managing a veterinary clinic chain in finland
TRANSCRIPT
Managing a Veterinary Clinic Chain
in Finland
Veikko TuovinenPhD, DVM, MSChief Development OfficerThree Plus Group Ltd.
Carrier• Mixed practice, 5 years• Disease prevention, 14 years• Research, 6 years• CEO, Tuhatjalka Clinics 2008-2015• Chief Development Manager, TPG, 2015-• DVM 1982 (Helsinki)• MSc epid. 1990 (Cornell), PhD 1994 (Helsinki)
– Control of Swine Diseases by Slaughterhouse Activities• Dipl. ECVPH 2003, Dipl. ECPHM 2004• Honours (Finnish Vet Union)
– Golden Medal of Honour, 1998– Vet of the Year, 2001
Helsinki – Brno = 1600 km
Finland?• 5.5 million people• 338,435 km²• 70 % forest• 10 % water
• 187,888 lakes• Independent 1917• EU member 1995 Capital: Helsinki
What is Management?“Management is the function thatcoordinates the efforts of people
to accomplish goals and objectives by using available resources
efficiently and effectively”Wikipedia
Management - POCCCPlanning
OrganizingCoordinatingCommanding
Controlling
• Plan: • what needs to happen in the future• how to generate plans for action
• Organize: • Make sure the human and nonhuman
resources are put into place
Plan and organize
• Coordinate: • Create a structure through which an
organization's goals can be accomplished
• Commande: • Determine what must be done
and get people do it
• Control: • Check progress against plans
CCC
Management via our Story• Three Plus Group was established in 2007
(Parent company)
Small animals (Verkavet)
IT technology(Finnish Net Solutions)
Values”The most valuable assets
of the company are its values”
TPG’s valuesHonesty
TransparencyAppreciation of the othersGrowth and Development
Homework• Which are your values?
– Not nice sounding, but real ones
• Do you share the same values with yourpossible business partners?– Challenge each others
Vision”How the company looks like
after 5-10 years”
Turnover is >7,5 million euros in 2015
The company is solid and profitable
Good quality pet health care for customer’s needs
Verkavet’s Vision in 2007
Strategy
“High level plan to achieve the goals under uncertainty”
Background for Strategy• Market size• Trends• Demand / supply• Competitors• Consumers’ needs
Market 2007• 100-130 million euros• annual growth 7 %• >600,000 dogs• >500,000 cats• >700,000 vet visits• lack of vets, evening, night and weekend
services
Vets 2007• 1843 vets
– 1400 active– About 850 practitioners
• 440 pet vets– 180 small clinics
POSITION* N %Municipal and Governmental 703 50.2Private sector 444 31.7Substitutes 207 14.8Others 47 3.4TOTAL OF ACTIVE VETS 1401 100.0
Students 290
Retired 293
*Finnish Veterinary Association’s members 2007
Four ”views”Customers’ viewPersonnel’s view
Process viewOwners’ view
Customers• Who are our customers?• What services they need?• What is the trend in needs?• Why customers choose / don’t choose us?• What could we do better than competitors?
Customers’ needs 2007– evening, night, and
weekend services– basic and emergency services– better phone service– internet services
Personnel 2007• No existing employees
• Must find vets, nurses and clinic managers• Must find ”winner teams”• We must offer an attractive choice
Process view• How processes are planned to work?• How processes work?• Continuous iteration
CEO and clinic managers must have skills to recognize all processes!
• We had no existing processes- A huge challenge- Possibilities
Owners’ view• A company
• Must produce profit• Must follow the company values
• Has the company a winning team?• Skills, motivation
• Does the company have strength to grow?• Good vision, investment money
TPG’s Strategy 2007
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Quick growth!- turnover from 0,3 to 7,5 million e in 2015
TPG’s Strategy 2007– Basic and emergency services
• Evening, night, and weekend services• Cooperation with specialized vets
– Small animals only – a chain of clinics
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TPG’s Strategy 2007– Utilisation of internet
• Practice Management Software (Provet Net)• web pages (www.tuhatjalka.fi), facebook (https://www.facebook.com/tuhatjalka?fref=ts),
google…
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How to grow quickly?Buy clinics (carefully…)• customers, location, future market, staff…
clear vision• analyze the balance sheet with care• don’t take unnecessary risks
How to grow quickly?TPG bought two clinics in 2008
– Bank loan, biggest risk in our history
– First clinic (Tuhatjalka) was a succesName for the whole chainExperiences from night and weekend service
– The other • Too small (one vet + nurse)• Closed 3 years later
How to grow quickly?Build clinics (carefully…)
– Analyze market possibilities– Location, location, location… - very important– Layout – Operation mode– Tuhatjalka built six clinics
• one flopped, closed in one year
How to grow quickly?Personnel• Manager, vets• Nurses, other• A Winning Team• one person can change the whole clinic
How to grow quickly?Advertise• Web pages, social media• Mobile (http://tuhatjalka.fi/mobiili)
• Google• Text messages, calls• Street • (phonebooks, magazines, radio, taxi windows, road signs, sponsoring,
tv (https://www.facebook.com/tuhatjalka/videos/146829552095125), calendar (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.254165527963440.63154.147004062012921&type=3)....
