Beyond Excuses: The Courage Every Practice Owner Needs

Announcer:
Hello everyone, welcome to The Millionaire Dentist Podcast, brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. On this podcast, we break down the world of dentistry finances and business practices to help you become the millionaire dentist you deserve to be. Please be advised, we do speak with an honest tongue and may not be safe for work.

Casey Hiers:
Hello and welcome, this is Casey Hiers back at The Millionaire Dentist Podcast, in studio with co-host Jarrod Bridgeman.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Casey, happy, happy day. Happy day to you. How are you doing?

Casey Hiers:
Both suited up.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
That must mean, is it a client day.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yes, we've got clients in today, and it's our first meeting.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's pretty exciting.

Casey Hiers:
New clients. The stress was too much.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yes.

Casey Hiers:
It was time for a change.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
What's cool is you met these folks at one of our personally hosted events, didn't you?

Casey Hiers:
It's interesting. They were at a dental clinical CE course, met one of our clients.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Okay.

Casey Hiers:
Then, also attended one of our events, that's correct.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's awesome.

Casey Hiers:
In the Chicago area.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Ultimately ... Normally, people have tears of joy.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
After their first year. But the idea of having people help get some stress off the shoulders, there was some emotion. It can be debilitating, and people hold onto it and hide it for a long time.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
For sure, for sure. We were talking off mic here, but sometimes people have shame and don't know where to go. They're embarrassed, that's what shame is, and then they're even more embarrassed about the shame they have. It's like a cycle.

Casey Hiers:
Going through our process, even if we don't work together, people learn more about their practice and personal financial and tax situation than they ever have. However, you're a little vulnerable and open, and that sometimes causes people ... Yeah, they're like, "I don't like the way this makes me feel." Ignorance can be bliss.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Head in the sand, it can sometimes be more comfortable for practice owners than actually going, "Shoot, I need to dig this out, and I need a little help."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
They need help. That's the opposite of going in and smashing things up. For example, I just went to the Monster Truck Monster Jam-

Casey Hiers:
Nice.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yesterday, with my son, and got to some see some big ole trucks doing flips and rolling around. It was pretty sweet. But, saw a lot of accidents, too. We go in, and we're the people that help you help yourself, and we do a lot with you. We're not just going in and smashing things to smash things and change things.

Casey Hiers:
In the vein of you went to a monster truck show, I'm thinking about the rodeo or bull riding.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Being a practice owner can be like riding a bull.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Sometimes, you're just holding on for dear life.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, seven seconds and you're a champion. You can get a couple decades of mastering this, and you can win. But once you're off, yeah, the distraction, don't they send out the clowns or something to distract the bull?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, yeah.

Casey Hiers:
I'm not sure how that ties in, but I was instantly thinking people to help.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. Circling back and going to events, you were recently at the Yankee Dental Congress.

Casey Hiers:
This is Boston.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Up in Boston. This is not your first time going; you've been before. Let me ask you, you're out there talking to people, what are people saying this year that's affecting them that might be different than previously? Or is it still dentists out there, still complaining about the same things?

Casey Hiers:
No, dentists don't complain.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Oh, okay. Good. That's good. It's good to hear.

Casey Hiers:
A lot of times, it's warranted. The Yankees's a great show. Boston, a great area. There was no snow.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Okay. Wow.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, it was nice.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
January in Boston and no snow.

Casey Hiers:
Really had a lot of good conversations. Our course was sold out, a lot of people there. Which again, on a Saturday morning at nine, what's that tell you? There's interest, there's a need.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
The first step's awareness. But yeah, a lot of good people. So many get ... It's the boogeyman. They want to blame maybe their lack of success, they thought there would be, or the place they're at; they want to blame it on something. So, insurance. Or, "Well, I live here, and because of these two reasons, there's no way in which I can be more profitable. If there was, I would have figured it out." That's a real easy miss.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
What do you mean by geography? In terms of did you have someone, not naming names or anything, but have you had a couple people over the past couple years come up and speak to you on a way in saying, "Yeah, because I live X miles outside of the city," or whatever the case may be, or they're just in a less affluent area?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Or sometimes, even more affluent. It's the lies people tell themselves. It's the people that go, "I know I need help, let's talk," versus, "It's unfixable."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Because in their mindset, if they haven't figured it out, then it must not be able to be figured out. It must be an exterior reason that nobody can figure out. I had a couple of those conversations. It's like the steps of grief or whatever.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right, right.

Casey Hiers:
That they're frustrated, but they're just angry.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, it's a weird thing to say it this way, because I don't want to impersonalize it, but our team, our people, they're numbers people. They can look at the numbers and find ways to make things better and make them work. Our clients aren't just a number, but sometimes things get broken down that way.

Casey Hiers:
Well, those are hard conversations to have because again, it's our job to listen and understand. But when it starts to become they would rather have the false reality that these two areas are keeping them from making more, and saving more, and all that, it's like, "Those aren't it."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Very rarely are one or two things it. It's just helping people to ...

Jarrod Bridgeman:
You said the stages of grief, or the 12-step program, you have to admit there's a problem.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Sometimes, that problem is yourself.

