Is It Time To Reinvent Yourself?


Back in 2008 our orthodontic practice growth came to a screeching halt. In fact, it was worse than that -- it was more like being catapulted off a very tall mountain.

Imagine being on a beautiful scenic road in your favorite vehicle, enjoying the view and your driving companion and feeling on the top of the world, and then suddenly without warning, your car careens off the side of the road down a mountain in free-fall.

Not a great feeling, right?  Scary, no doubt, especially when you did not see it coming.

 Well that is what happened to us in 2008. We had just moved our orthodontic practice into a brand new building that we purchased in 2007.  We took out a huge loan to pay for the building and the tenant improvements, but felt 100-percent confident our practice would continue to grow now that we had the additional space.

Within a period of about six months of our November 2007 relocation, our practice declined 30 percent, which meant some serious economic changes for us personally as well as our employees.
 
In my book, It’s All About Millimeters, I share this story in more detail and the ultimate “turnaround” of our practice. One of the most important things we did to bring our practice back and regain all we lost and continue to grow each year since 2010 was simply to reinvent ourselves. 

By focusing on a “millimeter” approach, we decided to “niche” our practice and standout from the crowd of 30 other orthodontists in our area.  This process of focusing on a particular “niche” and changing the way we provided orthodontic services helped us recover and get back on the track for double-digit growth that has continued despite ongoing economic uncertainty.  

The “millimeter” approach to reinvention can help you make those changes needed to succeed in your business, your career, and even in your personal life.