Name: Jeff Klaubert
Business Name: HealthSource of Manchester
Website: https://www.healthsourcechiro.com/manchester/
Industry: Healthcare, chiropractic clinic
Location: Manchester
SBDC Advisor's Name: Julie Glosner
First, what is your business? What do you do?
Private chiropractic clinic. We provide chiropractic, progressive rehab (PT), spinal decompression services, and deep tissue laser therapy.
When the shutdown began, what was the immediate impact on your business?
We experienced an immediate 50% decline in patient volume. Fortunately, chiropractors were deemed essential, so we were allowed to stay open. We stabilized at that 50% decline level for about a month and then patient volume started to return in May. By the end of June were back to pre-COVID levels and hit new patient visit highs in July.
How were you able to adapt (or not) during the first few months of the pandemic?
We laid off all non-essential staff, including one of our two doctors. I kept my primary doctor, and I covered front desk and the rehab bay, working under supervision of my doctor. We also cut back from 6 days per week to 3 days and dropped to just 20 treating hours a week.
Once businesses were able to open in NH, how did you adapt your business, services, products, and/or physical space?
We went back to 4 days a week when volume warranted. We then hired back a full-time rehab specialist. We went back to 5 days a week in October and hired back a full-time front desk receptionist as well. We plan on adding back a 2nd full-time doctor in April or May and going back to a full 6-day per week schedule.
Will you continue the changes and adaptations you have made once concerns over COVID-19 are behind us? Are you planning to institute more changes in the near future?
There's not a lot of change you can make to a hands-on business-like chiropractic but we will continue to follow whatever the health & safety guidelines are as they evolve.
Are you collaborating with other businesses, municipalities, organizations, etc. for the first time or differently than in the past? If so, in what ways?
We're collaborating better and more often with other small businesses to cross-promote each other’s services.
If you have employees, how has your workforce been affected?
We had 3 full-time employees and one part-time doctor just prior to the shutdown. We dropped back to one doctor and the owner during the early days of the pandemic. We have since rehired a full-time rehab specialist and full-time front desk associate.
How are you communicating with customers now? Are you marketing in the same ways you were prior to COVID-19?
We more than doubled our online marketing budget and increased our social media presence significantly. Unfortunately, our direct community outreach and engagement had to stop. We are now looking for opportunities to reengage with businesses and local community organizations.
How has SBDC helped you and your business, especially in the last year?
We have worked with Julie Glosner, our local SBDC advisor since the beginning of the pandemic. We were not engaged with the SBDC prior but reached out at the onset of the pandemic to see what resources and guidance they could provide. We have been blessed with Julie's coaching, assistance, and access to additional resources. She has been a truly valuable asset to our business and a good friend.
From which of the following relief programs have you received funds?
Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), EIDL Advance, Payroll Protection Program
If you received a PPP loan, tell us your own and your employees' stories.
The PPP loan enabled us to stay open and not reduce our one remaining doctor's salary or hours. It also enabled me, as the owner, to take a little money as well personally. We also used some of it to pay our rent. We were blessed that patient volume began to return in May, and in June we used PPP funds to rehire a full-time rehab specialist. In August we used PPP funds to hire a full-time massage therapist.
Updates now that the restrictions are lifting:
- We made an offer to add another full-time doctor in July. After his training is completed in September, we’ll expand hours to 6 days a week with 5 days of early AM and evening appointments. We will offer more available treatment times and days than any other chiropractic office in the Manchester market.
- This week we lifted our mask requirements and it was very well received by patients. We do ask patients if they would prefer our doctor to wear a mask when adjusting, and so far only one person has asked.
- April and May were both record-breaking months, highest revenues in clinic history, and for the first time in our two years of being open we’ve operated at a profitable level for 3 months in a row.
This client story is part of NH SBDC's ongoing collection of COVID Creativity stories about businesses surviving and thriving during COVID-19.