This blog is for you if you currently work within the NHS and are considering leaving to become an independent healthcare consultant.
You might be a GP practice manager, pharmacist, physio, data analyst, quality improvement specialist, HR director, or finance manager looking to leave the confines of your current role and work on a range of projects as an independent consultant.
In my final blog and Business of Healthcare Podcast of 2024, I wanted to take you behind the scenes of how my business performed this year.
Key Business Achievements:
🏆 Celebrated 9 years in business
🎙️ Released our 300th podcast episode
📱 Launched our paid-for Primary Care Network Members Club, which has over 200+ members
💼 Secured 27 clients across various projects
✍🏾 Maintained weekly blog consistency on our Business Primary Care Network Blog https://www.thcprimarycare.co.uk/blog
🤝 Retained two blog sponsors
📰 Started a successful LinkedIn newsletter on healthcare consulting – Thank you for reading! 😀
🎯 Developed three brand pillars: The Business of Healthcare Consulting, The Business of Healthcare, and The Business of Primary Care Networks
Personal Achievements:
👣 Completed 35-mile South Downs ultra
🏔️ Finished two marathons in two days across the Atlas Mountains
🎽 Completed a 50K around my local area
⛰️ Climbed Ben Nevis with my middle daughter
Completed half marathon
💍 Celebrated 24 years married
🧑🧑🧒 All kids transitioned well into their next year in school
🔵 Raised money for charity
🎬 My youngest daughter and I were featured in the Breakthrough T1D UK film raising awareness of type 1 diabetes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ09-n6QveI
But it wasn’t all rosy. Here is a look at some of the business challenges I faced.
1. Revenue Targets
I didn’t hit the previous year’s financial targets, and I knew I wouldn’t, so I had planned for this and had to make difficult decisions to let team members go.
2. Content Management Issues
We lost valuable blog traffic statistics due to deleting outdated content, which is important as this affects our overall blog stats.
4. Project Execution
We did find it challenging to put a price on our Primary Care Network Members Club, and now I fear we started it too low.
5. Projectile Vomit
I became ill after the Morocco marathons and had an embarrassing incident at St. Mark’s Hospital, and projectile vomited in reception. And then I proceeded to vomit down myself whilst I was driving 2 hours home. 🤢🤮.
I learned the hard way about not resting enough after my ultramarathons, which I am still paying for now in the form of nagging injuries.
6. Overthinking
One of the biggest revelations came from a conversation with a friend who said, “It’s just not that deep.” This simple phrase has really helped me stop over-analysing things and just get on and do the thing! And it was this advice that inspired this blog ➡️ https://bit.ly/4iNS8yl
I was wasting a lot of time and energy, but now I am free from my thoughts and can just get on with things.
Can you relate?
I find people are not brave enough to share the lows they experience. Be wary of these people and the advice they give. Ha!
Moving Forward
1. Content-wise
We are moving the Business of Healthcare Podcast from weekly to bi-weekly podcast episodes, taking a deeper dive into healthcare topics. We are also expanding our network to include you guys (healthcare business consultants), hence me starting this newsletter.
2. Team-wise
We are transitioning towards an associate model rather than growing with more full-time employees (I still have employees). This way, I hope to have the best of both worlds to help me better manage my financial overhead.
3. Brand Development
In 2025, we are launching our Business of Healthcare Consulting website and coaching packages.
4. Core Business Services
In 2025, we will host our third PCN Plus Conference and continue our interim management and facilitation services. We also want to grow our Primary Care Network Members Club.
There is lot to do 😀.
Questions for you
Content-wise
- If you create content (and you don’t have to by the way), are you being consistent?
- How could you repurpose existing content more strategically?
- What’s your ideal content frequency that balances quality and consistency?
Mindset and Strategy
- If you achieved your revenue target, what key things can you attribute this to?
- If you didn’t achieve your revenue target, what key things can you attribute this to?
Personal Development
- Are you making time for personal goals alongside business growth?
- How well are you maintaining work-life balance while scaling your business?
- What activities help you maintain mental clarity for better decision-making?
What will you do differently in 2025?
As I close out 2024, I’m overall really happy with how things have gone and are going.
Having nearly a decade of experience running this business is giving me so much confidence to manage the highs and lows, and every year, Im learning and growing, and most importantly, I enjoy working in my business..
