How to get out of the profession you're in and become an entrepreneur

[drgregw]

I'm a long time reader of the blog and read the Millionaire Fastlane twice. It's all so inspiring but when it comes to taking the first step I'm stuck. I'm a 31 yo chiropractor. I have 2 young girls, no savings and a mountain of student loan debt. I read and followed the SCRIPT and now I'm in deep and I don't now how to get out. Anyone have advice or experience in a similar situation?


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[MJ DeMarco]

I read and followed the SCRIPT

So you read UNSCRIPTED and you still don't know what to do? Or are you just saying that figuratively?

 

[CPisHere]

Obviously, opening a Chiropractic Clinic is the most logical step for you to becoming an Entrepreneur. You have 2 options - work for a Chiropractic clinic that will let you eventually let you have equity / majority interest in a clinic, or find an investor to open your own clinic, with enough funding to pay your salary until it's profitable.

 

[drgregw]

So you read UNSCRIPTED and you still don't know what to do? Or are you just saying that figuratively?

Unscripted is on the way! I read the preview of first 5 chapters yesterday and I felt like it was talking directly to me. It was like a punch in the gut. I am living that lack luster, mediocre life. My prison is nice as hell and have an awful lot of nice people in it, but it's still a prison.

Should I wait until I finish UNSCRIPTED to continue this thread?


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[Mumtaz]

I'm a long time reader of the blog and read the Millionaire Fastlane twice. It's all so inspiring but when it comes to taking the first step I'm stuck. I'm a 31 yo chiropractor. I have 2 young girls, no savings and a mountain of student loan debt. I read and followed the SCRIPT and now I'm in deep and I don't now how to get out. Anyone have advice or experience in a similar situation?


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Start a consultation business based on your industry? What are the things that you as a chiropractor struggle with while doing your job that other people like you also struggle with ? Once you find that out, come up with a solution to solve that problem...

 

[drgregw]

Obviously, opening a Chiropractic Clinic is the most logical step for you to becoming an Entrepreneur. You have 2 options - work for a Chiropractic clinic that will let you eventually let you have equity / majority interest in a clinic, or find an investor to open your own clinic, with enough funding to pay your salary until it's profitable.

I agree that is the most logical but I don't see the long term game with a chiropractic clinic. It would be a good way to take care of student loans and save but it keeps me a prisoner to the office.


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[MJ DeMarco]

Should I wait until I finish UNSCRIPTED to continue this thread?

I think it will give you a great idea on how to start with a long-game overview. I wrote it for exactly your type of question on how to get started, what to look for, and what you can do immediately.

Your situation DOES NOT have any fast solutions, but you can turn things around in a few short years with "one step at a time" and incremental changes.

 

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[drgregw]

I think it will give you a great idea on how to start with a long-game overview. I wrote it for exactly your type of question on how to get started, what to look for, and what you can do immediately.

Your situation DOES NOT have any fast solutions, but you can turn things around in a few short years with "one step at a time" and incremental changes.

Thanks, MJ! Once book gets here I'll dive in follow up this thread after I figure some shit out and have concrete ideas.


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[mtak.doc]

I agree that is the most logical but I don't see the long term game with a chiropractic clinic. It would be a good way to take care of student loans and save but it keeps me a prisoner to the office.

What questions are you asking yourself about your Industry, You fellow profesionals your clients. What are their pains when it comes to dealing with clients and each other.
A Chiropractor complained to me in casual convo once about the back and forth that a client does between a Physio and a Chiropractor as one deals with muscle and one with bones, not that i knew much about the field but if there was a way to schedule the 2 profesionals to be in the same room with the same patient in the form of some kind of subscription software that allowed them to coordinate such things..But hiring a developer and talking them into profit sharing is the stuff of some other sales pitch im not here to plug.

I would be interested to hear if you can identify your clients issues.

 

[Scot]

Most people on here worked full time jobs while working on their business on the side. You don't have to start a chiropractic clinic to go fastlane. In fact, that would probably be the hardest way to go fastlane.

