ellengrover's blog

Last week I got an email from the organization that gave me and Korben a loan when we were starting out 7 months ago.  The subject line announced a women-owned business award of $2000.  I almost ignored it completely but it was nagging at me.  I read it.  All you needed to compete, it said, was a completed business plan and a compelling reason that your business could use the money.  I called and it turned out that last year, only one person had applied for it.  I had hope.  

To make a not-so-long story even shorter, I am blogging to say that I filled out the application, sent in the business plan and required legal pieces of paper, and a few days later received a phone call saying that I had won the $2K.  That night they came to interview and photograph me.  Next week I am going to pick up the check.

Patients have started asking this question again:  "How long have you been in practice?" I always hate to admit I've only been out of school for a couple of years, but really, it's just a horribly flawed question if the person is trying to figure out how much experience you have or don't have, let alone trying to figure out if you are reliable or able to help them at all.  I don't believe that more experience = better at acupuncture, but just in case it does, community acupuncture is the fastest track around.  

One of the great things about using an online scheduling service like Appointment Quest is that it counts things for you, like how many patients you've seen in any given length of time.  A search just revealed that I have had 1576 appointments in the past 7 months since Philadelphia Community Acupuncture opened.  That averages out to 53 patients a week, including the early and slower months.  I am probably seeing about 65 patients a week right now.