Don't blame yourself if not an entrepreneur

If you are reading this, whether you are a veterinarian, technician or receptionist, you fall into the category called, "Dedicated Service Providers Who Work Far Too Long and Hard for the Income You are Receiving."

Of course, I made up this neat, not-so-little, category title. But it sure does fit, doesn't it?

Technicians and receptionists have a better time of it because they get raises on an irregular basis whether the practice is profitable or not, so I am herewith and hereafter addressing the plight of my colleagues, the veterinarians, and the rest of you can go back to work.

Recent figures

Recent figures show dentists averaging $128,000 in annual income; opticians averaging $89,000 and our revered colleagues averaging $59,000. While I do not know personally any veterinarians earning exactly $59,000, I have consulted in practices grossing $750,000 where the owner was taking home $30,000-40,000. I have consulted in practices where they owed the IRS $59,000 from unpaid payroll taxes. I have consulted in practices where the only reason the spouse had not divorced the practitioner was that neither could afford the legal fees and the practice was worth so little, based on profitability, that both were waiting on a minor miracle so they could afford to get divorced. Funny though, after the money started rolling in, many forgot about their divorces.

What's wrong in most of these cases is not that the veterinarians were not working hard, they were just doing the wrong work! Of the thousands of actions, directions or services a veterinarian can provide, to and for his/her practice, some hundred or so produce chaos, unmanageable chaos...99.4 percent purely unmanageable, unpredictable and unrewarding chaos!

Chaotic questions

To help you determine your quantum level of chaos, just answer these questions:

1. Do you suffer from excess staff turnover?

2. Are you able to find and keep associates?

3. Do you spend more than 45 hours a week at the practice?

4. Do your children say, "Who's that?" when they see you?

5. Are 10 percent of your patient visits from new clients?

6. Do you live from paycheck to paycheck?

7. Do you have any idea how much salary you can bank on for 2001?

8. Are all your credit cards paid off monthly?

9. Are your taxes paid on time?

10. Do you have enough put away to survive six months, in the event of an emergency?

11. Have you a viable retirement savings plan?

12. Have you ever had your practice worth evaluated?

13. Do you know for sure that you have enough insurance against disaster?

14. Do you have a will?

More than five "no" answers means that you should find a giant size Ovatector and just jump in. Forget the strainer! You are already strained enough!

Here to serve

Firstly, my esteemed colleagues, do you really believe that, somehow, you must serve every warm body that comes through your door? A rapid solution to that problem comes at the end of this month's wisdom.

Well, it ain't necessarily so! There are clients who advance your practice by providing the necessary care for their pet on a timely, or semi-timely, or intermittently timely, schedule. And there are those that somehow do not hear the message and only want what they want, as if they were able to judge what was best for their pet.

The first category represents 55 percent of most practices and provides 95 percent of your profits and 5 percent of your stress. The latter category is the 45 percent who provide 5 percent of your profits and 95 percent of your stress.

Not surprisingly, your staff situation is completely analogous. Typically, 45 percent of your staff performs at minimal levels and provides most of your aggravation.

Remember that you may be the head of the practice, but the staff is the heart.

Think back to your best-ever staff member. Consider that person as a 10. How many of your current staff compared to your 10, rate above a seven?

Now think about your number one employee. YOU!

Your practice is nothing more or less than a reflection of you. Never doubt it. We see it all the time. The open, gregarious, caring veterinarian has the most wonderful clients and the perfectionist, introverted and demanding veterinarian has mostly clients from hell!

If your thinking is sloppy, your practice will be sloppy.

If you are disorganized, your practice will be disorganized. If you are greedy, your staff will be greedy, always asking for more while working less and less on the practice's behalf.

If your management information is almost non-existent, so will your profits be.

First steps

If you want your practice to improve, first, you must improve.

Your first step should be to sit down with four sheets of paper and write down all the things you want to change about your practice and staff. Now divide these changes into three categories, client-driven, staff-driven and boss-driven.

You will need one-half sheet for the client-driven problems, a whole sheet for the staff-driven problems and two-and-one-half sheets for the problems you created by not knowing and not doing.

Okay, I'll make it a whole lot easier for you with instant absolution.

It is not your fault! You were not prepared well for the jobs of manager and entrepreneur!

You thought all you had to know was how to practice medicine and nobody even warned you that there was untidy baggage that came along with practice ownership.

If you have never made a goal list, let me help you.

Answer the following questions:

1. How do you see your life five and 10 years from now?

2. How do you want to run your life on a daily basis?

3. How do you want to interact with your family, staff, associates and clients?

4.What would you like others to say about you?

5.How much income will you need to earn (take-home) to live the way you plan?

You need a clearer picture of how you want to spend your life before you can remodel your practice to provide you with the means to do it. Otherwise, your practice will have no meaningful drive, no purpose and no spiritual connection with the reason you chose to practice veterinary medicine. Remember, if you had not gotten lucky with the admissions committee, you might be supporting your family by selling used cars today!

However, with strong personal goals you certainly set strategic goals, whether to practice solo or corporately, how to provide more and better service for your clients and patients, and what kind of employee standards you need to provide those services.

We don't want to hire staff just because their background shows animal experience. Some of these people may neglect the clients to play with the patients.

We need staff who agrees with your management style (as soon as you figure out what your management style is. We'll cover that next month.)

We need staff that is passionate about client service as well as patient well-being. Think about two ads; one looking for people with experience, another looking for people with heart.

We need staff who want to grow professionally and personally.

We need to make their jobs intellectually rewarding with constant training.

You need to build your practice around your personality, not the other way around.

If you can't wait

In part two of this series, we'll go over trying to fix the major errors we see in practices just like yours. But if you really cannot wait until next month, you could:

1. Read the "E-Myth" by Michael Gerber. It will change your life.

2. Have a contest among your staff to determine your dozen most obnoxious clients and send them a letter asking them to transfer their records to the practice down the street, whose veterinarian disgusts you.

3. Log on to veterinaryproductivity.com for free practice management advice.

4. With all the extra money you make, invest in a book called, "The Richest Man in Babylon" by George S. Clason.

5. Tune in same time, same station next month for more life-changing advice addressed to the untrained veterinary entrepreneur.