Dental business retreat gave me focus and results

By VICTORIA JONES

Victoria Jones Dental Studio is a small boutique practice in the centre of Nottingham

I went on a business retreat in Cornwall with Breathe for three days late last year and the results for me, as a single female business owner, have been twofold: 1. I am now hitting my turnover targets consistently whereas before I was hitting them only occasionally 2. I am more focused and prioritise my time much better.

As principal of a small practice in the first five years I got as far as I could alone. In order to reach the next level I knew I needed a mentor and there was no one in my family with business experience. I chose Breathe because they had a dental focus and it wasn’t just one person – it was like having a board of directors to call on for advice with Simon, Ernie and Jonathan.

The retreat was a perfect start – it helped me clarify my personal and business goals and make a plan. Not an abstract plan, but a real timetable of how my days were going to be allocated over the next 12 months. Simon calls this the ‘entrepreneur’s timetable’.

You divide your days into three groups: free days (time off), days in the business (clinical) and days working on the business (planning, marketing, strategy). You can then use this to calculate your target ADY (average daily yield) which then can be related to your expected annual turnover.

“Knowledge is cheap, wisdom is expensive,” was a phrase used by Simon that stuck with me. Wisdom is knowing how best to reach your goals, and before the retreat being clear about what these were and then prioritising was one of my biggest problems.

Another weakness was marketing – I’ve got a Masters in Business Administration and knew the theory but had no practical experience, so I have wasted some money on marketing in the past. In my first conversation with Jonathan we agreed that the first task should be to improve my website. This was expensive in terms of money and time – it took much more of my time than I anticipated – but because I had someone advising me it was a priority, I did it.

Victoria Jones Dental Studio is a single surgery in a hairdressing salon. I’m taking the two salon receptionists on a Breathe treatment planning day with Simon in January. As a principal you can sometimes feel isolated, so the moral support I get from staff after I take them on these training courses is really important to me.

A retreat with Breathe might not be a bad way to start the next New Year if you think you are drifting and need focus, results and moral support.

Happy New Year

Victoria Jones

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