THE BUSINESS OF PRACTICE: STRATEGY – THE FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESS


satisfaction clients currently have when they do business with your practice? Slice up your market into manageable sections so


that it makes more sense by demographics, disci- pline, services sought, etc. Only then can you hone in on the specific areas where your strengths are most valued and ultimately where you are most likely to succeed. Another area of importance in understanding


your competitive advantage and recognizing poten- tial threats is the internal environment of your prac- tice. Are your employees happy? Is team morale positive? Work- and lifestyle trends are likely to affect the future of your practice.10 Consider this as you give particular attention to the impact of a new generation of veterinarians arriving in the workplace and the effect they will have on how your practice is organized and how well positioned it is to serve your market.


5. Keeping it Simple


Tools give people the ability to do a job. The same is true for your strategy. Buckminster Fuller said, “If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”11 Essentially, the tools for running a business are the fundamentals by which that busi- ness is operated. In Verne Harnish’s book Master- ing the Rockefeller Habits, the fundamentals that John D. Rockefeller followed in business are ex- plained and essentially boiled down to the following:


1. Have a handful of rules. 2. Repeat yourself. 3. Act consistently with the rules you have estab- lished (which is why you should only have a few).12


Although these three fundamentals make running a business easier to understand, each stands for a deeper level of strategic thinking:


● Priorities: Does the organization have 5 key objectives defined as the goals for the year and the top 5 goals for the quarter that feed into the yearly objectives? More importantly, of the top 5 goals identified, is there one that stands out above the rest as the most important?13 Con- sider this for your business. Are there goals at all? Does anyone know what they are? Have they been discussed?


● Data: In support of the power to predict, does your organization have the necessary data on a timely basis to determine how well the organi- zation is running?14 Consider the services you offer and how well you can track profitabil- ity in each area. How can you manage your inventory in such a way that you are taking full advantage of rebates and discounts, and how does this factor into your annual bud-


get? Are you tracking the productivity of each veterinarian, and can you consider shifts in the marketplace and how well you can re- spond to these shifts?


● Rhythm: Does your organization have an effec- tive rhythm of meaningful daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual meetings?15 Consider the daily huddles and weekly meetings? Are they ef- fective? Are they with the appropriate personnel?


Review the three fundamentals again. Have a handful of rules. Rules are your priorities, and it is important that you limit them to only a handful, thereby committing yourself to what your objectives truly are and—just as important—what they are not. Second, repeat yourself. This is the rhythm of meaningful meetings and an opportunity to reas- sess your focus based on the timely data you receive. And third, acting consistently with the rules or, in other words, acting in concert with the priorities you have set. To do this, you must master the essence of leadership described previously and have a thor- ough understanding of the data you have collected to make accurate predictions. You must also effec- tively delegate responsibilities to your team so that the greatest internal strength can be amassed to match the challenges that your priorities will present. In many practices I have consulted with, the two


most difficult areas of strategic planning are found in the implementation stage. Most have success in the planning process and can identify goals that they be- lieve will drive the practice forward; however, a clear understanding of the goals is often an obstacle that is revealed later in the process, as is developing the con- tinued rhythm and enthusiasm required to see the process through to fruition. Understanding the goals is an area I emphasize when approaching strategy. Too often I see practices set goals with somewhat un- realistic expectations based on the rationale that sim- ply hiring an additional person or getting a new piece of equipment will largely solve a current issue in the practice and thus help it meet those expectations. The training time for new personnel to get up to speed or the proficiency and the level of usage of a new piece of equipment are frequently overlooked, however, and can thus lead to frustrations later on in the process. In terms of rhythm, many practices experience an


initial surge of enthusiasm that quickly wanes as the process evolves. This typically results from un- realized expectations, which means in essence that the practice outlined the goals, pursued the goals, and when the goals evolved, no longer were neces- sary, or took longer than expected to achieve, the practice perceived the endeavor as a failure, when the real failure was setting the expectation in the first place. In short, managing the team’s expectation is key,


both in terms of goal setting and in the ongoing implementation process.


AAEP PROCEEDINGS  Vol. 61  2015 381


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