Timely and Affordable Business Launch

Welcome to Pelby biz podcast. I'm Dr. Kelly Alhui. I have grown and established brick and mortar practice in Northern Virginia called Ortho Pelvic Physical Therapy and also founded Pelvibiz, which is an online business consulting company that helps healthcare providers make more money and be healthy while doing it, especially in the pelvic health realm. So let's get into today's episode.

Today I'm going to talk about the fastest way to get your business up and running without it actually taking a lot of money. Most of you guys think that, hey, to start a business, I'm going to have to get out a business loan. I mean, I've talked to many people over the phone that are taking out like 20 and 30 thousand dollars worth of a business loan just to start their business. And I'm here to tell you that doesn't have to be the case, just FYI. And you start small and then you go big. So I think most of us think, well, when I start a business, it has to be cute, it has to be perfect. And I have to have that space that I've been wanting. That's a three year goal. You do not have to have that big, beautiful, amazing, airy office that you want or this amazing online following that you think you have to have to sell this, this ebook. That's not really the case. You got to break it down. And I'm going to break it down for you guys today and start very, very simple. So what I would say is the biggest thing that you do to start is think about a what population do I want to treat? What is it? Do I? Yes. And we're all in the pelvic health space. But do I want to treat pregnancy postpartum? Do I want to treat tailbone pain? Do I want to treat chronic pelvic pain? Who do I specifically like? What brings me joy and who do I want to treat? So, and if you guys are thinking, Kelly, you want me to narrow it down, it's pelvic health. I'll treat anyone. No, no, no. Who do you really want to target? Because we got to specifically put out our marketing message to that person. Because I want you to feel good, excited and happy about what you do. And if you don't like doing it, you're not going to want to get up every single day and, and actually do the thing. So that's what I want you to think about first. Then let's just say for me, it was postpartum moms that actually weightlifted. So I really niched it down to postpartum moms that weightlifted. That's kind of what I built Orthopelvic off of my ethos. Okay. Now once I found that out, now I have to think about where do my people hang out. Okay, well, postpartum moms, where do they hang out? They go to local gyms. They hang out at daycares. They are probably shopping at Lululemon. They are probably at the smoothie place and the juice bar, trying to get healthy, nutritious food in them so that they can feel better postpartum. So I'm going to those places and seeing and just talking. And I think the biggest thing that most of us focus on when building a business, you want to get your llc, you want to get your business bank account, you want to get your tin number, like, all that kind of stuff. You don't need it. You don't need it. You don't even have a business yet. Like, really? You don't even have a business yet. My accountant said my first time when I started Orthopelvic, he was like, kelly, this is a hobby. This is not a business. And I took offense to that. Kind of put a fire underneath me, because he was like, you're not making more than what you made when you work for someone else. So this is a hobby. And I was like, what? And it was an aha moment for me because I'm thinking, well, I'm doing good. I just started my business. Like, this is awesome. And he was like, yeah, no, this is all because you're making less than what you made for tax purposes, by the way, you know, for what you made when you work for someone else. And I was like, got me thinking, well, how did I start? I had $800 in my bank account, personal bank account, not even a business bank account. $800. That's all the money that was to Kelly Elhoey, $800. And I decided to take 400 of it and get the supplies that I needed to start my business. And it's very simple to get started. All you need is a table. And maybe you don't even need a table. Maybe you can't even afford it, because that's about $200. Takes up a fair amount of your money. $200. And you just use a bed or a couch if you're going to people's homes and. Or you just do this online. Online, you don't even need a table, clearly. Right? We're talking about in person, building in person. You don't even need