Casey Hiers:
Some people just aren't ready.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right. That may be due to, again, shame, or sometimes just maturity levels. Even with myself, how I was five years ago, 10 years ago, compared to today.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Again, we were in Boston, we were in Boca. We're going to San Antonio, we go to Tampa, we go to Nashville, we have clients from California to New York. Geography typically isn't a restraining factor.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Very rare.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Now, if I have to climb a mountain to get to your practice on top of Mount Everest, that might be a little tough.

Casey Hiers:
That's a little extreme. Sure, there might be some limitations. But ultimately, going to these different areas, people need to plan for the best but prepare for the worst. It's an old, old line.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's why you've got that zombie survival kit at your house.

Casey Hiers:
This is not a prepping podcast, is it? Oh, man. I'd go on for a little while.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I need some advice later, by the way.

Casey Hiers:
But that prepare for the worst; unfortunately, we've seen pipe bursts, you're out of your office for nine months. What do you do then? You get a horrible health diagnosis. We want to be uplifting here.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
But I'm sorry, I've had these conversations very recently with people.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Sometimes, I get frustrated when I just hear some of the normal BS excuses that they've just told themselves year after year, and they're comfortable with it. That's just stewing in mediocrity. Our firm doesn't identify with it, but as you can hear in my voice, I get annoyed because I've heard the same shit.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
The problem is because they're surrounded by people, whether it be family, friends, or people who really don't know the industry that well, or just poor service from their external team-

Casey Hiers:
When you're the smartest person in the room, you might need to try to go find some other really smart people to help you; otherwise, you're just going to stay where you're at.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
A lot of these people might just be soundboards and agreeing with you because they really don't know.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Versus, it was a blast. Fly to Boston, get a car, go to the event. Met a client and got to spend some nice time with him, with our chief operations officer, and just talk all things dental. Multi-generational, doing well. I might have him on the podcast. But I even asked him, "Hey, man, the first time you caught a whiff of us or heard us, what's going through your mind?" There's always doubt.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Or a little cynicism. I'm cynical myself.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
We like people to be that. But ultimately, when you hear things like, "Hey, I was at an implant course, and hearing this subject matter was the best thing that I learned, and long-term it's going to be the best thing for me."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
You're in your mid to late 30s, that's great.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
He's going to be so much better off because of it. Then, when I talk to people who have been struggling for decades, and they're just not willing to let go of their excuses and see if they can get better, it's hard sometimes because I can't want it more than they do.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
It's like your kids, you're just like, "Come on, you can get there, you can get there."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
Unfortunately, some practice owners are just going to probably stew in it for the rest of their career.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Maybe they go teach, and maybe they'll practice just for a couple days, and they'll piece together enough revenue to stay afloat, perhaps. But again, this profession, you can have $8, $10, $12, $15 million if you do it right.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right, because you all listening out there know, there's a lot of money out there in the world of dentistry. Your job is just to catch some of it.

Casey Hiers:
Well, it's the boat analogy. Most people admit, "Yeah, I've got a couple leaks here and there."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
But it's the other dozen leaks, they're just-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It's the hole in the bottom that's the problem.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Again, it's one of those things that practice owners have so much, so much on their plates.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Producing great dentistry, if that was just it, it'd be the happiest profession in the world.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right, right.

Casey Hiers:
It's still pretty happy.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, your analogy with the boat thing and leaks, sometimes some people out there really feel like they're in this boat, it's filling with water, and all they have is a little bucket. They're just working their butts off, trying to scoop up water faster than that.

Casey Hiers:
All right, here's the last analogy of the day.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, let's hear it.

Casey Hiers:
This was years ago, wife and I are riding our bikes on a Sunday, on the Monon Trail here, just a beautiful area. She was kicking my butt. I'm like sweating.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
She's in great shape.

Casey Hiers:
She is in much better shape than me. But, I'm pedaling, my legs are burning, I'm just like, "This is terrible."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Well, I had a flat tire. The back tire was damn near flat. I was so focused-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
You were laser-focused on that?

Casey Hiers:
I was just looking ahead, and like, "Why is she 20 yards ahead of me? I've got to go more." Versus taking a second and realizing, no, no, there's actually something wrong here.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
This is the analogy I'll get into more. So many practice owners they're standing up, and they're pedaling, and they're like, "I don't understand." They're so determined, and that's admirable. But if they would just look down or take a break.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
My tire was flat.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
That was the reason. We talked about this before.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
We're like the bike mechanics here.

Casey Hiers:
There you go. Stephen Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, I've mentioned this before. But the seventh habit is to keep your axe sharp.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
If you're chopping wood, polish it, sharpen it, shine it, rehydrate, you're going to be more effective. So often, practice owners are almost sadists. They're used to just powering through and, "There's just no way to fix it."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
By the end, they're whacking away with a blunt instrument.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. There's a time or two when there's not a path.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Sure.

Casey Hiers:
But most of the time, there's a path; you just need a team.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Sometimes, you got to clear the weeds away.

Casey Hiers:
Ooh.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Got to clear the weeds away.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That makes sense.

