The Value of Demographic Factors in Opening a Successful Practice: Part IX, Barriers to Success: Natural and Otherwise
In a perfect world, the data found in our eight essential chiropractic factors would be applied evenly to a flat landscape. However, as we look around us, this is not the case. Instead of a monotonous flat plain, we have natural beauty such as rivers, mountains, forests, and lakes.
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are divided by the Mississippi River. Rationally, you would assume that this natural barrier would not prevent people from crossing the river to seek professional help. However, this is not the case. It is very rare that a patient from St. Paul crosses the bridge to seek a doctor in Minneapolis and vice versa. Rivers do form natural and psychological boundaries. I practice on the south shore of a large lake and very seldom see patients from the north shore of the lake. So there are geographical boundaries and mental boundaries involved in this phenomenon. Roads wind around hills and valleys and often form these boundaries as well.
Man-made boundaries such as railroads and freeways with limited access across them form barriers and distance the essential demographic factors, as they will tend to block patient access to your practice. Airports, parks, industrial complexes, cemeteries, and shopping centers are other examples of these barriers. This accessible population is the one that you must use to calculate your practice potential.
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