You, probably like many others, got into business for yourself because you want to change the way you and your staff interact with patients and their owners, creating an environment that feels welcoming, exciting, and family oriented.
Now you are making money and enjoying the fruits of your labor. BUT many practice owners get stuck here.
Many aspects of owning a practice are hard.
But for many the hardest is deciding what to do with profits.
Should you hire?
Should you build out more exam rooms?
Should you buy the building you’re renting?
Should you buy a different building and expand capacity?
If you’re not asking yourselves these kinds of questions it could mean two things…One, you’re too busy SURVIVING and don’t have the “brain space” to be proactive with your practice planning OR TWO, you make money and are on auto-pilot, never really thinking about these questions because no one has even brought it up to you!
The secret to discovering every presented opportunity in your practice is to think more like a business owner than a veterinarian. A veterinarian treats patients. A business owner leverages resources to empower its employees and take advantage of their appointed role as servants to the community they’re in.
Thinking like a BOSS means thinking forward. Putting your thinking cap on and seeking the next step for your practice to take to deliver the best possible service and provide the best possible outcomes for everyone involved: owner(s), employees, patients, etc.
Hiring is one thing that owners mistake as adding “costs,” however, if they are the right fit and serve in a necessary role, that new employee should MORE than pay for themselves and not only earn money for themselves, but be earning money for you – directly or indirectly. You should be able to pass the expense onto pet owners.
You should be seeking win/win/win scenarios. It means asking questions (sometimes hard ones) about what’s happened in the business with the employees, and with patients, up to this point? Why? What are the causes? What is everyone experiencing currently? What needs to change to make it better?
If need be, find all of the issues and list them out on a piece of paper. NOW, think through the impact each of those issues is having. Which one needs to be addressed FIRST?
When we try to solve everything at once it’ll overload us and we can get easily distracted.
MAKE THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING.
This often starts with a vision of what’s next RIGHT NOW. What does “success” look like in solving the issue at hand that is having the largest effect at keeping you from being the best veterinary practice ever?
Now, when thinking about what’s NEXT I caution you! Don’t think about what’s most important – think about what will have the greatest impact to accomplish the vision.
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