Our "modified start-up" dental practice is working!

We did it! We started our office, and things are going great! Things are also EXTREMELY busy, but they're starting to slow down, and all of our plans are working. Isn't it nice when things work out?

By the way- if you have no idea what I am referring to, then go back and read the last few posts on this blog. Here's a short recap- I just quit my job and bought my own dental practice. It is small, and in many ways it is like a start-up. In fact, a start up may have been easier, but we didn't have the time to do that. Also, the price we paid for this practice was less than we could have started one for, so that was nice.

Here's a brief timeline of the past couple of weeks:
September 12th: Sign the papers. The practice is officially ours. I am officially a Post Falls Dentist! (And yes, that is a shameless backlink to my web page).

September 13th: Painter starts tearing down the wall paper and getting things ready. I was still working with Loftus until the end of this week and it was hard to keep my head in the game. It was just as well though, since by this point they had pretty much transferred all of my patients over to one of the other doctors. I basically went to work and worked on my computer all day on stuff for my new practice. At lunch time I drove down to check on the progress. Also, we took the boy scouts rock climbing that night.

September 14th: I went to unlock the door for the painter in the morning. PROBLEM! The whole waiting room was a very bright shade of yellow. Like, put-on-your-sun-glasses bright. This would not do. That day during my lunch break we went down and got new paint. He would have to paint over everything he had just done. We had just wasted a day. Not good, since the painter needed to be completely finished on schedule in order for our floor guy to start working. Also, I hired another assistant.

September 15th: The office was looking much better after the new paint shade. I spent most of the day buried in my computer trying to get paperwork set up. At the same time, the paint guy and the computer guy were working around each other setting things up. I went in and helped where I could.

September 16th: The paint guy finished. Paint looks great. We allowed ourselves a quick sigh of relief so that floor guy could come in the next day.

September 17th: I went to open the door for the floor guy. He wasn't there. PROBLEM! An hour later he still wasn't there. Several phone calls later, he still wasn't there. He had completely stood us up. Even though I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt here (emergencies do happen), I can't say I wasn't frustrated at him. While I continued with my paperwork stuff, Rachel made all kinds of calls trying to get someone in. We finally found someone who looked, said he could do it, but then called an hour later and said that he didn't have enough time. She found someone else who did the same thing. We were starting to panic when the third guy came in to look. He said he would have to work long hours, but that he could get us up in time. This guy was awesome. He started ripping up carpet early the next morning. In the meantime, I built a wall.

September 18-20: These days went by in a blur. We had computer guy and floor guy doing cartwheels over each other while at the same time I was meeting with all kinds of people trying to get the business side of things set up. On the 19th our first ad went out in the newspaper, which is great except that we had nobody around to answer the phones. This was bad. Also, between paint guy, floor guy, computer guy, and myself, we had managed to put the office into an incredibly impressive state of disarray as we scrambled to complete our various tasks.

September 21: I had a big staff training day in our conference room. It went pretty well. Mostly. At lunch time the new assistant I had hired left and then sent me a TEXT MESSAGE that she was quitting before she even got started. I'm guessing she was scared away by all the work that needed to be done. We didn't want her anyway if she was going to be like that- but it did force us to open short-staffed. Also, our sign got installed.

September 22: We had another ad in the newspaper, and a feature article in the annual "family" magazine that the local press distributes. Our schedule still wasn't totally up by this time so we had a rough time handling phone calls. Also, our internet page was in a pretty sad state, although we did finish installation of all the computers in the office.

September 23: Carpet guy finally finished (kudos to him for working so hard) by mid-afternoon. The problem is that our office was in complete shambles. Stuff was EVERYWHERE and we were supposed to open tomorrow. A wonderful girl in our ward who knew what we were going through (she had done a LOT of babysitting for us this week) came up and volunteered, on her own accord, to watch our kids so that we could go finish things up. Also, her mom volunteered to come help. We stayed at the office pretty much all day, decorating and putting things back together. By the end, things actually looked pretty good. As far as advertising goes, we had yet another ad in the Sunday newspaper, as well as a feature article about us on the front page of the business section. We were ready to open the doors- or so we thought!

