ortho jabber

[labdude]

So... where is everybody??
I understand that ortho lab work isn't as glamourous as other parts of the lab profession.
Still, it is a lot of fun!!
10/28/07 today. Like most any other Sunday for me...it's Monday.
Busy days are from Sunday through Wednesday. Other 3 days I use to set up for next week. Toughest boss you will ever work for is yourself.
Anybody here manage to set aside your first million for retirement yet??
Pull out 8% a year to live in. Hope to make 12% return, on average of years.
Trisha, going to AAO conventions does make for a lot of learning experiences.
New appliances and ideas. Great opportunity to find out just what the large labs are getting for their services. They are taking your price list as well. Everybody quietly does this there. Large labs also want to see just how your work looks compared to theirs. Lots of creepy crawly missions going on, on all levels. Dr's asking how many of something their pal is making, trying to figure out his income. Interseting stuf happens there at AAO and smaller Society meetings.
For the most part, they are extremely boring. You must have a presence in your booth during the entire convention. 1-5 days.
Trisha, a good way to get into one is go with a doctor you work for. One will possibly get you a pass into an AAO or other as part of his office. Fun Stuff.
MIke.

[trisha]

Originally Posted by labdude

So... where is everybody??
I understand that ortho lab work isn't as glamourous as other parts of the lab profession.
Still, it is a lot of fun!!

As corny as it sounds I really do love what I do!
I have been making appliances for 14 years and started up my biz 8 years ago.

Originally Posted by labdude

Like most any other Sunday for me...it's Monday.
Busy days are from Sunday through Wednesday.

Weekends are the busy time for me. Sat. & Sun. especially.

Originally Posted by labdude

Toughest boss you will ever work for is yourself..

Oh~soo true

Originally Posted by labdude

Anybody here manage to set aside your first million for retirement yet??

We are diligently saving for retirement. 12% return on avg. would be GREAT! Shouldn't be hard to do this year with the market doing so well. Are you a Dave Ramsey fan? He is a talk radio financial guy? He really is adament about not getting into the credit trap.[/quote]


I have NO idea what any other lab is charging. I haven't raised my prices in 3 years and am toying with the idea.

Currently I have a really good balance of accounts/workload. If for any unfortunate reason things should change I will defininately check out the smaller Society meetings. There are a couple of docs that I would be comfortable asking to help me get a pass. I would be really interested on finding out about new information in ortho.

trisha

[labdude]

Hi Trisha,
I have more than I deserve, as an answer to one question.
The man doesn't really put up many new ideas, it is his way of breaking things down to the smallest factor. His ability to stay one the same track, keep up exactly the same ideas and design for getting things done, start to finish with great detail and patience.
You will get a pm next from me.
Mike.

[RetainerDesigner]

My wife and I took the Dave Ramsey Financial peace Univ. at our church. Changed our whole outlook on money. The worst was the raw sore that formed when we actually saw our true money situation, Scary! Stupid(but necessary) school loans!

Love the idea that your Sundays are your Monday. I thought I was doing something wrong in the scheduling. I am still working through the night on Mondays. I guess I just need to accept that I will be working on Sundays. I also need to take more advantage of my Thursdays and Fridays(just like LabDude) and set up for next week.

Love the OrthoJabber, keep it up im learning lots!

Cade

[trisha]

My wife and I took the Dave Ramsey Financial peace Univ. at our church. Changed our whole outlook on money.

We saw him when he came to KC.

Do you do your own p/u & delivery or do you have a delivery person?
P/u & del. takes up 2 full days for me, by the time I get back I have time to sterilize and log in my work, the remaining 5 days are lab days.

How is the Website coming along?

trisha

[RetainerDesigner]

Originally Posted by trisha

We saw him when he came to KC.

Do you do your own p/u & delivery or do you have a delivery person?
P/u & del. takes up 2 full days for me, by the time I get back I have time to sterilize and log in my work, the remaining 5 days are lab days.

