Efficiency is an engineering concept that has now been translated to all areas of a business or project. It was a term designed for systems and mechanical processes in a stable or ‘predictable’ environment. However, it is now applied to almost all areas of business.
Operation efficiency.
Business efficiency.
Sales efficiency.
Marketing efficiency.
Capital efficiency.
The list goes on...
The idea of efficiency is well-established and justified. It is productivity. The ability for 1 unit of input to produce more than 1 unit of output is a goal that we all strive towards. In fact, that is one of the key focuses of our inaugural fund, Mandeleo Animal Health Group.
We have found many areas of improvement within all the areas highlighted above.
- Operational:
- Leverage technology and automating processes
- Currently, a lot of processes and systems are still handled on pen and paper. Clinics and front-office teams have managed to scale their businesses (with a lot of blood, sweat and tears) with outdated processes. Our goal is to leverage digital scheduling, procurement and process handling and train our teams accordingly.
- Automation plays an equally important role. Stock management and reordering based on inventory requirements, sending clients post-op resources and information and managing out-of-hours appointments and queries. Partners and new technological systems can solve all of these problems.
- Documentation and clarity
- Veterinary teams are few and far in between. There is a huge shortage in the market of qualified staff willing to come and work at clinics bursting at the seams. Documenting and highlighting the systems within the business can give our teams the support and resource required to effectively handle inevitable issues and problems. It can also pave the way for new hires to easily integrate into a new practice and potentially move across our group.
- Business:
- Centralise administrative functions
- Support begins with clear and transparent communication. Our teams and clinics should know where the group stands financially and operationally. This is why we believe in partnerships over complete buyouts. It is about treating the team as partners through equity and, most importantly, open and transparent communication channels where teams can voice issues, solutions and ideas.
- Open and transparent communication
- After 6 years training to a vet and finally owning your own practice, it can be quite draining to balance your books, manage VAT and review supplier and staff contracts. The truth is admin work is always a burden on business owners who are focussed on delivering quality products and services to their clients/customers. The best way forward is to centralise the admin work from the clinical staff and take the headaches away from them as they continue to treat our animals.
- Human resources and supporting our teams
- As mentioned, the shortage of staff and explosive demand is plaguing the industry and harming clinical teams. To be the employer of choice, we need to deliver on our promises and ensure our employee packages include more than just competitive salaries. We believe it is about holistic and comprehensive support.
- Marketing:
- Focus on delivering value through content
- Clinics have no shortage of demand and traffic, in fact, some are turning clients away because they are absolutely full and can’t guarantee their pet will be served well. Effective marketing will give clients value well beyond they step foot inside the clinic. At the end of the day, we are in the healthcare industry and if we have the knowledge and expertise to share guides and tips on how to manage their pets’ health then it will speak for itself.
- Capital:
- Investing effectively
- Investing is a culmination of the rest of our systems and actions. We need to be able to assess the value and returns of our investment effectively. Without an aligned team, open culture and value-driven service it can become quite complicated to assess the right developments and investments.
With all the solutions and areas identified, you may have noticed that I used the term effective versus efficient. That’s where I believe we differ from the current crop of investors and managers. We are traditional in our structure but experimental with our projects. That is how we will generate superior returns relative to the capital invested.
Optimising for efficiency is a valiant effort with a lot of potential gains. Maximising the number of pets our vets see in a day is not sustainable. However, increasing the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns and telemedicine solutions to generate out-of-clinic revenue can be. We will ensure that each unit of input generates more units of output. We will also optimise for effective experiments that can create outsized returns.
Until next time.