September 24: Opening day! I ran around the office like a mad man putting out fires as they came up. We quickly identified several glitches and other small items of business that required my attention. We had 5,000 mailers go out to the surrounding neighborhoods and we started receiving calls from those.

September 25: Day two- I was still wearing my "fireman" hat more than my "dentist" one, but we knew it would be this way. Last week I put in over 90 hours at the office, and this week was looking like more of the same. Basically, I go to work all day to identify the problems that I work on fixing all night, only to repeat it the next day. It's fun, but I am starting to get exhausted.

September 26: Day three: First day of new patients (never been to the practice before). Of course we identified a hundred ways that we could improve upon the new patient experience, and of course I stayed up all night again trying to make it happen. We are still looking for another assistant, and that will definitely help. The good news is that the team is starting to feel more comfortable with our systems.

September 27: Day four- I am beat. I slept for 3 hours the night before. We had 2,500 more mailers go out today, as well as another newspaper ad. It was all worth it though at the end of the day when I ran my weekly report. The results? We had scheduled more new patients in the past week than they had in the past 2 months combined! Our plan was working! All the work was paying off! Also, I sense that our team, who was a little bit hesitant in the beginning, is starting to come on board (mostly). They are beginning to trust me and to understand what we are trying to do. They are excited about it.

September 28: I ran the financial reports- the one saying how much this "modified start-up" actually cost us. Results? We are about $30,000 UNDER budget! Woo-Hoo! For this,  I think I have Rachel to thank more than anyone. She is the toughest negotiator I have seen when it comes to contracted work, and she finds amazing deals when it comes to stuff we have to buy. As an example, she did ALL the interior decorating (furniture, paint, floors,decorations, and labor) for under $3,000. If you have done much of this then you realize that this is absolutely incredible. She has also been the driving force behind our advertising, and she pretty much single-handedly designed the decor of our office. She is amazing.

September 29: I only worked for a few hours today- I was home by breakfast. I know it's Saturday, but when I'm used to working pretty much every waking hour this seems like a vacation. I think this is my first non-12-hour-workday for the past 3 weeks (actually, most days I've put in 16-18 hours). It also means that things are starting to fall into place. I'm looking forward to next week. We have 20,000 more mailers going out on Monday in little coupon packets, as well as another newspaper ad. It's hard work, but things are working, and in a little more time I think we will be able to cut back to a normal 40 hour work week. Also, this stuff is FUN! It's fun to see your plans turn out even better than you were expecting. It's fun to overhear you staff telling their friends on the phone how cool their new boss is. It's fun dealing with problems and coming up with innovative and creative solutions. It's fun being the guy in the driver's seat, for better or worse.

I've said it before, but it's even more true now than ever before- I love my job!

Here's a few pictures. Most of the "before" pictures are the ones that the practice broker used to sell the practice. We took the "after" ones on my phone- but I think it still shows the difference.


The outside of the office- not much changed here except for the signs on the door:

The sign- Before

 And After:

Waiting Room- Before:

 And After:

The big empty wall to the right of the door is reserved to be used as our "Real People" wall. We'll have a sign here across the top that says "Real People. Real Smiles." Then we'll showcase some of my work. The thought is that we'll have 2-3 8x10 studio quality photos (that we'll pay for, of course) of patients after they finish their work. We'll also have a small 2x2 inset in the photo of the "before" picture (which we take for all patients). These pictures will be in a nice, matted frame. On the matte will be a little bio about the patient, their testimonial about us, and a plug for whatever it is they do (free advertising for them). I like the message it sends. Real People. Real Smiles. That's what we're all about. For now, obviously, we don't have any work to show off- but we do have some in progress!

Front desk/reception area- Before:

 And After:

The Hallway- Before:

 And After:

Treatment rooms- Before:

 And After:

The journey:

(Dinner)

And finally, here's a little video tour:

Check out this video.  Look for the fun kids room wall that Rachel created.  We didn't get a picture of it, but it is worth looking at.  Also, the treatment rooms are decorated with winter, spring, summer, and fall themes.  They each feature photography (that Rachel painstakingly found) of Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene.  The coolest photos are in the winter room.  These pictures are all of Post Falls in the 1930's.  Pretty neat.

