Background and HISTORY
Iris Kimberg MS PT, OTR is no stranger to the business world. She started her first company, HTA of New York, Inc. from scratch 35 years ago, at a time when therapy agencies as we know them today did not exist. When she sold the company in 1996, it had three branch offices, 700 affiliated therapists and was generating $14 million in revenue. During the time when Iris was under a non-compete clause and not able to work in the industry, her idea to be a consultant was born. “After the initial thrill of not working wore off, I realized how much I missed interacting with all the therapists I had grown to know through my company. So they began to call me at home, and eventually the talk would turn to therapy.” I clearly saw that there was a need for a consulting company where therapists either already in private practice or thinking about private practice could turn to for advice in this rapidly changing and competitive health care market.”
Then 9/11 happened and the 14 OT and PT practices in my Downtown NYC neighborhood were destroyed, shuttered or damaged. I immediately began consulting with them to help get them back into business and have not stopped since.
EXPERTISE
Iris now enjoys sharing her expertise with other therapists across the country through business webinars and private 1:1 and small group consultations. She was a Professor at Columbia University DPT program, teaching a marketing and business entrepreneurship for 12 years and has also guest lectured at both Touro College and Long Island University. She was the Merion Publication’s (parent company of Advance Magazine) business columnist, writing over 70 columns on business practice and management for 10 years, has written articles for PPS IMPACT magazine, and has been a featured speaker for the APTA and AOTA, The Council of Physiotherapists in NYS, and a frequent webinar presenter for the Private Practice Section of the APTA.
EXPERIENCE
To date Iris has consulted with over 1000 PT OT and ST practices, both big and small throughout the United States in various stages of starting, growing, and selling their practice. Nothing makes her happier than to see other therapists become successful in their own right. There is no minimum time commitment so every session and consultation is individually tailored to each therapists’ needs and issues.
Iris has been involved in helping over 45 private practices sell their entities in New York City and New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, California, Oregon, Illinois, Colorado, North Carolina, and Alabama. Some deals are therapist to therapist and others involve buyers who are private equity firms, and multi state corporate providers. Iris has assisted in practice valuations to determine realistic ask prices, developed discreet marketing plans to announce practice sales, and has acted as an intermediary in negotiations and bringing a sale to a successful conclusion. Many times potential buyers of practices reach out to Iris to help evaluate whether a practice is a good fit, or worth the ask price. Consultation fees start as $200 per hour pro-rated with no minimum or maximum time commitment. Iris never takes a commission on practice sales, and feels she does her best work when parties reach what could be viewed as an apparent impasse. In most deals there are a few moments when the parties may be far apart in their positions and Iris uses her flexible, open thinking skills to help guide all parties to a middle ground and consensus.
Iris Kimberg - NOt all consultants are created equally; Get Advice from People you Respect.
Choosing the right consultant is very similar to the process you might hope your patients go through in choosing the right provider- what is the consultant offering you? Check out credentials, years and type of relevant related business experience, backed up by statistics on past engaements with therapists, success rates in the projects they have been involved with, specialty areas, familiarity with the project/practice you have in mind, accessibility and flexibility Fees for service, resources available, style of imparting information and motivation of the consultant also come into play. Make sure the consultant is not more interested in making money from you than for you through affiliate links and click funnels and locking you into long contracts and packages that upsell you for their benefit not yours.
As a consultant I pride myself on working one on one with therapists and offering concrete, realistic and actionable ideas rather than “silver bullets” that many so called experts in private practice pitch, along with their special “system” to make money. As someone who built a practice from the ground up, and now works with over 150 practices around the country annually, I look forward to helping you sort out issues, make strategic plans and grow your practice with value makers, not value takers that fits your practice in the best way possible . Consultations can be in person or via virtual recorded conferences.
I also continue to try to better myself as a consultant and participated recently in the Crain’s Powerful Women’s Summit. One of the great takeaways was the crucial role women need to take in elevating one another in the workplace, often through consulting. “Without mentorship, there are no great women anything. Trace any successful carrier – male or female, -back to its roots and you will find a tree of mentors along the way”.