qantas A380

Fed up paying out huge fees to travel to management conferences and learning nothing? I’ll save you the trouble. In the last month, I’ve travelled to three continents, attending and presenting at both WSAVA/BSAVA in the UK and CVC East Coast in Washington DC.

Three continents, two conferences and one crazy veterinary world – here’s what I learned.

1. Net Promoter Score rocks – you can read the book for more detail but it boils down to this: how many of your clients are actively recommending you and are advocates for your practice? Getting client feedback, and better still, having this immortalised online in the form of reviews is going to be a huge advantage.

2. Coach your staff like a sports team was Shawn McVey’s advice. If you train hard, have talent and play by the rulebook you generally get to play for a good team, earn more money, have a nicer car, etc.  If you do something the coach doesn’t like, coach blows the whistle, pulls you aside and tells you what to do differently. If you consistently fail to do what coach asks then you get dropped, have to play in a smaller team with less pay, smaller house/car, etc. This is how it works in just about every field of business. So why do we struggle with it in veterinary medicine? You are the coach, do you have a playbook and are you blowing your whistle?

3. Be different and be good if you want to succeed. This was the message from an inspirational Marwan Tarazi. Marwan is a small animal practitioner from England who has posted some stellar performance figures from his start-up practice. His targets were to generate annual revenue of £150,000, £250,000 and £350,000 for years one, two and three. He’s smashing these targets out of the park and in his third year is on course to deliver £750,000 – from a one-vet practice! What’s his edge? Marwan would have you believe it was laparoscopic surgery, but we at The Hamster Wheel know different. While everyone was amazed by the success of the clinic, the shrewd members in the audience knew that Marwan would have posted these figures whatever he did. His secret isn’t technology; it’s commitment, passion and chutzpah. Good on you, Marwan.

4. Stop trying to fix people who are psychologically broken. It’s not your job and you are not a shrink. This means you are wasting your time. Instead learn better ways of hiring people who help you achieve, not hold you back.

5. Write a blog. Google will love you and only 4% of clinics do this, so you’ll stand out a mile from the crowd. Post a blog every week if possible and you will out-rank your peers on any search engine listing you like. Think new client gold rush

6. Sign up for a twitter account and get into some meaningful conversations with clients and potential clients. Not convinced? Then come and see me present at a CVC show or in Melbourne at AVBA.

7. Email is most definitely not dead. Use it to save money, time and get better engagement from your clients.  Sack your marketing person if they say otherwise.

8. Even though we are in the economic doldrums, there are a lot of clinics that are growing fast and are very busy. They are doing something dramatically different. In fact, they are doing a lot of things dramatically different. If you’re suffering and haven’t changed anything then you need to act because you’re running out of time.

9. We recruit people really, really badly. We should be getting more help from qualified professionals. Great people power great businesses. It is worth the time and investment to hire well.

10. Getting out there, meeting new people and catching up with old friends is great for the soul, fights isolation and exposes you to different ways of thinking. Make it a priority to attend a conference you have never been to before and throw yourself in hook, line and sinker.

There’s a terrible truth I learned that you have to know…but it will be painful to hear.

I’m truly sorry it had to come from me.

If you can handle what comes next then I’ll see you in Washington D.C., as Daveee returns to CVC!

Do corporates spell doom for your vet practice?

Last week I wrote about why a corporate practice opening up nearby might just be the best news you could get. This week the empire strikes back, you may be unwise to underestimate the power of the dark side…;-) Let’s go.

1. Corporate veterinary practices are better funded and spread their risk over a wider area both geographically and technically. You exist in one place doing one thing. This makes them more recession proof than you.

2. They have a marketing team and take promotion of their business seriously, with adoption of modern database and digital marketing practices. You send out vaccine reminders, have a website you haven’t updated for months and think Facebook is an annoyance that should be banned.

3. They have strength in depth. If a bit isn’t working they tend to replace it. This means they have staying power. If you are the bit that isn’t working then you’re in trouble.

4. They have an HR team that, if you are very unlucky, might have half a clue what performance management actually is. You do ‘once in a while’ appraisals that never seem to achieve anything more than upsetting the team. You hate doing them as much as the team hates getting them.

