Background
Holmefield Vets have two practices in Yorkshire and now deal exclusively with small animals. They have been in operation for over 40 years and also used to deal with farm animals, especially pigs. However, about seven years ago the farm and small animal divisions split and one of the existing partners, Louise Davison, took ownership of the small animal practice. Everything went smoothly at first but as she said “It was a comfortably profitable business that seemed to run itself. But when the recession started to bite and things got harder I realised I didn’t have the skills required. I was reacting, not managing. They don’t teach you how to run the business side of a practice at Veterinary College.”
The story so far…
The focus on the numbers allowed Louise to see areas for improvement. They looked at reducing costs whilst understanding and enhancing profit margins and made significant improvements in many areas. For example they reduced their spend on drugs from 30% of turnover to 25%, the saving going directly to the bottom line, thereby immediately enhancing net profit by 5%.
The ability to plan better through focus on the numbers was a key benefit for Louise and Helen. “Before coaching our plan was not documented and a bit ‘airy fairy’. We didn’t have any real details or clarity on how we would go about it.” So our coach worked with us to develop a clear vision and mission for the business which we used to set the direction for a detailed business plan which is reviewed and updated every quarter.
Having a good business plan and the enabler of additional profit margins has driven a number of positive changes in the business. One of these was the refurbishment of the reception area and consulting rooms in the practices and as Louise said “Our plan helped us to define what we wanted to achieve. For example we made the front of house area work harder. It’s more functional, with better sales areas, but it’s also more customer friendly.”
Louise feels a key benefit of having a coach has been to “Push me out of my comfort zone: but for all the right reasons.” This has led to a large number of changes including better focus on marketing the business with a more effective website and detailed marketing and sales plan. This has driven an 11% increase in new clients, a 16% increase in the average amount each customer spends with them and an overall increase in sales of 20%. Another area that our coach has helped with hugely has been team management. A ‘team alignment’ day was held away from the practice at a local hotel which everybody attended. The aim of the day was to enhance how the team perceived the purpose and objectives of the practice, what the core values of the practice are and therefore how they and their role contributed to achieving the right environment and results. On the day they all undertook DISC profiling which helped define their personalities. By sharing their profiles it allowed them to understand each other better, how they wanted to interact and what they expected from each other. Louise said about the day “Everyone found it really worthwhile. It gave us all a forum to be heard and helped the business set out our Values and ‘Rules of the game’ which everyone agrees with.” This has been coupled with regular appraisals and a more structured approach to team meetings and communication. Importantly for Louise it’s also helped with recruitment. “Having our core values laid out for everyone to see has meant that new joiners have remarked how much they buy into them and really want to work here.”
Not only has our coach helped Louise and Helen to manage the team more effectively but he has helped them develop their own roles. Crucially he has encouraged Louise to focus on running the business and withdraw from surgery. “At first I had to be dragged away from the clinical work. I felt guilty if I was doing management work. But Matthew has shown me the importance of working on the business and not just in it.” In the last 18 months of coaching Louise has reduced her clinical work and learned how to delegate. “My role has changed beyond belief. Now I spend the majority of my time running the business and feel guilty if I am in surgery. But I am in more control of my time and the business, which means I can choose to have more time for myself.”