a. You don't even need a table. You could, but you don't have to. So that was $200 for me. I got Chuck pads off Amazon, I got gloves and I got lube off Amazon and I got lotion and I put stuff in a backpack. Eventually I had a suitcase, but I put stuff in a backpack and had my table and I put it in the back of my car. I had Lysol wipes that I got off Amazon too. And I put it in the back of my car and in between patients I'd wipe my table down, throw that thing in the back of my car. So that's all I needed supply wise to get started. Now when it came to insurance, you have to get insurance. I use CMNF. That was about $400 for the whole year. But you can pay in installments every single month. So it wasn't too much. Okay. Then I was like, well, how am I going to take money? I don't have a business bank account. I don't even know how to open a business bank account. I don't even know how to write a check. Okay. I mean seriously, I'm very serious. I had no clue even how to balance money. My mom was a school teacher. She was a single mom. Like she never taught us anything about money. So I said, well, I have Venmo. Most people have Venmo, they'll just Venmo me or they'll write me a check. So people either wrote me a check or they Venmoed me. That's what I did to get started. And if they didn't Venmo me right away, I would send them an invoice through Venmo. Like, hey, you owe this. So that's how I took payment. And I did that for at least six months into the business. At least. Then I was like, okay, well how do I do super bill? What the heck is a super bill? You can either not give them a super bill. You don't have to give anyone a super bill. You just say this is a fee for service. This is a cash based thing. We don't do super bills. You can say that and. Or I have a paper version. If you guys want it. Just let me know. Just DM me @pelbybiz and Instagram elbybiz and I can send you over a copy of my super bill. But. But you make it on word. Okay. Doesn't cost you anything. And then you have to ask yourself, how do I do notes? Well, notes you do on your computer, S O A P, put a sentence each label it the patient's name, Sally's folder, Sally's notes. And then every single time you go see Sally, you pull that up and put your notes in there. That's literally how you get started. Within two days of having being in person with people. Two days, that's all it takes. The longest thing is waiting on that table to come in and. Or the insurance. That's it. So I think a lot of us over complicate it and want like the big dream, but you've got to get, you got to get gritty. You got it, like, use your resources that you have. So it took me only 400 to get started as a pelvic PT, treating people mobile. And yeah, it sucked between patients. You're sitting in cars. I slept in parking decks for like two, three, four hours. It was during COVID Like I couldn't even go to the bathroom anywhere. It does suck, I'm not gonna lie. But it was worth it because as I was sitting there, I'm studying, I'm calling people, I'm trying to figure out who I can do certain things, what kind of collaboration can I do? I'm doing research on my Facebook thing. I'm. I'm doing all that. I'm figuring it out. So I'm trying not to waste time, even though I'm like dying in the heat, sitting in my car or in the freezing cold because I didn't have my home or I didn't have an office. So there is that grind factor, especially at first. But if you're willing to do it, promise you the outcomes to it are so, so worth it. Let me see what else here. I would say the quickest way that you can build the business is that. And I would say it's in person. I get asked the question time and time again, Kelly, should I create this digital product that's going to run without me and I can make money, or should I do in person and I say whatever is the lowest hanging fruit. Typically a product that you believe is going to bring you passive income, that you're just going to make today, and then tomorrow everyone's going to buy it. And that's highly, highly, highly unlikely. I hate to say it. Okay. Products take time to understand truly, truly what the patient wants or what the client wants. And it's not just this, like, oh, yeah, I know my clients. Like, they want to stop their leakage. No, you have got to have that client base built. You have got to understand who specifically this is for like, very, very specific. And then you got to go after that. So it's not that tomorrow you're just going to build this online product and then all of a sudden people are.