5. They spend a lot more time thinking strategically, you spend all your time thinking clinically. They are not on the Hamster Wheel, you are.

The content of both of these linked blogs is a gross simplification of the matter. But the intention is simply to show that both models have strengths and weaknesses. Neither is perfect and clearly there is room for both in the market.

The message for smaller less business savvy practices is, and I speak with experience having worked as director in a large group and the owner of an independent hospital, that corporate veterinary practice will never have as big an impact as you fear. However they are also here to stay and you need to think about how to deal with that. (Shameless plug: It’s not necessarily a bad thing as I explain in my article in this month’s edition of  the Veterinary Business Journal).

Reality is that what happens in your practice is just about completely down to you. If you spend a day a week focusing on running your own business (building the plan, ensuring everyone has clear objectives and treating customers like royalty), rather than worrying about what other’s are up to (which incidentally you have no control over) then you are likely to benefit from improved performance in your practice.

So once again I hand the floor back to you for comments. I’m getting on a plane to Birmingham, my debut at BSAVA 2012 beckons. And I can’t wait to take the stage. A very Happy Easter to you, hopefully see some of you very soon.

1. You are probably cheaper

Though you may fear being undercut by a well financed corporate practice, reality is that many full service vet clinics do not make a lot more than 5-8% net profit (in the UK and here in Australia the net profit sits at around 14% for corporate giants CVS UK Ltd and Greencross).

The lesson is that these guys have costs too and even if they do enter with low prices, they won’t stay low forever.

My experience has been that they are far better at charging for services than the average vet owned small clinic, so chances are you will be the cheaper competitor.

This price difference can be used to your advantage.

2. Massive commitment

There is virtually no chance that an assistant employed by a corporate practice will have the same commitment to their job as you do to your business. There is simply more on the line for you than them. This is your baby, your dream. It is just a job to them. However highly motivated they are, there is nothing like “skin in the game” to boost motivation.

Assuming you have more personality and charisma than a Rottweiler with toothache, this is your “widow-maker” weapon. Clients want to see the same vet as much as possible; you are likely to be the face of your practice for years. The corporate will likely change vets more frequently – and in some cases as much as every 6-12 months.

You therefore have the chance to create the notably different, unique, personalised service than clients love – this is what I mean when I talk about ‘boutique clinics’. Now imagine giving this service level and being seen to be cheaper? Do you think clients might like that?

3. Fast decisions

Big things have rules, cumbersome protocols and multiple steps in a decision making process. Little things often do not. You are smaller, lean and nimble. This means you can make decisions faster. Vets also tend to hate having their clinical freedoms limited by rigid protocols, so a highly controlled corporate life is less attractive to many vets than the freedom offered by smaller clinics. Use this your advantage when recruiting.

4. Finger on the pulse.

You work in your business each day as principle and manager. The owner/manager of the corporate does not, they have other clinics to look after. This gives you an edge as you know intimately and accurately what’s happening on the ground each day. Accurate information helps you to make good decisions and take action quickly. This is mega-important when managing your team and performance.

5. Large organisations mean lots of people.

Corporate practice (for right or wrong) has gotten a bad name with vets and in many quarters seen as insensitive or “chasing the dollar”. This grates with the ingrained veterinary ethos because there is a more clearly defined/articulated conflict. Doing medicine well means spending a lot of money but vets aren’t much good at asking clients to pay full whack for it.

Managing this balance is difficult enough, but becomes ten times harder for a non-vet manager (many regional decision makers in corporate practices are either nurses or come from out-with the industry). When clinicians are told “no” by anyone they don’t like it. But when the person saying “no” does not have any clinical experience, they have a far harder time. This is principally a respect and power issue. Non-clinicians lack the knowledge base viewed as important by vets, so they lack credibility. (I’m not saying it’s fair, but it is an observable truth).

When there is a lack of respect then the organisation won’t function well due to conflict. Conflict clearly is a severe impediment to just about every aspect of performance. Who, after all, wants to pull the extra mile when they do not like being at work?

There are many sources of conflict of course and this is by no means just a feature of life in corporate practice, but the bigger the practice the more people there are to keep happy. You are small, so treat people well and you will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. (Or at least you’ll have a happy team that turns up to do a great job).

