The Freedom of a Systems-Based Practice

Welcome to another episode of align your practice. This is your host Dr. Joe Esposito, we have a guest that we've had on the podcast before Dr. Taylor Hoskins. How are you?

I'm great. Thank you for having me back.

You're welcome. Last time, we talked about opening a practice, I, hopefully you've healed from opening those wounds and telling your stories. Today, we're talking about systems, something that we set on the last call that our behavioral profile showcases that, it ain't something that we're wired to make it easy for us. So it's a good conversation about systems. So any opening thoughts about systems, I have some notes and some ideas, but I want to those that are listening in that are maybe anti systems, like, if you're looking at align life as a potential for you, as a listener, of jointed line life movement? Maybe it's like, systems or you have a hesitation with that? What are your opening comments on this discussion?

So if someone was anything like me, whenever I thought about opening up practice systems was a scary word that's like a dirty word like, oh, that mean, I'm gonna, like, have to wear this costume and memorize this script. And if I go, if I if I go off one word, you know, say that one wrong thing, am I gonna get fine, that was a year that I had. But I will say, I'll start off by like, giving some peace of mind to people who might be listening, who are anti systems, I was very, very much anti systems very much so. But I will say that having systems in place, has greatly increased the clarity, the confidence that I have, when it comes to communicating with my patients, my staff, my network, pretty much everyone and anyone I come into contact with, I just have this confidence. And like I said, clarity that I can handle the conversation that is going to happen.

That's that's a good point. Because I think if you position your story in your mind that you system is what's controlling you. What I realized in life is that systems is what created freedom for me. Is that wild, it's the total opposite, but you could sell yourself a story systems is confining and controlling, meanwhile, systems is reproducible. It allows you to have a scalable, durable, transferable practice, he allows you to get a vacation because someone can cover it allows you to scale because everything's measurable, right systems is the essence of power, it's essence of freedom. And so those of you listening, that were anti systems, this should inspire you to say, take a look and see the difference. Now, you brought up a point before we got on the air here about the difference of a line life, in that we're not like the police force in not allowing you to think or breathe or showcase your personality. Now in transparency, we do hold a line on the business protocols and systems in the office. But you are the doctor, you are the clinician, you are the leader, we want to see your personality, we want to see your technique, we want to see your art form. And we don't want to have any say in controlling that. Is that kind of what you're feeling is the difference.

Yeah, absolutely. I'm, I would say that the line that you guys hold as far as you know, the decisions that have to be made and like what we can and cannot do, those were things that I was happy to like go up I don't want to decisions like I don't want to think of my brand colors. I don't want to think about you know where I'm going to put or which posters I'm are going to be good in a exam room. I don't want to think about what EHR system I'm going to use. I want you to tell me which one is going to be best and which one is going to help me grow my business so that I don't even care about those those decisions. Thank you for making those for me because I probably would have chosen the wrong thing. In regards to the having your personality in this business. Yeah, I mean, I don't ever feel like I have been stifled. I don't feel like I've ever been told to be someone I'm not. And honestly, most of our patients when they come into this office, when they have heard Oh, yeah, we're going to corporate training. They've been like corporate like oh, yeah, no, like, what? I think you own this place. Well, yeah, I do own this place, but I've heard of a franchise and they're like, this is a franchise. is like, it's not that cold, stiff, like stuffy feeling it's people, people walk into my office. And the thing I hear over and over and over again is, I love the way this place feels, it feels like home.

Oh, that's great. That's good. I love that. So in systems to me, the reason why systems are so important is because they're measurable. And when we take our systems, we have a custom made dashboard, that cost over $300,000, to build called our practice diagnosis that helps you diagnose your practice. And what I love is having a manual that creates low variables in decision making. And then we look at the numbers and you as a doctor, or as a business owner could say that numbers down, we gotta go train on x. And then you can watch the number go up, like you just said, conversion. We're studying conversion, you get the mindset, the heart, the philosophy and the practical steps of enhancing your patient conversion, then you go back to the practice diagnosis and say, Oh, went up 8%. Do you feel that's how it's working? Like those? The data, the system, the data, the system? Is that how you it sounds like that's how you practice?

Yeah, percent. I mean, the thing I was, I thought about before we got on here was that the systems, they given me solutions to problems that I didn't ever think would exist, and they've given me solutions to problems that I haven't had yet. But they've also given they prepared me to handle the inevitable issues that will occur and practice in life. And, you know, in even just with, you know, managing staff, so, but specifically about the practice diagnosis that you're speaking about, that has been such a powerful tool, because you're right, it tells you exactly where you need to train harder. It tells you where you need to tighten up, it tells you what is going wrong, what's going right, and how to continue to be successful. And like you said, we're going back through our conversion training now because our conversion used to be really, really, really high. And our attraction wasn't as great. Well, we worked really hard on our attraction that went crazy through the roof. But we got lacs on our conversion. So I was like, Guys, come on here. So now we're going back through it. And like you said, in the beginning systems gives you so much freedom, because I didn't have to think, oh, my gosh, what are we doing wrong? I just said, Guys, we got to go back through this. And we got to tighten up and do what this manual is telling us to do. Because it's worked in the past, we just got to actually continue to implement it properly.

