From Employed OB/GYN to Boutique GYN and Surgery Practice: Dr. Cheruba Prabakar's Road to $1M

Send us Fan Mail OB/GYN Dr. Cheruba Prabakar ditched employed medicine, went cash-pay, and built a boutique surgical practice in the Bay Area from scratch. Dr. Una breaks down how she overcame fear, bootstrapped without a loan, and hit her first revenue milestone in year one. Dr. Cheruba Prabakar spent 7–8 years in employed medicine before she admitted something felt off. Her dream of owning a practice had been buried under the assumption that private practice simply didn't exist on the West Coast. She joined the EntreMD Business School not with a plan, but with a question: is there another way? A year later, she opened her doors. She bootstrapped entirely, no loan, no outside funding. She answered her own phones, hand-wrote appointments, and stood at a dark outdoor event in a ski jacket handing out cards to strangers. A patient showed up from that event two and a half years later. The work was always working. She just couldn't see it yet. By the end of year one, she had already hit a revenue number she once thought was ridiculous to even write down. The milestone didn't make her comfortable. It made her hungry. She introduced membership programs, raised her surgical prices, and hired a second physician so her practice could run while she's on vacation. Now she's writing a book on fibroids, due out July 2026, because she wants every woman to know they don't have to wait eight months to see a surgeon. 👉 Ready for the next step? Book a call: https://program.www.entremd.com/call Tune in and get to work! Key Takeaways 00:00 The number seemed impossible. Then it happened 01:08 The dream got erased because there were no examples 02:30 Joined EBS before having a plan. That changed everything 05:06 9 to 4. Kids' performances. No permission needed 06:52 The diplomas went up. Then real growth began 09:00 No loan. No safety net. Just resourcefulness 10:44 Cash pay. Surgery. Bay Area. Everyone said no 13:10 One patient on the schedule. Kept going anyway 16:42 6:30 AM. Dark. Cold. A patient showed up two and a half years later 19:00 Do the work today. Let the results catch up later 21:00 A million felt ridiculous. Write it down anyway 23:28 Memberships, raised prices, hired a doctor. That is how the number got hit 26:54 Fear shows up. Go back to the why 31:22 Five years in EBS. Not leaving Additional Resources 🎓 Learn more about the EntreMD Business School: https://entremd.com/call 📧 Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly business tips for physician entrepreneurs: HERE Follow Dr. Una on social media: Instagram: @druna.entremd Facebook: @entremd LinkedIn: @druna YouTube: @entremd TikTok: @druna.entremd The EntreMD Podcast is the go-to resource for physician entrepreneurs who want to build profitable businesses without sacrificing their personal lives. Hosted by Dr. Una, each episode delivers real strategies and unfiltered stories from doctors who are doing it — building practices, growing revenue, and creating lives they love. Don't forget to subscribe/follow so you never miss an episode! #entremd #physicianentrepreneur #physicianCEO #privatepractice #salesforprofessionals Additional Resources: Learn more about my 12-month program .