Latest / Hey Docs! / The Journey to Jill Allen & Associate: A Peak Behind the Curtain With Jill Part Two

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The Journey to Jill Allen & Associate: A Peak Behind the Curtain With Jill Part Two · Hey Docs!

0:03
Hey, everyone, welcome to part two of a special Haydocks episode with your
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guest host Jordan Gillian. In part one, we were getting to know the
0:12
one and only Jill Allen. Part two is all about Jill Allen and associates
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and what consulting with our team actually looks like. From how our services are
0:22
designed to the benefits of working with a consultant, We're getting granular. I
0:27
know you won't want to miss this, so let's get started by now.
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We all know I talk to a lot of doctors and give advice to practices
0:38
in every stage of their life cycle. And one question my docs ask all
0:42
the time is who do you recommend for marketing to attract more new patients from
0:47
the internet. My answer easy. I have been recommending Mary K. Miller
0:52
and her team at Kaleidoscope for the better part of a decade. Why they
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1:00
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1:04
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1:08
if you're looking to step up your digital presence, Kaleidoscope should be your first
1:14
call go to contact KL dot com to request your free digital marketing consultation.
1:19
That's contact KL dot com. All right, welcome back to part two two.
1:27
So fun to do the special episode with you and I just really think
1:32
that our audience is going to take a lot from it. So as we
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kind of roll into the next part of the Jill Allen and Associates journey,
1:40
I want to switch gears and start talking a little bit more about the company,
1:44
Jill Allen and Associates and what we do in the industry, more so
1:48
than your journey into the business world. Sure, so, can you talk
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to the audience a little bit about what they can expect services wise when they
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choose JAA and A. So somebody didn't listen to the previous episode, or
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if you're wondering you know kind of what we do. I think most people
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know I primarily focus on business consulting with startups and acquisitions, but I do
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a lot of work with what I like to say our eight years to retirement
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crowds. So working with doctors establish practices where we are maybe helping them get
2:23
ready to sell. So maybe we're not quite ready to let the team know
2:28
that we are getting ready to maybe make a transition, but we're starting to
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think about it, and so, you know, and I think this is
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an area for especially for a lot of my senior docs, where we know,
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if we're going to get ready to sell, there's a lot of pieces
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that need to be in place. So we're helping them just kind of clean
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up their books and their system, helping them, you know, just to
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get maybe three years of p and ls moving in the right direction or whatnot
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so that we're going to be there. And then the other area we work
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a lot in is just that existing practice training. But I would say we
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maybe differ a little bit from some of the other consultants where we aren't always
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working on next level training in regard to I've got a you know, three
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million dollar practice and I just need to adjust my levers a little bit and
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move things. We're we're really more what I would say, you know,
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consultants where we're down in the trenches. So maybe we've got existing practices that
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have lost some institutional knowledge and they're saying, oh my gosh, I just
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lost my financial coordinator and I need to get somebody in and get them trained
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and up to speed, or I just had a big transition with my team
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where again, all of that institutional knowledge is was there. They're now retiring,
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moving out, you know, whatever is happening, and I've got a
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lot of newbies, and we're realizing that we don't have the systems or the
3:53
protocols that we think we need in place to sustain where we're at. So
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we help a lot in that area too. Okay, So so services entail
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things like training in core areas of a practice and things like looking over the
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books and setting goals and marketing. I mean, it's really an all encompassing
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type of program or package when you work with Jill Allen and associates. Yeah,
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for sure. And you know, one of the things I like to
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talk to my doctors about is, you know, if it's a startup or
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an acquisition, We've got a very succinct way of doing things, but we
4:24
never take a cookie cut approach to what we do. And that has been
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important to me from the very beginning when I started this industry, is I
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really wanted to meet each of my doctors and each of my teams right where
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they were at and determine what were their objectives, not what's Jill Allen's objective,
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but what's their objectives? And so a lot of times we will put
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together a package that's going to work according to the objectives that a doctor is
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looking for, so that we can also do training that matches maybe the team's
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core values or just different things culture. There's not one way to bake a
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cake, you know, there's multiple ways to bake a cake. And just
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because you may be familiar with the Betty Crocker way, you know, it
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doesn't mean that you can't do it, you know, old school and go
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all the way back to flour and sugar. I think it's you know,
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for us, it's you know, just really trying to identify what a practice
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is looking for and then customizing our approach knowing that we can work in every
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area. Just you know, making sure that we're meeting the goals from the
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beginnings or objectives are clear. Yeah, I think that's important. And we're
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going to get a little bit more into how we cater even our packages depending
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on the different consulting needs that somebody has from a startup to an existing to
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an acquisition. We'll talk through all of that. But I'm also wondering if
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you could talk to the audience a little bit more about the pre startup portion
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of the contract with Jill Allen and Associates, because I just don't know that
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people really understand what we do and at what point in their journey they should
6:05
actually bring Jill Allen and Associates into the picture, Like where do you come
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on board? What are you offering them in the startup portion of their contract,
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like even before doors open, and where are you adding value to their
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practice in that phase of the journey. You know, this is such an
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interesting thing. And you know, again, I think every doctor is going
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to put value on different points when it comes to the startup and we'll probably
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get into this, but where I might put value and where a doctor might
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put value are two different things. But you know, when I'm working with
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a startup practice, I usually say we're going to work in two phases,
6:44
and the first phase is always going to be ideally demographics to doors open,
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and within that phase, we you know, I'm helping my doctors review demographics
6:55
to determine where their practice is going to be. Because for me, if
6:59
I'm going to work with any doctor that's doing a startup practice, my ideal
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is that I have and I'm working with them when they're at the point of
7:06
starting to decide on that location, because ultimately, if we can get demographics,
7:13
what it's going to do is it's going to help give us the facts
7:16
behind is this area going to support another orthodonic practice instead of just like,
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eh, I like the space, it's a cool area. It feels good.
