How I built a private practice panel of over 2000 patients in 9 months with Dr. Tolu Olabintan

If your business isn't working the way you expected, it's not because you're bad at business. It's because no one ever taught you how it actually works. We were trained to master algorithms in medicine, but when it comes to revenue teams and growth, we were never taught anything. We weren't even told to figure it out. We just assumed somehow we'd know. Like it would magically make sense. But it doesn't. The era of the seven Figure Physician CEO is here. And it's not about working harder. It's about learning entrepreneurship as a system. The same way you mastered ACLs and pals, you can master the algorithm of building a profitable scalable business. That's why I recorded the Seven Figure Physician CEO audiobook. Whether you're building a medical or non medical business, and whether your goal is your first million, first 2 million, first 5 million, first 10 million, this is where the journey starts. There is no calvary coming to save us. We are the Calvary.

So.

So go get your audiobook now. Www.entremd.com 7Figurebook. And let's rewrite the narrative for physicians starting today. Hi, docs. Welcome to the Entre MD Podcast, where it's all about helping amazing physicians just like you, embrace entrepreneurship so you can have the freedom to live life and practice medicine on your terms. I'm your host, Dr. Unna.

Well, hello. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Entre MD podcast. We are going to have a blast today. I have the amazing Dr. Tolu Olapintan. She's a family medicine physician. She's the founder of of Living Spring Family Medical center in Mansfield, Texas, and she's gonna be sharing about her journey as an entrepreneur. There's just so much to learn from this, so I'm excited that she's gonna be so generous with her story. So welcome to the show, Doc. Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Unas. Nice to be back.

Nice to be back. Last time we talked, you were five or six weeks into your new private practice and you were like, Dr. Una, I'm so busy. And I'm like, you're having a great problem. You know, I'm booked and all of that. So it's nice to have you back on the show. We're going to catch up and all of that. But before that, someone's listening. Like, I don't know who that is. Take a moment, introduce yourself to the listeners.

All right. I'm Dr. Tolu Ola Bintou, and I'm a family physician, founder and CEO of LivingSpring Family Medical center here in Mansfield, Texas, Wyoming, where we help our patients live long and well because we believe the quantity of life is just as important as the quality of life.

Don't you guys love her already? I want them both. You guys hear me talking about my 90th birthday? I want all of it. Okay, so tell us a little bit about your journey. Right, You're a physician, like many other family medicine physicians. And then you started on this journey to entrepreneurship. And I mean, you've, you've had really, you've had a mind blowing journey. So take us through that a little bit.

All right, so real quickly, Covid had hit and of course had more, I wouldn't say more time to think, but more reflection. There was more pressure to reflect and say, you know what, why am I here? What am I called to do? And so the idea of opening a practice as something I always thought I knew I should do, but I thought it was something I'd defer. But when Covid hit, there was more of a pressure to live out what I was called to do. Now, of course, I anticipated there'd be a lot of work. And I also was one of the had the mindset that, you know, patients would just come to me because, you know, I'm a kind doctor, I'm a caring doctor. They would just gravitate. And then someone introduced me to entry md who's actually a friend. I always like to give her a shout out, Dr. Fawle. And she told me about the business school. And I, at first I was like, yeah, I don't know if I want to invest that much in myself. So that was another mindset issue. And then I saw her transformation life. I mean, like she, she is phenomenal. And so I was challenged. And so I joined the school November 2020. And then it began. The challenge to put yourself out there, the challenge to actually live this out and live it out well as an entrepreneur. And by that I mean it's a journey and it's hard. I'm not going to downplay that it's been challenging, but to see other people doing the same thing and have a ringleader who has exemplified the same thing she's teaching us. I mean, I was encouraged. I had seen Dr. Fowler emerge. I said, you know what? Instead of being the one always looking in and saying, maybe it's them, maybe there's just extra gifted, why don't I take, take this chance and invest in myself by joining the school? So that was the first mindset shift after realizing I need to live out my dream or live out my purpose now, sooner than later. So I joined the school. And in the school, there are a lot of crazies like us who are daring to live out our dreams and live out the entrepreneurial dream. As a physician, is it easy? No. Has it had its hiccups? Yes. But I'm in a school where people sometimes believed in my dream more than I did and cheered me on to living that out. So we started the practice. Dr. Una would give us challenges to do, let me know if I'm talking too much, and would ask us to do this. I'm like, what is she, pretty sheep? But I allowed myself to take on the challenge, and we did, and here we are. By the time we started our practice, we opened officially in June, in July, July 26th, we're fully booked. We started out with 30, 13 patients. I'm sorry, a day. And as we speak right now, we're at over 2,000 patients. We're booked. That. We're booked. We're booked, we're booked. And it's a new. As a new problem. I need help, doctor. I need help. So that's where we're at.

