Starting a business is hard… You’d think it wouldn’t be because you have so many ideas that are GREAT (in your opinion); but with so many ideas you actually don’t know which one to pick and actually start with. In my case, my education gave me the very basics in terms of understanding branding, having an online presence and talking about contracts with a future employer. They definitely do the work to prime their students on how to become a good employee or associate at a clinic. I’m seeing that the practice management program is getting a bit better… but they definitely put more emphasis on the naturopathic medical training than the business planning (which, I mean… makes sense…). However, I hear so much that there is such a massive failure rate for NDs within the first 5 years post graduation. This is not because there is no market for NDs or we don’t know what we are doing…
It’s because starting a business is hard.
I would love to be able to afford the amazing business coaches out there, and I’ve definitely spent my money and time on people and things that I thought would be helpful, only to find out that it’s really just a distractor from my own vision. I’ve watched enough videos, read enough blogs and attended enough webinars to understand WHAT to do – because frankly, all the “business coaches” and “health practice gurus” are all saying the same thing, just with their own quirky spin to it! Right now, I’m in the phase of figuring out HOW to do it; and again, all the coaches say there is no “one way” to do anything, so just pick a lane and stick to it. I think I’ve chosen my lane, but those distractors are very tempting… There is always something new that seems interesting, and the algorithm of those targeted ads on Insta are STRONG! It’s almost as if I need to turn all of that off, but social media is also apart of the marketing and business strategizing that needs to happen, so it’s bad business sense to turn it off… do you understand my struggle now?
My fatal flaw is staying on track. Like I’ve said, I have so many ideas and I’ve envisioned them all in my head so clearly that I know if I stick to any one of them, it will work. It’s just hard to stick to only ONE when you have so many other things you’re working on at the same time. I would love to have the luxury of quitting my current job, hiding away in a hole for a month and putting all of this together. But right now, I need to keep affording rent in Toronto, and I actually like the job I have… I just know I’m destined for more.
I’m introducing this new blog series and I’m calling it Business with Bourne Unbound – this is the name I’ve chosen for my business. I’m going to use this blog platform now to document my progress of starting my business and opening up my practice as a naturopathic doctor and sports nutritionist. Some posts will be more reflection (like this one) and others will probably be lessons learned and tips to help you if you’re looking to start your business too. This will be a synergistic relationship: I’ll help you by telling you what works for me and you’ll help me by (hopefully) keeping me accountable with these weekly (biweekly?) posts. I want this vision that I can’t stop thinking about to come true and I will get there. With time, patience… and maybe an assistant…
Love and Wellness,
ND-B
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