Paperwork…we all love it…not!  Employers are inundated with documents, which are essential for managing employees.

 

Employment paperwork includes the following:

 

Request to Hire Form

Employee’s Job Application &/or Resume’

Job Description

Employee Handbook

IRS Form W-4

Form I-9 – Employment Eligibility Verification

Identification Documents

Safety Manual

Confidentiality Agreement

Wage Deduction Authorization

Code of Professional Behavior

Employee Performance Reviews

 

An outside service can be an extremely valuable resource for assisting you in creating documents customized for your practice.  Contact us at EPMG for more information on how we can help.

Things constantly evolve within Facebook! I have to admit I never knew some of the tools available within facebook business pages. Check back for a future post sharing some of the benefits of the business page.

First, I have to tell you that you are not alone if you feel lost when it comes to figuring out how to use the facebook business pages. I recently attended a seminar in which the speaker went through the same information the day before, and there were already changes he had to maneuver through during our workshop the following day.

I want you to consider something if you are scared of creating a business page knowing that someone could post a negative comment on your page.

People spend more time and energy saying something negative than they will saying something positive. They will also “say it” somewhere. With that being said, I feel it is worth considering having your own page so that you can at least be aware of what people are saying about you both good and bad. And, this is a great time to take control of the negative situation and handle it professionally, which will show your fans how you operate.

Think about the airline industry. We all know how negative their environment can be. Traveling always creates added stress.  Take that stress and a “mix up” and you have a very unhappy customer. You might take a look at how each of them handle their business pages. One in particular does a very good job of addressing the negative post by first acknowledging the person, then apologizing for their experience, and then asking to take the conversation “off-line” or to the private message stream. This is an excellent example of how to handle a negative comment.

You should also think of your business page as your home, and it is okay to have boundaries. This means if you consistently witness behavior from an individual you feel does not fit your standards, you can ask them to leave, just as you would in your own home.

If you haven’t changed your business page to Timeline, I recommend you do that now. It will change automatically at the end of March. Timeline will be the new style of your page layout.

If any of you are interested in learning more about Facebook business pages and specifically how they can benefit your practice, please email Brandie at brandie@equinepracticemanagement.com. We hope to host a webinar in the near future.

Happy “Facebooking”.

 

Planning for profit.  Your success as the manager of your practice hinges on your ability to manage your one number – “profit.”   In accounting terms, profit is simply the difference between revenue and expenses, i.e., revenue – expenses = profit.  In order to manage for profit, you need to develop a “profitability plan” or budget.

Begin with the end in mind.  Don’t be intimidated by the budgeting process.   A budget is simply your goals for the practice in financial terms.  If you have accurate financial statements, you are well on your way.

Using your financial statements, develop a spreadsheet that includes the revenue and expense categories with amounts from the last twelve months.  Beginning with the end in mind, decide how much profit you want your business to generate.  This is your goal.  Starting at the top, work your way down through the spreadsheet looking for trends and making educated guesses about changes you expect in the coming year.  One note:  In my experience, most veterinary clinics are run pretty lean.   While you might be able to take out a percent or two by reducing costs, you’re probably going to need to find ways to increase revenues to make a significant impact on your bottom line.  This could mean a fee increase, adding new services, or both.

Don’t worry if you don’t get it exactly right the first time.  A budget is a “fluid document”.  Once created, it can be tweaked as necessary.  The important thing is to “Just Do it!”