In case you missed the event, a main topic of conversation was money. As Lee put it, that’s a big challenge to tackle! The varying scales of our panelists’ businesses provided insight that applied across the spectrum of our clients’ businesses. For instance, Bill and Tammy Jenkins have a larger natural health practice, and they are able to have their front desk person handle all of the discussion about payment. Keith and Shelley Beyerle at Rocky Mountain Rossitier tend to have the discussion directly with their clients and have clearly established pricing guidelines for their services. Mike Maguire from Home Instead Senior Care trains his staff to have the price discussion based on the needs and concerns of the client, so that if money is their main concern, the service they provide is tailored around price.

Another topic that was recurring throughout the evening was relationship building. All of the panelists emphasized the importance of building a strong referral based practice, which can only occur through building positive relationships with clients, and beyond that, complimentary services. Due to the nature of the services his business provides, Mike also keeps an ongoing list of organizations to send inquires to in case his services aren’t quite the right fit. We capped off the event with a round of light networking so our client businesses could learn how they could potentially create some of the partnerships the panelists mentioned.

Health and Wellness business owners are a unique bunch, largely because many of them aren’t in business solely for profit. The type of person who starts a Health and Wellness business generally wants to help people lead healthier, happier lives. Ultimately our panelists encouraged the audience to think critically about the value of the services they provide, how they can add value through partnerships and get the kind of monetary return they need to keep their business healthy.

Were you at our Health and Wellness Business Panel? What did you think? What other industry topics like this would you like to see the SBDC tackle? Leave a comment below or send a message to Terri Donovan-Keirns. Our next industry event for health & wellness businesses is scheduled for November 10, 2015.