Dr. Josh KoenigBecoming a chiropractor was a decision Dr. Josh Koenig made based on personal injuries suffered in high school on the football field. When medications failed to relieve the excruciating pain of the resulting migraines, his mother took him to a chiropractor. After a few visits the migraines disappeared and have never returned.
His educational journey began at the University of Iowa where he received a Bachelor’s of Science Degree with majors in both Biology and Chemistry (2002-2006); he earned his Doctor of Chiropractic at Palmer College of Chiropractic (2006-2010) in the Davenport, Iowa area. Today Dr. Josh leads his team of professional healers at “Koenig Chiropractic” in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He sat down with us and shared about his life as a chiropractor and entrepreneur.
How many hours a week do you work, Dr. Josh?
I work 22 hours a week.
Do you feel that your work week allows for time with friends and family?
Yes, I do.
What about hobbies?
I have time to do a lot of golfing and a lot of fishing–usually two afternoons a week and then on weekends.
Each day I commute about 30 minutes to work. I get into the office at 7:45 a.m. and I start to see patients at 8:00 a.m. until 11 a.m. I then take a 4 hour break, in which time I do 30 minutes of paperwork. Next I go to the gym for a full hour; I take an hour for lunch and then a 30 minute nap. From 2:30-3:00 we have a staff meeting and from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. we see patients. After that, I am done for the day.
What made you choose the chiropractic field?
I wanted to do something more natural than the medical field. I also had a concussion in my last year of playing high school football which left me having migraines all the time. The only thing that could help me with the migraines was chiropractic care. After all the relief I got from chiropractic care, it just made me want to go into the field.
Did you have a mentor at any point in time?
Yes, I did. I knew my mentor before I went to chiropractic school; he helped me choose the best school. He continued to mentor me through school; he let me job shadow. He’s been a huge help making sure I’m on the right path and he’s available in case I need to bounce any questions off of him. It’s really great to have a mentor.
What characteristics help someone to thrive in this career field?
You have to be:
What do you feel the role of branding plays in a successful chiropractic career?
Branding is super important. We strive to make and keep our office as professional, neat and clean as possible. You want to have your business out there looking like the best in the area; so the cleaner the branding is and the more it is out there the better. Also, the more relatable it is to your area the better. For example, we are in an ocean community so we have a lot of anchors and ships in our logo and designs. That helps to make us more relatable to the community.
How important is personal networking to success?
Networking might be the single most important thing. The more you let people know who you are, and the more people can refer you is the best type of situation you can get. The more business people you know, the more town employees, the more politicians you know the better the referral sources are going to be for you. Knowing other doctors, dentists, attorneys; these are all huge resources for building up your clientele.
Have you taken any special networking steps?
We’ve used Business Networking International (BNI); we’re involved in 3 different Chambers of Commerce and other than that we just try to be involved in the community at different events.
On a scale from 1-10 (with 10 being the hardest), how difficult was it to get where you are today?
I’d say an 8 or 9. The first few years of starting a practice from scratch you have to put in a lot of time on the weekends and evenings–plus networking. For example on the weekends you need to be at any type of health fairs or screening events that can help you meet new clients. Being a new business, the more people see you the more they know you and the more they can trust you.
Was it worth the hard work and expense?
The most important thing you can see as a business owner is your business prosper–taking it from zero to sixty is great. Realizing how many patients you have seen in a day or in a week, how many people you’ve gotten to help–that’s the most rewarding part of the business.
What do you feel are the most exciting breakthroughs in your field in the past 5 years?
What would you like to see changed in your field?
I’d say more unity and congruence amongst chiropractors themselves; and then more unity with other healthcare professionals.
What would like to have accomplished by the end of your career?
I’d like to hear grandkids speak to their grandparents about having the same chiropractor because they were having such good results from visits to our office that we have different generations coming to us.
What advice would you give someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
It’s not an easy road. But if you put in the hard work in at the beginning, it’s totally worth it down the road. Get that hard work out of the way so after a few years or so you can have a staff-driven office which allows you time to hang out with your family, friends and also do the things you like to do.
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