So, first of all, this is the reason why we're doing this podcast episode, because you share all the things, right? It's ups, and they're not even really ups and downs in that sense, as when you solve one problem. And we talk a lot about this in the business school, the reward for solving one problem is more problems. When you're like, oh, I'm starting to practice. I don't think I can get it to full capacity. And you solve that problem, you put yourself out there, you do all of that, then you create new problems, right? You need to hire. You need to build a team. You need to have processes that work and all of these things. But the beautiful thing is entrepreneurs were people. We're problem solvers. That's what we do, and that's what we're rewarded for. So how does it feel if you think about you before you started the practice and you now, where. I mean, like, how many months in are you now since you opened your doors?

So we opened in July. We're in April now, so about 11 months?

11 months? 10 months? 9 months. 9 months. Okay. We need to be able to do math better, me and you, right? Yeah, yeah. Nine months. And you're shocked, right? She's like, wait a minute, it's nine months. Okay, nine months in over two, two thousand patients fully booked. I know you had to hire the Clinician to see patients for you and all of that. Like, how does that feel, knowing that you did that?

I'll be honest with you.

It's.

It's almost too surreal. And I try to always remember the beginning, too, and then remember the mindset shifts that led me to this point. Because I always like to demystify that. Because I'm not saying I'm not special. I don't have my own gifting. What I'm saying is that I, too, have my insecurities. I, too, was scared to do this. I too was like, what the heck are you thinking doing this? But I'm here because there was one mindset shift after another mindset shift after mindset shift. The last class, remember when I had the laser coaching where we talked about CEO mindsets? That has helped me. So now it's not a. When the challenges come or the pressure, like, oh, you need more staff. I had a patient tell me, like, it's just you here. It's just you and this person. You need more help. Because she waited an hour to see me. She's like, I'll wait, but I need you to get more help, Doc. And so the mindset shift is amazing, how much you can change to become who you're supposed to be. You have to be in the right group. You have to have the right cheerleaders pushing you on to live up your purpose. It's not. It's not a solo journey. I've had this support of family, of friends, of my team member. We talk team and also the entry MD school. Like, yeah, you can do this. I'll go in there and, you know, get a little, you know, it's like, breathe. Coming up for air. Like, hey, guys, man, this is rough.

You can do this.

Go ahead, try this. Try this. What's your question? What can we help you solve? And then you put it out there and they tell you, this is what you do. You go out and you do it. So the biggest thing for me has been the mindset shifts that had led me to become this person. People who see me now, who knew.

Me back then, oh, tell me. I have to hear.

What.

What do they say?

They're shocked. I had a lot of people reach out to me saying, hey, wow, this is amazing to see you do this, because I usually know I'm goofy and, you know, play friend. Like, I was very happy where working for other people till I was not. Until I was not. And so to see them even see the difference and come to me for counseling as they joined the school, man. First, you know, join the school and then, you know, we'll talk more. So did I answer your question, Dr. Una? Yes, I did.

Yes, you did answer my question.

Okay, good. Because I'm excited whenever I talk about this stuff.

Excited for you now. So someone will be listening. Some may be listening to you and say, wait a minute. She's had a practice for nine months and she has 2,000 patients. I've been in practice practice for longer and I don't. And this is not a slide or anything we talk about on this podcast and in the, in the entrendy business school, we talk a lot about not comparing. We talk about not having comparitis. That's what we call it.