Going to be coming.

So I always like in person. Now here's the objections that I get for in person. And some of you may be thinking this as well. Well, Kelly, I'm going to go on maternity leave soon. I don't want to build up my in person or Kelly, I'm going to move to a different state in two to three months. So I don't want to build up my in person. What's another one, Kelly? Like, I don't want to live in this state forever, so I don't want to build in person. I hear you, 100% hear you. But the problem that people don't realize is tomorrow you could go literally to your neighbor's house and say, hey, can I treat you for free? You leave me a review by you leave me a review. You can use that online to your online product and you can also use that in person no matter where you go. Also, the likelihood of that person telling their friend how amazing they felt after the experience that you gave them is going to be super, super high. So that means they're going to be your marketing tools. You're not going to have to go out and like, try to do, you know, go see every doctor office possible, let the people and let your work do the work of the marketing. And even if you're moving in four months, okay, even if you're moving in five months, whatever it may be, still go and connect with your community. That's the other thing I want to talk about is the community. The more that you can get involved in your community. What I mean by that is you go to a running club and if you like to run, you go hang out with those people. You maybe join a walking club, you maybe go join a pickleball team, maybe you go join an axe throwing place, whatever that is. The more that you can get involved in the community, even if you're leaving this community in four months, the more you're going to surround yourself with people that are actually your clients. And just being at an axe throwing place and you someone asking you, what do people, most people ask you, hey, what do you do? Oh my God. Thank you so much for asking. This is actually what I do. I help you. Oh my gosh. I don't want to say anything, but actually I'm really struggling with this. People are going to be like, oh my God, like you help with that? I didn't even know that was a thing. Yeah, I actually help with that. Amazing. So that's how you get clients right away. So if you're struggling, you're like, I want, I need to make money asap. Do not, please. Let me tell you this, please do not go try to visit the doctors. The doctors are not going to be the ones to give you patience right off the bat. People are going to be in your community, are going to be your biggest cheerleaders and your number one support system. So where do your people hang out? Go build your community and it's going to feel good to build that community. You're going to be like, oh my God, I love connecting with people. If you're an extrovert, maybe the introverts are like, ah, Kelly, no, I don't like to do that. Okay, well, still, if you're an introvert, go talk to your neighbors that you're probably more comfortable with and ask them, hey, can I treat you? That's how you're going to get your first client and that's how you're going to get it right off the ground in two seconds. Not waiting to post something 20 times and then keep posting about it and still no one's buying your product. Okay, so what I would do if I was just starting out, I would go for the lowest hanging fruit, which is typically someone you know that's in your phone book already that you can call and start working on them ASAP and building the local community. You can also build a community online. Okay. But again, this takes time. So what is something that you're passionate about? Maybe like, I had a Facebook group that was like for C section moms. So maybe that's what you're passionate about because you were a C section mom. And so you're going to get C C section moms together in your community and you can have an online hangout. That's cool. Like you can say at 8 o' clock at night, we're going to go on a zoom call, Elle the mom, so that we can actually talk about our C section scars and the pain that we've been through and how we're going to make this all better going forward for all women. Amazing. That's cool. That's building a community. You're not selling anything because you can't just sell to these people right off the bat. No one will buy it. So these are the things that have to happen before you launch a product. Now let me speak to online here too. Most people are like, yeah, I'll create this product first and then I'll launch it. It won't hit, I promise you. I've seen it time and time again. It's happened to me three times. I spent months and months and months building out this leakage guide. No one bought, no one bought it at all. Okay? So please do not waste your time on it. What I would say is if you're trying to, to get someone to buy something right away, I would create a funnel and basically it's a landing page. And basically it says, hey, about the product and just try to sell it before the product is even built. Because I do not want you guys to waste your time on trying to build a product that is not going to give you any return. Most people distract themselves. What I'm finding recently is they're distracting themselves trying to build an online product, thinking that they're going to make millions off of it. And the reality is they're just wasting time. And they could have been going and talking to one of their neighbors or to getting involved in their community that's going to actually give them maybe health benefits as well, because they join, you know, some health thing and they could get clients immediately from that. So if it's easy, if it's easy, like it's kind of a red flag, it should be a little hard. It should be a little scary for you. It really should be a little bit scary because that's how you grow. Most people don't want to grow, so they think, okay, I'll just go online, create this product and I'll sit behind my computer and not have to do too much. And that's just not the case. I'm just being honest with you. It's not the case in both ways. If you want to build online and in person, you've got to surround yourself with. You got to build the community first. You can't even sell to them unless you have a community. So even if you move from one state to the next, like I moved from California to Virginia, no one knew me. I had amazing community in California, but no one knew me here. So I had to create a community first. How did I do that? I did that by being able to connect 40 women owned businesses online and got them to come all together and talk about their services and how we can help over a thousand people in our community that are struggling with whatever issues that they're having. How amazing was that? And that got orthopelvic on the map because it Got our name out there because I led the charge in it. So I used my in person, but also I hid it online. So it's a combination of both. Right? If you just want to be online, that's cool too. How are you going to build a community? You're going to get a Facebook group together that says C section moms. Are you going to get hey, how to work your DRA group? Like, how are you going to build the community? Where are you going to find your people? If you are that person, it's going to take you, realistically, by the way, it could take you online anywhere between three to ten months to really, truly build a solid community to where you'd be comfortable enough to be like, hey, by the way, I have this product for you. But if I just walk up to you and you don't even know me and I'm like, hey, I have this three, let's just say $300 product for you. Would you give me $300? You don't know anything about me. You don't trust me. You don't know. So don't be that person. You got to build the community first, then from there go off of that. So I think that's the biggest thing. When I've been talking to a lot of you guys and you guys are like, how's the fastest way I can make money? Fast way to me you can make money is look at your phone book, who's in it, go after those people and that's how you're going to quickly make money and make a name for yourself. Even if you're going on maternity leave, even if you're moving, even if you're having a life changing event or whatever it may be, you can still make money. It's a practice round and then you rebuild when you move somewhere else. And those people that you saw in person, you just move them to online. It's no problem. You just move them online. They already know I can trust you. So it's not a waste. I think we think it's so separate, but we can really integrate. That's what Pelby Biz is about, is integrating online and in person and really being able to play both sides of it. So, so hopefully you guys enjoyed this. Hopefully you learned something and we'll talk soon. Bye guys.

Are you ready to live the life of your dreams? If so, make sure you book a call with me so that we can help solve one problem. Thanks so much for listening. Please like subscribe and comment below so that we can continue to make more content and give you the best of the best.