First of all, a couple of random things:

Jackson totally just walked into the house grinning and giggling, followed by Evelyn and Adalie who are also beaming. As soon as he saw us he said "Mamma, Papa- look what we found!" We looked. He was holding a dead bird. By the neck.

The other day Rachel was just finishing her shopping at Walmart and was about to leave. Suddenly, a stranger politely asked her if she was missing one of her children. That's when she turned around just in time to see Jackson on one of the motorized shopping carts, cool as can be, zooming out the door.

About a week ago, Addy brought a toy to Rachel and said it was broken. It was one of those pop-up type toys where you have to either push a button, or pull a lever, or turn a key, or something to make the animal pop up. Anyway, the tiger wouldn't pop up. A while later, Evelyn came with the same toy to report the same problem. After some investigation into the matter Rachel declared the toy broken and said there was nothing she could do. Then Jack got up and said "look at me." He then performed a complicated set of maneuvers that involved pushing, turning, and pounding in a very deliberate pattern. Suddenly the tiger popped up. Jackson calmly said "I fixed it," set the toy down, and walked away.

Jack has a mechanical toy truck that was recently ripped apart in one of our kids' "sprees of destruction." Afterwords, Jackson and Evelyn went to assess the damage. It was in several small pieces. In a very loving voice, Evelyn told Jackson that it was unfixable. Jack tried to fix it anyway. Evelyn became a little bit upset and said "No Jack. It's broken. We have to throw it away," and walked away from him. Jack sat with his toy, tinkering for the next several minutes. Finally, he picked up his totally re-assembled toy, brought it to Evelyn, set it in her lap, and walked away. He did'n't say anything, but I swear I saw a little smirk on his face.

Jack, Evelyn, and Addy were finger painting at the table. Jackson started getting close to Evelyn and Evelyn warned him not to touch her with his dirty hands. Jack then proceeded to bring both hands as close to her as he could without touching her. Evelyn started freaking out and running away. Jack started chasing her, careful never to actually touch her. He was laughing. She was not. He is mastering the art of taunting his sisters.

We love our Jackson.

Oh- another random thing. About a month ago I got a "smart-phone." It is amazing! How did I ever live without this thing?  It has actually been REALLY helpful in the establishment of this new practice. Really.

Speaking of the new practice, things are moving forward at breakneck speed. Within the next 7 days we will have totally torn down all the wallpaper and repainted all the walls, ripped up all the carpet and installed new carpet in the waiting room, office, and hallways, and new "wood" floors in the treatment rooms, removed a large mounted robotic looking microscope from the ceiling and built a wall in its stead, built from scratch a totally awesome computer server, installed 8 new computers, and equipped them with all new software, gotten rid of all the film-based x-ray stuff they had and installed digital x-rays in all treatment areas, changed all the signs to reflect the new practice name, put brand new furniture and decorations in the office, printed business cards and other promotional materials, sent mailers to over 30,000 people, printed our ad in the paper, hired a new assistant, said goodbye to an office manager, trained a new team, and opened the doors to the public. And that's not even touching all the behind-the-scenes paperwork that's involved with taxes, bookkeeping,  accounting, regulations, systems, licenses, financing, etc. Oh, and we already have patients on the schedule for the following Monday, so let's hope this works. Woo Hoo!

Yesterday, Addy and Jack had their official birthday party. We did it in the backyard and had a decent turnout of parents and kids. We played games, decorated cupcakes, ate pizza, and opened presents. It's fun having three-year-olds. They are good kids.

By the way, the weather is becoming very crisp and "Fall-like." I LOVE IT! I love it, I love it, I love it. I love the smell of burning fields in the morning. I love that the trees are starting to change colors. I love the still, quiet feeling of potential energy that seems to resonate in the air. I love the wildlife that is busy getting ready for winter. I love it all. Earlier this week I drove myself to a nearby trailhead and just walked alone in the woods that surround our beautiful little town. While I was out I was thinking about everything that was happening and was just totally filled with hope and with energy and with optimism and I started to run on the trail and...well, it was just a good morning. Have I mentioned that I love this time of year?