How to grow quickly?Answer the phone - quickly• Phone center
– professional phone service• Tuhatjalka answers 24/365• Phone connected to Provet
– recognizes the customer– opens the patient card
How to grow quickly?Web Pages
– connected to Provet– time reservation– treatment history – reminders, messages– chat, pictures, stories– anamnesis, check in…
• let the customer do the work
How to grow quickly?Mobile
– Popularity increases– Interactive– Tuhatjalka was the
first company in Finland offeringmobile services
How to grow quickly?Cost Effective Quality Service
– What ever you do, do it well• Professional• Customer Service• Documentation
– Price is important in basic services, less in special
Cat Friendly Clinic- Tuhatjalka Turku was the first Gold Certificate Cat Friendly Clinic in Finland(http://icatcare.org/cat-campaigns-cat-friendly-clinic/accredited-clinics)
Quality
Chains?
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• Save money– medicines, supply… better discounts– adverts, management…
• Common procedures– bencmarking, quality control, prices, …
• More together, synergy advantages– contracts, salaries, accounting, management
Tuhatjalka Clinics 2015
Turku
Tampere
Jyväskylä
Kuopio
VirkkalaHelsinki
Savonlinna
Tuhatjalka personnel
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
13
18
45 45
53
6360
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20150
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
6734
16305
24535
34111 33232
3787734997
32824
Client visits
Estimate
Turnover
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
7,000,000
8,000,000
9,000,000
935,748
2,295,371
3,241,146
5,196,3225,791,874
7,699,6127 210 419
Euros
Change in market• Long economic depression• More vets supply>demand
– we, too, have lost customers• Capital investors two big chains
– Animagi 37 clinics, Univet 17 clinics• merged in 2015• 54 clinics (about 35 % market share)
Change in market• Contract prices of 24/7-services down• Competitors use Provet, too• Digital marketing common• Hard competition
Future• Back to basics
– market size– trends– demand / supply– competitors– consumers’ needs– our strenghs– SWOT
• Values
Market 2015
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• about 200-250 million euros• annual growth 5-10 % (?)• 2450 vets, about 1800 in working life• approx. 1 - 1.2 million vet visits
Finnish vets 2015
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POSITION N %Municipal 414 22,9Governmental 204 11,3Private: employees 268 14,8Private: entrepreneurs 259 14,3Substitutes 462 25,5Others 204 11,3TOTAL 1811 100,0
Our strengths• Second biggest chain in finland
– About 3 % market share– 7 clinics, own phone center– Biggest in 24/7-services (4 clinics)
• Qualified, international personnel• Solid financial standing• Full Provet utilisation• Ten multidisciplinary owners
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Economic depression=
a great possibility to strong companies!
Depression
Tuhatjalka decided?
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Secret, but guess
Managerial skills
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What skills does a manager need?
Managerial skills• Political
– Connections– Power
• Conceptual– Ability to analyze complex situations
• Critical thinking
• Interpersonal– Ability to communicate, motivate, mentor and delegate
Managerial skills• Diagnostic
– Ability to visualize most appropriate response to a situation
• Leadership– Ability to lead and provide guidance to a specific group
• Technical– Expertise in one's particular functional area
• How many vets, nurses, other• Working hours, shift cycle• Required skills• Salaries
– Per hour / provisional / bonuses– Shift differentials– Staff benefits
Example: Human Resources
• Motivation, basic and further training• Staff benefits (Tuhatjalka examples)
– Sports and culture voucher (400 e/y)– Discounts of pet feed and treatment– Relaxation evenings and trips– Free time health ensurance, etc.
• Occupational health care and wellbeing• Participation on decision making
Human Resources Policy
• Trust / control • How to handle problems
– Violation of company values– Violations of privacy protection– Avoiding duties, negligent to superior advices– Recurrent mistakes– Bad customer service– Stealing, narcotics, alcohol, smoking at
work...– Etc.
Human Resources Policy
• Basic principles• Location
– Good parking spots /better location
• Hardware• Services and products• Pricing
Building clinics
• Independent / chain / francising• Small / big• Hospital / clinic / (alone)• Many small clinics / one big• Close to / far away from the other clinics• Services and products• Shop / only vet work• Etc.01.05.2023 Veikko Tuovinen 58
Consepts
Concepts• Similar or different clinics?
Laboratory (every clinic)• VetABC• VetScan, etc.
Half Digital X-ray (every clinic)• GeR• Agfa
Savonlinna’s reception
Operation room, TuhatjalkaJyväskylä
• Partners (devices, pet feed, supply…)• Cooperation (other clinics, experts…)• Contracts• Media• Social media• Etc…
Other examples
Services and products• Shop / webshop• Treating / Preventive• Services:
– All possible / short list– Basic / specialised
Services and products• Which animals you treat• Basic /special• Specialists
– own / contracts • Prices and paying
– Cash, card, invoice, installments, in advance– Per service / time, even monthly payments
• Do you recognize your competitors?– Other clinics– Clinic chains, also foreign chains– Capital investors– Insurance companies– Pet accessory shops– Department stores– You?
Possible competitors
Conclusions• Management is taking care of everything
in the company– Lead doing– Delegate and trust your team members
• Control by key economic figures, quality work and customer satisfaction– Utilize Clinic Management Program’s reports
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Managing is full of intresting challenges
Thank you!