- Joined
- Feb 5, 2007
- Messages
- 1,660
- Reaction score
- 2
Correct my thinking, but it seems to me that practicing a rural area is a good idea financially.
I have a doctor friend who approached a very small rural city in southeastern Missouri, telling them of his intent to practice primary care there. The city gave him a facility (not great but it was free rent) and gave him an RN (one of the towns residents who was a nurse).
Office rent in small towns is often very low. Housing is very low - I was looking at a small midwestern residency, and looking for housing online - found a 5 year old (manufactured ) home, on wooded 1.5 acres, 5 bedrooms, 3000+ feet for $100,000 flat. I know manufactured housing is not all that great - but reasonable price for alot of living space that is not very old.
I know that advertsing is very easy in a small town. I owned a business in a town of 3500 for 7 years - you do not need to adertise at all. The day you show up in a town that size EVERYONE knows you are there. People spend a fortune advertising (1/4 page yellow pages, newspaper ads, flyers, billboards) in large cities. Your commute is non-existent , when I owned a business in a small town I often walked to work, even though people knew I made a good income. My sons grade school was literally behind my business and I could open the back door and watch my son play on recess - several times I filmed him playing. I loved watching him play with all the other kids. I hired staff more committed with higher work ethics for almost minimum wage than I was able to find for 3 times as much in a city of millions. My third office space in the small town was about 1500 square feet for $400 a month, all utilities etc covered (in 1998) - was brand new, I was the first person in that space. I also rented a larger office space for less money, but it was not as new.
You could be paying on a good size house for $800 a month, spending a few hundred dollars a month on advertising (most of it discretional such as paying for the uniforms of a local little league team with your name on the back of the jerseys), spending almost nothing on commutes, paying much less for office rent, spending less on salaries, and often malpractice is less in rural areas. I mean seriously : I think an office overhead (with one part time and one full time staff) would be $10,000 or less, and personal overhead of $2-5,000 depending on loans a person might have. Anything over $15K a month is bankable or reinvestable in the business if you want to avoid paying taxes.
It seems ideal to be in a small town within 30 minutes to an hour from a larger "funner" city.
Good thinking, bad thinking? I just foresee living in a small town again, so I can just bankroll the extra money.
I have a doctor friend who approached a very small rural city in southeastern Missouri, telling them of his intent to practice primary care there. The city gave him a facility (not great but it was free rent) and gave him an RN (one of the towns residents who was a nurse).
Office rent in small towns is often very low. Housing is very low - I was looking at a small midwestern residency, and looking for housing online - found a 5 year old (manufactured ) home, on wooded 1.5 acres, 5 bedrooms, 3000+ feet for $100,000 flat. I know manufactured housing is not all that great - but reasonable price for alot of living space that is not very old.
I know that advertsing is very easy in a small town. I owned a business in a town of 3500 for 7 years - you do not need to adertise at all. The day you show up in a town that size EVERYONE knows you are there. People spend a fortune advertising (1/4 page yellow pages, newspaper ads, flyers, billboards) in large cities. Your commute is non-existent , when I owned a business in a small town I often walked to work, even though people knew I made a good income. My sons grade school was literally behind my business and I could open the back door and watch my son play on recess - several times I filmed him playing. I loved watching him play with all the other kids. I hired staff more committed with higher work ethics for almost minimum wage than I was able to find for 3 times as much in a city of millions. My third office space in the small town was about 1500 square feet for $400 a month, all utilities etc covered (in 1998) - was brand new, I was the first person in that space. I also rented a larger office space for less money, but it was not as new.
You could be paying on a good size house for $800 a month, spending a few hundred dollars a month on advertising (most of it discretional such as paying for the uniforms of a local little league team with your name on the back of the jerseys), spending almost nothing on commutes, paying much less for office rent, spending less on salaries, and often malpractice is less in rural areas. I mean seriously : I think an office overhead (with one part time and one full time staff) would be $10,000 or less, and personal overhead of $2-5,000 depending on loans a person might have. Anything over $15K a month is bankable or reinvestable in the business if you want to avoid paying taxes.
It seems ideal to be in a small town within 30 minutes to an hour from a larger "funner" city.
Good thinking, bad thinking? I just foresee living in a small town again, so I can just bankroll the extra money.
) and the cafe and they will recognize you and call you "Doc". You'll make just as much as in the city but you can buy a lovely house for $80K. Public schools don't have much for AP programs, but the classes are small, you know the teachers, you know the other parents, gang violence is not an issue, and distance learning programs are slowly getting up to speed.