Well, that's pretty much it for this week. Sorry it was all over the place, but that's also a pretty good representation of how we have been lately. Here are some pictures:

 Addy's Doctor Set.

 The Pirate Treasure Hunt

Addy, trying to get a peak at her next present.

Jackson got "power tools." He has been playing with these non-stop. That's my little man!

Rocks, pebbles, and sand

We've been busy lately. Like, really busy. Like, get-up-at-five-in-the-morning-and-don't-stop-till-midnight busy. Come to find out, starting your own business is a lot of work. Who would've thought.

With all the craziness, we've noticed that everything else has sort of been brushed aside for the time being.  This business has totally taken over our lives- and we're starting to see the effects. Don't get me wrong, we're actually really enjoying all this, but every time Rachel and I talk to each other it is about the business. Whenever we are not talking we are doing business stuff. The house is starting to fall a little bit into disrepair. The kids are starting to wonder where their parents are. My Sunday school class is probably starting to pick up on my lack of preparation. Even our date nights seem to have been hijacked as we find ourselves using the time to shop for carpet, paint, and furniture for the new office.

We keep rationalizing that it will all get better once things get established and we have a routine. To a certain extent I think this is true. At the same time, I can see a lot of work ahead that doesn't really have an end-point to it and I don't want to start any bad workaholic type habits now. I didn't really realize how bad it had gotten until this morning. I woke up early (as always) and thought I'd use some of my morning time to work on business stuff (as always).

It was going well, and then Addy woke up and came up the stairs with a book for me to read. I told her I was busy and that I would read it to her later. Then Jack came up with a truck and wanted me to play with him. I brushed him aside and went to another room. Rachel came out and asked what I had been up to that morning and that initiated yet another long discussion about "the business." When Evelyn woke up she informed us that she was hungry wanted some food. When Jack and Addy heard the "F-word" they came running up the stairs because they were hungry too. Rachel and I continued our conversation about the office as I started making pancakes.

It was only then that we realized that it was Addy and Jack's birthday.

Guilt.

I made them happy face pancakes to try to compensate for my total failure as a dad to remember not one, but two of my children's birthdays (it's not fair that they are twins). And it's not like I totally forgot- I knew it was coming up soon- but today? We tried to have a good breakfast, but the business still managed to creep into the conversation. And then Rachel asked how my lesson was coming for Sunday school.

Lesson?

Guilt.

Then I looked at the clock. It was 9:15 and I was supposed to be at PEC (a church leadership meeting) at 9:30. I was in my pajamas still and I hadn't eaten or showered and I didn't have a lesson prepared. The thought crossed my mind- "There is no way I'll make it in time for the meeting anyway- I should just stay home." But then the other thought crossed my mind "Go to the meeting- it's your duty and even if you're late at least you'll be there." The second thought won out. I got ready quickly and went to the meeting.

Just as I was walking in they were saying the opening prayer. Next on the agenda was the "spiritual thought," given this week by our bishop. Then he started talking. I'll tell you what- this man is inspired. He didn't actually do the object lesson, but he talked about trying to get rocks, pebbles and sand to fit into a jar. He explained that the only way to make it work was to put the rocks in first, followed by the pebbles, and finally the sand at the end. He then went on to speak about how we need to define what things in our lives go into which category. That important things like family, church, and personal scripture study are the rocks. They need to be done first. That's not to say that other things aren't important, but unless these things come first there is no way to fit everything into your day. It just doesn't happen.

Guilt.

Now, I've seen and heard this object lesson many times. I've even used it myself in teaching others. And I am good at time management- in fact I consider it one of my greatest strengths. But today, with everything going on all at once, it served as a very timely reminder of an important principal that I had let myself ignore. Then I went to another source of advice that I have received and that has given guidance to me throughout my life- my patriarchal blessing. It reads, in part:

"Because your life will be filled with activity you must make certain that you reserve time for your wife and your children, sufficient time for you to teach them the gospel, have them feel your love, see your example, and feel the joy that comes through being together as a family."

