What gets puts a fire in my heart - the WHY of my business

I was at a business wealth club meeting today with many business owners from Oxford and surrounding areas, http://www.thebusinesswealthclub.com/, and we were discussing the importance of having a clear and compelling WHY we run our businesses.

But then realised that this morning was probably the first time I had expressed why I am so passionate about my coaching business and my motivation to get up every morning, the see clients, plan new workshops and develop my business.

 I thought I would share my why with you.

When I was 19 one Sunday afternoon in September my father drove me to London, to my halls of residence and to the beginning of my life at university. The following Sunday I was viewing his body in the chapel of rest, not knowing anything of his illness in the intervening week. That same day my mother threw me out of the house and told me that I was welcome any longer. Just before the end of the Christmas term I realised that what my mother had said was not just a reaction to the death of her husband, but she meant that I was never welcome back home. Just before my end of term exams I discovered that I was homeless and had to move out of my halls of residence. I was alone and felt like I had no one to support me. My years at university would probably the worst five years of my life, as I look back at that time I don't recognise the person I was. I'm not proud of many things I did all the person I became. During college I worked hard and played even harder, and at the end of five years at an astronomical amount of debt.

Within a few years of qualifying I brought my own practice and life became much better.  Then I discovered my manager was embezzling very large amounts of money. I discovered practice was technically insolvent. I had many staff who were dependent on me for their income, and I felt a massive responsibility to them and my patients. I was single with no family to fall back on, the only thing I had to get me through with my resourcefulness. Once again I was alone, didn't know what to do, didn't know who to turn to and this time I had a mountain of debt.

I had the realisation that I knew how to deliver great dentistry and yet I knew nothing about how to run a successful business. There was no reason why I should do how to run a dental practice as a successful business, as there was no heritage of self-employment in my family and dental school does not teach business skills.

This period of my life was one of the longest and darkest times and yet the most rewarding. I was lonely, isolated, ignorant, frustrated and felt helpless much of the time. My free time was spent in seminars and reading, learning how to run a successful dental practice. I worked with a coach, and implemented everything that I could. To this day he tells me that what made me different from other clients was that I took action and I got results. The truth was I didn't feel I had any other choice, my practice was failing and I had to blindly trust that my coach and other mentors knew what they were doing, I had no choice. There were times, many times when I doubted myself and was distrustful of those around me. It was bleak.

My ignorance of how to run the business had repercussions in other areas of my life, I was overweight, unfit, drank too much alcohol. I cut myself off from friends and those I did see got the worst of me.

So why do I now work as a business coach and trainer?

In essence I do what I do so nobody else has to go through the ignorance, pain, frustration and loneliness that I went through.

Within a relatively short period of time I transformed a failing business into a profitable rewarding practice the staff felt was like belonging to the family and the patients loved coming in and kept returning.

I transformed the practice because I learnt how to run it as a business that put it patients at its heart and still attended to the other aspects of business. And I can show you how to do it too.

Dental schools still don't teach business skills and I have yet to find many other business owners who have learnt how to run a business before they go into business themselves. Each day I talk to business owners, dental principals and team members tell me they are experiencing some of what I went through when I was ignorant to how to run a successful business and yet I passionately believe that this pain, frustration and isolation that so many business owners experience is entirely preventable.

So that is why I wake up every morning between 5:15 and 6:00 with a spring in my step and a fire in my heart eager to get to work and help fellow dentists business owners and their teams.

If you are someone or know someone who is currently experiencing the pain, frustration and isolation of owning a failing business call me on (01296) 770462 or (07989) 757884, because I can help.