Right?

And so it's not about comparing. But that person is wondering, how did you do that? So what are some of the things you did for your practice to market it that worked? And for everyone listening, this is not just for private practice. This is. This is for all entrepreneurs. So. So lean in and listen to this. So. So what worked?

So, number one, you've taught. You taught us this. You cannot be the world's best secret. You cannot. I say this quite often, when God is going to send help, he'll send instructions and he'll send people. So you got to be on the lookout for those two.

Right?

And the instructions for me was put yourself out there. It's not a bad thing to tell people what you do. And so starting with, you told us we start with friends, you know, start with family. Of course there are ads that you could do, but social media, social media was a big is one. I really, I'll be honest with you, I didn't like that challenge. I did not. You know, we had to put ourselves out there, get on social media, try to show people who you are and what you could offer them. I had a patient yesterday tell me, I said, why did you. I asked them, why. Why did you come? Like, I want to know who to thank. And they said, I was Googling you and I saw you on YouTube and, you know, you were talking, you know, about. To your patients or talking to a specialist about patient concerns. I thought that was so amazing, you know, and I watch all your videos and I was just like, oh, wow, that's great. I was trying to hide my YouTube page. I thought more Facebook, you know, but she saw it and she was so happy. So, yes, put yourself out there. Number two, your team, your team, your team. No one is self made. No business is self made. I have an amazing husband. I'LL be honest with you and children who help. And Dr. Una taught us to build our team. And when people ask to help, you tell them how. And that's okay. Tell them how. Number three, your surround sounds. I think that also alludes to the second point, your surround sounds. Who are people that influence your mindset or who you listen to subconsciously or consciously? I had to tune out some people and then tune into the business school because these people were daring. When you're about to go spend money, I don't know, throw a party, everyone's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. If I started business, people are like, are you crazy? Are you nuts? Like, there's. It's like, what? What? You're not happy where you are? And I'm like, no, I want to live. Live a life bigger than me. Live a life that will I live me. So I have to live for a legacy. And you've taught us that too, you know? So your surround sounds, who you listening to? I would listen to Dr. Una's podcast. I would listen to people that she would listen to. I'm a big fan of Terry Savoy, too. I listened to people she was listening to, and I would listen in on the business school and see what people were doing and get encouragement from there. So it's a process. You got to start the process.

Okay. So I had to write this down because this is like liquid gold, really. Right? So putting yourself out there, you talked about all the things. Social media, which a lot of people don't like doing. Family and friends, which people don't like doing. Right. And you know, YouTube, which means videos, again, people don't like doing. And I point that out because the things that make us the most uncomfortable usually have the biggest return on investment, right? So we would love to pick out logos for our website and colors of paint for our walls. But you're like, what did I do for my business? It's all these things we come up with. And they. I mean, they matter, but I mean, like, they're like number 99, 100, right? But 1, 2, 3, 4 are these things we're talking about. And I'm glad that you're saying, like, this is what happened the most. Like the YouTube video. And sometimes it's not. You don't have to have YouTube videos that go viral. You don't have to have 70,000 views, but you need to be Googleable, right? And YouTube is a search engine. So when you. When you put stuff up there, especially in the language that. That people are using to search for it, then you become discoverable. Right. And so thank you for sharing that. And this also points out, like, sometimes we think these are things for online businesses, but you're in private practice, right? You're in private practice and you're doing social media, and you're building referral sources, and you're doing YouTube. And for private practice, it's an untapped.

Resource because so few people are doing. Their competition is not there.