Think about it this way, you'd have to create a practice, grow it for a few years, expand and open a second, rinse repeat until you have enough practices that you can step out and manage. Seems like a long drawn out painful process huh?

There's a whole word of business out there that you can build after the 9-5. Look into ecommerce. Or an info product.

I work 9-5 but I'm building a food brand. It's doable! You just have to look for a need to solve.

 

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[drgregw]

Most people on here worked full time jobs while working on their business on the side. You don't have to start a chiropractic clinic to go fastlane. In fact, that would probably be the hardest way to go fastlane.

Think about it this way, you'd have to create a practice, grow it for a few years, expand and open a second, rinse repeat until you have enough practices that you can step out and manage. Seems like a long drawn out painful process huh?

There's a whole word of business out there that you can build after the 9-5. Look into ecommerce. Or an info product.

I work 9-5 but I'm building a food brand. It's doable! You just have to look for a need to solve.

Yeah that's definitely not Fastlane in my eyes. That's exactly what I had in mind! I have so much knowledge and experience on health and wellness and physiology that I could put into an info product. My concern is the saturation with all the books and blogs in thane wellness arena. How do you know if it's too saturated?


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[Scot]

Yeah that's definitely not Fastlane in my eyes. That's exactly what I had in mind! I have so much knowledge and experience on health and wellness and physiology that I could put into an info product. My concern is the saturation with all the books and blogs in thane wellness arena. How do you know if it's too saturated?


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So I'll give you a glimpse of my project even though the thread is on the inside.

I work in medicine as well, pharmaceutical sales. I ran into a need, a pretty big one, that was not being solved at all. It's not a new drug that needs to be deloveloped or a better way to adjudicate insurance authorizations. But it's about a diet that doctors recommend to their patients.

So while it's not taking the skills and knowledge that I know and use every day and trying to spin that into a product, it's something that is in my space that's ancillary to my skills and knowledge.

So what does that mean?

It's obvious, too obvious, to just say, I'll write a book about proper posture and it's benefits. Or to say, man these adjustment tables are so outdated and inefficient, I'll make a better one. But think of the things you run into on a daily basis in your field and how they could be made better.

Do this.

For the next week. Write a list of problems you hear about in every conversation and you encounter at work. Every patient complaint. Write it down. Every complaint that's not a medical reason, write it down. Any process you have in your industry that's annoying or frustrating. Write it down.

At some point during the week while being hyper focused on problems, a giant lightbulb will smack you in the face and you'll probably say something like "there's got to be a better way.."

That's your moment. That's your need. That's your idea.

Solve THAT.

 

[drgregw]

So I'll give you a glimpse of my project even though the thread is on the inside.

I work in medicine as well, pharmaceutical sales. I ran into a need, a pretty big one, that was not being solved at all. It's not a new drug that needs to be deloveloped or a better way to adjudicate insurance authorizations. But it's about a diet that doctors recommend to their patients.

So while it's not taking the skills and knowledge that I know and use every day and trying to spin that into a product, it's something that is in my space that's ancillary to my skills and knowledge.

So what does that mean?

It's obvious, too obvious, to just say, I'll write a book about proper posture and it's benefits. Or to say, man these adjustment tables are so outdated and inefficient, I'll make a better one. But think of the things you run into on a daily basis in your field and how they could be made better.

Do this.

For the next week. Write a list of problems you hear about in every conversation and you encounter at work. Every patient complaint. Write it down. Every complaint that's not a medical reason, write it down. Any process you have in your industry that's annoying or frustrating. Write it down.

At some point during the week while being hyper focused on problems, a giant lightbulb will smack you in the face and you'll probably say something like "there's got to be a better way.."

That's your moment. That's your need. That's your idea.

Solve THAT.

That's a fantastic idea. Thank you, I will definitely do that. I was nervous about posting this at first, but after this feedback I'm so happy that I did!


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[Imgal]

For the next week. Write a list of problems you hear about in every conversation and you encounter at work. Every patient complaint. Write it down. Every complaint that's not a medical reason, write it down. Any process you have in your industry that's annoying or frustrating. Write it down.

