How To Get Unstuck As A Business Owner: Nathan Interviewed By Paul Wright Of The Practiceology Podcast

Get ready for a quick one. Nathan Shields is interviewed by Paul Wright of the Practiceology Podcast as they hit it hard and fast with 7 questions in 7 minutes. Learn how to get “unstuck” as a business owner. Reach out, step out, and start networking today!

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Listen to the podcast here:

How To Get Unstuck As A Business Owner: Nathan Interviewed By Paul Wright Of The Practiceology Podcast

I’ve got Nathan Shields from beautiful Alaska. Nathan, thanks for joining us.

Thanks for having me, Paul. It’s great to be on.

We are glad because we are searching around the world. We end up in Alaska, but he’s been around the traps. Let me give Nathan Shield’s intro. He’s been practicing physical therapy since 1999 and opened his first practice in 2002 in Chandler, Arizona, which was Pinnacle Physical Therapy. They opened other practices with his partner. They own four clinics in Arizona under the name of Rise Rehabilitation Specialists.

They then moved to Alaska with him and his family of nine. They started another PT company, Rise Diagnostics, focused on the EMG and diagnostic testing, which is still going but then sold Rise Rehab and helped create Empower PT which was based in Arizona with multiple locations. This guy has moved around, opened, bought and sold. He has done a lot. He now provides one-on-one business coaching to individual business owners looking to gain greater freedom and more profit. He hosts a great show which I’ve been fortunate to be a guest on, the Physical Therapy Owner’s Club Podcast and Facebook group. Nathan Shields, you’re ready to go. Can you do this in seven minutes?

Let’s hope so. Maybe I’ll use like 1 or 2-word answers. Maybe that’ll help.

Nathan Shields, who is your ideal client?

To experience more freedom and greater profit, you need to make your business less dependent on you. Click To Tweet

In the physical therapy realm, I’m working with physical therapy owners. They are physical therapists who own their own clinics. Typically treating full-time and are relatively stuck like I was many years ago. Maybe financially doing okay, but treating full-time and not happy with the business. They hate doing the business aspects as I did. Thus, don’t experience a lot of freedom. Maybe they don’t see their families too much. They go on vacation and they get phone calls from the clinics, so they can’t enjoy their time away. That’s my ideal client, the person that feels stuck.

Question number two is the problem you solve is stickiness.

I am getting them less stuck in their business. A lot of the problems and you experienced this Paul. You have to help change the mindset a little bit because they’re trying to go from mom-and-pop operation to enterprise. That’s where they want to go. They just don’t know how to do it. They recognized that if they are able to separate themselves and make their business less dependent upon them, they can experience more freedom. They can also experience greater profits at the same time. They just don’t know-how and they’re not quite sure.

Question three, what are the symptoms that people experience when they’re stuck and trying to get out of it? What do they suffer? What are their symptoms?

They have a lot of frustration and a lot of turnovers. Retention might be an issue with their employees. Many times, clients who talk to me, they’re burned out. The type of burnout where they say, “If someone came and gave me a bag of money or simply said, “Let me take it off your hands. I would probably take it and go back to being an employee again.” The allure of a 9:00 to 5:00 job sounds nice at times.

 

Question four, what are the common mistakes that people make when they’re stuck and they want to walk away?

They keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. That’s one. Number two and this is my mantra. It’s “Reach out, step out, and network.” They need to reach out and find somebody. You and I both have been through it before. We wish we had gotten some coaching or consulting earlier. You got to get out of treating patients full-time and do some admin work on your business. You then have to network with other small business owners because a lot of the issues that you’re having are not specific to you. They’re not unique to you. Other people have solved those problems before. You need to tap into that energy and those resources.

You’ve specialized in physical therapy because that’s your background, but it’s across the professions. It doesn’t matter what profession you’re in.

It’s a small business issue.

Question five is what’s a valuable free action? What can our readers do to help them get out of this issue or this stickiness?

One is to call you, Paul Wright, to get some kind of coaching and learn how to get out of your business. If it’s not Paul, there are so many resources now compared to years ago. There are so many coaches or consultants. Call somebody and take advantage of the free consulting calls. If you’re in the States, call me. Reach out to somebody. If you can’t do those things, you’re not willing to do those things and you want to take a smaller baby step, take two half-days a week to work on your business., like Tuesday, Thursday afternoon. If you have to start with one, maybe, but at least two half-days a week to start working on your business.

Reach out, step out, and network. Click To Tweet

We grew up on it. It’s too slow on your own. They say successful people spend money to save time. You see it after 10, 20 years of trying to figure it out. It’s too slow.

You can’t do it. There has to be an element of impatience to say, “I’m not willing to do this anymore. I’m going to do something different. I’ll pay what it takes. I’ll take the time that it takes to do something different.”

Pay once, cry once. Get on with it. Question six is what’s a valuable free resource? Where can they go to get information about you and what you’re doing? Tell us where they can go.

Two things, you can go to PTOClub.com, and there are going to be recent episodes. You can find my show. You can subscribe. I’ve got three years’ worth of one-on-one interviews with successful physical therapy owners and industry leaders sharing their successful items regarding marketing and human resources. It’s nothing about patient care specifically. I wanted it that way. It’s all about business-related topics. Sign up for the show. Go to the website. If you are in the states, there’s a free Increase Your Profits 10% in 30 Days PDF that you can download to help you. It’s pretty simple and pretty amazing.

Check out his show, too. It’s a great show, especially the Paul Wright episode. That was a highlight. Question seven is what is the one question I should have asked you that will give great value to our audience?

You should have asked me, “Where does someone start to make a significant change?”

 

Where does someone start to make significant changes?

They start with getting clear on their purpose. Your business is an extension of you. The purpose of that business is to fulfill not only a personal purpose but your household’s purpose. Get clear about what your purpose is personally and the purpose of the business itself. If you can get clear on that and what you want from it, maybe an ideal scene as an extension of that purpose, then you can start making significant gains, but if that’s nebulous and unclear, it doesn’t matter which path you take.

Nathan Shields, I love what you do. Check out his show. Nathan Shields, thanks for joining us on the show.

Thanks for having me, Paul. You’re awesome.

If you haven’t registered for and watched the most recent Practiceology Demonstration, head to MyPracticeology.com.

Important Links:

• Rise Diagnostics
• Physical Therapy Owner’s Club Podcast
• Facebook group – Physical Therapy Owner’s Club
• Paul Wright – Past episode
• MyPracticeology.com

About Paul Wright