How is the Website coming along?

trisha

My wife and I take turns with PU/del. Ideally she is supposed to do all the pu/del but with a 20 month old boy sometimes she just cant do it. Your right it does consume a lot of very good production time for me.

Are you telling me you pu/del on just 2 days of the week? Thats cool, how does that work? or is that total (48 hours) over the whole week?

We have on Orthodontist here in town, the rest are out of town. One is 2 hours drive away and we mainly ship UPS back and forth with him. The other two are an hour away (opposite directions) it is a mixture of shipping and picking up depending on how fast I work.

I just updated the website this weekend, slimmed it down some and so it should run a little faster. I also added a "...loading..." pop up window so that people dont think their internet connection froze.

Hey LabDude, Are you a "one man show", too? What are your pu/del policies in your lab?

Cade

[trisha]

Are you telling me you pu/del on just 2 days of the week? Thats cool, how does that work? or is that total (48 hours) over the whole week?

I make deliverys on Tuesdays and Fridays. My accounts are mostly an hour to 1:15min. away. They are really scattered around, but a majority are a good hour away. That takes up at least 5 hours each of the 2 delivery dates. That is really nice that your wife can help with the deliveries.

One is 2 hours drive away and we mainly ship UPS back and forth with him.

I have thought about using a shipping service, but I need a little socialization and if there are any questions or changes the doctor or asst. can let me know when I show up. Do you have set days that you do pickups? Or do you just pick up when they call?

I just updated the website this weekend, slimmed it down some and so it should run a little faster. I also added a "...loading..." pop up window so that people dont think their internet connection froze.

Cool

[RetainerDesigner]

I make deliverys on Tuesdays and Fridays.

I though of specifying delivery dates but never could coordinate it. I usually P/U when they call, unless they are out of town then I what till the end of the day to see if there are any other P/U's that call, or look at appliances due to see if I need to DEL anyway. Maybe do an appliance a day early so that I can P/U DEL to different doctors on the same day. I try to SAVE GAS! It is $2.79 here!

I have thought about using a shipping service,

I use UPS online I print shipping labels from my computer in my lab and I also print a "Return Shipment" label that I include in the box that they will use to ship back to me. As far as socializing, the one doctor I ship to is in Decatur, Texas my wifes hometown. So, she doesn't mind delivering their when I get behind, because she can take Sawyer, our little boy, to see his MiMi (grandmother, Sara's mother) In fact that is where she is at today, and he is dressed up in scrubs as a Doctor. Stethoscope and all! My wife is in scrubs anyway, but today she is his nurse. BTW, its Halloween today when I'm writing this.

So i take it your doctors just holds all P/U's till Tues or Friday? Do you do study models? if so how do they handle impressions while while waiting for Tue. or Fri.?

Do your doctors go ahead and write the date of Tue. or Fri. as the due date of the appliance, or do you just Del it early, like say, if the appliance due date is on a Thurs.?

[trisha]

I though of specifying delivery dates but never could coordinate it. I usually P/U when they call, unless they are out of town then I what till the end of the day to see if there are any other P/U's that call, or look at appliances due to see if I need to DEL anyway. Maybe do an appliance a day early so that I can P/U DEL to different doctors on the same day. I try to SAVE GAS! It is $2.79 here!

It really simplifies things by setting 2 days aside for p/u. Mileage is by far my biggest expense! The offices are aware of my del. dates and schedule appointments accordingly. I do ask that they put a date they need the case delivered, just to make sure the appliance is in the office when they need it.

I use UPS online I print shipping labels from my computer in my lab and I also print a "Return Shipment" label that I include in the box that they will use to ship back to me. As far as socializing, the one doctor I ship to is in Decatur, Texas my wifes hometown. So, she doesn't mind delivering their when I get behind, because she can take Sawyer, our little boy, to see his MiMi (grandmother, Sara's mother) In fact that is where she is at today, and he is dressed up in scrubs as a Doctor.