Came to write just this, but the marvellous @Scot beat me to it! I've been re-reading The Millionaire Fastlane this week and it's so true how once you start to listen to what's going around you in a different way there are no end of problems. Listen to what others say. Listen to what you're finding annoying. The answer is there. Maybe it's not the first idea, maybe it's an offshoot from that which ends up being three removed from that. Stay dedicated to finding it and you will.

I have 2 young girls, no savings and a mountain of student loan debt.

I know at the moment you may be feeling that these are holding you back because you want to be able to support your kids and have a steady income (and I'm definitely not suggesting throwing it all in!) but my advice would be to reframe it. To be successful as an entrepreneur (and not playing one), you need a WHY, a big one that keeps you going. From the sounds of it, you've got it right there with your two kids and a family you want to be able to provide for.

 

[CPisHere]

I agree that is the most logical but I don't see the long term game with a chiropractic clinic. It would be a good way to take care of student loans and save but it keeps me a prisoner to the office.

I know a Chiropractor who owns 4 clinics. He is a business owner, not stuck doing Chiropractic care all day.

 

[Millenial_Kid5K1]

I think that brilliant response from @Scot about covers it, but an alternate way you could try would be to learn a hustle, such as copywriting, web design, or even flipping. While I can't speak to this first hand, many on here have found it incredibly freeing to find that you can make six figures without a 9-5. I'd imagine this would especially be the case with little ones to care for. It's not exactly the same as building a money system, but it can be an intermediate step.

 

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[Scot]

I think that brilliant response from @Scot about covers it, but an alternate way you could try would be to learn a hustle, such as copywriting, web design, or even flipping. While I can't speak to this first hand, many on here have found it incredibly freeing to find that you can make six figures without a 9-5. I'd imagine this would especially be the case with little ones to care for. It's not exactly the same as building a money system, but it can be an intermediate step.

So I know I'm probably going to catch a lot of flak for saying this, but when you pursue a side hustle in web design or copywriting it is just that, a side hustle. Don't get me wrong, designing websites and learning copywriting are incredibly valuable skills. But in order to make it fastlane, you really have to create an agency to do the work for you.

At the end of the day, the reason why we are all here, is to create a fastlane business. Fastlane = remove the time for money aspect. If you stop copywriting, you stop getting paid.

Again, this doesn't mean that you don't have to bust your a$$ to build something. But the end goal should always either be an exit or automation.

To me, it sounds like you are trying to escape a time for money profession. So trading in adjustments for freelance writing doesn't really seem like it's something that would fit what you're looking for.

 

[biophase]

My chiropractor developed his own pillow. It's the pillow I currently sleep on. It was $150. In his office I see many products that he can expand into. Anything from those little massage balls to a specially shaped roller made to hit certain hard to release areas. And what about the S-curve blue back thing? That sells a ton on Amazon.

 

[Andy Black]

Grow what you know?

(Audio) Freedom, Motivation, & Grow What You Know

Learn a skill, sell a skill, scale a skill?

So you have a skill. Are you flooded with sales? If you were flooded with sales, how would you scale?

Are there people without your level of chiropractor skills doing better in the chiropractor space because of better commercial skills? (You likely get paid by them or pay them.)


You may find this site useful:
Home - Delivering WOW

 

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[samuraijack]

Tons of things I can see you getting into, what about niche chiropractic services/products?

I always had an interest in this service for people who lift weights. I've watched youtube videos but those always seemed way to complicated and a huge time commitment.

Maybe a way to bridge this gap? For people who lift and want to keep their posture, flexibility, form, etc all in check but wan't something quick and easy to solve it?

Tell you what, if you gave me a simple routine with instructional videos, and it only took 15 minutes or less a day, all wrapped up in one package I'd pay you for it. I'd also buy any new stretching/posture products you'd want to upsell me as well .

 

[loop101]

Figure how to impact millions. Start a chain of Chiropractic franchises. Make Chiropractic books/videos. Write a book "What Your Chiropractor Won't Tell You", "Solo Chiropractic Exercises", etc. Look at the fitness industry for examples and ideas.