7:27
So therefore I'm going to do a startup practice. And I think not
7:30
that you know, with sheer will and grit, you probably can't make a
7:34
practice go, But gosh, it wouldn't it be easier to know that the
7:39
demographics are in your favor for a successful practice then you know, just making
7:45
that square peg fit into the round hole and fighting tooth, claw and nail
7:49
to make a successful orthodonic practice. So, you know, when we're in
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that startup phase, I help, and you know, I think a lot
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of people don't realize this. You know, I can help and will help
8:00
with everything from contract negotiations to office design and flow all the way through helping
8:07
them make decisions on equipment. We're working with budget. I have a lot
8:11
of companies that we work with and you know, making sure from equipment to
8:16
architects to software, you know, just really helping a doctor all the way
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through. And I always tell docs, if you've had a chance to talk
8:24
to me or if you ever call me, my goal is to make sure
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that you know, I have a step by step guide of every single possible
8:33
thing that you have to do, and we'll be thinking about before your door's
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open. But my goal is to make sure that we're keeping it, you
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know, in a very controlled not that it's not going to be stressful,
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but a very controlled environment is we're moving through getting towards opening, and that
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we just are not missing anything. So I always tell my docs, you
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know, I promise you if it's keeping you up at night, it's on
8:56
my list and we will work through it at the appropriate timely. One of
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the biggest things that I see docs make mistakes on, you know, sometimes
9:03
they'll come to me later once they're into the process and then feeling super overwhelmed,
9:07
is there's a lot of people out there giving advice, and there's a
9:11
lot of things coming at you, and sometimes you can make the wrong decisions
9:16
out of order. And you know, my goal has always been in doing
9:20
this for eighteen years, I know exactly when we need to make the right
9:24
decisions at the right time so that things feel very coordinated and where we're not,
9:33
you know, just randomly making decisions and having it feeling overwhelming the whole
9:37
way through that startup process. That's really important for the listeners to hear,
9:43
especially if there are maybe some of those listeners that haven't started using Jill Allen
9:48
in Associates services yet, or maybe they're still in school and maybe they're trying
9:52
to figure out if this is going to be the path for them. I
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mean, we both know, and I think everybody that is any bit of
10:01
an entrepreneurial spirit knows that there are people that want structure and there are people
10:07
that just want to go for it, and both are great. But if
10:09
you're looking for that structure, and you're looking for that guide, and you're
10:13
looking for that kind of person to come alongside you and say, hey,
10:18
here's what you need to do next. I promise the next thing will come
10:22
and when the thing keeps you up at night, you can ask me.
10:24
That's really what Jill Allen an associate's pre startup phase is four. It's to
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help guide you through that step by step process to make sure that it goes
10:33
well and to make sure that you get everything done and that your budget is
10:37
spent appropriately, and when doors are open, you're actually excited that they're open
10:41
and not just stressed out and wondering what the heck you did. Yeah,
10:43
and I think you know the other thing too, Jordan is again because I
10:48
love business so much and my goal is ultimately to help doctors be successful.
10:52
I really look at myself as an advocate. I'm probably the only one out
10:58
there working solely to make sure that the doctors are not taken advantage of because
11:03
every equipment specialist wants to sell equipment, and everybody out there thinks that doctors
11:09
are made of money, and you know, when we've got this big budget,
11:11
it's nothing. And so many times I have to have these hard conversations
11:16
with docs and be like, hey, I don't think this is in your
11:20
best interest. I'm going to tell you what I see. I'm going to
11:22
tell you ultimately, doc is your decision. But let me just you know,
11:26
speak as a neutral party here. It doesn't matter to me which marketing
11:31
company you use. It doesn't matter to me which architect you use. It
11:35
doesn't matter to me which bank you use. It doesn't matter to me which
11:37
commercial broker you use, but here's a red flag that I'm seeing, or
11:43
here's something you should be aware of. And I think you know, again,
11:46
for most doctors, you're going to do a practice once. I've had
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the opportunity to do this for eighteen years. I've done hundreds and hundreds of
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practices at this point, and so even seeing something as sick as something in
12:01
a lease, because there are a lot of things that get missed. I've
12:03
probably reviewed more leases than most commercial brokers have reviewed just for how long I've
12:09
been doing this now, So you know, is there a chance that I
12:13
may catch something on a lease that even a commercial broker misses before we get
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to a lawyer. Absolutely, So you know, just things like that.
