12/02/2026
"𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬"
Not sure about your clinic, but our diaries were unusually quiet at the start of Jan.
Nothing too dramatic, but noticeably so - my team all noticed it, and some of the newer ones were concerned:
They started asking “𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?”
I saw a lot of this online too in practitioner groups.
I get it, if there’s a sudden change in the bookings, it’s natural to ask why.
I’ve been there myself too in the past.
But this time, I wasn’t worried about it.
I’m not a naïve optimist though (I suspect no-one running a clinic during 2020 could be accused of that!)
And it’s not because I don’t care about money - with staff to pay and a family to care for, I’m well aware of the stakes.
But despite the quiet patch, I just knew the clinic could absorb it.
If we had a softer few weeks, we’d be fine.
And if the next handful of new patients decided not to continue, we’d still be fine.
I didn’t always have that kind of steadiness though...
Earlier in my career, after we’d paid for our BFGW (Big Fat Greek Wedding), bought a house that was frankly a bit outside our budget, and had a baby on the way, I remember feeling something I hadn’t really felt before.
For the first time, it was all on me.
If my earnings dipped, that wasn’t less money for nice meals and holidays, it was “how am I going to keep a roof over our heads?”
In fact, I can remember catching a subtle thought in a couple of appointments during a quiet spell…
… not something I acted on, but it was niggling away there anyway:
“If they don’t decide to take up care, that actually matters…”
Of course, I didn’t change my recommendations or treatment plans, suddenly become pushy, or let it influence patient care…
… but the tension was there, and for the first time, I realised how easily financial pressure could start to leak into my practice.
Most of us avoid talking about it publicly - but behind closed doors, or in private DM’s, I hear it from other colleagues too.
It often feels like we’re stuck balancing this tension, between patient values versus profit.
As if caring about money somehow “contaminates” our desire to be ethical and patient-centred.
However, something I later realised was that it’s not actually the money that causes this, but the fragility.
When a clinic is financially fragile, everything matters more.
Whether it’s cancellations, quiet weeks, or early drop-outs from care, any dip starts to feel personal.
When you’re under that kind of pressure, any relief starts to look more enticing - especially the big “30 patients in 30 days!” promises.
Not because you suddenly care less about integrity, but a stressed brain wants certainty.
However, there’s another way of looking at this - and what changed for me wasn’t just a mindset shift and becoming unattached to outcomes (that can help, but only if you address the deeper problem first).
Instead it’s more of a concrete, structural change:
Rather than feel uncomfortable about profit, I started to lean into it - and looked for ways to increase clinic revenue, without resorting to cutting corners or gimmicky marketing tactics.
We sat down and strategised - and looked for ways we could build on what works, create even more reviews and referrals, and generally give out patients an experience they couldn’t get anywhere else.
(This also allowed us to upped our fees, though that’s optional)
Essentially, we worked on the thing that mattered most - our business model - so we could continue to put our patients first, without having to constantly think about our bottom line.
And as a result, future quiet spells like last month didn’t concern me - we had a buffer, and could absorb losses without immediately feeling the emotional pressure.
Even better, that changes how I showed up: both in terms of not needing to worry if a patient came back or not (that non-attachment is great, but a lot easier to foster when you’re not financially fragile).
It also made it easier to slow down, take time off, spend time training my team… and ensure associates didn’t feel any pressure from me to “earn their keep” either.
Despite the default assumption a lot of people subconsciously hold about money, raising your income as a practitioner doesn’t make you somehow less principled.
In fact the opposite is true: a financially healthy practice actually 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 your standards.
Instead of feeling stressed, it gives you room to breathe.
And the really cool thing is that.
And when the underlying practice design and patient experience reinforce each other, you get a positive feedback loop.
Improved revenue allows you to invest back into your practice: team training or expansion, better equipment and premises, CPD and adding new techniques / services…
… That team, clinic environment and treatment efficacy then creates better patient outcomes…
… and happier patients stick around longer, leave great reviews, and refer more people…
… all of which increases clinic income again.
So although most practitioners feel uncomfortable around the idea of “profit”, in the right kind of business model, it actually serves a patient-centred approach!
The key thing is removing business fragility, and creating resilience and stability.
Focus on that, and this whole “eat well or sleep well” myth completely disappears - and you and your patients can succeed together.
If you’d like some help with this, that topic is exactly what Kevin Christie and I are focusing on in our upcoming masterclass:
How to design a clinic where the business side and the patient experience side strengthen each other - so resilience is baked in, not a “nice to have” if things go well that month.
If you’re a clinic owner or solo DC and can relate to that subtle tension between caring for your patients and needing the numbers to work, you’re going to love it
It’s on June 20th in London - get all the details in the comments.
But whether you choose to join us or not - or you’re not at the point of running your own practice yet - here’s the key thing to remember:
“Patient care vs profits” is a false dichotomy - it’s entirely possible to make it a win-win for you both.
But you can’t get there if you feel bad about making money.
More on this next week…
P.S. turns out, when we ran the full January numbers at month end, we’d actually had one of our stronger months.
Which was a helpful extra lesson: you don’t have to always believe the first thing your brain tells you!