Like, if you do it, you stand out immediately. Right. But even above that, your surround sound, I love that. You know, there's some voices you have to tune out, and there's some voices that you need to lean into. So I think it was yesterday in our live session, the Entrepreneur Business School, and someone was like, you know, I put a call to action. I told people, hey, if you're looking for a speaker, book me. Right? Like, you know, and someone said, don't put that there. And my first question was, is that person an entrepreneur? Is that person a paid speaker? Because if they're not, then you want to take that with a pinch of salt, right? Because anybody who is paid to speak or anybody who's an entrepreneur knows you should be asking. You see what I mean? So that is a perfect example of taking note of your surround sound. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. So that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. So what's in the future for Living Spring Medical Center? Because one of the things that happens when you take action, you may have had an idea and you dream it out as big as you can, and you're like, we're going to do this. But as you start doing it, your dream starts growing. Where are you now with LivingSpring, where we're at now?

We need another provider. We need another physician. I need someone who shares the same value systems as I do, who's committed to caring for patients like I am, to join our team, because we need help.

I love it. Nine months in, I need another physician. This is a great problem that you're having.

Yes, yes.

You find exactly what you're looking for. I love it. Okay, now someone is listening. And, you know, let's say you're about to get on the elevator and there's this doc who's thinking about entrepreneurship. And the elevators at the 14th floor, it was on its way down. So you knew you only had 60 seconds to give them some advice. What advice would you give them in 60 seconds?

You're not going to not be afraid to start. Just do it, do it.

Afraid you're not going to Be not afraid. I love it. Okay, sorry.

Go ahead, Start number two. Yes, the school costs money, but you're worth it.

You're worth it.

I'm so proud of myself for investing that. The school in myself. I'm over a year in. Do it. Do it. What do you have to lose? My marriage is better because of it. I do rgas. Not even rgas in my marriage. Like, what is of value to my marriage was of value to my. To my kids. Like, I know how to spend quality time because of the lessons I'm learning at the school. So it affects not just the business, but every part of every part of your life. I'm mumbling here, but I don't want to get emotional. You're a better person being in this school. Dr. Luna, my mentor, my friend. God answers prayers, so I'm thankful and I'm sorry.

Don't apologize.

Thank you for living out your dream, because I get to live out mine.

Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you for sharing that. And I mean, what we say is that the best part of entrepreneurship is not the impact. As amazing as it is, it's not the revenue. As amazing as that is, it's the person you become in the process. And that's exactly what you're describing. Like, I'm living out my dreams. My marriage is better and better as a mom. It's all better. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Una.

All right, people, she gave you the advice. Now where can people find you? And tell them where they can find you on social media, too, because you rock that. And I want people to be able to. I want people to be able to see that.

All right? Also, I'll start with the social media Living Spring. So at Living Spring Medicals, that's L, I, V I, N, G S P R I N, G S Medicals. M E, D, I, C, A L, S. That's a on YouTube and on Facebook. Now on Instagram. I'm small. Letter D. Spell letter R underscore Ola Benton. That's O, L, A B I, N T A, N. And you could find me on the www.liveinspringmedicals.com.

Excellent. And I'll link to all of those in the show notes. You know, thank you so much. This is such a fun. This is such a fun interview and such a real interview.

Right?

So, everyone, I want you to. We didn't do a highlight reel for you here. We took you behind the scenes of a real entrepreneur who is thriving, who started her private practice nine months ago has over 2,000 patients, is at a point where she needs to hire other people, is dreaming bigger. Her life is better, her marriage is better. She's better as a mom. This is entrepreneurship. If you're thinking about the on trendy business school, you know, you want to go put in your application is on trendy.com business. There's a whole community of physicians, and we are. This is not just about us. This is about the physician community. We are creating a tsunami of change, and things are not always going to be the way they are now. We are going to that place. We're going to celebrate being doctors. We're going to go back to the joy of medicine. Burnout will be a thing a minority of physicians are experiencing. That's what we're fighting for, you know, so if you've been thinking, thinking about it, go fill out an application and come and join us. In the meantime, apply the lessons that you learned from Dr. Toluse. Amazing story today. So, Dr. Tolu, thank you so much, so, so much for coming on the show. Thank you.

Thank you for having me. Dr. Unna.

Absolutely. All right, people, share the episode with a friend and I will see you on the next episode of the entrepreneurity podc.