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Absolutely. I think it's just having somebody in your corner that knows, that
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knows. I think you hit on kind of one of the biggest aspects of
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the pre startup phases. You have done this so many times, you have
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done it so many times that you're going to see things and you're going to
12:39
catch red flags that other people might not even have a clue at. And
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so that just really gives you that peace of mind that this is going to
12:46
go well because you know, I have somebody in my corner that knows exactly
12:52
what well is and how that should look and how I should be doing by
12:56
the end of it, no matter which way I choose to go, a
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nice startup practice. So kind of as a tangent onto that question, when
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should somebody bring Jill Allen and associates on for that pre startup phase. Yeah,
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I think if we're doing the startup, my ideal is always, you
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know, if you're thinking of doing a startup, I always like to do
13:18
a free consultation and I think everybody knows that, just to kind of get
13:20
a feel for where you're at. And I'll tell you, Jordan, you
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know this, but I've talked to doctors for five years, you know where
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we're just communicating a little bit here and there as they're working their way towards
13:31
a startup. But I think when you're getting serious, when you're starting to
13:35
look at demographics, and if you're going to choose to do demographics first,
13:39
which I highly advise that you do, I like to be involved when you're
13:43
actually starting to pull those demographic reports, before you're actually even getting a commercial
13:48
broker or a banker or anybody involved. Because I think it just warrants some
13:54
really good discussions about that and about the area, and then from their movie
14:00
in now I will have some docs that are like, Okay, i think
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I've decided on the area, but I'm still not really ready to commit to
14:05
anything yet. And I say, okay, now that you kind of know
14:07
the plan, once you get a commercial broker involved and you guys are getting
14:13
serious about looking at spaces, that to me is like the ideal time if
14:18
there's going to be kind of a gap between looking at demographics, which you
14:22
know. Again, I have some docs that are like two years from now,
14:24
I know that I'm going to want to do a startup, and I
14:26
want to talk to you now because I'm getting ready to sign some associate ship
14:30
contracts and I just want some advice maybe on non compete or if I know
14:35
where I want to do my startup. I want to just make sure that
14:37
I'm kind of thinking ahead about this. So again, if there's going to
14:41
be a gap, I say, the best time is ideally when you are
14:45
getting and starting to look at spaces. I think the hardest time is when
14:48
I have a doc call me and they're like, I need to talk to
14:50
you right now, we're in the middle of least negotiations. Well, there's
14:54
so much that happens or that should have happened, you know, in that
14:58
least negotiations that not that we can't start working together, but sometimes they're way
15:03
behind the eight ball by that point. That's really good to know and for
15:09
the listeners and the audience that are like, Okay, I'm not quite at
15:11
that point yet, but I still want to get some advice from Jill Allen.
15:16
My advice to you is listen to this podcast, go back through some
15:20
of those episodes because of a lot of what she's talking about in the pre
15:24
startup phase and before you get started, you're going to get a lot of
15:28
that good information even before you pull the trigger with Jill Allen and associates,
15:31
just from the podcast and the guests and the type of people that we have
15:35
on Yeah, and Jordan, if I could just say one more thing,
15:39
I do want to talk just a minute about acquisitions too, because I think
15:43
there's this really key point if you know, if a doc is doing an
15:48
acquisition, where a lot of times I think docs for doing acquisitions think,
15:54
oh, I'll get a consultant once I buy the practice or once I get
15:58
going. But my ideal is almost exactly the same as a startup. If
16:03
you're getting serious, if you've identified a practice, one of the things that
16:07
I will do is I do a free consultation where I will actually review the
16:11
data for a doctor and just give a little insight. Again, I'm only
16:15
advocating for the doctor. I'm not the broker broker in the deal. I
16:19
don't have any say so I'm not getting a commission on it. But a
16:23
lot of times if you're getting ready to make a decision on that and you
16:29
have decided that yes, this is the practice for me, there is about
16:33
three to six months worth of work, especially if a senior doc is not
16:37
staying on, that needs to happen. And it's things that people don't even
16:41
think about. And again I've got a step by step guide for this.
16:45
But you know, are you keeping the website or you're not keeping the website?
