One April day, my world was turned upside down and life was never going to be the same again.
Back then I was a happy principal, I loved my job, my patients, my team. I recruited a well-qualified practice manager; she enabled me to get on with my clinical work and she managed the practice. Everything was so organised we had had systems and processes in place that would have made us CQC compliant a decade and a half before CQC came into existence. Life was good.
Then the phone rang and everything changed.
“There are tens of thousands of pounds missing from your account, where is the money?” said my accountant.
“I have just dropped off all my paperwork, all the details are in there.” I replied,
“Jane, you misunderstand me, there is lots of money missing from your accounts, where is it?”
At that point I heard the front door close and watched my practice manager drive off in her brand-new top of the range car.
The penny dropped and reality dawned.
As the days, weeks, and months went on the magnitude of the situation emerged. Every day there were demands for money, my accounts were empty, the patients were unhappy with the service they were receiving at front of house, my team were very unhappy, and the stories came out how the PM had bullied them. It was 12 months of hell.
I learnt in a moment that dental school does not teach us about how to run a practice, and the dark shadowy areas that represented my knowledge gaps were vast. Something had to change and change fast.
I studied, I read business books, and attended non dental business conferences. I became obsessive about learning how to rebuild my practice and how to turn it into a successful practice.
And I did.
I turned it around, so by the time I sold it in 2017 I was generating £ ½ million, single handed, on 3 days a week, with 12 weeks holiday, no implants, no ortho, no fancy dentistry, just good quality, honest, family dentistry.
What this taught me is that dental school does not prepare you for being self-employed or practice ownership, and through my struggles I created a blueprint for a better practice.
20 years on, every day I hear the same stories, dentists making the same mistakes I did. I never want anyone to go through the stress, anguish, and anxiety, not to mention the financial trauma, I did. Now, I work alongside dentists preventing and resolving problems so their practice can be the practice they dreamed it would be when they became a principal.
If you would like to know more about why, what, and how I work with dentists like you, book a complimentary SPEAK WITH JANE appointment, using our online booking system, www.IODB.co.uk
Your success is my business
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