Australasian Dentist Issue 93

CATEGORY AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST 125 COLUMNISTS BRISBANE SYDNEY MELBOURNE 24 June 22 October 29 October Y oung Joe could not find a job, so he bought a hotdog stand from a mate and started selling hot dogs outside the local pub on Friday and Saturday nights. Joe was partial to a good hot dog, so he knew that a good one needed a fresh roll, real butter and of course the best mustard. Pretty soon every Friday and Saturday night Joe had people lined up as far as the eye could see to buy his hot dogs. The publican was thinking people were only coming for Joe’s hot dogs, so he suggested to Joe that he should set up another stand outside another of his pubs. Joe thought long and hard about this and decided he would give it a go. He bought another stand and hired a young man to tend it. He stressed to his new employee the importance of consistency in making the hot dogs and equally the importance of cleanliness and presentation. Time went by and before long Joe had hot dog stands all over the city, each stand was always immaculate, the attendants wore uniforms and they made beautiful, tasty hot dogs. Time went on and Joe married and had a son. One evening he rolled open a large sheet of white paper on the kitchen table and proudly announced to his wife: this is our future. On the paper was the design drawing of caravan specially fittedout to serve food. Joe opened his first caravan he called it “Joe’s.” He made sure he used the best products; the staff were always immaculately dressed Eat at Joe’s By Kim White, Rapid Smiles in Joe’s uniforms and he had beautifully painted and maintained signage. Business boomed, before long he had caravans everywhere and Joes reputation for quality continued to grow. By now Joe was doing really well financially, his son had just finished high school and was about to head to university. He was undertaking a degree in economics, he convinced himself and his dad such a degree would be invaluable to the family business. Joe’s son was doing well at university and was close to completing his degree. One evening Joe rolled open a large sheet of white paper on the kitchen table and proudly announced to his wife: this is our future. On the paper was the design plans for a building, over the top of the doors into the building was a sign that said “Joes Restaurant”. His wife smiled and hugged Joe, they were excited. The very next day Joe’s son came home from university and Joe excitedly shared his plans with his son. Whilst explaining his dream, he noticed the ashen face of his son, “What’s the matter?” Joe asked his son. Well Dad, as you know, I am almost qualified as an economist and as such I have become well aware of economic and financial trends in our country. My professional advice would be do not spend your money right now, times are going to get very tough, so I would put your restaurant on hold. Joe could not sleep that night; he scrapped the plans for the restaurant and went on a cost cutting drive with his caravans. He reduced staff, began buying lesser quality products and let his signs fade into disrepair. Pretty soon he had to close down one of his caravans, then another and another until they were all gone. Then one Friday night as he dragged the old hot dog stand from the shed to head of to the pub, he said to himself how smart he was to have sent his son to university and even smarter to have listened to his advice. What’s the message? Nobody knows your business, your patients or your area better than you. When everyone is talking things down, it’s not the time to make your future a self-fulfilling prophecy. There are some that would argue this isn’t the time to back off, it’s the time to go hard. Just don’t be like Joe. u Rapid Smiles/Simply Clear Aligners Ph: 1300 372 743 scans@rapidsmiles.com.au