Next week, the flip side…

Five reasons why a corporate opening next door might be your worst nightmare. In the meantime I’d love to hear your own advice and tips on how you fight your corner against the corporate clinics….or do you love them and want to reply?

A Call to All Veterinary Practice Owners of the Future from David Nicol on Vimeo.

While writing my talks for BSAVA/World congress today, I went off on a tangent, thinking about just how terrifying today’s business conditions are for those who might want to get into vet practice ownership. There are many good reasons not to go into business. Fear is one of the worst. But it is what stops a huge number of people even trying.

My experience is that setting up or taking over a clinic is seriously hard work, and will almost certainly mean a couple of years of the worst pay and conditions you’ll experience. But there are a lot of talented young people in the veterinary profession who will be equal to the challenge and up for the whirlwind ride that ownership brings. In short it’s a blast, stressful, fun, exciting, terrifying. The ride of your life!

Are you up for the challenge? Some of you had better be. Your profession needs you. I hope this blog gives you some inspiration.

I’ll be presenting at all three of this year’s CVC veterinary conferences in the US. The tour kicks off in Washington D.C. on Friday 27th April 2012. My topic this year is using digital media to market your veterinary practice. In this video I outline my sessions.

A typically lively event, this year was no exception with over fifteen boats taking to the water to compete, including our trans-Tasman cousins from Provet New Zealand – back this year to defend their crown.

I was fortunate to be invited aboard the Hill’s team boat skippered by the Vivacious Dr Louise Stevenson of Cremorne Vet Hospital. Here’s my report on the day.

Jibe

The start line was tense as the crews got used to their boats and jostled for a good start position. I can’t repeat them (must have been bad eh?) but some choice words of advice may have been heard drifting across the water from skipper to skipper.

Thankfully the start horn sounded just in time to avoid the mass nautical pile up which seemed inevitable and all boats headed out to Shark Island for the first turn.

After a slow start where most were struggling for wind, things picked up and we were soon slicing through the field, close-hauled into the wind. Things always get a bit sticky on the water and when three boats (ours being one of them) were charging head first at one of the largest reefs in the harbour it was always going to get lively.

With two boats within a few meters of our port side, skipper Louise barked out her intention to tack. A decision that seemed less than popular with the skippers of the boats alongside. Not that captain fantastic Louise cared, I’m certain that had we had cannon’s she’d have blasted them right out of the water. As it was, we had the right of way (and a sharp tongue with which to lash any – and all – who got in the way) so grudgingly, the other boats tacked away.

Interesting Maneuvers

Disaster averted, on we raced to the top marker buoy. When we arrived it was clear another salty-kerfuffle was on the cards, this time not involving ourselves.

The fleet was still pretty bunched up and space was at a premium. This was not to deter the Drontal Boat who made a determined, if not terribly well conceived, attempt to round the marker first. The hashed attempt seemed doomed from the off, and the skipper was left seething as he hit the marker and rounded it on the wrong side, a move costing him several minutes as they had to go around again to make the mark. But worse, I suspect, were the mocking jibes from the other boat crews who seemed to be enjoying the schadenfreude-laced moment.

The event thereafter unfolded into a more sedate affair as the boats spread out. And crews enjoyed the on board hospitality.

After the third lap of the course, the winning lie was in sight. Sadly it had been breached long before we passed it but we were pretty happy to come fifth, stealing a quick pass on the Cenvet boat as we approached the line.

This we thought would upset skipper Sam Haynes, but it seemed that he and his crew were far more irritated by the fact that they only had six beers on board for the race.

Perhaps someone in the finish boat took pity (or, more likely, stole their beers and couldn’t see straight), as they inexplicably placed above us when the results were read out…still we weren’t bitter. Well-done Sam.

Smug Kiwis

What do gay pilots and smug kiwis have in common?

As everyone arrived back in port the news filtered over the VHF that the Kiwis had won the race.

Smug is not necessarily the friendliest of descriptions. None-the-less it was accurate as the chaps from across the pond savoured the retention of their sailing crown and another fine opportunity to indulge in that most Kiwi of past-times, Aussie-bashing.

Viking Raiders

There was also a side-competition for Best Dressed Boat, which was won by Ilium for their Viking theme. Though for the record I thought the Kiwis, with their Gay Pilots theme (complete with Raybans and Freddy Mercury moustaches), were a shoe in for the double. Unlucky boys you were robbed.

