Angus Haack’s Podcast - previously the ”Lean Practice Podcast”

I was 25, home at 8pm on a Tuesday, sitting on the back deck thinking I was going to have a heart attack. That was the job.
This one's different. Brandon flipped it and interviewed me for his series with business owners, so for once I'm the one answering the questions.
We talk about why I took a financial hit to leave and why it was still the right call, the real estate seminar where every speaker had the same divorce story, how lonely the first two years of running your own thing are, and why my goal is a number, not a forever chase.
Plus the health stuff: training, the steps I'm not getting, and why I think everyone needs someone else's hands on them once a month.
For chiros who are working hard and wondering what it's actually costing them.
If you want to work with me, DM me "DAY1" on Instagram @angus.haack and tell me where you're at.
Links
Youtube: https://youtu.be/caG51xd40rsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/angus.haack/Brandon: https://www.instagram.com/dr.brandon.yang/

The lean model is needed. People just don't seem to be ready to hear it yet.
In this episode we unpack why, the sunk cost trap, the stages of change the profession is moving through, and what the early warning signs look like if you're starting to suspect your model isn't working the way it used to.
We cover:
Why the maths of a lean solo practice works but owners can't see it through their own sunk costs
The stages of change the profession is sitting in right now — and our prediction for when it tips
The October restructure of the Health and Support Services Act and what it means for practices running employees
Why associates who are watching this happen are the ones closest to pulling the ripcord
What auditing your time, energy, and money actually reveals versus what you think it will
Why margin is the number — not revenue, not volume, not team size
What you'll see coaching groups do when the shift finally arrives (we're calling it now)
Where Nathan goes from here and where Angus goes from here
About Nathan Bridger
Nathan graduated in 2013 and has coached and supported over 100 chiropractors since, one on one and in groups. He built a full diary, got hollowed out holding it together, and rebuilt the model from scratch. On his own show he gets specific: running a new patient from the first phone call to the report of findings, building a diary that holds, care plans that make sense to the patient, what your numbers are already telling you, and what it actually costs to open or to hire. Frameworks, not scripts, and no pretending he got it right the first time. For chiropractors who want to do it their own way, from final year to their own practice.
▶️ Watch: youtube.com/@thelaunchchiro🔗 Everything else: thelaunchmentoring.com/podcast

Nathan, Aaron, and Angus break down the Single Visit Margin. The one number that explains why busy practices stay broke.Calculate yours here > SVM Calc

The associate who feels like they're holding the place together. The owner who thinks the associate doesn't see the full picture. Both are usually right and both are usually missing something. This one is the honest version of a conversation that almost never gets had early enough.
We cover:
Why the person doing the most work is almost always the last one to understand what ownership actually costs
The naivety gap — what associates think they can do and what running a practice actually requires
Why being able to see patients is not the same as being able to run a business
The bullshit jobs nobody tells you about until you're doing them alone
What passive owners versus present owners actually means for the associate experience
When the frustration is legitimate and when you put yourself in the situation you're complaining about
How to have the conversation before it becomes a resignation
Gifting, referrals, and the internal marketing moves that cost a fraction of what you're spending on Facebook
What a good exit actually looks like when both sides have acted in good faith

No theory. No hindsight bias dressed up as advice. Two people who've actually done it, restarted it, and watched hundreds of others go through it, talking through what they'd genuinely do differently from day one.
We cover:
Why uni clinic is your first practice and most people waste it
How to work out where you sit on the spectrum before you waste two years in the wrong place
Why going regional is probably the fastest skills acquisition available and when it makes sense
The employee versus facilities lease debate — which one actually suits you and why
What to do when you realise the model isn't yours but you're already locked in
The contract conversation nobody has early enough and what it costs when they don't
Partnership models, buy-in structures, and when solo is still the right answer
When it's time to go do your own thing and how to know the difference between running away and moving forward

Some owners bring on an associate to buy back time and end up working more, earning less, and running on empty. That's the hollowed out owner.
Nathan breaks down why it happens. Hiring before the model is set, contracts that never spell out what both sides actually owe each other, and a break-even that quietly climbs from 50 visits a week to 80 or more once wages, super, payroll tax and admin costs stack up. They get into the real yellow and red flags in an associate relationship, why facilities lease agreements are where the model is heading, and what to actually check before your break-even eats your wage.
For the owner who did everything right and still can't work out where the money went.

If you're the only one in the room, what happens when you can't be? That's the real question behind every "lean doesn't work" post this week.
Angus and Nathan get into the actual vulnerability, no safety net if you're sick, injured, or having a kid, and why the fix isn't a bigger practice, it's a more adaptable one. Locums, sublease models, reciprocal shifts with another chiro, and running your finances so a season off doesn't sink you. Plus the seasons every chiro goes through, from the two-year grind to the family years to the one where work becomes the fun part again.
For the chiro worried that starting small means staying stuck.v

Someone we know owns seven practices. He said he'd be better off with one. Everyone in the room knew he was right.
Aaron joins Angus and Nathan to pull apart the high-volume, multi-associate model and why it's built on a risk most owners refuse to name. Their best associate is one skill-acquisition period away from opening two doors down. They get into buyouts versus file transfer fees, why non-competes fight the way the profession actually grows, and the three models replacing the old percentage split: facilities lease, set-rate employment, and licensing.
For the owner with a full team wondering why the numbers still don't feel like they should.

Chiro adjustment prices moved from around $65 to $75 over a decade. Everything else didn't. Most of the reason is fear dressed up as strategy.
We get into what your price says about you before anyone walks in, why low volume doesn't automatically mean high fees, rural versus city pricing, grandfathering without wrecking your own margin, and the difference between a front-end offer and your actual offer. A $29 lead isn't the problem. Discounting your own back end is.
For the owner who hasn't touched their prices in three years and knows it.

What does the worst possible chiropractic practice look like? Shopping centre, second floor, no natural light, four associates on day one, $65 a visit, five year lease, no marketing plan, and a spin-the-wheel care model. We built it. Then we tore it down and built the opposite.
We cover:
Why the coaching pyramid is just copies of copies — and how context collapse is ruining business advice in the profession
The practice you'd hate — location, model, staff, marketing, pricing, all of it
Why the million dollar practice that everyone celebrates is often the worst possible outcome
The practice you'd actually want — minimal viable setup, low overhead, high outreach
What Nathan opened on in week one with zero ads two weeks before COVID lockdown
Why street frontage is overrated and what actually matters when choosing a space
Pricing mistakes — why discounting your care plan below your standard visit makes no sense
The marketing mix — what external versus internal marketing looks like from day one
Why two years of going hard means you never have to go that hard again