As we say goodbye to 2020 and prepare ourselves to welcome a new year, it is only right that we reflect on and start to plan the improvements we can make in our businesses. If you are anything like me, you have likely spent the last few weeks mulling over some new business idea or expansion, a new way to motivate and engage your team, or some other aspect of your business that you would like to take to the next level in the coming year. To this end, I have put together a list of our most read business blogs, and I hope that one or more of them will stir you, inspire you, or direct you!
Your Clients are Immune to Your Marketing, so do This One Thing Instead
If you have your own practice, you are in the unique position of being both a consumer and an advertiser. When I first started out, marketing my vet rehab practice was a challenge for which I felt university had not equipped me at all. We learned almost nothing about marketing – the bare basics, perhaps – but marketing in the 1990s was very different to marketing in 2020.
Diversifying your Income
Recently, the topic came up in the weekly ‘virtual coffee’ I enjoy with the vet rehab community. Everyone was wondering how to keep going financially – which means, essentially, how to diversify their income streams. I agreed to do a webinar on the topic, and it turned out to be quite a journey down memory lane!
Amplify Your Business with a Mentor
Every successful business owner will tell you that they have made some big mistakes along the way. These mistakes and failures have been an opportunity to learn and improve their skills, and have created a bank of experience that they tap into any time they need to make new decisions.
Alone we’re Strong; Together we’re Stronger
I would not have managed to run my vet rehab practice if it weren’t for my amazing vet rehab team. Having started as a one-man band, I quickly realised my limitations. A whole variety of skills is needed to run a successful business. There are certain things I do well and certain things I’m pretty useless at. Life got a lot easier when I acknowledged this, and began to put together a team.
Why your Veterinary Physiotherapy Business is not Profitable
As a mentor to my Onlinepethealth Vetrehabbers, I see so many of you working long hours, fully booked till the early evening but still struggling to pay your bills at the end of the month. When I look at other small businesses, their problem is that they don’t have enough clients. They sit around waiting for the phone to ring or for a client to open the door. So if you’re relatively booked up and are not making a profit, you need to ask yourself, “Why is my Veterinary Physiotherapy Business is not Profitable?”
Find and Develop Your Niche
Although I treated all conditions, the treatment of paralysis was something I became known for. Specialists would send me their post-surgical cases that had the most guarded prognoses and I would try to work some magic in getting them to walk again.
Overcoming the Isolation of the One-Person Practice
When we start off, most of us work alone, adding more members to the team as our practice grows. But those early days on your own can be scary and really lonely. I must say, it didn’t take me long to hire someone to assist me. I have the type of personality that enjoys working with other people. I realized this when I had a two-week break from working as a locum in the UK. My brother and friends were all working, so I decided to take a week-long trip on my own through Cornwall in South West England. I think I lasted four days, then headed back to my brother’s flat. It’s hard for me to make memories on my own.
Applying the 80/20 Rule when Running your Vet Rehab Practice
In my quest to improve productivity I came across the 80/20 rule, which I now apply to my everyday life. It helps me make the right choices when it comes to what I should and should not be doing at any given time.
Managing Clients’ Expectations
We all have those demanding clients, for whom nothing we do seems enough. We know there is nothing more we can do for her pet, but she seems quite unwilling to accept this. We think she is being unreasonable. “I’ve bent over backwards for this client, but all she does is complain,” we may inwardly mutter.
Turning your Clients into Evangelists
Word of mouth is probably the most effective way of growing your practice, yet many of us take this free advertising for granted. We think it is out of our control. We’re content to let word of mouth “just happen”.
Five Top Tips for Creating a Continuing Education Plan and Sticking to it
We spent years studying to get to where we are now, and for some, once we have that degree or post graduate certificate, that’s where the learning stops. That’s pretty short sighted! The skills and information we learnt during our initial studies are nowhere near enough to carry us through this fast-paced, ever-evolving field we have chosen. As veterinary rehabilitation therapists, we have to be constantly learning. It’s not a desirable added extra for when we have the time and budget. Continuing education is a must.
The Three Biggest Mistakes made by Employed Vet Rehab Therapists
I wanted to be a vet my whole life. I recall the day in the UK when I realised I had at last achieved my life-long goal. I was only 25 years old and felt, ‘Now what?’ I was completely lost. I had no plan and found myself feeling unsettled, with no goal or direction for what happened after graduation.
Most of these fantastic blogs are linked to further training in our Business Basics section in the members portal – be sure to consult this resource for more information!
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