16:48
Are you keeping the name or you're not keeping the name? What about
16:49
credentialing? What about the phones? What about the operating system, what about
16:53
the banking account? You know, all of these things that you think,
16:57
oh, I'll deal with it when I get in, But when you get
17:00
in and you get that practice, your focus is going to be on treatment,
17:04
working on the patients, and it's not on all the team members and
17:08
all their roles and are they collecting the money the way they need to.
17:12
And so when we're working with acquisitions, kind of like a startup, I
17:15
think that three to six month mark is kind of perfect to make sure that
17:21
everything is in line so that when you get in there. You know,
17:26
unfortunately, with a lot of times with acquisitions, we'll see that practices tend
17:30
to lose money or stay flat in their first year, and most of the
17:33
time all of their team members are gone before the end of that first year.
17:38
So if we can help with that and or be prepared for you to
17:41
manage through that, again, that's just going to help you have a leg
17:45
up as you're moving into that position. Sorry, I just wanted to talk
17:48
about that because I think it's something that just a lot of people don't really
17:52
think about and think and we only do startups. Yeah, absolutely well,
17:56
And I think even just from my experience and consulting with different people in practices,
18:02
the idea was the acquisition might be the easier route, but I don't
18:07
think that actually tends to really be the easier route. And you might think,
18:11
because they already have the systems, because they already are running, because
18:15
they are already doing well, it must be a great practice to go into
18:19
and it might be great for that doctor, but you are a new doctor
18:25
and you are a new person, and you're going to have new ideas,
18:27
and so those first years in an acquisition they're hard, and those first few
18:33
months in an acquisition are the hardest. And I think just having some help
18:38
and somebody onboard at the right time, like what you just spoke to,
18:42
can really be the difference between your acquisition actually launching and being able to take
18:47
off and be really comfortable and being able to do really well, or you
18:52
could have a few hard years before things really start to turn around. I
18:56
think that was such good advice and kind of egways us into the next question.
19:02
I think people might be surprised to hear the differences in our approach at
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Jill Allen and Associates from once a startup is doors open to an acquisition or
19:11
an existing practice, because I think sometimes the mentality may be once doors are
19:18
open, business is business practices are the same, the ideas, the structure,
19:22
it is what it is. So she's going to consult in the exact
19:26
same way whether I'm a startup doors open, whether I'm an acquisition doors open,
19:30
or whether I'm transitioning or just an existing practice looking for help. But
19:34
that's not really the case. So can you talk a little bit about the
19:40
differences in our approach to each of those types of services that we offer,
19:44
because really it's the same, but it's not the same at all. You
19:48
might have the same frosting, but the inside of the cake is completely different.
19:52
Yeah, for sure. So you're exactly right. And again, you
19:56
know, I think that goes back to my original thought from the very beginning,
20:00
is that I'm not going to take a cookie cutter approach to consulting,
20:03
and my team is not going to take that. You know, for each
20:07
practice, We're going to look at them individually. And you know, to
20:10
say a startup is a startup is a startup, and an acquisition is an
20:12
acquisition, and an existing isn't existing it's silly because the dynamics of every doctor
20:18
and every team is going to be different, and you have to, you
20:21
know, you truly have to look at it that way. You know,
20:22
I think when you're dealing with the startup. I think the biggest thing that
20:26
you know, you can have differences in how we order, to how we
20:30
market, to how we set up our schedule templates. And you know,
20:34
one of the interesting things that I find a lot is so many times my
20:38
docs want to get in and hire somebody I'm talking about a startup for a
20:42
minute, where oh, they've got all this experience coming out of an existing
20:47
practice, and believe it or not, those employees many times can be the
20:53
exact reason why a startup practice is failure to launch because this employee is you
21:00
know, this doctors trusting in this employee for their experience, but their experience
21:06
has to do with how we do things in an existing practice and not how
21:11
we would do things in a startup practice. And when we talk about a
21:15
startup, even marketing, you know, we have to go all the way
21:18
back to the basics. So if they're used to systems already being set up
21:22
and now we're taking them back to the basics of you have to you know,
21:27
I always say, like in marketing, there's four main pools that we
21:30
have to set up. And I don't care what anybody else says. If
21:33
you're a startup practice. You have to do this. We have to have
21:37
our marketing coming from our referring doctors. And guess what, you have to
21:41
forge the relationships with those first four to six referring doctors. They don't just
21:45
come to you, they don't just show up. You actually have to do
21:48
the work to get those I call those our hotail not docs. You have
21:52
to forge your name out in the community. You don't just people just don't
21:57
know you're there. And you have to work hard to get in and get
22:02
with the schools and the communities and you know, all of that, and
22:06
then you have to build your online presence. You know, it is important
22:10
that you're building all of those different things. And then you know, eventually
22:14
then doing the contests and the internal marketing. And I think that's a really
22:18
interesting one because that facet of marketing really doesn't play in until you're too and
22:22
on. But again, somebody who's coming outside, you know, with a
22:26
lot of experience, things, oh my gosh, you need to be running
22:29
all these contests and doing all this stuff and doctors and you spend all this
22:30
money and blah blah blah blah blah, and we don't need to go talk
22:33
to those dentists because they don't refer to us anyways, and you know it,
22:37
and again, it can it can be an issue. And I could
22:40
talk about this in every area, but when it's an existing practice, sometimes
22:45
it's just really identifying within how we coach and you know where we're at,
22:48
you know, just some of the systems. There may be four systems that
22:52
are great and in place and we don't need to touch them, and there
22:56
may be a fifth one where we're like, oh, this core area is
23:00
is you know, out of date, or maybe we're bringing in you know,
23:03
we're bringing in a digital position, or we're bringing in something new,
23:07
and so we're not just looking at it as let's add in a new position,
23:11
but how does it affect everything else in the practice, because it isn't
23:17
just let's just start this and it'll all work itself out, especially in a
23:21
big, busy practice. One change can affect ten things, and you know
23:26
we have to be as consultants thinking about that and helping assist that change.