After a hot and hard day sailing, the after-event BBQ was awash with tales of intrepid seamanship, with all thirstily guzzling the cold beers (excuse the spilt infinitive) and devouring their BBQ chicken sandwiches.

After Dinner Small Talk

The event is largely attended by practice owners and industry figures, sothere were many interesting topics of conversation being discussed including the launch of a new veterinary wholesaler into the Australian market and, interestingly, whether Goodwill was of any value when purchasing a practice any longer. These and other topics to be explored in later posts…

The day was awesome and I’d like to thank the AVA (for organising the event), Hill’s (for inviting me) and the weather (for being nice). One good day at least in this unbelievably wet ‘Glaswegian-style’ summer was fantastic.

Drunken Sailors

A special mention is due to the Nature Vet boat that set the early pace by cracking open their first beers at 9am just as they pulled out from the dock. Well done folks, hope you had a lot of Panadol ready the next morning.

The main benefit to this for you as a practice manager (if you are in the UK) is that rather than just getting a bum on a seat in your clinic, you now have access to a complete performance management solution. The team at Totem are a really awesome crowd who have been working for years with HR departments across all industries to help improve organisational performance.

Long term Hamster Wheelers will know that this is basically my mission in veterinary life – to try to help veterinary practice owners improve the return on their hard work.

Which is why I’m so excited about the acquisition, the recruitment market is a devil of a place, with a lot of organisations touting themselves as ‘recruitment specialists’. Quite how most of them would know a good vet from a bad one is beyond me and my experience of the service as a manager was almost exclusively bad. Then add in the prices charged (some asking 10% of first year wages) and it’s not hard to understand why many vets prefer to do it themselves.

The trouble is that vets are generally not any better at the job of recruitment than the agencies and frequently make decisions on candidates without any scientific insight. In the broader scheme of performance management, if you start out with the wrong raw materials (people) for your practice then you will be every unlikely to produce a masterpiece (optimum performance).

A far effective strategy (and one I’ve put to great use in my own practice) is to get an expert to handle the entire process. From helping you work out what you really need (this is often dramatically different to what you might think you need), to creating your job ad and involves designing the interview process that will successfully attract the good and repel the bad. If done right this saves a lot of time and money. Better still it then makes the job of managing your team relatively straight forward. It is far easier to put square pegs in square holes. Sadly many of us waste a massive amount of time, emotional energy and money pushing square pegs into circular holes.

It is such a valuable investment to spend some cash at the outset, than have to repeat a poor process six months later because you got the wrong person. And as the saying goes, ‘If you do what you always did…’

Well, you get the picture. Performance management (of which recruitment is certainly a part) is what Helen and her team at Totem Consulting do…. I’d strongly advise you to give them a call (which costs you nothing) to get a better feel for the service.

Anyway, in memory of what was, and in toast to what is, I dug out a couple of short clips I did for the recruitment blog on Workhorse. Both are guaranteed to exponentially boost your performance at work whether a vet or manager…ahem.

Do let me know your thoughts. And you can contact Totem Consulting via their website http://www.totem-consulting.com/vets.html

How to Bring A Newbie Vet into Your Clinic Successfully

Do You Want Instant Success in Your New Vet Job?

It has, by any measure, been an outrageously busy year and quite an expensive one too. I’ve rarely had less money in my bank account but it has also been an extremely fulfilling year. Here are my notes on why it’s been good and why I’ve been very happy. Please join me by posting comments on the subjects of ‘happiness’ and/or ‘2011’, of your own.

1. Money does not make me happy. Not having any definitely makes me unhappy, but as soon as there’s enough to cover the basics (like wine) there appears to be no direct relationship between amount of money and amount of happiness. (Happy rating for money = 1/5)

2. Helping other people makes me happy. I do this best in two ways: fixing pets and fixing practices. Writing this blog for the past three years gives me an enormous amount of happiness because it feels like I’m giving something back. (Happy rating for giving/helping = 3/5)

