The EntreMD Podcast

How I bounce back QUICKLY from setbacks

• Dr. Una • Episode 482

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There are so many businesses that will never hit the seven-figure mark—or grow beyond it—not because the owner isn’t brilliant, but because they don’t know how to respond when things go wrong.

In this episode, I’m sharing something I consider one of the greatest superpowers for entrepreneurs: how to bounce back from setbacks.

I’ve been through it all—one-star reviews, launches that flopped, key team members leaving, unexpected personal challenges—and I’ve learned how to get back up fast.

In this episode, I walk you through the 5 things I do every single time to recover and rise.

If you’ve ever felt like quitting after a setback or if you’re in one right now I made this episode for you.

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Speaker 1:

There are many businesses that will never reach the seven-figure mark or will never go beyond the seven-figure mark, because they don't know how to respond to setbacks. There are businesses that can never become what the visionary sees them becoming because they can't respond to setbacks.

Speaker 2:

Hi dogs, Welcome to the EntreMD podcast, where it's all about helping amazing physicians just like you embrace entrepreneurship so you can have the freedom to live life and practice medicine on your terms. I'm your host, Dr Una.

Speaker 1:

Today, we are going to talk about what I consider a superpower of superpowers for entrepreneurs, which is how to bounce back from setbacks. When I first started my journey as an entrepreneur, I thought if I did things right, if I did things the way I was supposed to, then everything would just work out smoothly, and nothing could be further from the truth. The truth of the matter is the entrepreneurial experience is more of a mountain and valley, a mountain and valley, a mountain and valley type experience. And if you understand this and you understand how to respond when the inevitable valleys show up, you'll be well on your way to thriving as a physician entrepreneur Okay. So when we lack the ability to respond to setbacks properly, it is so expensive, okay. So let me give you an example Now.

Speaker 1:

Our results as entrepreneurs typically show up 90 days after we put in the effort. Now, of course, this is a random number, but just understand what I mean. And so if we think about the year in 90-day blocks and quarters, we can say Q1, q2, q3, q4 for every single year. Chances are your results in Q1 are a result of what you did in Q4 the preceding year. Your results in Q2 are a result of what you did in Q1. The dangerous thing about that is when you stop taking action, stop doing what you need to do, chances are you continue to get results and so you think you're getting away with it. And because you think you're getting away with it, you do it for a whole quarter and then, boom, it hits and you're like wait, how did everything dry up? This happens a lot with entrepreneurs when they start experiencing success. So say, you have a private practice and your schedule is full and now you have a wait list. Or you're a coach and you have more people than you usually have, and then you slow down on selling and you slow down on marketing, slow down all of those things, but guess what? The result continues. People still come to your clinic, people still are requesting you as a coach. Then, 90 days later, it's like radio silence. I've seen this. I cannot count how many times I've seen this. And so you want to think of this like, when I have a setback and I take 90 days to get myself back up, I've given up a quarter of results and it's going to show up later, right? Okay, so we don't want to take too long to recover from setbacks Now. Would setbacks trip us up? Chances are they will. Would setbacks put things in motion where maybe you're not getting results the way you used to. Yeah, chances are they will. So I'm not trying to say, you know, just push through whatever happens. That's not what I'm saying. But what I am saying is take the time, but don't take too much time. Okay, all right.

Speaker 1:

So what could this be? When we say setbacks, what do we mean? It could be anything. It could be something as significant as you run a private practice and the insurance company that most of your patients use decide that you're not out of network. Right, it could be a team member leaving. It could be a one-star review. I remember when I got my first one-star review, I was out of commission for about three days, and when I say out of commission, I don't mean I didn't go to work. It doesn't mean I was sitting around sulking, but I just didn't have that drive to keep going because I'm like this is not really appreciated or what I'm doing is not really that good, and the more I push, the more I'll be found out, which was not true, but it's mind drama. That's what it is right.

Speaker 1:

It could be. You know you had a vendor, an important vendor, that backed out. It could be you had a launch that didn't do well. You were expecting to get 20 new clients and you got two. Okay, been there, done that. I have 72,000 t-shirts.