 

[Joe Cassandra]

I can't tell if you enjoy chiropractic work or not. Obviously, you want to focus on a need, but I've always been an advocate you at least enjoy the work a bit.

If you've never run or business or done anything entrepreneurial, unfortunately, it will probably take you a few years before you're out on your own. Yes, others will say the opposite, but this is the more likely scenario UNLESS you have some experience working for yourself or working at entrepreneural ventures.​

Because --- to the point --- reading about business and doing it are much different. You can read all you want (as I did) but you still need to make the mistakes to learn and get better. Making those mistakes takes time, money, and struggle.

I started off as an accountant and for a few years tried to build businesses on the side and failed a bunch. No success, but I learned.

That's why I ask: Have you done anything entrepreneurial before?

Because you might read success stories on here, but if you dig in the details, you'll find:
1. They've tried things entrepreneurial in the past and learned from them or
2. They've worked long enough to save up truckloads of cash so they can take a big risk (in real estate, products etc.)

You don't have the money unfortunately as you mentioned (plus debt).
So,what's left? You'll need MORE TIME TO LEARN.

POSSIBLE STEPS:
Based off my experience, and I went into an entirely different niche for my entrepreneurial adventures:

1.) Make mistakes while you still have a job i.e. become an intrapreneur. Meaning what?

• Go out and find your own clients
• Learn how to upsell services
• Work at keeping chiro clients for a long time, etc.

You don't have to WANT to be a chiropractor forever to not learn something about sales and customer service. As an accountant, I worked on customer service, persuasions, up-selling all the time that helped me going forward. Even though I HATED accounting (and sucked at it).

2.) As others suggested, find a need. My grandfather (Papa) goes to a chiropractor every week (he's 83). He says it helps him move around and drive. There's probably a HUGE OPP. for a chiropractor for elderly. Maybe some exist, but it's a much smaller niche than just 'chiropractor.' You could take your elderly knowledge, package it up in a $29 letter, sell it locally and pick up clients that way as well.

3.) Focus. I wasted time jumping around from project to project. As I learned, if you want to work for yourself, you need to dedicate at least a year towards a project, and working late (after the 2 kids are in bed) before abandoning.

Good luck

 

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[drgregw]

I can't tell if you enjoy chiropractic work or not. Obviously, you want to focus on a need, but I've always been an advocate you at least enjoy the work a bit.

If you've never run or business or done anything entrepreneurial, unfortunately, it will probably take you a few years before you're out on your own. Yes, others will say the opposite, but this is the more likely scenario UNLESS you have some experience working for yourself or working at entrepreneural ventures.​

Because --- to the point --- reading about business and doing it are much different. You can read all you want (as I did) but you still need to make the mistakes to learn and get better. Making those mistakes takes time, money, and struggle.

I started off as an accountant and for a few years tried to build businesses on the side and failed a bunch. No success, but I learned.

That's why I ask: Have you done anything entrepreneurial before?

Because you might read success stories on here, but if you dig in the details, you'll find:
1. They've tried things entrepreneurial in the past and learned from them or
2. They've worked long enough to save up truckloads of cash so they can take a big risk (in real estate, products etc.)

You don't have the money unfortunately as you mentioned (plus debt).
So,what's left? You'll need MORE TIME TO LEARN.

POSSIBLE STEPS:
Based off my experience, and I went into an entirely different niche for my entrepreneurial adventures:

1.) Make mistakes while you still have a job i.e. become an intrapreneur. Meaning what?

• Go out and find your own clients
• Learn how to upsell services
• Work at keeping chiro clients for a long time, etc.

You don't have to WANT to be a chiropractor forever to not learn something about sales and customer service. As an accountant, I worked on customer service, persuasions, up-selling all the time that helped me going forward. Even though I HATED accounting (and sucked at it).

2.) As others suggested, find a need. My grandfather (Papa) goes to a chiropractor every week (he's 83). He says it helps him move around and drive. There's probably a HUGE OPP. for a chiropractor for elderly. Maybe some exist, but it's a much smaller niche than just 'chiropractor.' You could take your elderly knowledge, package it up in a $29 letter, sell it locally and pick up clients that way as well.