3. Unfortunately in times of high stress, my default setting tends to make others unhappy because I become an autocratic, clumsy grouch. (I’ve known this for a while but found myself rather helpless to avoid it.) One of the biggest challenges in my life this year has been learning how to alter my own words, actions and behaviour to bring about positive changes in others. I’m not completely free of this affliction, but the results so far are rather remarkable. (Thanks to my coach, Nancy S). (Happy rating for managing my behaviour = 3.5/5)

4. There’s a saying that behind every good man there’s an even better woman. In my case there are a lot of good women. T (wife and communication pedant), Nancy (coach/mentor), Ivana (brand designer), Debbie (customer service angel at the clothing retailer I use), Belinda (presenter skills coach), Helen (UK biz manager) and all of my nurses. These women are all passionate about what they do and good at it too. Working with great people breeds an infectious and pervasive energy that I totally love. If I’m down, these are the dudes that pick me up. (Happy rating for working with great people = 4/5)

5. Your values are your core, your foundation, your rock. If you’re doing something aligned to them, you’re far more likely to be happy. If you’re doing something at odds with them, you’re unlikely to be at ease. My values are honesty, trust, keeping your word, respect, fun, integrity and Doctor Who (so the last one is weird and it’s too long a story for now, ask me at a bar when we next meet). (Happy rating for aligned values = 5/5)

So on that note, I wish you all a happy New Year. Thank you for reading, liking, re-tweeting, following, commenting and for being passionate about veterinary medicine, people and pets.

Now it’s time to raise a glass and look towards 2012. I’ll be presenting at five or six conferences next year and I’d really love to hook up with you if you’re there, so come along and say hello at any of the CVC events in the US, BSAVA in the UK, and SEVC in Barcelona. For the Aussies reading, I’ll hopefully be making some kind of appearance at the AVBA conference in Melbourne too.

See you next year.

Slàinte mhath.
Dave.

The “animal”, astonishing footage of which has leaked onto YouTube, looks and acts like a pet. But has superior motor control capabilities and in what is believed to be a first for science, has a positronic neural interface. In other words it has an electronic brain and is capable of independent motor control and learning.

Speaking at the press conference, head of eDog development Dr. Jim Spacey said “Deep-space missions present several challenges for astronauts. The physical effects on the human body are well documented, but there are potentially more serious psychological problems that develop after months or years of being cooped up in a space craft.”

“The eDog program was created because the psychological benefits of human-pet interactions is clear. But due to a multitude of problems including shedding, biomass waste products and additional weight and food requirements, a real dog just wasn’t an option.”

The announcement today marks the end of development and is being hailed as a quantum leap forward for both robotic engineering and AI technology.

While great news for astronauts, this development has potentially severe ramifications for others. Not least the veterinarians of the world, who must secretly be terrified of the potential for a commercial eDog spin off to penetrate into the wider consumer market.

Judging by the early, tepid response from pet owners this may not be a well-placed fear at present. But with over half of households in the UK alone having pets (approximately 30 million homes), the potential market size is huge.

Gill Collington, a business owner and dog fanatic from New York, speaking after hearing the news said, “As a life-long dog owner, the thought of not having my furry friend around is almost impossible to imagine. But if this robot is as amazing as it looks in the video then I guess I might consider it.”

She added, “It’s kinda cute, and I gotta say I don’t enjoy picking up Bobbi’s poop one little bit”.

Another pet owner from Anglesey in the UK, Barbara Jones, worryingly said, “I imagine this would be too expensive for the average pet owner to afford, but if it got a market release then surely the price would drop? I spent about £1000 on vet bills alone for my cat last year.”

“If you add all the costs up then you could spend over £20,000 over the lifetime of your pet, when you think about it like that owning a real pet is very expensive”.

The reaction from the veterinary profession was unsurprisingly mixed.

Simon Innsbrook, CEO of Central Veterinary Solutions, a corporate veterinary provider in the UK was dismissive of the development saying, “This is fictional nonsense, pet owners love things the way they are and that will never change.”

However Dr. Andrew Roark, a veterinarian and management consultant from Maryland in the US was less dismissive. A flustered Dr Roark took a second to react to the news, “Oh my god! This is a huge development and if it takes off could spell the end for veterinary medicine as we know it within 20 years. “

NASA declined to comment on any future plans for eDog or on the development of an eCat product. But the Hamster Wheel will keep watching the skies on your behalf.

Vets, you have been warned.