grow as far as the boundries you have 
.. if you nibble a little at a time and move on to larger quarters .. maybe taking on a 
Independent Contractor to help with the rent .. your capacity will enlarge and so will you. 

Give this some thought