3.) Focus. I wasted time jumping around from project to project. As I learned, if you want to work for yourself, you need to dedicate at least a year towards a project, and working late (after the 2 kids are in bed) before abandoning.

Good luck

I sincerely appreciate your honesty. I'm great at being a chiropractor I just don't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It's enjoyable helping people but the time spent in the office, away from my family isn't what I want forever. It's no Fastlane. Even with part time hours, I am still trading time for money.

I started two of my own businesses before. They were both a house call chiropractic service. I failed both times but I made headway. I was getting clients and breaking even each month but I just depleted my reserve so I didn't have the resources to continue my venture, especially with 2 kids I made the choice not "risk it all". I learned from that experience but I know I have a lot more to learn.

With that being said the only business I've ever known is the chiropractic business. I'm conditioned to believe that busting my a$$ adjusting 40-50 hours a week, not including administrative work, is the only way to be successful. My goal is to look at things in a different light and find out how you do it in other arenas; i.e. sales, e-commerce, etc.

I do love the idea to practice the skills it takes like customer service and sales while I'm still employed.

Just to be clear I don't hate my job or my life and I make decent money, and I don't plan on quitting tomorrow to open up some boutique that sells t-shirts, but I do hate working for someone else, trading time for money, making a decent living. That's mediocre and I want to give my girls and my wife the world and I know I'm not on the right track to do that.

What skills does one possess to make it in business and live the lifestyle that MJ describes in his books and freaking lives himself?


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[drgregw]

I know a Chiropractor who owns 4 clinics. He is a business owner, not stuck doing Chiropractic care all day.

I know a few chiropractors who own several offices. Some live on a tropical island without a care in the world, some are living about the same lifestyle as myself and running themselves ragged trying to keep the offices going. In either event it takes $50,000-$100,000 to open an office and 3-5 years to establish a nice referral based practice that is pretty self sustaining. I don't have the capital to even open one and I don't want to have 3 office 10-15 years from now. If I started out in my own office and I was 5 years into my own business then having multiple offices would be an option but hey at with my circumstances right now it's not right.

It may be a viable option in the future as another revenue stream.


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[ColbyG]

I'm interested to follow your story here. My plan is somewhat similar to you (except in engineering) work for a few years to get experience/chartered and then open my own office. If you do decide to pursue your own chiro office, please keep us updated.

 

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[ZF Lee]

Most people on here worked full time jobs while working on their business on the side. You don't have to start a chiropractic clinic to go fastlane. In fact, that would probably be the hardest way to go fastlane.

Think about it this way, you'd have to create a practice, grow it for a few years, expand and open a second, rinse repeat until you have enough practices that you can step out and manage. Seems like a long drawn out painful process huh?

There's a whole word of business out there that you can build after the 9-5. Look into ecommerce. Or an info product.

I work 9-5 but I'm building a food brand. It's doable! You just have to look for a need to solve.

Bingo!
That WAS what I have discovered and am trying to tell people why I do not want to go into this kind of venture. Can be Fastlaned, but takes a bloody hell long time and money. And my marketing tools will be quite limited in range. For some reasons not many practices put up ads on FB, mass media or general distribution channels.

Not to mention lack of ability to innovate, and the rising threat of competition and commodization. Just about every Tom, Dick and Harry with cash or debt can get a degree or pay for paper qualifications to set up practices.

You are almost going to trigger me into a rant though on the blood-suckage of the professional route...I'll save that for another thread

EDIT

So I know I'm probably going to catch a lot of flak for saying this, but when you pursue a side hustle in web design or copywriting it is just that, a side hustle. Don't get me wrong, designing websites and learning copywriting are incredibly valuable skills. But in order to make it fastlane, you really have to create an agency to do the work for you.

At the end of the day, the reason why we are all here, is to create a fastlane business. Fastlane = remove the time for money aspect. If you stop copywriting, you stop getting paid.

Again, this doesn't mean that you don't have to bust your a$$ to build something. But the end goal should always either be an exit or automation.

