The Labor Pains of the Birth of a New Clinic!

The first thing I remember my business partner Justine saying when I first met her was "I'm only 25!" We met at the Starbucks in Watertown, near Boston after Sandy River had put us in touch. It didn't take us long to agree to go into business together, in fact at one point when we had started to look at office spaces I found myself asking "who is this person, how about if we just hang out and get to know each other a little better?" So she invited me over for dinner one time and a few weeks later I invited her to come see the band the Smashing Pumpkins with me.

We looked at several offices spaces throughout the metropolitan area and I kept getting lost because I just moved back to the east coast after living in Missouri for 6 years. In an urban area it is hard to find the right combination of affordable rent, good parking, and sufficient space to fit several recliners, but we persevered and eventually found something good. It is near several restaurants including a great Tai take out place right across the street. Meanwhile we lined up an accountant and a lawyer to draw up the papers for our S corporation; we really immersed ourselves in all the details of how to deal with the finances, taxes, and corporate law. Tedious stuff! If you are thinking of incorporating and saving yourself the small business tax and having better legal protection check out the book Incorporate Your Business by Anthony Mancuso.

After signing the three year lease we knew we were committed for real and set about getting the office looking presentable, a daunting task! It is 1600 square feet and it all needed to be painted, the carpet needed to be cleaned, and it needed a wall for the waiting room. We came up with a plan for each project and friends and family helped a lot so it is already feeling like a community. Justine's parents donated tons of furniture and helped us paint and do various other tasks for about three days straight. It was my first time meeting them and my parents had a chance to meet them so it started to feel even more like a community. We pushed ourselves really hard during this time and we each realized our limits. To deal with the stress I started up my morning Vipassana meditation practice a few weeks ago, even if I only do it for ten minutes it still makes a difference.

One of the ways that I started to keep all of this organized is by implementing the system described in the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. I cleaned out all my files and got a file label maker so I am feeling much more efficient and less worried about loosing important papers (most of the time!).

Tomorrow we are renting a Uhaul cargo van to pick up three recliners from craigslist and one of them is free! After that is our painting party, I'm sure we will finish the painting by then and soon we will actually be able to do some acupuncture, earn some money, and make our corner of the world a better place.