Starting a new clinic comes with great financial responsibility. The expenditures involved in running a clinic involves buying state-of-the-art equipment, paying monthly wages to staff, and bearing the running costs in the treatment of patients. It often leads to financial distress, owing primarily to poor financial management on the part of medical practitioners. So, it becomes more important to manage one’s finances keeping in view the short-term and long-term earnings and expenditures.
To understand the problem adequately, we have listed below some common financial mistakes made by doctors while starting a clinic, and the possible solutions for each of them:
1. Not Surveying the Market Adequately for the Right Lender:
It is quite often the case that many doctors do not survey the market properly while looking for a lender to finance their medical fixed and running costs. This often leads to unnecessarily getting trapped into a debt cycle due to inflexible repayment terms and accumulating interest.
So, it becomes important to understand the lender first, their loan terms and then go for one that offers flexible repayment options and reasonable interest rates.
Solution:
You can look for financial institutions; understand their terms of lending, and enquire about suitable repayment options. Hero FinCorp offers the best-in-class collateral-free loan for all medical practitioners. Flexible repayment, minimal documentation, and quick disbursal are some of the key features of our loans.
2. Not Keeping Track of Your Finances:
Keeping track of finances for your medical practice is very important to keep the practice on the track and not falter financially. However, many doctors find it hard to get a proper understanding of medical finances, especially when these expenses are highly dynamic. And given the rise in the technological aspect of medical sciences and the associated increase in costs of equipment, it is important to understand the nature and possibilities of such expenses.
Solution:
Keep a tab on your past expenditures and make an in-depth market research on fixed and running costs. It could help you stay clear of the debt cycle. You can also hire an accountant for the same. This way of financial planning could give you a concrete road map for your medical practice.
3. Not Insuring Your Practice:
It is seen that many doctors are either not aware of, or do not find it necessary to insure their medical practice. This problem is particularly severe since ignoring the financial risks during the initial stages of your clinic could lead to huge short-term and long-term distress. Moreover, getting the right insurance for your clinic and medical equipment is important to secure your medical practice during rainy days. It is also important to have enough types of insurance plans for your medical practice that you really need.
Solution:
For this, you can get in touch with a policy provider who could guide you with the best insurance plans for your medical practice. Generally, these insurance plans are available for the clinic, professional liability (or malpractice insurance), workers compensation insurance, etc.
4. Using Funds Meant for Different Purposes as Working Capital
Some doctors fail to understand the categorization of expenses involved in running a clinic, and often end up using funds for operating expenses. This is the primary reason that leads to short-term distress. But making such financial mismanagement a habitual practice may lead to a long-term crisis as well. So, as a strict rule for any business, it is important to keep funds for working capital separate from those that are used for fixed capital. This ensures that your overall financial status is not affected due to financial misappropriation and short-term considerations.
Solution:
The best way to secure expenses for your working capital would be to apply for a working capital loan or unsecured business loan with Hero FinCorp. Here you can settle for easy and flexible terms of repayment of the borrowed amount at the best market rates.
Conclusion
As with any other business venture, a medical practice comes with numerous serious financial challenges that should be dealt with in a timely manner. At the same time, ignoring some basic financial issues can exacerbate the problem forcing you in the worst case to shut down the clinic. We hope you will consider these points for making informed financial decisions right from the start.
Know more about Doctor Loans & Medical Equipment Financing.
