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Aesthetics Journal
Aesthetics
The Journey from Practitioner to Entrepreneur Dr Tijion Esho shares his advice on unlocking your entrepreneurial potential Whether you have been practising aesthetics for one year or 10 years, making the transition from practitioner to business owner is likely to be a challenging experience. As medical practitioners, we are primarily geared towards helping people. Every part of our clinical training is there to improve our medical knowledge and skill, yet none of it helps us to develop our business acumen. While some practitioners may have a natural business sense, others might appreciate some guidance from those who have taken the steps themselves. As somebody who has recently set up an aesthetic practice, I will share the six key business skills that have benefited me on my journey from practitioner to entrepreneur.
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1. Identify weaknesses Recognising your weaknesses early on will help your business progression in the long run. I suggest making a list of areas for improvement and working through these one at a time. For example, if you’re unsure of the best marketing practices, talk to other business owners about their most successful marketing campaigns or invest in a learning course geared towards aesthetic clinics. Working on your limitations will be the biggest reward to helping you in business and preparing you for the journey ahead. From the British Medical Association (BMA) to the Medical Defence Union (MDU), there are a number of specific development courses to suit every need and they are a worthwhile investment. 2. Start simple, start small At the beginning of your journey, it is important to be realistic and have a clear, simple starting point. For many, the excitement of going alone takes over and capital can be wasted on unnecessary courses and investing in too much stock,
without conducting market research early on. When starting out, keep it simple and only offer core treatments such as botulinum toxin, dermal fillers and peels. Even when your business grows, these will most likely be the foundation of your anti-ageing practice, so you must be confident in your treatment approach and clinical expertise. Spend time developing your injection technique and studying other practitioners’ methods for successful rejuvenation. Attending just one conference a year could greatly support your learning potential. It is better to offer a small number of treatments with which you are able to produce excellent outcomes and, thus, happy patients, than to have a huge list of treatments that you may not be fully confident in. 3. Learn the numbers early It’s important that you identify the exact profit you make so that you can maximise your return on investment (ROI). Many people just study the cost of product minus the cost to the patient. It’s vital, however, that you also identify the cost of equipment, indemnity costs, preparation materials, and aftercare costs in order to conduct a detailed evaluation. Most startup business accounts come with software that allows you to plot all the costs incurred, in order to show the true profit that you make within your trading time. Make sure to review these at three- to six-monthly periods initially. Following a thorough assessment, you should then consider costs you should cut back on or profitable areas that could benefit from further investment. 4. Be comfortable in selling yourself The perfect platform to promote yourself will be on your clinic website and social media channels. Not only are these methods a useful tool in self-promotion, they will also act as an information point for potential or current patients. In addition to treatment information, important points to
include on your website are: • Your qualifications and professional achievements – with so many rogue practitioners out there, reassure your patients that you are certified to perform aesthetic procedures • An up-to-date, high-resolution, professional image of yourself so you are easily recognisable to patients • Testimonials from patients you’ve treated – hearing other people’s experience of procedures works wonders for referrals 5. Understand social media I am lucky that I come from a generation where ‘hashtags’, ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ are part of my everyday personal life, as well as my business life. I do understand, though, that getting to grips with online methods can be challenging for some. Don’t be overzealous, start with one site and build your confidence in using that before moving to another. I’d suggest starting with a Facebook page, which allows you to invite your email contacts to ‘like’ the page. It’s an easy way to drum up awareness of your new business and allows you to share as much information as you wish. Word-of-mouth will always play a crucial role in building a business and online methods provide entrepreneurs with a free tool to increase the reach of word-of-mouth testimonials. Most social media platforms allow you to view statistical information on who has engaged with you and when. From this, you can learn how to target preceding messages effectively. 6. Find a mentor The industry as a sole practitioner can be a very lonely place – there is no-one to learn best practice techniques from and no-one to seek advice from if a complication arises. In addition, competition in aesthetics is high, so it’s vital that you retain any new patients. While you can use the skills above to maintain a loyal patient base, I would also suggest that you find a mentor to help develop both your business and clinical skills. I continue to seek advice from a number of my aesthetic trainers; being confident to ask questions will only serve to benefit you and your business. Dr Tijion Esho is an aesthetic practitioner with a background in plastic surgery training. He graduated with an MBChB from Leicester Medical School in 2005 and went on to attain his MRCS. He is the founder of the celebrity aesthetics and lifestyle company, Le Beau Ideal.
Reproduced from Aesthetics | Volume 2/Issue 11 - October 2015