Speaker 1:

Okay, it could be, and this is it. Could even be personal challenges, so it has nothing to do with your business, but life is life, right, it could be personal challenges. Maybe somebody's sick, maybe you're sick, like you know, things like that. This is also a personal challenge, but I want to put it out separately. Which could be. It could be something upside down with your personal finance. It has nothing like. So there are cash flows problems in your life, but it's not from your businesses, from your personal finances. Right, it could be any of those things. And so when those things happen notice I didn't say if when those things happen, what do you do? What is your response? That's what we're going to talk about, because it is too expensive to take forever to respond. We want to have a system that we use, right?

Speaker 1:

Okay, so I'll tell you what I've done, what has worked for me over the years, and I've had this right. I've had important team members leave. I've had important clients leave. I've had one-star reviews. I've had bad I wouldn't even call them bad launches. That's not the language I would use, right, because everything is a learning opportunity for me. But I've had bad I wouldn't even call them bad launches that's not the language I would use, right, because everything is a learning opportunity for me. But I've had launches that did not perform as well as I wanted them to perform, and things like that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah so, I've had all of them, right, but I've been an entrepreneur for 15 years, so the question now is how do I respond to those? Okay, okay. So the first thing I you know, how do I respond to those? Okay, okay. So the first thing, the first thing I do and I want to invite everyone to do, and I'm going to show you how to make it a habit is I put the challenge in perspective. I put the quote, unquote, setback in perspective, because what we usually do is we make it a whole catastrophe. So a client left and it's like, oh, my goodness, now our business is falling apart, because if 10 more people leave, like them and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right, someone left a one-star view. Oh, my practice is not up to par, I'm so ashamed, and all of those things A team member leaves, right, maybe our business is not good enough, and maybe the rest of the people have also been planning to leave and they're also going to leave. I'm not going to have anybody to work with, and the practice is going to fall apart A lot of times. That's what we do.

Speaker 1:

Okay, now, if you're also, in addition to this, like me and your Enneagram Six Enneagram Sixers are people who have what was described as pre-traumatic stress disorder Okay, so we can take anything and, like, make it into this magnificent, awful disaster, like in the undisciplined state. So I don't let my mind do that anymore, but then you're really going to make a whole thing out of it, okay, so you want to put it in proper perspective? Okay, so we have a team of eight. We had somebody who left, okay, and sometimes it's like the person has been here for two years, three years, five years, right, and all of that stuff. So that is what is happening. That's the true nature of what is happening.

Speaker 1:

We have a client that you know used to was working with us, and then midway they left. Ok, but in the grand scheme of events, we have 40 people, so one out of 40 left. Ok, we had a one star review, well, but we also have ninety, nine, five star reviews, or we have two thousand patients who can write us reviews, right, like. So we put all of these things in, like, just put it in its proper place, okay. Why is this important? Because if we feel like nothing is working, we're going to stop working because there's no reward for doing the work. Right, we have to understand that it's working, it's always working and there's a way and there's an opportunity and all of those kinds of things, right, okay. So if we find ourselves there, we put it in perspective.

Speaker 1:

But I do want to tell you of a habit that I've built that kind of keeps me in that state. I'm not saying like I don't have days where, you know, I think, a day like even yesterday actually, I had three, four, five things boom, boom, boom, boom, boom that are setback-y they're not true setbacks, right, setback-y. That happened and I had to do what I'm telling you to do, okay. So did I have a moment where it's like, oh man, you know, like of course I'm a human being, but I'm not there anymore, and it was yesterday Like I'm not going to live there, I'm just not, it's too expensive. So what do I do?

Speaker 1:

I have a very solid gratitude practice. I used to. I used to think gratitude was this softy thing that people just did so they can feel good. No ma'am, no sir, that is not what that is. That is not what that is at all.

Speaker 1:

I take the time to be grateful for the things that I have right, like for where I find myself. I'm grateful for my team. I'm grateful for the fact that I have multiple companies. I'm grateful we made the Inc 5,000 one of the fastest growing companies. I'm grateful that we're growing. I'm grateful. I'm grateful for every one of these things, every single one of them. I'm grateful for the books we've written. I'm grateful, you know, for the clients we've had the opportunity of serving. I'm grateful for the wins that they've created, the brand new lives that they have. I'm grateful for everyone who listens to the OnTram New Podcast.