I might have to look into this. Maybe just go into town once a week? I will have to feel the offices out and see if they are receptive to the idea.
Sounds like that works well for your wife to visit her hometown and be able to write off the mileage too! Your little boy in scrubs~ how cute!

So i take it your doctors just holds all P/U's till Tues or Friday? Do you do study models? if so how do they handle impressions while while waiting for Tue. or Fri.?

Yes they do hold them til Tuesday and/or Friday. I no longer do study models. For me it was not cost effective to offer the service. Do you do study models?
The offices pour up the impression and send me the cast in plaster or stone. Do they give you the impressions without being poured up? That would be tough because waiting so long it could distort the model by drying out the impression?

Happy Halloween
trisha

[RetainerDesigner]

I dont do study models much, the Orthodontists that I work for all have in-house Assistants or lab technition to do their models, a lot more cost effective for them believe me! I get one or so a month from General dentist that do ortho. THey usually call me and tell me they have impressions and I make it a point to pick-up ASAP. I also have a small refregirator in my lab that I store them in if I cant pour up right then.

I have heard a few labs that have stopped doing study models, too. For your same reasons.

[JEmirzian]

Retirement....HA! I'm still working off my equipment bill.

We actually have a guy comming into our lab to open his own ortho business. As a matter of fact he is in Florida right now at our old school taking his practicle for the CDT.

Isn't that your Astromart Avitar? Nice touch though....You used the other side of the picture (or you fliped it). Did you see that guy selling his Ethos for $620! I'm watching to see if someone actually buys it. If they do, I'll know for sure that Astromart is an addiction!

[trisha]

We actually have a guy comming into our lab to open his own ortho business. As a matter of fact he is in Florida right now at our old school taking

Good idea! If you have any questions about getting set up or ortho stuff, I would be happy to share with you what I have done. I am no expert ~but it has worked for me for many years.

trisha

[labdude]

Hi guys,
Cade, I am a one man show. My wife helps by doing the office chores and some delivery, only does pick up when I'm am not well. My being well is always a question with Linda, you are a sick man she says. When I work a full month with no days off.
These months however only involve working 2 or 3 hours some days. Not that big a deal.

Pick up and delivery schedules, you guys, light weights.
I pick up every day, deliver most days. I also have access to the lab of 1 office in town where I can go in, do an appliance right now. Yes, make an appliance for any of my local offices there same night I pick it up(as it were) it is there for delivery to the patient in the morning.
I have 6 accounts in town that I work for. I have keys to get into 3 of the offices directly, other 3 have drop boxes I supply. I rarely see the doctors unless needed. My delivery is down between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.
Generally delivery starts on Sunday night and goes through Wednesday night.
Only 1 office works on Friday and generally there is nothing due for Friday patient delivery. If there is. I put it ahead and deliver it on Wednesday. Once in a while they need a Wednesday pick up with a Thursday night drop off. I just do it. Thsi is what I am here for.
I am, I guess, extremely competitive. There was once another lab in the county, now, there is just me.
Population in Eugene , Springfiled Or. is small.
I came here form Los Angeles 15 years ago. I had no intent of doing any business here locally as there were so few Orthodontists.
One Doctor had some of my onfo from the last AAO I attended in 1990. The guy had my papers from then till 1994 when he called.
I didn't think I was feeling competitive when I got to Oregon, but, I guess that never dies. Competition is fun. I have been beat many times, and won many times.
Best meeting I ever attended was a PCSO regional in Phoenix Az. I only aquired 1 account in the 3 day meeting, was only study models as well. This was Oct. of maybe 88 or 89, not sure which. The Doctors wife did the book keeping. She calls me in January and asks if it is o.k. if they pay a year in advance. I say, maybe. (YEAH RIGHT!!)
Never had another account like this. I have tried to inspire this in other accounts by offering a 10% discount throughout the year for them. They only had to pay up front, the amount they did the previous year. No takers. Never tried again. Thinking of trying again now however.
Party on,
Mike.

