This month we meet with Lisa Catto, founder of www.thebusinesscatlayst.co.uk And creator of:   https://idealpatientjourney.com/   who talks to us about the three critical results of the work she does for dental practices:

• Saving time;
• Getting organised and
• Growing sales.

Nothing to not like there.   Lisa has run her own businesses since the age of 19 and has a bewildering CV that includes:

• Turning a roller-skating rink into a rave venue;
• Running an animation art gallery in central London;
• Pioneering computer games and digital marketing before the internet “was a thing” and we were using floppy disks and dial up modems!

  After a sabbatical in the South of France, she returned to the UK and started working in small business automation before most of us even knew what that meant.   Chris first met Lisa during lockdown, when she was automating an ortho group and he has since witnessed the transformative work she has done with a number of his clients in general practice.   For Ashley, meeting Lisa for this podcast recording was the second blind date of his life - and the first that has turned up!   Lisa explains to us in very clear and direct terms the three phases of her work with dental clients, automating:

• Phase 1 - what happens before someone becomes a patient (including her unique SmileViewer systemhttp://www.smile-viewer.com/);
• Phase 2 - how they are converted into fee-paying patients and
• Phase 3 - how they are looked after as patients.

  She also explains how the work she does integrates with Practice Management Software and the thorough onboarding that is done with the dental team when her systems are put in place.   Ultimately, she says, “automation is about creating the extra time and space to build relationships” and that “incremental is exponential” - if you can save just 5 minutes a day, that’s almost 3 full days a year of team activity.   Dentists leave too much money on the table in treatment plans never sold or not taken up - Lisa shows us how to automate improvement.   It’s a great interview, never too technical or geeky and we think you will love it.

With mental health at the top of the agenda for leaders, managers and in our own lives, we welcomed Dr. Mahrukh Khwaja to this month’s podcast to discover how she has used her own experiences with burnout and depression to help others in dentistry.

Five years ago, Stuart and Amy Barnes purchased a two-surgery Dental Practice on the first floor above a Thomas Cook Travel Agents in Lytham St. Annes, near Blackpool.   Through incredible hard work, dedication, often working seven days a week, the Practice has expanded to five chairs, fully private and is experiencing record numbers of new patients and turnover.   In this podcast, Stuart and Amy share their story. It was so good, that this was one of the longest podcasts the Two Reds have recorded. It is simply full of gems. The best thing about this interview is you will rarely meet a more down to earth couple.   You will learn;   

• When buying a Dental Practice, or setting up a squat, why it is important to look at the potential rather than the current situation
• How being naive and making BOLD quick decisions can often win through
• From leaflets drops to social media, why you need several different types of marketing and campaigns running at the same time
• How belonging to Peer and Mastermind Groups is essential to succeed in business today 
• The power of a Brand Book and how implementing this one strategy can solve all your recruitment issues and attract the right type of employees to your Dental Practice 
• The benefits of having a brilliant Business Manager

  AND MUCH MORE

We are currently in the most challenging recruitment and retention crises in dentistry for 25 years and if that was not enough, we are also in one of the worst cost of living crises in 40 years.   With people swapping jobs for more money, It has never been more important to look at how to keep and recruit the best talent.   You have to show up as a great leader..   In the latest episode of 'Two Reds are Better than One' Ashley and Chris interviewed David Taylor who like Ashley, was an ex Dale Carnegie Master Leadership Trainer.   David has been delivering Leadership & Management Training for over 30 years, and is an expert in this field.   Whether you a business owner, a Practice Manager, or an an associate, there are many take aways in this inspirational interview.

Today we welcome the co-owner and Operations Director for a 10-practice West Midlands micro-corporate - Tri-Dental - a warm welcome to Polly Bhambra.

  Buckle up and get ready for the ride - because Polly is a powerhouse of enthusiasm for what it takes to grow a Champions League dental business in the current challenging landscape.   Polly shares with us her unique childhood and career pathway and in this interview you will learn:

• About her childhood - one of five children of Indian immigrant parents from India who arrived with nothing in the 1960’s;
• How her father (known locally as "Mr. Singh") grew his own business and instilled in his children a work-ethic and people-ethic that forms the core values of Tri-Dental today;
• Why “respect” is one of those core values;
• Why “bitching is bullying” and what to do about it;
• The 4 questions Polly always asks herself when interviewing new team members and clinicians;
• How Tri-Dental onboard new team members and then keep them self-motivated;
• Polly’s own unique career pathway (no spoilers here - but you’ll never guess);
• Why and how she bought a derelict dental practice in 2006 and how it has grown into Tri-Dental;
• Dealing with the current recruitment and retention crisis;
• What do do and say when a team member presents you with a better offer from a new Employer and asks you to match it.;
• How Polly sees the next 18 months in dentistry UK.

This interview is a belter and we are so grateful that Polly gave us her time and shared her story and insights.

An interview with Grant Watson from Envisage Dental Group

In this one-off and extraordinary podcast, we meet Mary Storrie, mother of Rosie May, who, in 2003, was brutally murdered at age 10.   That was just the start of an astonishing story of the resilience of Mary and how that and subsequent shocking events gave rise to The Rosie May Foundation.   Ashley and I are joined in this interview by our client and friend, orthodontist Catherine McCanny, who met Mary at an event some years ago and decided that she wanted to enlist the help of dental friends in creating a charity day to inspire her audience and raise funds.   That first conversation took place three years ago and then along came Covid - but now we are ready to launch and, on Friday 8th April 2022, at the Malmaison Hotel in Leeds, Ashley and I will joining Catherine and other guests to provide a day of learning and motivation for all dental team members.   In this podcast you will meet Catherine, another example of resilience, as she briefly shares her own story of opening an ortho practice, during a recession and in a working class Northern mining town - and how she has now become one of the top 5% of Invisalign providers in Europe and a speaker for Align Tech.   You will meet Mary and hear her staggering story of overcoming multiple adversities.   You will hear from Ashley and me, introducing the charity day and the other speakers we have invited, including an astonishing story from a Greek dentist who “sold up” after economic armageddon in her home country, relocated to the UK and rebuilt her professional and personal life.   Even if you cannot make the charity day, listening to this podcast will, like us, make you realise that your own challenges can be put into perspective.   For more information on the day itself - see https://www.therosiemayday.com/ - we would love to see you there.