23:32
And then I would say with the acquisitions again, you know a lot of
23:34
times you may be taking systems that are in place and have worked well for
23:38
an existing doctor, but those systems may not be what we need moving forward
23:45
into the future, and so we're saying, okay, how do we migrate
23:48
what is happening in this training so that we're now setting up systems that are
23:53
going to be sustainable going into the future. And maybe some of them are
23:57
a little bit more baselines startup. Maybe some of them are just taking something
24:03
that worked well. I always say, it doesn't need Jill Allen's name on
24:07
it. If it's a system that works well. There's a lot of great
24:11
systems out there. Let's just make sure that it stands the test of time.
24:14
Is we're moving forward and moving into into the future with those systems exactly.
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patient management, and as a proud smile Suite partner, I've witnessed the incredible
25:42
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25:48
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26:00
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26:04
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26:11
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26:18
deserves a suite of excellence. And I think my takeaway from that, and
26:22
I hope that the audience is kind of getting this too, is that when
26:27
you work with JA and A the programs and the structures that we have,
26:32
it's not just Okay, here's a startup. This is exactly what we cover
26:37
in a startup. This is what it's like, here's what we're going to
26:40
cover. Here's what we're going to go through. This is our existing and
26:44
this is our acquisition. You get these ten topics, we're going to go
26:47
through them, whether your practice needs them or not. But it's even more
26:51
granular than that, because your startup is focusing here. You want this type
26:56
of clientele, you want this type of population, you want this happen in
27:00
your practice. So here is how we're going to create those systems in your
27:04
startup, correct, Whereas in your acquisition, here's the demographic that you've already
27:10
acquired. But this is where you want to take the practice. This is
27:14
the approach we're going to take in order to help build your practice in that
27:18
way. And help you grow in the direction that you're looking for as taking
27:22
over that practice. And then in an existing practice, here are all the
27:26
things that are working great, and we're not going to touch them, but
27:30
we're going to get really, really into the weeds with you and say,
27:33
these things that aren't working great, and here are the systems that we're going
27:37
to create for you. And here are the minute changes we're going to make
27:42
to help this one thing that's always kind of been an issue work a little
27:47
bit better, which I think kind of brings us into our next topic,
27:51
which is a little bit controversial. All Right, So if we're talking consultant
27:57
advice versus Facebook forum, right, I think that we can all agree they
28:03
have value. Each of them has value peer to peer. There's a lot
28:08
of value in getting information from your peers. But also when it comes to
28:12
specific advice about a practice, why do you think a doctor might want to
28:18
lean a little bit more heavily on a consultant rather than a peer that has
28:22
found a method for success in a specific demographic or location. Ohjerty, this
28:29
is a This is a touchy one for sure, and I'm very cautious about
28:33
this because I have some very strong opinions on this, and you know,
28:38
I think the biggest thing is it's very interesting. Crowdsourcing is real, whether
28:44
we do it in our personal life or whether we do it in our business
28:47
life. And you know, I see it from team members now, because
28:49
here's the deal. I'm a member of almost all of the Facebook groups out
28:53
there, except for the closed ones that won't let consultants in, and so
28:56
I see all the questions, and I see all the advice, and what
29:00
you guys will probably see if anybody pays attention, is that I don't comment
29:04
on hardly anything. And the way I look at it is, most of
29:11
the time, I think it's good to crowdsource just to kind of get a
29:14
temperature of a question from your peers. But almost everybody is giving you their
29:22
own personal advice, and most of the time they've done one, maybe two
29:26
true practices. It's very very rare that the person that's giving you the advice
29:33
has worked in your state, in your area, has done a startup recently.
