Thursday, October 22, 2009

Work as a better team...

"This was an excellent course for the basic organization of the company. It helps to achieve goals using statistics and their formulas to improve your operation stats. Also it outlines the responsibilities of employees and how they can work as a better team and organize themselves. This course also tells about communication lines and how you can improve your efficiency and attain your goals or targets."

Dr. Sukhpal Gill, DVM and Co-Owner, Clearwater Animal Hospital, Windsor, ON.
Basic Hat for Employees

Keep the goals of the business in mind...

"In short, Ethics for Business Survival has given me very tangible ways to point out where things have gone wrong by looking at the product and the statistic. By then applying the correct condition formula I, and others, can improve and maintain the success of the company. We will hold each other by ethics to keep the goals of the business in mind."
Jason Burtis, Office Manager and Owner, Waxhaw Animal Hospital, Waxhaw, NC.
Ethics for Business Survival

Getting into the meat of management...

"I felt like this course is getting into the meat of management. It contains actual tools; the conditions and formulas that we will be able to use in our stats. Applying these at our practice should be challenging and rewarding!"

Dr. Karen Miller, DVM and Practice Owner, Lincolnton Animal Hospital, Lincolnton, NC.
Formulas for Business Success

Friday, October 16, 2009

Practice Tip: Practice Profit and Economy of Scale

There’s much talk as to what profit is and how much a practice should be generating. Profit is defined as “The amount received for a commodity or service in excess of the original cost.” (Dictionary.com) So it’s basically what’s left over after paying all the expenses – the original costs. And this includes your two different expenses: 1. your Fixed Expenses, i.e. your rent, mortgage payment, insurance etc… and 2. your Variable Expenses, i.e. your DVM costs, staffing costs, supplies, etc… those things you use more of the busier you get.

When a practice is small, your fixed expenses are a large percentage of your gross income and thus eat heavily into any left over profit. In many cases, a practice grossing under 500K, after paying yourself DVM compensation of 25% (the high end of the scale but good for easy math), will have no profit. Your cash flow gets very tight because it’s profit that is needed to pay off bank loans, purchase new equipment and build inventory. In contrast, as a practice grows and “scales up” and the fixed expenses stay the same you find profit magically appears. So it goes without saying that a practice grossing 750K per year will have more profit than the 500K but less than the 1.5M practice. Anything above the 1M and you should be nicely into a 20% profit above your DVM compensation.

The basic phenomenon occurring here is known as an Economy of Scale. An Economy of Scale is the reduction in cost per unit resulting from increased production and efficiency.

The bottom line is that your practice needs to grow to the “next level” to be profitable . This is not just a nicety but necessary for you as a practice owner to realize some personal income above and beyond your DVM salary. Practice ownership should have this reward.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Handle employees effectively in multiple situations...

"The Hiring and Handling Personnel Addendum was enlightening to learn hiring/interview techniques and also how to handle an employee in different situations. This course taught me how to handle employees effectively in multiple situations and how to implement the tone scale to improve most scenarios. This will be a valuable tool in our arsenal to effectively manage our employees and, ultimately, our business."

Dr. Diane Grede, Practice Owner and DVM, Animal Hospital of Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI.
Hiring and Handling Personnel Addendum

Get my business on the road to success...

"After working through the Formulas for Business Success program I feel like I’m really getting some information that I can 'sink my teeth into', that will get my business on the road to success. It’s pretty obvious that it’s not going to always be an easy road. But it is now a road that can have the detours clearly marked and we will be able to find the goals we were after despite these detours. This course gives me a clear way to keep the road to success clean and well marked and to avoid all the bumps in the road. I’m looking forward to the trip!"

Dr. Doug Hardy, Practice Owner and DVM, James River Animal Hospital, Nixa, MO
Formulas for Business Success