Speaker 1:

I practice gratitude. I practice living in awe of the life I have right now, on the way to the life that I'm creating, I practice it Okay, and what that has done is that it has put me in a position where, yes, there are things that are happening, but it's easier for me to put it in this proper perspective instead of just catastrophizing like oh my goodness, right, you know. So that's the first thing. The second thing I do is I reconnect with my vision, and the reason why this is very important for me is because if you don't, if you are not intentional about keeping your vision in front of you, circumstances will beat it out of you. Right? Like you're saying, I'm going to build this kind of practice, I'm going to have this kind of team, and you've built the team. You're building the team you think you need, and you're like man, I need one more key player. And as you're working on that key player and the highest capacity person you have on the team you have already says, oh, I found another job.

Speaker 1:

And if that happens, and then your biller dropped the ball, and your biller dropped the ball and a patient left you a one-star review, like you're just like nothing is working, throw it all away. Right, it will beat that vision out of you. It's like you're never going to get there, so forget it. And so I recognize what it is okay. I recognize that a lot of times, the circumstance is not as much of a problem as what the circumstance does to you. It makes you believe you can't do it right.

Speaker 1:

And so I intentionally re-engage with my vision, re-engage with where I'm going. Right. It's like the GPS I'm making sure the right address is there, like the circumstances didn't go to make that the new address right and what that does is, again, it takes the challenge I'm facing, or the quote unquote setback, and puts it in perspective, which is what we want right. So that's the thing that I do and, again, it's something I make a habit of, and so every day is part of my morning routine. I'm looking at where am I going? Where am I going? What am I trying to accomplish? Where am I going? The more I am in tune with that, I see the setback as what it truly is. It's a stepping stone, it's a bump in the way, something I have to overcome. As I overcome it, I build more muscle, all of those kinds of things.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so that's the second thing I do and I hope this like, pretty please, this is one of these ones. I would really love for you to take a screenshot and post it on social media and, you know, like, share your biggest aha, share what you're getting out of this, because I'd really love to know that it's helping. Ok, so hashtag on term D so we can find the post. Ok, you can tag me. You know, whichever platform. It is the third thing I do and this is really important I decode what the actual problem is Right, because when the circumstances show is like well, oh, my goodness, nothing's working.

Speaker 1:

And I call that an entrepreneurial temper tantrum. Okay, the best of us have had this. So I call it an entrepreneurial temper tantrum, but it's not helpful, because if you don't know what the problem is, you can't fix it. If you don't know what the problem is, you can't make a difference, right. And so I have to stop and say, okay, what is the problem though? So, yes, I feel bad, yes, this didn't go according to plan, but what is the problem?

Speaker 1:

So, for instance, we had a time when, you know, we didn't have a very stable team, like people would stay nine months a year, they'd leave and all those kinds of things. And then we got a really stable team and it was so fun. And then COVID hit. Okay, and then COVID hit and it was like we had a revolving door and people were leaving and all of that. And I could have said, oh my goodness, everybody's leaving, catastrophizing. We don't do that. Okay, you're on term D, we don't do that. So I'm like, okay, well, I put the challenge in perspective. Okay, so we have a company, we have a company that's doing well, we have a company that has longevity, all of those things. It is evidence, it's a great place to work and we have a team member who left. That's what happened, nothing more than that. That's what happened. Okay, re-engage with the vision. Where are we going? We're trying to build this company where we provide expert medical care on parallel customer service in a profitable way, like with my team.

Speaker 1:

My vision for my team is when they come and they leave, or when they come, they're like man. I experienced the most personal professional growth in this place than anywhere else. I want them to love their jobs. They work hard at work, but they love their jobs. It's not a toxic environment and stuff like that. And then for the patients, oh, my goodness, they get great care, all of that. So I reconnect with the vision and then I come to decode what is the actual problem and so I start researching the problem because I'm like we've been okay.

