As a medical professional, taking care of your patients is your number one priority. You built your practice around the personalized attention, expert clinical care and best-in-class patient experience you are uniquely qualified to provide. While growing your office offers numerous benefits, it shouldn’t take away from focusing on your patients.
One way to expand your practice without losing your focus is with small business loans or lines of credit for everything from big-ticket equipment purchases to office space costs. Small business loans offer lower restrictions that enable you to secure much-needed funds and minimize business expenses, while available lines of credit are valuable for bridging planned and unexpected expenses during periods of rapid growth.
Expanding your practice: Term loans
Flexible small business loan amounts — at variable or fixed interest rates — offer working capital for funding business expansion, new equipment purchases and leasehold improvements, among other growth expenses. Term loans can help you stay cash-positive when making purchases that will take longer than 12 months to repay. These loans, which may offer interest-only payments and no setup costs, assist with necessary upgrades such as replacing outdated computers or software.
For instance, if your business growth requires hiring additional employees and expanding your payroll, it can take awhile to see returns on that investment. A small business loan that offers flexible financing can provide you the capital required to hire more team members without worrying about short-term cash flow.
Term loans can also grant you the opportunity to revitalize your practice by renovating your waiting room or expanding your answering service to include weekend availability, which ensures more clients can reach you when they need to make an appointment. These seemingly small investments can yield a major return, allowing you to put your best face forward in every patient interaction.
Access to additional sources of working capital also means that you never have to loan your own money to your practice. Short-term borrowing, especially under conditions you find favorable, is a great way to keep your personal and professional finances separate.
Planning for the future: Lines of credit
Part of preparing for the future is knowing that you can’t predict the unexpected. As your practice grows, your needs will change and your cash flow may fluctuate, even as your business thrives. Accounts payable can be unpredictable. Insurance premiums and payouts may change, but a revolving line of credit can help bridge payroll and tax payments, as well as serve as a rainy-day fund you can tap into without delay.
If your practice has expensive inventory, such as a pediatric office that must be constantly stocked with lifesaving childhood vaccines, then it’s also critical to have access to flexible lines of credit when restocking during an otherwise financially lean period of time.
Lines of credit can also prove essential when scaling up your practice and working to reach new clients. They offer credit toward opening a second location as well as to fund short-term marketing and advertising campaigns.
Building meaningful relationships
Establishing a relationship with a dedicated banker means that you don’t have to spend time tracking down the right person to help you, especially when you’re busy. If you need a new ATM card or an emergency loan to repair an expensive piece of medical equipment, this can be handled by a representative who understands your practice.
When you work closely with a trusted banking expert, you can rely on their in-depth knowledge of financial products and services, as well as tailor their expertise to your unique needs. Speak with a First Republic banker today about options regarding term loans and lines of credit, so you can focus on the most important aspect of your practice: caring for others.
