How Much Money Do You Need To Start A Ketamine Clinic?

Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published on 01-11-2021 and has been updated on  03-30-2023 to ensure accuracy, relevance, and the inclusion of the latest information.

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Discover the factors determining the initial investment and potential return on investment (ROI) when starting a ketamine infusion clinic, and explore the choices that influence your costs and income as a healthcare professional seeking to diversify your career.

You’ve been interested in starting a ketamine infusion clinic for a while now. Perhaps you're feeling overworked and with cuts in reimbursements, maybe now you want to diversify your income streams. But you have a big question. How much is this going to cost you? Between paying back your student loans, the kids, car payments, etc...can you even invest in starting a clinic in the next few months? Plus when will you start seeing your return on investment (ROI)? 

In this blog we will explain the factors to determine how much money you’ll need to start a ketamine infusion clinic and the realities of return on investment (ROI).

Is starting a ketamine clinic something that’s going to break the bank?

How Much Is it Going To Cost You To Start?

The unique thing about opening up a private practice ketamine infusion clinic is that how much you need to invest (opening costs, etc.) is primarily dependent on YOUR CHOICES.

For example, the initial startup cost will be determined by whether you:

• Start by renting out a space in an already existing medical clinic or building out an entire office space on your own

• Outsource starting IVs, answering phone calls, etc. or will you be willing to do everything (i.e. one-person show) when you first start out

Bottom line, it's hard to say what your specific initial startup costs will be.  However as a general guideline, it'd be prudent to have $75K-150K in a business checking account for initial startup costs and a cushion for six months to one year of expenses. 

How long can you expect a return on investment (ROI) from your ketamine clinic?

When Can I Expect to Make Money From My Ketamine Clinic?

Just like how much the initial startup costs are primarily dependent on YOUR choices, how much you will make is primarily dependent on YOU. Obviously you make money when patients come to your clinic. Patients and referring doctors need to know YOU and your clinic. So income generated depends on:

• How you market (organic vs paid)

• Your network of referring physicians

• Future patients' word-of-mouth advertising to their friends and family.

The process of opening up a clinic takes patience and time.  It’s prudent to not expect significant income for a year (or maybe even two).

Explore more about how much money you could make with our two part blog series where we discuss ketamine clinic profitability:

Are Ketamine Clinics Profitable? Part 1: Exploring Revenue

Are Ketamine Clinics Profitable? Part 2: Exploring Expenses

What are the realities of starting a ketamine clinic? Is it something that you can go into full time immediately?

Real World Example of a Starting  Ketamine Clinic 

For 6-8 months after our ketamine clinic opened, it was very slow.  It took about one year for a solid patient base (i.e booster infusions for returning patients) to develop, as well as for physicians in the community to know that we even existed.

At first, the ketamine clinic was a side gig and I continued to work part-time in the ED for financial stability.  I gradually tapered down the ED shifts, while ramping up the office hours to meet patient demand.  After nearly 3 years, I've stopped working entirely in the ED to focus all of my time on ketamine infusions and teaching other doctors how to start up their own clinic.

What questions should you ask yourself if you’re still having doubts on starting a ketamine clinic?

Questions To Ask If You Are Still On The Fence About Starting

What helped me finally pull the trigger were two lingering questions:  

1. "When I turn 65 years old, will I regret not taking this leap now?"

2. "How would I feel if another doctor opened a ketamine clinic in the city I was about to?" (and all I would be able to say is, "HEY! They stole MY idea!")

At the end of the day, it's about taking action on a calculated risk and a leap into the unknown.  If you highly value certainty, security, and must have a regular, consistent salary, going the entrepreneurial path will likely not be for you. However, if you want a change, risk-tolerant, and are proactive and committed to making this happen no matter what, then we say, “If we could do it, so can you!”.

Ready to start your own clinic using a proven road map? Join our email list and be notified about the next free webinar and open registration for Ketamine StartUp.

Related Questions:

What are the best strategies for keeping overhead costs low when starting a ketamine clinic?

• The more you personally do the less money it will cost you. Some strategies are to sublet or rent a room in an already operating medical practice, keeping staff minimal (you wear all hats: you place the IV, monitor the patient, answer the phone, etc.), and do your marketing yourself (make your own website, use free versions of social media schedulers, etc.). You are probably thinking “yikes that's a lot”, and yes it is. But eventually you can outsource many if not all of these jobs but first it’s key for you to know how things run. Plus keeping a lean operation allows you to see how the local market responds to your clinic and what internal processes you can improve.

How can I balance my current healthcare job with the demands of starting and running a ketamine infusion clinic?

• We didn’t start our ketamine clinic until we were both either per diem or part-time. This allowed space for us to build our clinic, manage our patients, and work on the business aspects of the ketamine infusion practice. Business was slow for us starting out, so this allowed us to fit our patients into the days where we weren’t working our salaried hospital positions. Eventually when the demand of our clinic increased, we eventually left our jobs. 

What helped guide us was keeping patients first. We take a holistic approach and believe the therapeutic relationship between the doctor and patient can be as powerful as any medication or surgery. So if the demand from the hospital job or the ketamine clinic compromised our ability to be present mentally and emotionally for our patients in either setting, we took time to evaluate if we needed to cut back on shifts at the hospital or ultimately leave.

If you found this blog helpful, check out these other blogs too:

How To Fund Starting Your Ketamine Clinic 

As a small fish in the vast ocean of business, your options for funding your ketamine clinic are endless. In this blog post, we’ll cover these options so that you can decide which one suits you the most.

Are Ketamine Clinics Profitable? Part 1: Exploring Revenue

We get this question a lot, and we completely understand why. Leaving your stable hospital job to start a ketamine clinic is a risk and requires money. Will you be able to earn that money back and increase your income? In part one of this two-part blog series, we talk about the various factors that affect your clinic’s revenue.

Are Ketamine Clinics Profitable? Part 2: Exploring Expenses

Is opening a ketamine clinic going to financially reward you as much or more than your hospital job? In the second part of this two-part blog series, we are going to answer this question plus the factors that affect how big your clinic’s expenses will be.

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Explore the factors to determine how much money you’ll need to start a ketamine infusion clinic and the realities of when to expect a return on investment in this blog post.

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