And that's a good point. Because when you're an entrepreneur, I always love the phrase entrepreneurs drown, they don't starve. They don't run out of things to do, they drowned in doing too much. And when you have a system and you have the data, the analytics, you don't get emotional, you don't get you don't start throwing things on the wall. Like in your situation when your conversion went down. If you didn't have the data on conversion, you may just kicked up your attraction. Well, we need more we need more we need more you looked at it said we don't need more we doubled the new patients. The leads coming in we got it improve our conversion. So was it where you're throwing things at the wall, you were very calculated, you looked at your data and said, Wow, this is up, this is down. Let's focus on this not focus on everything. We don't need to be team building, we don't need to be an attraction right now we need to focus on conversion, grab the manual, go to the section, let's fix conversion. So I love that it's less stressful. It's more purposeful drives your revenue quicker, and it builds morale with the team when the leader knows what to do. You get people to buy into that. And I know you're starting to have more maturity in your team. As we talked last time, you had some high turnover when you first opened now you have people that have been there for a little while you're not onboarding you're, you're guiding and developing a team. How has that been? Are they involved in looking at let's say practice diagnosis, stats, and understanding the manual? Are they actually connecting themselves? Or how to how do you feel with that the connection for the staff?

Yeah, so I mean, it within our systems, there's our weekly team meeting, you know, our weekly office meeting that we have and, you know, that's when everyone is the reporting on the staff that they're responsible for. And we have set the expectation that you don't just show up, hey, this is our goal. This is what we're at. We're behind. Let's move on to the next one. If you're behind, why and what's your plan, you know, you can't come with like, Oh, this is what's happening and it is what it is. So Oh, it's been really cool to see our ca who's been with us page and watch her. She might not always have the right answer for, hey, what do we do with the solution? But she knows that the answer is somewhere in our systems and our operation manual. And it's actually this, I think it was last week. She said, Should I ask somebody where to find this? And I said, I looked at it. I said, What do you think she said, I should probably just go look in the operations manual first. And I said, Exactly, exactly. That's awesome.

So what do you see with your practice? You only two years into your practice? It's a new practice, you just moved to new locations. Beautiful, you got a lot more space. I know you're doing some tweaks to probably the build out and whatnot. What do you see? Like what's down the road, you're three for some clinics, By the second year just trying to make their first dollar trying to get by these see another doctor, I know you're integrating some of the line life integrated services. But two, three years down the road? What do you what do you see in the practice?

So by two or three years from now, I want to hire another doctor, we want an associate. We want someone who can get in here give me a little bit of a break from adjusting when I want it. Not that I want to not be adjusting, but hey, maybe I can take another vacation. And we want to have at least two more staff members. CA's Teca we want to have a Chica Kocha. And then maybe maybe one maybe that checkout or maybe that coca also doubles as like a health coach. That's what we're talking with pay? Oh, wow, that's great. Wow, is she's really interested in health coaching. And she also is a little interested in being a tech, you know, doing the technical aspect that a CA can do. So we want to have that opportunity to allow the staff to have more staff and allow them to be able to understand the every role well enough so that hey, if somebody's out, they can step in seamlessly, which is cross training right there. And that can only be done with systems. But then also because of the systems. If we when we hire another doctor, when I take a vacation, it keeps going, the business keeps running, and I come back on Monday. And it's like I never left.

And it's very rare for hire to hire their associate in just three years of practice. That's usually maybe a decade later in most scenarios. So I think in align life, one of our visions and goals I'm gonna get more convicted about it is to help doctors learn how to not own their job and own a business. Owning a job is where the owner operator where if you take a day off, you don't make any money in the business shuts down, you go to work, you make money, you don't you don't, that's a job. So owning a job means you paid for your job, you put out a loan to get a job, but you can't escape the job. Being an owner means the business runs whether you're there or not. And that's what Taylor is talking about is she can take not a one week or two weeks, she could take a month vacation if there's an effective practitioner serving that patient base, and she could come back with the same revenue or more revenue. That's a business. So in a line life, our vision, our goal is to help owner operators become owners, and not necessarily operator unless they choose to like Taylor said she loves to just she can adjust one day a week, three days a week, five days, every other week, like whatever she chooses as the owner, because that's what you're buying. As an owner, you're buying freedom. And if you build a clinic, and you launch and spend all that money up front, and you never have another practitioner, you just lost all the value of being an owner, you shouldn't have opened it be an employee. So this brings another podcast episode is understanding those that should every chiropractor should not own a business. And that's another topic don't feel it's a rite of passage or it's a need. There are great careers out there. Even online life hires doctors, Taylor may be hiring one and a year from now. So keep your eyes out for what a great practice to work in. If you hear this podcast, reach out to Taylor, if you want to be employed, but really get some clarity and align life if you're interested in online life offering will take you down a journey to understand your profile your behavioral profile to see are you wired to be a business owner? Is it in your best interest? And then we can guide you guide you a little along the way. So Dr. Taylor, do you feel like that that transition is in the next year or two is to be an owner? Not just an owner operator? I think you already have that plan you have it already set? So that's, that's awesome.