To me, it sounds like you are trying to escape a time for money profession. So trading in adjustments for freelance writing doesn't really seem like it's something that would fit what you're looking for.

No, you won't catch flak from me!
Of course we need to aim for the exit. Business is one of the harshest terrains on earth, and I'm not going to stay in it long to make it another bloody SCRIPT. To exchange one SCRIPT for another is bull.

Just stay in either fields to get the know-how to understand what needs to be done. That said, you might not need to know everything!

Understand that both fields you mentioned are saturated as F*ck with money chasers and crap workers willing to work on the cheap just to get demand. Even with a SinisterLex or Fox work ethic and skills, eventually the battle gets tough. Get in, get what you need and get out.

 

[G2TS-Man]

So I'll give you a glimpse of my project even though the thread is on the inside.

I work in medicine as well, pharmaceutical sales. I ran into a need, a pretty big one, that was not being solved at all. It's not a new drug that needs to be deloveloped or a better way to adjudicate insurance authorizations. But it's about a diet that doctors recommend to their patients.

So while it's not taking the skills and knowledge that I know and use every day and trying to spin that into a product, it's something that is in my space that's ancillary to my skills and knowledge.

So what does that mean?

It's obvious, too obvious, to just say, I'll write a book about proper posture and it's benefits. Or to say, man these adjustment tables are so outdated and inefficient, I'll make a better one. But think of the things you run into on a daily basis in your field and how they could be made better.

Do this.

For the next week. Write a list of problems you hear about in every conversation and you encounter at work. Every patient complaint. Write it down. Every complaint that's not a medical reason, write it down. Any process you have in your industry that's annoying or frustrating. Write it down.

At some point during the week while being hyper focused on problems, a giant lightbulb will smack you in the face and you'll probably say something like "there's got to be a better way.."

That's your moment. That's your need. That's your idea.

Solve THAT.

Wooww.

Many thanks for this awesome advice....

I will do this too for next weeks... I already had many ideas that's sounded AMAZING but after reflexion it' dosen't solve any problem... Ah ahhh...

I work 9-5 (or really 8-7....) and I develop a side business in e-commerce but It's hard for me to be dedicated in my 2 activites...
KEEP GOING !!

 

[drgregw]

So slight, update: I've been ADDICTED to the forum for the last 4 weeks reading every post I can whenever get a spare minute. Since then, I've read Fox's post on learning coding and Sinister's post on learning copy.

I'm notorious for collecting information and never applying it so I am a few days into the Udemy course to learn HTML and CSS.

So my plan is to go from my slowlane gig to a faster slowlane gig that's going to give me more time to dedicate to Fastlane. Like I've said before I'm a chiropractor . I work in an office 50 hours a week. I hate it. I want to leverage my knowledge of chiropractic, my new coding and copy skills and create a(nother) house call business getting most of my patients from adwords and Facebook and hopefully referrals.

If anyone has experience with house call business or services any feedback or advice would be awesome!


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[DeterminedJ]

I started two of my own businesses before. They were both a house call chiropractic service.

Could you Uber-fy chiropractic care in your area?

Also, @drgregw, I'm in a very similar situation - 2 young kids, student loans, pretty solidly in a scripted lifestyle right now, work experience all related to a traditional 9-5... BUT with a big desire for change. Part of my immediate action items are around adjusting my mindset & focusing on the process (not the event) to shift to Unscripted . Am happy to do periodic accountability check-ins with you if that sort of thing sounds helpful.

 

[bonitachika]

I'm a long time reader of the blog and read the Millionaire Fastlane twice. It's all so inspiring but when it comes to taking the first step I'm stuck. I'm a 31 yo chiropractor. I have 2 young girls, no savings and a mountain of student loan debt. I read and followed the SCRIPT and now I'm in deep and I don't now how to get out. Anyone have advice or experience in a similar situation?


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There are so many bright examples and steps to follow given here. I am sure that you will find the way out in your situation. Every situation has an exit. I recommend you to start with small. Start to work and I am sure that you will find your way. However in order to get success, you have to work hard as well as be a real professional of what you are doing or at least has a target to move on.