Casey Hiers:
But no, we have just a wonderful, robust schedule to, again, share the subject matter and, if nothing else, get practice owners mildly curious.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
We're going to some cool places.

Casey Hiers:
Oh, we only go to good venues.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
You kept saying Sizzler, and I was like, "No, Casey, we're not doing Sizzler, or Chi-Chi's."

Casey Hiers:
There's nothing wrong with those places. No, we've got some study clubs and dental societies we like to sprinkle in.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
We booked three or four more of those.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I know this week, we're actually going to be in San Antonio.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Which will be cool.

Casey Hiers:
A place called Cured.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Cured. I checked it out online because I'm always of where you guys get to go. I'm going to have you just take some photos for me and send them back, so I can cry to myself here in the office, which is nice.

Casey Hiers:
No, it'll be a good event. We got a good crowd, we'll probably get a couple more. We've got what, three more spots left?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, a small handful of seats available.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. Then, I know we're going to be in Tampa.

Casey Hiers:
End of the month.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
End of the month. After that, I believe-

Casey Hiers:
Nashville.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Nashville. Tennessee, that is.

Casey Hiers:
That's right.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's Nashville, Indiana, for the people outside of there.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Nashville, Tennessee. Kayne Prime, one of my favorite restaurants.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, I've heard great things about that place.

Casey Hiers:
Again, the subject matter is direct.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
It's hits people in their bellies, or square in the nose. We like to do it at fun, nice places and enjoy, before hearing the straight juice, but that's what we're about.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
What's one of the biggest reactions you get when people first hear your presentation?

Casey Hiers:
Oh, this is great. During the subject matter, when I'm going through it, there's typically one or two people that it really hits and it pisses them off. Stages of whatever. They're mad, and they want to argue. I'll get a couple of those. Ultimately, I feel for them because they've worked hard and they're at a place that they're frustrated. But they'll want to argue a different point, so we'll have that discussion and take it offline.
Then, you've got the people that come up at the end. "Hey, I'm retired, but I wish I would have seen this."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
That's a safe place for people.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's another version of anger, though. I'm mad at myself for finding this sooner.

Casey Hiers:
Sometimes, yeah. Then, you'll get the people, they'll slip us a note, "Hey, please call me next Friday at one," very specific. They don't want to talk about it, they don't want to be seen in public needing help on anything.

 

Then, it's the people that wait around until the end, and they go, "Wow. I've known this has been something for a while, but I just refused to do anything about it, and I think now is the time. What do we need to do?" We just need to learn more about you.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Casey, they've had all these different reactions. Some are pissed off at you. Not you, but they're taking their anger out on you. Some people are retired or close to retirement, and are not mad, but, "Dang, I should have got a hold of you sooner." What's the remedy for this? Is there a prescription that you would recommend?

Casey Hiers:
To diagnose? It's courage.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Courage.

Casey Hiers:
Ultimately, I would say this does take courage.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Name the problem. Sometimes, they don't even know. They're just like, "My income's not very good. My retirement is uncertain." Name what it is.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Be open to seeing what you can do. Again, what's our business model? We talk to a ton of people. We only end up ultimately helping ... It's a small club.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right. Very exclusive.

Casey Hiers:
But we want to help people that we can help, but that comes with being honest. Yeah, I think courage. Just having the courage to ... Some of our most successful people they were really successful before working with us.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
We've just launched it. If you're already making a million, and then you make two million, that's great.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. It's the courage to, if they're at the event, come up and talk to you, fill out that form. It's filling out a form on our website. The courage to pick up the phone call and making an appointment.

Casey Hiers:
Let's say it could also just be the courage of maybe it's not the right time to work with a firm like ours. Have the courage to talk to your existing team.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Your accountant, your financial planner, investment advisor, consultant, whoever you have, the courage to go, "Hey guys, it's not good enough. I need you talking, I need you talking to each other, I need these things done. I need to see a reduction in overhead and increase in my income. Because this other company guarantees these things, I need you guys to be better." A lot of times, especially in the more academic settings, that's what I tell people. Challenge your team. This is what good looks like; demand it out of them.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
I know it's not in your personality to be confrontational, but it's either you or them. It's either millions of dollars over the course of your career, or you having the courage to hold somebody accountable.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Even if that is your friend from college or your cousin.

Casey Hiers:
Sometimes, those are the hardest ones. Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. Well, Casey, I want to thank you so much for gracing me with your presence today.

Casey Hiers:
Oh, stop.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Again, guys, and ladies, and everybody, please go to fourquadrantsadvisory.com/events and check out where we're going to be. You're able to register right on the site. Also, if you're listening to this on iTunes or anything like that, please give us a review. Rate us hopefully five stars, but that kind of stuff really helps us stand out, and gets more and more people to get onto our wisdom.
Thank you so much, Casey.

Announcer:
That's all the time we have today. Thank you to our guests for their insight and for sharing some really great information. Thank you to you, the listener, for tuning in. The Millionaire Dentist Podcast is brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. To see if they might be a good fit for you and your practice, go on over to fourquadrantsadvisory.com and see why, year after year, they retain over 95% of their clients. Thank you again for joining us, and we'll see you next time.