Those words came from someone who knows me better than I know myself. Rachel has, in jest, told me that  I have an addiction to stress. You know, in a way I think she is right. I like to be busy. I like to be pushing myself. If life gets too easy I tend to find ways to make it more difficult- like starting a business. And the more I get to know myself the more I realize that I will have a life "filled with activity," and that realistically it's not going to slow down...ever. And I love that. But at the same time, I am thankful for timely reminders like the ones I received today about what the important things really are.

So...

On a different note- Addy and Jack had their birthdays today. Some neighborhood kids came over uninvited with a bunch of presents for them, so we broke the no-friends-on-Sunday rule for about a half hour and had a mini birthday party on the front porch. We are actually doing a real party next week, so I'll write more at that time about them turning three and everything. For now...I think I'll just be done writing so I can go help make a cake for them.

Hooray for birthdays. Hooray for family. Hooray for "rocks."

 We went out on the lake for a little while this week. We have a trolling motor that attaches to the back of this raft also, but we usually just use paddles. The kids love it!

 I wanted so see how big a dandelion could get. This is it.

Maren. Happy Girl.

Here we go!

It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, let me reassure you that I am back, and that I have not forgotten this blog. Actually, not updating for the past several weeks has been a conscious decision I have made. The truth is that we have been really, REALLY busy lately- but I couldn't say what I was busy about because of the public nature of this blog.

But now I can. Mostly. Let's start with Friday.

On Friday I quit my job.

Actually, let's step back a little bit and start at the beginning. Here's the story:

In the beginning of May, Dr. Loftus (my employer) announced that he would be opening another office in Post Falls and that I would be the doctor in charge of running it. I was VERY excited about this proposition because it meant a few things for me that would fit in very nicely with my long-term plans.

1. I would get the opportunity of doing a scratch start-up on somebody else's dollar. This would be a great learning experience to be able to observe first-hand what worked and what didn't in this area.
2. I would get to run my own show, allowing me more autonomy and giving me a better opportunity to establish relationships with staff and patients.
3. After a year of working in Post Falls I would be released from my covenant not to compete in Coeur d'Alene, meaning I could theoretically take what I had learned and apply it to my own office over there.

Like I said, I was excited. Everyone was. Things were going to be great. But then, stuff started to happen. The biggest and farthest-reaching of these things is that I would be forced to sign a new contract that restricted me from practicing pretty much anywhere in Northern Idaho if I should ever leave the company. I wasn't about to do that. See, we are pretty sure that we want to set down roots here. We love it here. Also, I am not the kind of person who can be a perpetual employee. I am too independent. I am fine working under someone else as long as it serves a purpose, but I am the kind of person who needs to OWN my own business. I need to be in control of, and totally accountable for my own future. And the way I see it, an employer takes away some of that control and accountability. Anyway, the way it was looking with this new contract, some of  my future goals (practice ownership in Northern Idaho) became incompatible with  my continued employment with Dr. Loftus.

The race was on. I needed to find something else quick before the date came to sign the contract. Otherwise, I'd have a tough choice to make: Do I want to be jobless (therefore homeless, foodless, and moneyless) or do I want to essentially kick myself out of the area I plan on raising my family. We were pretty desperate.

And then a great opportunity just sort of showed up (well, I guess it didn't JUST show up- this opportunity came after making a lot of phone calls and sending a lot of emails and talking with a lot of people). Anyway, there was a dentist who operated a practice IN POST FALLS who was willing to sell. It was time to make the move into ownership. Yikes!

