U.S. Physical Therapy

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Become An Owner, Call The Shots

The Ultimate Freedom: Owning Your Own Business

Nothing defines the American Dream like starting and running your own business. And for good reason: You get to run your clinic the way you want to run it, treat the kinds of patients you want to treat, and make the money you deserve to make. The sky is literally the limit. If America is about freedom, then the title "business owner" is certainly at the pinnacle of the freedom pyramid.

Never Put All Your Eggs In One Basket... At Least Not A Basket Controlled By Somebody Else.

Many people mistakenly think that owning a business is a risky venture. According to Jim Collins, author of Good To Great, being an employee is actually far more risky than running your own show. He says—and we agree—that the real challenge for entrepreneurs is dealing with ambiguity, and employees are the ones burdened with real risk:

"People… used to come to me and say, "I’d really like to do something on my own, but I’m just not ready to take that much risk. So I took a job instead." And I would say, "You’re not ready for risk? What’s the first thing you learn about investing? Never put all your eggs in one basket. You’ve just put all your eggs in one basket that is held by somebody else. As an entrepreneur, you know what the risks are. You see them. You understand them. You manage them. If you join someone else’s company (as an employee), you may not know those risks, and not because they don’t exist. You just can’t see them, and so you can’t manage them. That’s a much more exposed position than the entrepreneur faces. But there’s lower ambiguity on the paint-by-numbers (employee) path: very clear but more risky. The entrepreneurial path: very ambiguous but less risk."
(Excerpt from an interview with Collins in Inc. Magazine in 2009; emphasis added)

So here’s the real question: do you want to control your own destiny, or rely on somebody else? Go ahead—make the jump.

Owner
PROS Call the shots Hire who you want; treat the patients you want Focus on doing what you enjoy Much higher earning potential Live the American dream	CONS * Startup costs can be prohibitive Must deal with office management details Income not assured Ambiguity: dealing with the unknown Put in extra hours when necessary
* Many of these problems are eliminated by partnering with USPh.
Employee
PROS Limited ambiguity—"paint by numbers" Work your shift then go home No need to deal with administrative details Income virtually guaranteed	CONS At the mercy of clinic management Could be terminated at any minute Income growth extremely limited May be assigned to unpleasant roles Career path is limited