Yeah, I actually when we set our goals at the beginning of this year, end of last year, I said, in my five year plan is I kind of just want to be a clinic director and CEO, and you know, have the opportunity and option to come in and adjust. But I really want I want to have less hands in the day to day processes and more like keeping the team inspired and keeping them motivated and on mission and on purpose and, and having this opportunity to have doctors who want to who are business builders or who are caregivers, but they don't want to take on the liability of owning their own business. I mean, that's, that's a dream right there.

Yeah. And there's so many doctors that are they, you have to edify those practitioners that are just innate geniuses and supporting people that are looking for place to work and have a great opportunity for their career. So what I love where you're at as your BI life university, so students that are looking for opportunities, you're right there, we're going to have to align our goals, because I see your second clinic in about 18 months to two years, I don't know, we'll have to have a side conversation. But But do you see that as a feature? Just curiosity.

So I own my business with my boyfriend, Ryan, he's not a chiropractor, he always says it is like, this is Dr. Taylor, I am not Dr. Ryan. And, and from the very beginning, when we had no money to open our business. That was that was already part of the conversation where we want to own two, three, maybe more offices. And that's what I see is I want to have at least 10 other office because if I can truly be that clinic director, the CEO, the hands out of the day to day operations, and just inspiring training, you know, I'm keeping people on mission like that is I could do that at 234 10. Clinics, I don't know.

Well, it's you're doing the right steps. Because you built systems, you own a systems, now you're building leadership, now you're building a team. So you're doing every step a CEO needs to be, and you're going through the adversity of looking at this numbers down, here's how to train that number, it's the same thing, you're going to be looking at compilation data you're looking at our leads are down, but that number is for offices, it's the same exercise. And then when you're talking to your doctors, and you're looking at now one doctor, we're looking at four, it's the same training conversions down in your organization, not in your practice in your organization. So guess what you're gonna do the same thing you did last week, you're going to find the training and you're going to do the training. But what you're able to do is you're going to impact more lives, what this country needs as more successful Chiropractors, we need people like you, Dr. Taylor, with your drive your passion to be able to lead groups of chiropractors, like all chiropractors that are leaders, you need to lead groups of chiropractors and help them have an effective successful career serving the masses. Because there are too many people in this society that need chiropractic care, and I want to go on a soapbox. But, you know, we don't have to get patients we have to serve people, we got to get in conversations people are already in because they're suffering and they need us. And that's my passion in online life is I want to be able to serve those doctors that may be scared or don't have a business sense or don't know how to market but they're innately healers that want to serve. So I applaud what you're doing. And I'm excited to watch some of these young doctors get an opportunity to work in your organization, because I think it's going to be one of the leaders in the Align life organization. And being so close to, to life, I think your ability to have the preceptor program, and having some of those students come in to maybe do a 90 day window inside of your world, your vision, your leadership, and seeing what maybe the future is unifying with with your team. So any final thoughts on you know, we're talking systems and we took it from being scared of systems to maybe multiple clinics and being a CEO of a larger organization, I think was a good journey. Any final thoughts for people listening or close it up?

I mean, if, if I can fall in love with systems, if you can fall in love with systems, I think anybody can so I just want to make sure that no one no one is afraid of systems. It truly like you said gives you freedom. And the beautiful thing about it is yes, it's given me this freedom to work and step into a space as like the CEO and the visionary and inspire my I have my staff and my patients more but it's also given my staff page the opportunity to also feel inspired to lead others, which is amazing. You know, that's like as a business owner as like a leader as as, as somebody who is wanting to inspire people, when you're inspiring your staff to inspire more and continue your journey and your mission like what more could you want out of life like that? That right there? It's like, wow, okay. I, the days are long, but I must be doing something right here.

It's awesome. Because it's just impacting more lives what you're saying. It's just that your, your, your leader, inspiring other leaders. Wow, that's, that's powerful. And those of you that didn't watch our podcast on our review of multipliers, it's a book on leadership tailored to your next book to read. But we did a breakdown in the podcast we did about five episodes on multipliers. One of the most effective academic exercise I've done to become a better leader was reading and studied multipliers. That's a little nugget for you, guys. Dr. Taylor, thanks so much again, for your interest. Looking forward to following your journey having you back on this podcast. Anytime you have a new lesson, learn new adversity, overcome new clinic, yell open, reach out to us. We'd love to have you back off. All right, thank