The first step was finding a bank to approve our loan. Dental practices aren't cheap. In fact, they are actually quite expensive, and banks want to know that you are going to be able to pay back the loan. Especially in this economy. It didn't help that over the past 3 years this dentist had let his practice start slipping away from him leading to a less-than-stellar record on the accounting books. Here's what the bank sees:

• I graduated from school just one year ago
• I have no business experience
• I have personal debt (student loans) that rivals the size of most mortgages...And I have a mortgage.
• I have essentially NOTHING for a down payment (compared with the size of the loan)
• I want to buy a business with a failing track record
• This business happens to be a dental practice, and this area happens to be pretty well saturated with dentists already
• For the business to work I would have to almost double the income of the practice in less than one year
• I need to stop writing- I am starting to scare myself!

Okay- so I told the banks my idea and they sort of squinted their eyes and shook their heads and said, obviously not trying to get my hopes up, to send in a proposal and they would "take a look." That was as close to a "yes" answer as I was going to get at this point, and I jumped on it. For the next 3 days I locked myself in my shop (literally) and transferred all of my ideas that I have had over the past several years onto paper. At the end of that time I had a small book written (about a hundred pages) that constituted my business plan. I made copies, sent it to 5 different banks, and held my breath.

After about a week I started getting responses. One bank responded as follows: "Candidly, it is one of the best business plans I have reviewed in the 11 years I have been with  WF Practice Finance (formerly Matsco)." Another said, " The business plan is impressive," and a third came back with "the best and most thorough analysis of market conditions and opportunities that I have ever seen." Long story short- every bank that I sent the package to wanted to finance my venture and expressed confidence in my plan. 

What this means? I am a convincing writer. It also might mean that I stand a fighting chance in this market. A friend recently purchased a practice nearby and could only get one bank to finance him- and on very strict terms at that. His experience either lends credibility to the fact that I am a decent writer, or to the fact that my business plan might just be crazy enough to work.

Anyway, we had the money and we had a practice to buy. Now I got to start the paperwork. Oh- the paperwork. Do you know how regulated a dental practice is? A lot! It's not just buying a business (which is complex enough as it is). Oh no- since you are actually treating people (as opposed to computers, cars, animals, plants, etc.) the government wants to make sure you know how to fill out forms- so they give you a bunch of extra ones to figure out. And then there is the fun that comes from the actual set-up of the office. We had to figure out advertising, office decor, computers, lease agreements, insurance contracts, payroll, staffing, systems, systems, systems, systems, systems... You get the picture. It's been a lot of work. And a lot of money. I will spend more money in the next three weeks than my entire adjusted gross income for 2011- and that's not even including the actual purchase of the practice!

And you know the crazy thing? I am totally, one hundred percent confident that this is going to work! This thing is so planned out that it would be difficult for it to fail. We don't just have a plan. We have a good plan. And a good plan B. And a good plan C. AND a good plan D. Are we nervous? Of course! That's why it's fun! CAN it fail? Of course! That's why it's fun!

But it won't.

And that's why, on Friday, I gave Dr. Loftus my two week's notice that I would be leaving. In two weeks we sign the papers and I will be the official president, owner, and CEO of the newest dental practice in the area- Heartwood Family Dental. We will stay closed for 1 week, during which time we will install new flooring, new computers, new paint, new equipment, new office systems, and to some extent, a new staff. That will obviously be a very busy week.

Also, a word has to be said here for Rachel. We are totally in this together and that is so, so important. She has worked just as hard, if not harder than me on this. She has totally coordinated ALL of our marketing (no small task). She has totally designed our office, and has coordinated with the various contractors to make this "one-week-turnover" possible. And she did all this while juggling (sometimes literally) four extremely energetic and needy children. She is amazing. I absolutely could not be doing this without her and I am forever grateful for her support. 

So, to repeat last weeks quote from the Frizz- "Seat belts everyone!" The roller-coaster is on its way up and we are about to enter another free-fall stage of our lives. We're excited for the adventure.

Bring it!

Here's a picture of when Evelyn and I went camping in our back yard. We named all the stars before falling asleep.

This is when we went to "Paul Bunyan Days" down in St. Maries. This is pretty much the extent of what we did there. After recovering from sticker shock over the price of the rides (it would have cost us $15 to ride the carousel- once!) we decided to go to McDonalds Playland instead and get $1 hot fudge sundaes.