"We have not been trained in anything other than being a clinician. The idea of having multiple sources of income, and furthermore being an entrepreneur is foreign."
by Dr. Maiysha Clairborne
The age of the life-long career physician has ended. While back in the day the "old school physicians" immersed themselves in their careers until retirement (which some never did), a new breed of physicians have been born. In the times of our failing medical system, physicians are becoming "woke" and realizing that working 40 years as a physician in the current climate is clearly unsustainable and frankly undesirable. Furthermore, we are awakening to the fact that there is more to life than "being a good doctor". That is why more and more physicians are leaving the "traditional model" of medicine to do their own thing. Our industry has devalued us as medical professionals and frankly as human beings, and as we wake up, we are starting to see that we have more power than we've been trained to think.
The problem, however, is that we have not been trained in anything other than being a clinician. The idea of having multiple sources of income, and furthermore being an entrepreneur is foreign.
With the proper vision, mindset and skillset, being an entrepreneur can be the access to freedom from the chains that this medical system has placed upon us. Perhaps one of the reasons doctors hesitate to move in this direction is because there are a lot of misconceptions about what entrepreneurship looks like. Here is a quick list of 7 ways to bring in more income that don't involve diagnosing or treating patients:
- 1. Start Your Investment Portfolio - One way to begin to build a second stream of income without having to leave your current job or career is to invest. Of course, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the various aspect of investing (real estate, FOREX, cryptocurrency, stock market, etc) so that you can make an informed choice on what works best for you. The best way to get started is to meet with a financial planner and an investment professional to determine your goals, your risk tolerance, and your liquidity. However, when navigated correctly, this can be a very lucrative passive stream of income.
- 2. Invest in Real Estate – Many physicians are stepping into real estate investment as a viable avenue for generating passive income. Long term rentals, rehab and flipping, vacation or short-term rental and even land investment are all ways that doctors are jumping into the real estate arena. Many physicians new to real estate investing may start with residential, however there are ways to invest early in commercial through syndication if you have access to larger sums of cash and are looking to make a significant return on investment. The key is to know your real estate personality, and do your research to know what real estate pathway is right for you.
- 3. Writing – Writing is becoming an increasingly popular way to generate extra income. From guest blog writing, to industry (in this case medical) writing, you can be paid per article which, depending on how long it takes for you to write an article, can be a pretty significant steady stream of income. Breaking into the writing industry may be tough if you don't know where to look. However, there are plenty of small business owners looking for freelance blog writers especially in the health industry.Starting with freelance sites like Upwork could connect you with a long term and profitable gig.
- 4. Coaching/Consulting – Coaching and consulting are distinct from each other. Consulting is providing advice on some topic or area for a set fee (and usually is Business to Business interaction), while coaching is usually a business to consumer interaction and is based in guiding a client in the right direction based on their goals & desires. It involves more allowing the client to discover for themselves rather than always telling them the answer. Either way, getting into coaching or consulting can be a great way to transition out of clinical medicine altogether if desired (It's how I made my transition) and can be very lucrative ($300K +) if you have the right training, guidance and mindset, to make it work. While consulting doesn't necessarily require extra training, coaching usually necessitates training and certification (which can be done easily within 6 months and online). If you like one on one work with clients (individual or group), either of these could be an option for you.
- 5. Live Events – Live events are also becoming incredibly popular! Typically live events come in the form of product launches, VIP coaching weekends, workshops, and even retreats.These don't have to be CME and again, if you utilize your existing expertise and have the right systems and strategies in place (which usually come by having a good mentor or coach), these events can bring upward of $20-50K for a single weekend over time.They take a lot of planning, organization, and the right teams in place. If you love being on stage, event planning, and derive energy from being in front of a crowd, this may be a good pathway to explore. Live events can be done along side of your private practice, or could become a replacement income for your clinical practice altogether if desired.
- 6. Speaking – Many physicians may not realize the income opportunity of speaking. Most times when we are invited to speak, we don't get paid necessarily. However, that is because either we don't ask or we are looking at the wrong venues.Many hospitals and organizations do have budgets for speakers (especially if it's grand rounds, fundraising events, organizational CME events), but they won't necessarily tell you this up front.Furthermore, they will attempt to give you the lowest possible honorarium possible.If you are looking to get paid to speak, you must be willing to ask for the money.You can simply ask what their budget is, tell them what you normally charge, then negotiate to what an acceptable medium would be. If they aren't willing to pay your bottom line, you should not be speaking for them (that is if your goal is PAID speaker).
- 7. Internet Marketing – Internet marketing is an industry that can provide you both active and passive streams of income depending on how you set it up. Things like online courses, public domain products and programs, and affiliate marketing programs can become great passive streams of income once you have a solid system in place for making sales.When you have the system in place and a good niche, product or affiliate program, making money from internet sales can easily grow into to a six or seven figure business over time.This is also an income stream that can be built along side of your practice when you structure your time efficiently.
Having a "side gig" is becoming more and more popular in our current state of medicine, and women in medicine and physician moms are becoming the most savvy in this arena. Knowing that having an alternative career as a physician is possible, and that it may not be a hard as you think, could be all that you need to take that leap into new territory. Furthermore knowing that there are people and programs that can educate and support you without having to go get a whole other degree makes it more doable as well.
Did you enjoy this article? Let Us know! Please leave comments on this article with your insights and opinions about this topic, and let us know what other topics you'd like to hear in the future.
Physicians Reclaim Your Time, Freedom and Live a Life YOU Design.Learn more about our physician coaching programs at www.stressfreemommd.com and our physician entrepreneur curriculums at www.nextlevelphysicians.com. To invite Dr. Clairborne to speak at your next conference, event, or retreat visit www.drmaiysha.com