Speaker 1:

So what's going on here? It's not the work environment. It's not the work environment. It's not the work environment at all. It was the beginning of the great resignation, right? And then people are just you know, covid forced them to stop long enough to say, ok, is this what I really want out of my life? Do I want to try something different? There's a whole online thing. Do. I want to start an online business and all of this stuff. And so I recognize oh, the problem here is that the world, the workforce, is just in a completely different state and the things that used to matter a stable job, a certain pay they don't matter as much. Right, that's the problem, see, now.

Speaker 1:

But figuring out that problem put me in a position where I could solve the problem, okay, and get a one-star review. Oh my goodness, okay, great. But now they have what's the problem, okay? And you go and you look at it. So maybe it was. There was miscommunication with the team. And you're like okay, so that's what the problem is. Maybe it's that that person didn't want to pay their copay and they told your team if you guys don't see me, even though I don't want to pay my copay, I am going to go leave your one-star review. So if you don't know what the problem is, you can't fix it. Okay, okay.

Speaker 1:

So maybe you're like man, there's so much financial pressure. Oh, my goodness, nothing is working, the business is not working and that's not helpful. And you stop Like what is the actual problem? My business has grown 140% in the last six months. So guess what? Business is not the problem right Now. In my personal life I probably bit off a lot more than I could chew and so I have pressure in my personal life and I'm taking it out on the business. That's not yet at a stage where it can pay that level of stuff for my personal life. Then you're not like, okay, let's separate these two so we don't kill the business because we think there's a financial problem in the business when there's nothing wrong with the business. The financial problems in my personal life. Do you guys see what I'm saying?

Speaker 1:

You have to get the diagnosis. The same way as a pediatrician. I won't just see a kid, I'm like, oh, kid, and then prescribe some amoxicillin and send them home. I have to run diagnostics. I have to see what the problem is so I can fix the problem Okay.

Speaker 1:

So that's number three. That's number three, this right here, being able to be calm enough to sit down and say, okay, what is the actual problem. This will put you in a position where you'll be a much better problem solver. You'll train your team to be much better problem solvers and you will get out of setbacks so quick, relatively, because you understand how to find and solve the problem. Okay. Number four is develop a path to the solution. So, now that we know what the problem is, how are we going to get out of the problem? Okay, and once we do, we relentlessly execute. Okay, so I'm not going to talk about execution, but so let's go back to the examples that we used. All right, so we find what's the setback? Team members are leaving. Ok, what's the problem? We're in the great resignation.

Speaker 1:

People's values have changed. People are exploring like, oh, you know, what else do I want to do with my life? And all of that stuff. What is the solution? So for us, the solution became okay, they're no longer motivated by whatever we're paying them, or even many dollars above that. They're no longer looking for stability, like people are quitting and starting like no man's business. Looking for stability Like people were quitting and starting like no man's business.

Speaker 1:

And so we said, okay, we need to find people with whom we can create a win-win situation, meaning we want somebody who can come, who can do good work, is reliable and all of that stuff. So we need to find somebody who wants what we have. Okay. And so we thought about it and we said, okay, the people who are medical students, pre-mp students, pre-nursing students, pre-pa students. They want clinical experience, which we can give them. They're not necessarily looking for a salary per se right, because they did these things as rotations but we're like, well, we can train them to work and we can pay them which they would love and we can give them letters of recommendation. So now, because we know what the problem is, we know who we can find, and if we can find these people, it's a match made in heaven. You're not going to have them forever. You may have them for a year, two years or three years, but the time you do have them, they bring their A game because you're giving them exactly what they want. And so then we then built it where, yes, we still had our MAs and all that stuff, but we had these other people and we built a system to train them. Like, within two weeks, they were ready to go Right. And so now we had a solution to the problem, and that was the solution that served us and served us so, so, so, so well, continues to serve us so well, and I've taught so many of our clients the same thing. Okay, okay With the with the one-star review.

Speaker 1:

Okay, we find out that, oh, there was some miscommunication. Then we go back and we're like okay, guys, this is a thing that happened, this is the way we're solving it and that's over. You find out it was because somebody didn't want to pay their co-pay. Not a whole lot you can do about that other than communicate even more that your copay will be required at the time of service. Okay, but people do that.

