Holistic health care is seemingly the way of the future. Patients are more empowered than ever before, and technology is facilitating more collaboration between care providers for a better experience for everyone. For example, the nation’s largest care coordination network allows for easy sharing of patient records and information across care providers and facilities.
What happens with holistic care is not only are outcomes for patients better but there is more overall satisfaction and even reduced costs.
With that in mind, a lot of medical doctors and health care practitioners are also leaving their traditional practices and moving into alternative or holistic care. So how do you build this type of business?
The following are some tips and things to keep in mind:
Choose a Niche
Holistic health and wellness is a huge market with many different niches. For example, maybe you want to offer primarily Eastern-style medicine and acupuncture. You could also want to operate as a primary care doctor with a holistic approach, or perhaps you want to offer adjunctive care for people with chronic illnesses.
Wherever your speciality and interests lie should determine your niche. Just like it’s difficult to be a doctor who does it all in a traditional setting, you aren’t going to be able to do that in a holistic care setting either.
It’s much better to narrow your focus as you start your business.
The more you can deep dive into your niche, the better care you’re going to be able to provide.
You can’t help everyone, and there’s no point in trying. It’s much better to zero in on the people you can truly help.
Learn More About the Market
If you live somewhere there are already many holistic health care practices, you can start your market research by learning about what these businesses are doing and also not doing. For example, where do gaps exist as far as what they’re offering? Can you fill those gaps?
If you’re somewhere there aren’t already a lot of options for holistic care, is the demand there?
Get out in the community and start talking to people.
If you’re an existing doctor or care provider, you might already have a feel for the demand.
There’s something worth noting here as well, which is how telemedicine might affect your market.
After COVID-19, people became increasingly comfortable with telemedicine. It’s possible that you could expand your available market by offering online services, but you do have to check into regulations as far as providing services to people in different states.
Are You Going to Offer Products or Services?
A holistic clinic could be somewhere that people go primarily to receive services. For example, you might do lab work and then offer suggestions that your patients can do on their own to improve their health.
On the other hand, you could offer products primarily. Products include supplements, weight loss programs, vitamin infusions, or certain foods.
It might be that you eventually offer both, but as you’re starting out, you could focus on one and see where that takes you.
Licensing and Insurance
An important component of a health and wellness business that you can’t overlook is your licensing and also your insurance. You should get a jump start on this because it can be a long and frustrating process.
You’ll need to figure out everything that’s required for you to legally open your business and practice.
You also have to ensure that your insurance will protect you against fines and malpractice.
Financial Considerations
A holistic wellness centre or medical practice is like any other business in that you will need to form a legal entity, such as an LLC. You’ll have to register for taxes and open a business bank account.
Marketing
Once you have the logistics in place, you can really start to think about how you’re going to brand your business and market it.
You have to use your niche to your advantage and define who you are and what you offer.
You also have to consider federal regulations as far as advertising health and wellness services. You need to understand what you can and can’t say in your marketing.
Once you get a few patients, you can start to develop a referral program to encourage them to tell others about what you offer.
Finally, since most people go straight to a businesses’ website to find out about it, you want to make sure you have a site that’s well built out, professional and informative.
