Starting a Professional Career

Owning vs. Working for Others

Whether you want to buy your own practice, or will start your career working for others, you need to make early decisions with care. Ask yourself some pertinent questions.

• What type of practice do you want to work in, and where do you want to work (geographically, right down to the location)?
• Do you want to be your own boss or do you prefer to be part of a team?
• What sort of people do you want to work with?
• Do you prefer working with people of your own age, or do you appreciate the knowledge older people can impart? Should the people you work with share your personal ideals or do you prefer to work with others who may think very differently from you?
• Exactly what do you hope to achieve in your professional career?
• Do you want to be a leader, or do you prefer to work in the background and let others do the leading?
• How much time do you want to spend on the administration of your business?

Now look at the two options:
1. In solo practice:

• Your initial financial investment will be high
• You are wholly responsible for the success or failure of your business
• you determine your hours and the size of your practice
• you make all decisions on equipment and staffing
• you control your own expenses
• you have little opportunity for in-office consulting with colleagues
• you lose money when you take time off
• YOU ARE YOUR OWN BOSS

2. When working with others:

• your initial financial investment may be relatively low
• you have to put in less administrative time
• in-office consulting with colleagues is easily available
• expenses are shared
• you may have less control over the size of your practice
• you may have less control over the hours you work
• you may not initially see the type of client you prefer to work with
• you may have little control over your staffing arrangements
• politics may interfere with the business flow
• the successes and failures of business are shared

If you are going to be joining an existing group, you will need to know:

• what size group you want to join
• what type of clientele you prefer to work with
• whether you want to build your practice quickly or work into it gradually
• how compatible your ideals and personality need to be with the group
• how much staff time you will need - in other words, do you prefer to delegate to other, or do you prefer to do a lot of the groundwork yourself
• how much space you want and need to practice as you prefer
• how much revenue you want to achieve in the first year
• what is the buy-in feature (if any)?

If you are going to buy/take over an existing practice, consider hiring a financial management consultant experienced in practice evaluations to assess the practices you are interested in. A consultant can help you negotiate a fair price once you have considered the following:

• evaluate the practice profile carefully
• make sure the practice client mix suits your interests
• assess the current revenue stream
• assess the reputation (goodwill) of the practice
• find out how you will be introduced to existing clients
• evaluate level of staff efficiency if you will be taking over existing staff
• appraise possible changes to design, etc., and relevant costs
• check that location of current practice fits your future plans
• compare current short/long term plans for practice with your plans
• assess whether this is the best opportunity for you in terms of your career.

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:olbopdaref/professionals/owning-vs-working-for-others.html