Last fall, Dr. Michelle Mills did something bold and a little surprising to those who know her. She opened a second practice.
“When I was 4 years old, I made the decision to become a veterinarian and own my own practice,” she said. “I’m a Type A planner. I do what I plan. I always have. So, for me to veer from a plan is out of character. Never did I think that I would want to, or be interested in, owning more than one practice.”
But over the last several years, Dr. Mills has gotten better at running her original practice in Acworth, Georgia. They have grown their client base and family of team members. “We are a place where people belong, they’re valued, loved and cared for, and they enjoy working. I felt like we have a really good thing going. So, why not expand what we have?”
The Study Group Boost
It was just a few years ago that Dr. Mills said the market around her underwent a seismic shift. There was a flurry of acquisitions where many of the independent veterinary practices in the surrounding area became corporate. “A veterinary community is a very small community, so of course I was hearing how they could pay more, had more resources and buying power, etc.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Mills said her hospital was busy, but not as profitable as it had the potential to be. “I felt like I should be able to pay my team more because I’m passionate about that. I love my team, and they work as hard, if not harder, than I do. I wanted to know how to make my clinic more financially stable so that I could pay my team what I felt was a fair wage.”
She joined VMG a little over two and a half years ago because she heard she would get corporate-level buying power and learn how to be a better financial leader for her practice. “And that’s what I needed,” she said, “but I got way more out of VMG than what I expected.”
Before VMG, Dr. Mills felt like she was all alone, barely keeping her head above water. “Now I don’t ever feel alone,” she said. “I have an entire group of friends that are in the same situation as I am, who have very similar practices. Anytime I have questions, whether it’s culture, team, HR, or financial, there’s somebody that has had that experience that can help me through it and give advice. I have multiple people to bounce ideas back and forth with. It’s like a family of privately-owned practice owners.”
Now she feels balanced and confident in her choices, knows where her clinic stands financially, and how she can change things. “I feel very confident in how to run a practice, where before it was just a guessing game,” she said. “Every single thing we do now is because of VMG and what I get out of my Study Group. Every choice we make is because of a VMG meeting where I learned what we could do to improve things, whether it’s a new medicine, a piece of equipment, even down to our phone system or which practice software we use. There are so many different changes that have been made, and we have benefited from, because of my group.”
Knowledge, Experience, Confidence
The first step in opening the new location was a phone call to VMG Facilitator Jeff Latimer, DVM. “He said, this is a great idea. Michelle, I’m so excited. Let’s setup a meeting with our accounting specialists and make sure this is the right financial choice for you.”
So, Dr. Mills met with VMG’s accounting partners, who specialize in veterinary business, and they reviewed demographic information together about the community surrounding the new location. “I knew it was a good decision, but they definitely helped me feel more confident about the choice,” she said.
Once the decision was made, Dr. Mills closed the transaction in 30 days, and six weeks later opened the doors to the Marietta, Georgia location. “I had everyone running,” Dr. Mills admitted. “I’m not going to do that next time. It’s not worth it. It was very stressful for me and my managers. I’ve learned that going that fast wasn’t worth my quality of life in that time frame. It was a very tough 6 to 8 weeks.”
But a few weeks after opening, things calmed down. “Everything is great now. I’m very happy that we made the choice, but next time I won’t do it in a rush. You learn from mistakes. Don’t be in a rush. Just let it happen the way it’s supposed to happen.”
Now that the Marietta location is standing on its own feet, Dr. Mills is focused on expanding the Acworth location. Then, perhaps they will open a third location… who knows? With the knowledge and confidence she has gained from her VMG Study Group, the sky is the limit.
“I will never forget my very first meeting at VMG when I felt so intimidated,” she said. “Here I was with my own little practice, and I’m sitting at a table with all these people who own two, three, four practices. I was having a hard time running my one practice. How are these people doing three and four practices? Well, now I know because I’m on the other side of that. I know how they’re able to do it; because they have VMG and they learned what I now know, too.”
Watch the full interview with Dr. Mills here.