29:40
You know all of this, And so I'll see things like almost doctor
29:44
shaming for a new doc like right now in our industry, saying I'm going
29:48
to do a startup and it's going to cost me eight hundred thousand, and
29:49
then I'll see all these docs shaming them for how could you possibly spend that
29:55
much money when they did a startup, you know, in the early you
29:59
know, two thousands, when you could easily do a startup just for five
30:03
hundred thousand. And so I think that any time you are crowdsourcing, you
30:07
know, whether we're doing it personally or we're doing it professionally, I think
30:11
you just always have to be very very cautious and you know, kind of
30:15
take it that everybody's going to give their best advice, but ultimately they aren't
30:19
the expert in your area and they don't truly understand you know, what you
30:26
know. And I can tell you this working across the United States and into
30:29
Canada. Now, what works even within the same state, in different cities
30:34
or different counties can be very very different, and so you just can't take
30:41
everybody's advice that, oh, I did this and it worked for me,
30:45
so therefore it'll work for you. So you know, I think, I
30:48
think that's just something that you have to be aware of. And you know
30:51
the other thing that you know, I say is every doctor out there listening
30:56
can do this on their own. And I get asked this all the time.
30:57
You know, why should I spend and you know, the money that
31:00
I'm going to spend on a consultant when I can just ask my friends.
31:03
They're all willing to give free advice. Mike, Yeah, you absolutely can.
31:07
Every single one of you are smart enough. You wouldn't be where you
31:10
are right now if you couldn't do this on your own. My question is
31:15
how quickly do you want to get to where you want to get to?
31:18
And how many times? You know, like if I've figured out how you
31:22
don't need to reinvent the wheel, you know, over the last eighteen years,
31:26
you know, and you know sometimes I think, you know, if
31:30
you want to get to that end goal making money, whatever it is,
31:33
as quickly as possible, lean into experts. I mean, we would do
31:37
that if we were going to the gym and wanting to get in shape,
31:41
we would do that, you know, in every other area. And to
31:45
me, I think, why wouldn't we do that? If we're looking at
31:48
you know, you're looking at a minimum of a you know, almost a
31:52
million dollar investment, whether you're doing an acquisition or a startup, why wouldn't
31:56
you use somebody that allultimately just wants to help you be successful and get to
32:02
your success as quickly as possible. It's a small business expense, and that's
32:07
ultimately what it comes down to is you're now making, you know, business
32:10
decisions, not just feeling decisions as you're moving forward, right. That's more
32:17
of the nuance to the advice and where that nuance comes from in using an
32:23
expert. That expert has seen multiple practices, multiple iterations of what works and
32:30
what doesn't. Things may work for this one friend that you have or this
32:34
person that's really successful because they really honed in their market and their demographic,
32:39
but yours may be totally different exactly. And just having that oversight from somebody
32:45
that has seen it so many different ways and seen success in so many different
32:50
ways, it gives you a little bit more of the advice that is tailored
32:54
specifically to your goals that somebody else just may not be able to offer.
33:00
Really in a forum type situation, what about the connections that you have,
33:07
because I think that this is another piece that really adds to your value and
33:12
the value of consultants in the industry. Do you think that your status kind
33:16
of contributes to the success rate of your clients because the connections that you have
33:22
with different companies and how you can interact with different companies on behalf of your
33:29
clients. Can you talk a little bit more about those connections and how you
33:34
use them. Sure, so, you know, definitely with a lot of
33:37
my startups or acquisitions. You know, I've got a list of kind of
33:42
who I would say are referral companies, and you know, the reason they're
33:45
on my list is because they've been vetted. I know that they work well
33:51
with my startups. I know that they're going to fit our budget. I
33:53
know that they're going to you know, not mess around with us, and
33:58
you know, get us the results that we're looking for. So I think
34:00
that there is value to that and a lot of times, you know,
34:04
just being able to you know, my clients can talk to different companies and
34:07
they get little discounts or whatnot. You know, all of that's that's great,
34:12
but ultimately it's I want my docs to be working with like minded companies
34:19
a lot of times, and if I have vetted them, I know that
34:22
they're going to be working with like minded companies. Now with that being said,
34:28
it doesn't matter to me again, who they work with. I have
34:30
many doctors that'll be like, hey, Jill, I want to use this
34:32
website company, or hey Jill, I want to use this graphic designer or
34:37
whatnot. And I say, that's great if we can, you know,
34:40
use somebody local, or you know, if I get an opportunity to work
34:44
with a new company and they're great, I love that. The biggest thing
34:47
is can they do they understand the scope of work that we're looking for and
34:52
can they stick to the deadlines that we need to keep your practice and your
34:57
our project moving forward. So I do think that, you know, it's
35:00
beneficial when docs are working with me that they do have this access to a
35:07
network of people. You know. Again, I've been in the industry for
35:09
over gosh thirty two years now. I've got connections all over the place,
35:14
and I will guarantee you if you've got something you're dealing with, I have
35:17
seen it or heard about it, or know something about it at some point
35:22
and usually have a connection that I can be like, oh, let me
35:25
tell you about how we handled it, or let me get you in contact
35:30
with this person because I think that this is going to help us in this
35:34
situation or whatnot. That's exactly it. My husband is an electrician and he
35:38
just started his business a year ago, and we're brand new into this.