Speaker 1:

People weaponize reviews. But regardless of what you choose for 99.9999999% of physicians, it's a small fraction of people who are angry and it's a big percentage of people who are excited about you. But the thing is they're not going to of their own free will, just go leave a review. And so, if you got this one-star review, you want to figure out whatever was the thing and fix that. And then you want to reach out to your community and have them dilute that and flood your Google business profile with five-star reviews. Now we had a doctor who did this flawlessly. It was so beautiful, okay.

Speaker 1:

So she had a person who left a one-star review. I don't remember what it was, but if I remember correctly, it was weaponized. Right, like I'm going to, I'm going to go leave you a one-star review. Like you know, that's what they do, okay. And so she, she sends out an email to her patient base and she says this is what is going on. And I wanted to reach out to you guys because, yeah, that's great. That person said there's what many of you absolutely love us and you haven't left us a review. I don't think that's exactly how she worded it, I don't remember what it was, but she sends it out. I don't remember she got a ton, maybe 40, 50 new reviews, five-star reviews, so grateful for the work that she did. Do you see how you problem solve that? Okay, okay.

Speaker 1:

And then number five oh, maybe we talk about the personal finance one, right? So the personal finance one that could be. You started a business, the business is doing what it needs to do, but the business is a newborn. Okay, so maybe the business is a newborn, is a one-year-old or whatever, and you're trying to mount the weight of your life, the funding of your life and paying off of debt and all that on a business that just can't do that, right? So once you've come up with that diagnosis, you can say, okay, you know, I can take out a loan, you don't have to, I can self fund, I could pick up a locum shift a month and it would take care of my bills, or whatever. Or two locum shifts a month, or three locum shifts a month. It'll take care of all of that. So I could give my business the breathing space it needs to grow, right? It could be that, man, I'm digging this hole with you know, someplace I'm throwing my personal finances. I'm like I'm done, I'm done throwing things down the hole, right? Okay, so number five. Number five is very, very important.

Speaker 1:

I am not a fan of going through challenges, going through setbacks, going through difficult times by myself. I don't do it. I don't do it. I learned this so long ago because I figured I said you know what? I used to be a very moody person. I get moody, I get sad, I got like all the things. I was something. Now I have options. I have options.

Speaker 1:

I could be the person who stays sad for two months, who stays sad for two months. Or I could be the person who would lean into my community, could get help, could get support. Some of it is emotional support, some of it is ideas on how I can solve the problem, something I can brainstorm with. Some of it could just be a place where I can go and laugh and forget about things for a little bit. Some of it could be people who have been through what I've been through, who could share their stories and how they came out of it, so I could be encouraged. Some of it could just be the team that I have. That's like okay, this is a challenge we're facing and we're all going to solve it and it's going to be great. But I don't go through things alone.

Speaker 1:

And so number five is get the help you need. Get the help you need. This is one of the reasons why the Entree MD Business School I was so bent on building a supportive community, because going through a challenge like we're all going to go through challenges but going through a challenge with you know other people who get it and who are there for you and who are rooting for you and who will support you and who will connect you with the right people and and all of that stuff it's it's a game changer. And so when I'm not at my best, when I'm not at my strongest, I lean on my community, I lean on my people, I lean on my inner circle, I lean on my team. I don't try. I am very aware that there's no award for doing it by yourself, so I don't try to do it by myself at all at all.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I want you to take these five things. They will serve you well. There are many businesses that will never reach the seven figure mark, or would never go beyond the seven figure mark, because they don't know how to respond to setbacks. There are businesses that can never become what the visionary sees them becoming because they can't respond to setbacks, and so I want to invite you to be the person who puts it in perspective, who re-engages with vision, who decodes what the actual problem is, develops a pathway and leans on their community. I want to invite you to be that person. It will change your business. It'll make everything so much better, and I'd love to celebrate every single one of those things with you. So start implementing, start practicing this right away. Invite the people in your world to define who your inner circle is already, so that when the next challenge shows up, you'll be ready and you'll handle it like a champ. I can't wait to hear all about it, rooting for you. See you on the next episode.