He Learned How to Grow a Clinic From a Fruit & Veg Stall | Jonathan Shearer, BOAC #57

In this episode of The Business of a Clinic, Jared speaks with Jonathan, a podiatrist, clinic leader, and director of a podiatry and sports therapy practice near Birmingham.Jonathan’s journey into podiatry started unusually early. At 16, he had an ingrown toenail treated and remembers the immediate difference it made to his life. That experience shaped his decision to become a podiatrist, because he saw how quickly podiatry could improve someone’s pain, mobility, and quality of life.After training in Southampton and working in the NHS, Jonathan moved into private practice and built his own clinic in Tamworth. Twenty years later, the practice has evolved from a one-person operation into a team-based clinic built around podiatry, sports therapy, MSK care, technology, training, patient experience, and community relationships.The conversation explores what it really takes to move from clinician to clinic leader. Jonathan explains why many clinicians are never trained to run a business, why private healthcare has matured, why podiatry practices often undercharge, and why charging properly is necessary if you want to invest in your team, your equipment, your training, and the patient experience.Jared and Jonathan also discuss the shift from self-employed associates to an employed team model, and why that changed the culture of the clinic. Jonathan shares how he thinks about trust, vulnerability, cross-referrals inside the team, weekly training, team alignment days, and building a culture where practitioners can ask each other for help without ego or embarrassment.A major theme of the episode is growth outside the clinic walls. Jonathan explains how lessons from working on a fruit and veg market stall shaped his approach to building relationships. He talks about local businesses, sweet shops, running shops, football clubs, PTA nights, leaflets, free treatment vouchers, and why clinic owners need to “go where the buffalo are” instead of relying only on digital marketing.The episode is a practical look at how clinics grow through trust: trust with patients, trust inside the team, and trust across the local community.In this episodeJonathan’s journey from NHS podiatrist to private clinic ownerHow an ingrown toenail at 16 shaped his careerBuilding a podiatry clinic in Tamworth over 20 yearsWhy private practice was not really taught to cliniciansHow podiatry, sports therapy, MSK, and technology came togetherMoving from self-employed associates to an employed teamWhy clinic owners often burn outWhy many podiatry practices underchargeCharging enough to invest in training, equipment, and experienceImproving the clinic environment and first impressionsWeekly training, CPD, and internal team developmentBuilding a vulnerable culture where people ask for helpCross-referring patients to the right practitioner inside the teamWhy good clinic is good businessUsing reviews, rebooking, and feedback to spot training needsTeam alignment days and building culture outside the clinicHiring mistakes and letting candidates test-drive the clinicWhy staff retention depends on career developmentLearning relationship-building from a fruit and veg market stallConnecting with local businesses, GP surgeries, and community groupsThe sweet shop referral storyWhy clinic owners should give first and build trustBuilding symbiotic relationships with local partnersWhy local networking still matters in a digital marketing worldThe PTA night that helped launch a clinicWhy clinic owners need to “go where the buffalo are”Key ideaClinic growth is not only built through ads, websites, or digital funnels. Jonathan’s story shows how much growth can come from trust, community, team culture, local relationships, and consistently showing up where patients and partners already are.About the showThe Business of a Clinic explores how private healthcare clinics can grow by improving patient relationships, patient engagement, clinic operations, retention, follow-up, commercial systems, and the overall patient experience.