You wouldn’t buy a product or service without verifying the claims you hear about it.…
John Borrowman, CPC
Borrowman Baker, LLC
Gallatin, TN
The practice owner that you met at a networking event sounded gung-ho about wanting to bring someone on board. You opened a conversation, but now he’s gone dark. What’s up with that?
As a rising BV professional with an entrepreneurial streak, it’s fun to meet a like-minded practice owner with a bulging pipeline. And it’s no surprise that you might like to hook your wagon to that star. On the other side of the coin, the practice owner with the bulging pipeline is probably burning the midnight oil and thinking how nice it could be to have someone like you to handle production. Looks like a good deal for both parties.
Why is it, then, that discussion which starts so promisingly tails off into nothingness? Here are two common reasons.
- The practice owner who starts with good intentions about bringing you on board can fall victim to the “I’m so busy I need to hire somebody—but I’m too busy to hire somebody” syndrome. The smaller the practice, the more likely this is to be the case. Employers add “hire someone” to the to-do list, where it rises and falls relative to the other fires that need attention on any given day.
- The roller-coaster of BV practice revenue catches up to the would-be employer. As long as the pipeline is full, the practice owner’s attention is on production and the need for help in getting work out the door. When revenue slacks, as it inevitably does, the practice owner’s attention turns to marketing and you start to look like an expense he can’t afford right now.
The answer isn’t to steer away from these opportunities. It can be useful, though, to be cautious or even skeptical.
If you’ve begun an interview process that has stalled, contact us. We’ll offer some advice that could help get things back on track.