[labdude]

Hi Jay,
I did want to ask you over here what type of scopes you have. After your statement over on amart about lab stuff. To late to be funny now.
About the guy setting up in your lab. Bad idea. Just IMHO.
I have tried this before, the problems that arrise are amazing. Almost like a partnership. Pain in the butt.
Help him out with info, point some potential business his way, don't let him in your lab to work.
This is just my oppinion based on past experience. I'm am not you, it may work for you.
If you were a Dave Ramsey type, you would reconsider.
You don't need the distraction. You just got started. Set your own world on fire, not the rest of the world.
HHHmmmmm, sounds like maybe I don't like the idea.
Astromart is a total addiction. Buying stuff there is an addiction. Herb is an astro pusher!
I'm on the site everyday if only to look, or to check up on my 1 remainig forum. I used to have the politics forum to moderate. Now Herb wants to slice and dice a he see's fit.
Problem is, when Herb shows up, people get real nice real quick!.
You moderate something there as well don't you?? I gotta go check...good enough reason to go there and play for a minute....again.
Mike.

[RetainerDesigner]

Jeez, I am a light weight.
I'm glad there are several states keeping you away from my clients! That was inspiring, definition of the ultimate service lab. Thanks for that Labdude I have come way with a new outlook on my work.
BTW, I would like to get yalls thoughts on a new slogan for my lab Ive been playing around with in my head.
"Humble in our service, Pride in our work"

[labdude]

Mr. RetainerDesingner,
You are in Texas, I work for accounts from Ca. to Ct.
I had a couple of Texas accounts before I moved to Oregon. I have dropped accounts and slowed down since moving here.
What is that saying???? Old age and Treachory make tender youngersters really tasty???

I obtained accounts across the states years ago form Hawii to the East coast by attending AAO conventions as an exhibitor. These meetings are expensive for a one man show, up front. The return on investment is unbeatable. You go to one, you have one small booth 10x10. Large places like Great Lakes and Unitek will have 10 to 20 booths and a army of sales people. YOU WILL GET THEIR FALLOUT BUSINESS.
Last time I attended an AAO was in Seattle, I believe 1990. In was in prep for moving to Oregon from L.A. Cal. Cost for airfare, freight of displays, room, and meeting space etc. was about $10,000.00
It paid for itself in less than a year.
These meetings, one day to the big one at AAO, have been the most prductive way to aquire new business I have ever experienced. I always offered Study Models at the meetings with one exception. My first AAO in Las Vegas in 1985. Only Appliances.
I have never attended a meeting, long or short, that did not aquire new business that stayed on for at least a year.
One day meetings with the PCSO used to cost $50.00 for a table. All you need is one table. Now they are around $275.00 maybe $300.00 or more. If you find meetings for Ortho within 600 miles of you, go to them and display your appliances. I will never forget the first time I flew up to S.F. from L.A. to attend a one day PCSO. That was a life changing experience, new business came from it. Awesome experience going to that first meeting out of L.A.
No models are need for the appliances, put them on mirror squares you can get at the hardware store. Worked for me.
Sure the large labs will be there, yes you will be intimidated. By being there consistently, you show you are serious about your business. You will waste no ones time trying "cold calls" etc and no one will waste your time there either.
Most Drs. will cruise right by like you don't exsist. There has always been enough looking for a dependable lab for some reason, you will aquire new business.
Bring your wife, she will maybe be bored spitless, however a female at your table or booth is a plus. I know this sounds bad, but you know that is the way it is out there.
Trisha, your already ahead of the rest of us guys. Drs. will be all over your booth. Problem then is, weeding out the "Cool Dudes" from the real business.
Mike.

[trisha]

I think I need to seriously consider going to an ortho conference.

With all due respect being a female miigghhtt get your foot in the door, maybe. But keeping them is the key. If I don't produce what they expect they will dump me like a hot potato. I lost an account that I had for 5 years. Blew me away and my ego. Unlike a lot of other females, my ego is tied into what I do to make a living, hate to admit it but it is true.
Never have used sexuality to get a client , I want them to take me seriously.