35:43
We're startups of our own and we're thinking, who do we use for a
35:47
CPA, where does he get his permitting? What does he actually need to
35:52
start the business? Should he be an LLC. There's all of these questions,
35:57
should he be doing something else? And it would be nice to even
36:00
just have that connection somebody like you in our industry to lean on and to
36:06
have somebody to say, hey, I have all of these connections and all
36:09
of these options, let me help you find the best fit for your personality.
36:15
Here are some people that I know are really good. I think that
36:19
adds value to the startup. That's just you can't really quite understand until you're
36:24
in the middle of it. I can look up fifteen companies on the internet,
36:29
but I don't necessarily know who's good exactly. I know that there's all
36:32
these companies in the industry, but who's going to really watch out for my
36:37
best interest or understand my budget or understand how it's different. So I just
36:42
think that adds a lot of value here. Yeah, yep, So we're
36:46
coming towards the end of the episode, and I'm wondering if to finish us
36:50
up, you could share some of the common pitfalls you see when people are
36:55
beginning their journey of practice ownership. I think the first one that I see
37:02
a lot is doctors underestimating the importance of commitment of time to your business.
37:13
Now, I usually tell doctors if we're doing a startup, you need to
37:15
be able to commit. Ideally, one my ideal would be two days a
37:20
week to your own practice and a lot of time. Doctors like, but
37:22
Jill, I won't be doing anything, so can I just keep, you
37:25
know, working my associate ship job? And you know, here's the deal.
37:30
If you want a successful practice, you have to be all in.
37:34
Your practice cannot be your second thought. So if you're working five days a
37:38
week as an associate and you can't step away a day or two and still
37:45
be financially set to let your you know, and then to be able to
37:49
focus on your startup, it's going to be very very hard for your startup
37:52
to be successful and for it to take off and hit the numbers that I
37:57
think a startup should hit in year one, year two, and year three.
38:00
So I think underestimating the time commitment. I think secondarily, a piece
38:06
of advice I would give docs is you have to be prepared to do the
38:13
work and your team member can't do it for you, because more than likely
38:17
your team member is new into this industry. We're going to help train them,
38:22
we're going to teach them all about it, but they don't understand our
38:25
industry. And so if you think that you're just going to go off and
38:30
work in an associateship job and just leave your team member a list of items
38:35
that they have to do and you're just going to show up and the business
38:38
is going to go, it's not. You have to do the work.
38:43
You have to put in the work. You have to be one hundred percent
38:45
committed to getting that practice off of the ground, and you know that work
38:50
is going to come in the first three years. It's not going to be
38:52
easy. Like I was talking about earlier or on the last podcast, you
38:58
have to be ready for rich. You know you're going to go out there
39:00
and you're going to put yourself out there. You've gone your whole career being
39:04
top of your class and people wanting you for your skills and your brains.
39:08
Now you're going to go out there and put yourself out on the line to
39:12
forge relationships with dentists and to you know, build your practice in the communities.
39:17
And it's hard. It's hard on your personality, it's hard on your
39:21
person But if you are not committed to doing the work and doing, you
39:24
know, taking the time, you may not be ready yet to do a
39:29
startup. I think the last piece of advice, and this is kind of
39:31
a twofold answer, is if you are going to hire a consultant, whether
39:36
it's me or you know, somebody else out there in the industry, you
39:39
and your team members have to be able to trust the advice that we're giving
39:44
you. And especially if you're working with my team. You know, I
39:45
always tell my docs like you, you have to trust the process. I
39:50
wouldn't be giving you this advice if I thought it was going to hurt your
39:53
practice in any way, because I build my business on successful practice, and
40:00
I wouldn't have made it this long if I were giving out false advice or
40:05
training doctors in a way that was not ethical or was not something that was
40:09
acceptable. And then this is just kind of my bonus piece of advice.
40:15
I want everybody to take a minute and listen to this. When you are
40:19
hiring, if you're a startup, and when you are hiring employees, be
40:23
very very careful with titles that you use. Probably one of the biggest mistakes
40:29
that I hear doctors say all the time with their first employee is oh,
40:32
they will probably be my office manager. They will be my office manager.
40:37
Here's the deal, docs, listen to me. Your first employee, your
40:42
second employee, your third employee are probably not your forever employees. Right now,
40:46
employees are going to be with us for two to three years max.
40:50
If we get them more than that, that's wonderful. And especially when we're
40:53
in a startup, we're hiring somebody to do multiple roles, but it doesn't
41:00
mean that that means they're going to be an office manager, especially when you've
41:04
got somebody that's being hired in that doesn't even know our industry. They may
41:07
be your front office administrator, they may be you know, give it whatever
41:13
name you want, but leave the word manager or director out of it.
