Accountancy
The Premier League
As World Cup excitement reaches fever pitch, Martin Murray turns to the beautiful game for inspiration in running a cosmetic practice
The football season has finished and been replaced with the excitement of the World Cup. But attention will soon return to the start of the next season. The competitive English Premier League retains its popularity throughout the world despite leagues in other countries.
You may ask what Premiership football has to do with cosmetic doctors. There are actually many similarities between a successful Premiership team and a cosmetic practice.
The first is location. The most successful clubs come from large towns or areas with a lot of support—some can also attract support further afield from their home base. The same is true of a successful practice.
A large, preferably wealthy, population can support them and other cosmetic practices in respect of referral numbers. Practices in and around London, the north west of England and Yorkshire have high population densities so cosmetic practices do well in these locations.
Teamwork is vital for any successful club. Each team member may be an individual star in their own right but without the support of the rest of the team would not achieve their potential. The most successful cosmetic practices are composed of two or more cosmetic doctors—as a team they are more successful than if they were on their own.
Team selection is important and this also applies to cosmetic practices. From the receptionist through to the practitioner, the journey of the patient must be a pleasant and productive experience. Everyone must be aiming for the same goal!
Just as premiership league players are well paid so must the staff of successful practices. There may also be incentives by way of bonuses or other schemes. Staff must feel that their worth to the practice has been recognised and rewarded appropriately. This will retain enthusiasm and motivation.
Some clubs do not achieve their potential as there is an inadequate pool of reserve players. The same applies to cosmetic practices—in some cases the number of staff and their areas of responsibility may not be adequately covered. One person falls ill and the practice suffers as a result.
Competing teams keep clubs on their toes. It is vital for practitioners to keep abreast of developments and what other practitioners are doing. It is important to be members of associations. Just as premiership managers look abroad for new players and staff, so must practitioners for ideas and new techniques. A successful practice cannot rest on its laurels—it must keep changing to match patient expectations.
There will be times when you will be knocked down by an unhappy patient or a failure from within the practice. As the “manager”, in these circumstances you must adapt to what is presented to you, learning from your failures and building on your successes. The most successful cosmetic practices have periods when things simply do not go right. They learn from those experiences and move on by changing the team's game plan.
Other parties maybe called in to assist the practice by way of advisers—the “suits”. These may range from accountants and solicitors to business consultants. They can greatly assist the development of a practice and ensure it retains its stable financial position.
The most successful cosmetic practices have the solicitors and accountants swinging from the practitioners' shirt-tails to achieve the business goals!
There may come a time that the practice cannot develop without further financial support or involvement of an outside non-medical individual. This person will bring financial muscle and will know what is needed to take the practice to the next level. While this may seem attractive, the premiership is littered with clubs that invited outside individuals and organisations to join with them only to regret it later.
The above can happen to cosmetic practitioners who become associated with other persons or groups. Expert advice is needed before such associations are made for the future.
On many occasions an association is agreed upon before the accountant or solicitor is given sufficient time to give advice and make appropriate checks. This can lead to an unhappy boardroom and possible ousting of the practitioner who set the cosmetic practice up in the first place!
Martin Murray is a partner at Sandison Easson & Co, a specialist medical chartered accountancy firm with offices in London and Cheshire. Tel: 01625 527 351; 0207 307 8759; E: info@sandisoneasson.co.uk; W: sandisoneasson.co.uk
