Need an office location? Low rent with a view. Goldfiled, NV
This week I want to continue with different ways to set up and run an office. I don’t know everything about office setups and I don’t recommend one over another; I simply know which styles worked for me. But, here are some additional ways to set up, or should I say “position” an office.
One type of office run in conjunction with a home-base office is a service center(s). Making use of a physician, optician, real estate or other professional’s office on their day off can be an economical way of extending the reach of your services to underserved areas. For a number of years I had a service center in the out-patient clinic of a rural hospital, even though I was a Dispenser. Once they understood I was going to be providing testing to determine hearing aid candidacy and not diagnostics they were happy to have me come once a week. The rent I paid for the use of a room was quite reasonable. Rural hospitals have a difficult time providing a full range of services and could be a good way for you to extend your reach while helping them provide a wider range of services to their area. (You may need to invest in a portable sound booth since a hospital can be a noisy place.)
Offices that stress a full plate of Audiology testing/evaluating services as their strength over hearing aid fitting/sales tend to present a more formal atmosphere. Receptionist behind a sliding glass window (although we have noticed that this is changing) versus the less formal, almost casual atmosphere of offices stressing retail sales. I don’t think this surprises anyone, since on the one hand the first model is providing the service (testing) whereas the second model both the professional and the client may be considered as providing each other with a service. Many offices are providing upgraded waiting rooms that can be described as comfortable or relaxed, or even homie as a way of getting the client to relax. Coffee, cookies, etcetera, plus appropriate reading materials are at hand as is a video presentation of the office’s services and personnel.
Even in this high-tech age there are still a good number of offices that do in-home testing and service. This type of service is more common in rural areas and is frequently used when a new office is just starting. Most testing equipment is light and portable and sound levels in a quiet house are close enough to those found in a sound booth to allow accurate testing and fitting.
What I believe to be the opposite of an In-Home style of practice is how the” big box” stores operate. Highly centralized and regimented, with regional managers frequently transferred from the auto repair shop or bakery who have never had a relationship with hearing impaired customers. The service they offer can be good (depending on the location) and the prices very good.
One thing I think is important to remember… your office needs to reflect your personality and ideas of how the office should work. Adopting someone else’s ideas that don’t mesh with your own probably won’t work and could become a money losing proposition. Remember the old adage “Look before you leap!”
