The Age Friday August 18 2006 – Physiotherapists Brace For Growth
Author – Janine Perrett (Business Network)

The Sydney Morning Herald Friday August 18 2006 – Kneading a Physio Practice into good shape
Author – Janine Perrett (Business Network)

Physiotherapists brace for growth

Two Mornington Peninsula physios explore a new way to expand their practice, writes Janine Perrett.

PHYSIOTHERAPISTS are not usually known as dynamic business people, but Lisa Wilson and Antony Hirst are doing their best to change that.

They are transforming their Melbourne practice under the Beleura brand and are about to take a big step with the launch next month of a range of health-related products.

"The challenge is making the transition from the perception of a cottage industry," Wilson says.

"The traditional corner practice has a line of patients out the door and you basically push on their back, rub their neck and send them off, and they come back next week.

"We wanted to do something proactive and to try and make that transition into diversifying and offering other products and services."

Over the past nine years they have succeeded in converting their version of the corner practice into two sophisticated operations with an annual turnover of $1.7 million.

After initially growing as much as 100 per cent a year, in recent years they have consolidated that to a more manageable 22 per cent a year. "A lot of physios offer things like ankle and neck braces, but we wanted to do far more than that," Hirst says. "At the moment there's a huge push towards natural organic remedies and we wanted to tap into that." Wilson says: "We saw an opening for physiotherapy modelled on the type of practice we are now and the whole lifestyle body balance thing. We could market that as a brand to a wider market."

They spent the past year gaining the necessary approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration for four products, including anti-inflammatory teas and "active" creams that will be sold through their new website.

"What we're looking at now is other ways to brand Beleura rather than just getting patients in the door," Hirst says.

This will involve them going further into the unfamiliar territory of marketing. Until now, this has mainly involved networking with GPs and relying on referrals.

"It's about learning the right places to network," Wilson says. "I think we wasted a lot of time advertising in football and tennis clubs and even the local paper. It's expensive and we think we get little in return." Hirst and Wilson met while working together in the 1990s and realised they shared the same practice vision.

"We wanted to run a lot of group-based exercises and education-type sessions," Wilson says. "We could see that obviously there was money to be made from our perspective, as well as to help the clients." Wilson and Hirst bought their first practice in 1997, on the Mornington Peninsula. They added another, at Hastings, in 1999.

The business now has 13 physios, three massage therapists, personal trainers and a total of 35 employees, including receptionists and administrative staff.

They initially built market share by buying other practices but have decided to consolidate and concentrate on the next phase of growth rather than expanding into a chain of practices.

The main problem with expansion is the skills crisis. Beleura has had to begin recruiting physiotherapists overseas.

"We've had the opportunity to buy private practices, we've had people wanting to sell to us, but it's no good because you just can't get staff," Hirst says.

"We want to keep the quality because, at this stage, we're trying to brand Beleura and you can't just put any old Joe in there." They are also trying to teach physios to be salespeople and managers. "As a group, we physios are not good at selling because we seem to think its unethical," Hirst says.

Wilson says: "We're now getting salespeople in, and strategic planners and marketers to talk to the physios and teach them how to sell their skills - basically to convince the client in that half-hour they need to come back and have another session."

This extra training not only helps retain staff by offering career opportunities, but can help relieve management pressure on the owners. "We'd like to have a system whereby you could move through the ranks to senior partner or associate partner," Wilson says. "Without doubt, the biggest challenge we face at the moment is how much we work in the business and how much we work on the business."

They say they have found it hard to pull away from the business without the fear it would fall apart if they were not seeing patients. The birth of Wilson's first baby three months ago and her maternity leave allowed for greater delegation, but it will always be an issue. "We have clients who will wait six weeks to see one of us and drive miles, and it's hard to say no," Hirst says.

But while they realise that the local practice is the mainstay of their business, they also recognise they will need to focus on the new Beleura product range and on attracting a new, broader customer base.

"Apart from the new website, we're not sure where to go at this stage," Wilson says.

When they both ponder the question of just how big the business can grow, she jokes that perhaps the spine-shaped B logo in Beleura will one day be like "the golden arches".

CHALLENGES FOR BELEURA

• Working on the business, not in the business.
• Launching new product range.
• WBroadening and branding the business model.

The AgeFriday August 18 2006 – Physiotherapists Brace For Growth
Author – Janine Perrett (Business Network)

The Sydney Morning Herald Friday August 18 2006 – Kneading a Physio Practice into good shape
Author – Janine Perrett (Business Network)