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.