41:17
We don't even use those titles until you've been practicing much much longer in your
41:22
career. So be very, very very cautious about titles and thinking that your
41:28
first, second, third employee, your forever employees. That's just one of
41:31
the things that we learn in business is nobody's around forever and you should not
41:37
take it personal if they leave you. It's okay. You know, we're
41:39
filling a position for what we need right now, and our positions change as
41:44
our practices grow and evolve. Wow, that's great advice. So we're ready
41:49
to kind of wrap things up and head into the final speed right, So
41:52
are you ready for your final speed round challenge? Yes? Okay. If
41:57
you could start any business right now, what would it be. Well,
42:01
I know this is going to sound cliche, but talking to a doctor,
42:05
I would still say, go one hundred percent in on yourself, bet on
42:07
yourself, do an orthodonic startup. If you've got an opportunity to do an
42:12
acquisition, our industry is not going anywhere, so definitely do that. For
42:16
me personally, I would probably still do the same thing I'm doing. I
42:23
just I love I love what I do I do. I'm always looking at
42:29
other businesses and I would invest in other businesses, but if I had to
42:34
work another business, it probably still be exactly what I'm doing. What is
42:39
the best investment you've ever made investing in myself. You know, I didn't
42:46
invest in anybody else. I invested in myself and my I just you know,
42:52
I'll figure it out, I'll get it to work. And you know,
42:53
it's almost kind of cliche, you know, kind of controversial in the
42:58
sense that you know, I'm telling doctors you should rely on an expert,
43:00
but unfortunately I didn't have an expert to rely on. So you know,
43:06
I think just betting on myself was my best investment. Love it. How
43:09
do you handle work related stress? If I get stressed, I've got like
43:15
three go tos. If I'm super stressed, I've got Christmas music on.
43:20
It's like my go to for sure. Secondarily getting out and taking a walk.
43:24
The best ideas come to me and usually most of my problems unlock when
43:29
I can get out and get on a walk. And then third one would
43:31
just be being outside. Anytime I have an opportunity to just get outside helps
43:37
me a lot. Yeah, we know it's a bad day at the office
43:39
when the Christmas music comes in. It is a bad day when the Christmas
43:43
music's on. What's one trend in our industry that you're excited about Honestly,
43:51
I am just so excited about all of the third party companies that are out
43:55
there to help doctors and practices just run a more streamlined business. I love
44:01
it that we don't have to have too many employees, that we can really
44:07
dial in treatment modalities that doctors, you know, the digital component with treatments.
44:13
I just love all of that and that I feel like we are finally
44:15
at a point where we are I don't know, listening to the needs of
44:20
the consumers out there and being able to meet them safely, you know,
44:23
whether it's financial practices or you know, somebody wanting you know, maybe aligner's
44:30
versus fixed appliances or whatnot. So I think that's that's kind of my favorite
44:34
thing right now, is just we've got lots of really good change in the
44:37
digital and the third party component out there. And what's the most valuable piece
44:42
of advice you would give someone just starting in their career? This this comes
44:46
from a concept out of a book who not how, But I really believe
44:52
that when you come up against an obstacle, you should be thinking not about
45:00
how do I figure this out? But who do I need to put in
45:04
place to help me figure this out so that I can get to my goal
45:07
as quickly as possible, because ultimately, you know, we can get so
45:12
wrapped up in the how that you know, we can almost stall ourselves out
45:16
in business, especially when we're pushing towards goals. And it's a hard concept,
45:22
especially as a new business owner, when you think, sometimes I need
45:25
to spend money or I need to not just rely on myself, even though
45:31
I just said I bet on myself. But I you know, I can
45:35
give you example after example of example where even myself I had to say,
45:40
Okay, somebody else can do this quicker, better, faster, and if
45:44
I can rely on them, then that will ultimately get me to my goal.
45:47
And so I would say, trust in finding your who's out there to
45:52
help you get to your end goal faster. I love it. Well,
45:59
thank you so much for joining me on this special two part episode. I
46:02
think the audience is going to take a lot from it. I think it
46:06
was fun to get to see you kind of behind the scenes, and I
46:08
know I'm waiting for the next Haydocks episode. I think the audience is too.
46:13
Can't wait to have you back on as the host. Yeah, absolutely,
46:16
thank you. Thanks Jordan, for doing this, Bye bye bye.
46:22
Are you ready to start a practice of your own, need a new fresh
46:25
set of eyes or some advice on your existing practice. If so, reach
46:30
out to me, Jill Allen at www dot practice results dot com. If
46:36
you like what we're doing here on Haydocks and want to hear more of this
46:38
awesome content, be sure and give us a five star rating on your preferred
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46:50
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