May 1st marked the sixth year that I have been in practice and April 19th was six years since I graduated. These milestones make you sit back and think where I was all those years ago and how much more I can grow and learn in the years to come.

Most people that start a business, come up with a business plan and set out specific goals and objectives that they wish to meet over the course of say 1,3 and 5 years. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I don’t have goals in my mind and some written down but I have never had to write a business plan that would outline these goals to anyone other than Kristina and myself.

I have stated this before, I am very much a numbers person and I constantly look at the numbers that are involved in the practice and in my mind I am always trying to do better from one quarter to the next. I have a weekly number that is my “goal,” for the week but I almost always hit that number. I used to look month to month, but with the changing dynamics of life and days off, it can be kind of difficult to compare one month to the next, so I go with quarters as it is a bigger snapshot.

Everyday I show up to the office with the intention of helping people feel better or performing physicals that allow individuals to continue driving. I feel that when I unlock the doors, I am there to aid you in your journey. I write about this because I do not deviate to far from what guidelines and my education has taught me.

I have had patients leave for other chiropractors because I don’t have certain therapies. No my offices don’t have lasers, decompression tables, massage therapy or stem cell injections. We don’t have a lot of products to sell in the office, maybe some Biofreeze, TENS units or a few pillows but not much else.

Some doctors are out there looking for what is going to make the practice the most money or how many people can we see on a daily basis. I have been tempted, don’t get me wrong to try new things in the office to try and draw more patients through the door on a daily basis, but I have yet to jump on that train. I have constantly told myself that chiropractic was founded on the adjustment and that is what I am going to stick with as my main form of treatment. Don’t get me wrong, I perform other therapies in the office and generalized stretching and exercises but if you are looking for high dollar, new age technology when you walk through the door, you may be sorely mistaken.

Mechanical traction is performed regularly; ultrasound, combo ultrasound and electric stimulation are also done daily. I get asked if I will be adding other therapies and I can definitively say that I am not in the foreseeable future.

I never thought that I would be this way six years ago, but as the years go, I continue to tell myself to stick to my principles and have a purpose. The purpose is to continue to help people on a daily basis and to not do excessive treatment just for the sole purpose of adding money to the bottom line.

There are chiropractors out there that see more patients and they may have fancier equipment and gadgets but are they looking out for your best interest or are they looking out for their pocketbook.

While the practice is doing just fine and patients continue to come through the door, the backbone on the offices is that we stand on the purpose of helping people get better as soon as possible. We look to get people better, out the door and back to their lives. If this is a recipe that you as a patient are looking for we look forward to working with you in the present and future.

PS. Happy Mother’s Day to all