listened to and met. They had considered moving back to their home province, as covid had made them home sick appar-ently, which is understandable. In writ-ing, about two months prior to contract end, they indicated to the owner that if they were to remain in the area, they absolutely would re-sign with the clinic. The owner took that at their word, and let them be for their summer holidays without hounding them. About three weeks prior to the end of their contract, he reached out, and received radio si-lence until exactly two weeks prior to the end date. The couple indicated that they were leaving, moving to a new clinic across town owned by a physiotherapy competitor and it was left at that. A de-brief was not offered, nor any explana-tion given. Gone. Discussion: Like any story, there’s his side, her side, and the truth. Was the owner problematic to push them out, or wasn’t the type to report their own man-agement issues? If the couple were lured to greener pastures, why did they not give the owner an opportunity to meet years. They initially signed a 2 year con-tract, and then signed another 5-year contract. By around year 2 of the 5-year contract they decided they were going to rent a room at another location closer to their home. The clinic owner had hoped that the contractor would buy into their practice since they were approaching retirement and they got along so well. The contractor took on more and more hours at this other location, until the owner just decided to negotiate a close to their contract. Six months after leav-ing the initial clinic, the contractor ended up closing their other location and ended up quitting the profession altogether. Instead of a win-win situation, this was a lose-lose. Discussion: This is like a marriage that just very slowly unravels and there doesn’t appear to be an attempt to fix it. Almost like failing on auto-pilot. I had the opportunity in this case to speak to both the owner and the contractor. No one seems to know how it happened, which is very perplexing, but in real life, it represents a microcosm of what hap-“Owning a clinic is hard work – and it’s not for everyone.” their contract? Perhaps these contractors were difficult to deal with, but because it was a more rural area it is difficult to find clinicians. The end result is, after telling the owner they definitely would re-sign and then reneging at the last moment, after the owner had turned down another contractor is a sign of malicious intent, with the design to en-sure the owner would be handicapped. This appears to be an attempt to hurt the owner with the stated goal to get a leg up in their reset. Regardless of man-agement style, or personality issues (let’s assume), giving virtually no notice after assurance that they were good to go is wrong. While it’s not a legal issue, it’s certainly a moral and ethical one. Case 3: The owner and contactor had known each other for a long time. The contractor came to the clinic in a major centre and worked at a couple of their locations doing exceptionally well. They earned six figures out of the gate, and continued to grow over a period of 3-4 www.Cndoctor.ca pens all the time in relationships. The owner had opened up conversation about buying in, but the contractor re-ported that their family and friends balked at the idea of paying money for something they could just build them-selves. I received the numbers, they were very much in range of reasonable expec-tations, almost too conservative actually. This is indeed a case of ‘cutting your nose off in spite of your face’ where someone feels they can just do better, and were surrounded by advisors who felt getting ahead with another person was unnecessary so they decided to choose a path that sadly ended in fail-ure. It wasn’t indicated exactly why this ended in failure however a lack of busi-ness sense is usually the cause. Family and friends are the worst business advi-sors. Always remember that! In these cases we see a number of mixed results that inevitably come down to two fac-tors: communication and respect. Like any relationship, communication is key, and the want to communicate usually comes from a level of respect from both parties. Respect in the business commu-nity seems to have been pushed out by transactional or zero sum dog eat dog approaches. While you may get ahead in the short term with such a strategy, over the long term you’re likely to be passed over by those with a more rhobust and healthy mindset. Clinic owners need to give more re-spect to their contractors. Owners will often cry poor about how expensive their overhead is, and they are indeed right. However, if you’re bringing on a contrac-tor simply for the revenue, you will un-fortunately be disappointed. If you can’t afford to take a haircut on your own schedule with the goal of supporting a contractor, simply don’t take it on. Bringing a contractor on isn’t about padding your bottom line, it’s about better servicing your patients and your community, while giving back to your profession. If this isn’t for you, then stick to your own schedule. Owners need to respect the work that contractors put in, the time in the room, the time in traffic, and the work they do promoting them-selves, and subsequently the practice. As well, contractors need to recognize that the clinic owner has most likely at times, suffered. They have likely put payroll on a credit card, have worked long days with no pay, have generated excess debt, had audits with CRA, and have likely had difficult times with the family. So when you feel they are cheaping out on you at contract time, or can be snappy, it is likely coming from experi-ence that you have been sheltered from. Owning a clinic is hard, and is not for everyone. A quote from a colleague who just decided to shut down their practice and work for someone else: “Ultimately, I’m leaving to be done with self-employment and all the other [‘B.S.’] that comes with employing myself and other people, taking my work home, accruing a bunch of tax debt, never knowing what next week or month is gonna look like financially. And ultimately working towards being home more.” If owners and contractors up their level of respect, and this process can begin during formal education, the entire profession (take your pick) will benefit. The goal is to make everyone whole, and we should start now. December 2020 Chiropractic and Naturopathic Doctor 21
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor December 2020: Page 21
