Krum Vet...We Made It 5 Years!

On October 24, 2005, I opened the doors to my business, Krum Vet Hospital with a lot of hope, faith and high expectations of what God was going to do here in the little town of Krum, Texas.  I will have to say that the last 5 years have been a fun ride and God has done MORE than I ever expected, asked, or imagined!  I want to take some time today to look back on the last 5 years and say some THANK YOUS to many that made this dream of mine become a reality.

Anyone that knew me before this crazy idea, knows that I said I would NEVER own my own business...too many headaches, late nights, responsibilities, etc.  Let someone else do that job!  Well, I now know to be careful to never say never!  God really started working on me over a course of two years and started putting the dream in my heart to open my own business.  At that point in my life, it was the largest leap of faith I ever had taken and I was scared to death.  Opening a business is always difficult, but when technically you don't have one single client, the odds go up by leaps and bounds (okay I had a few faithful followers who are still with me and followed me from practice to practice but not very many!).  Everyone asked, bankers and all, did I think the idea and the business would succeed and I always said a confident YES because I just felt God's call to do this and that the area was big enough to support a vet.  I didn't reall have any hard figures, just a dream in my heart, but I just had faith because literally this was NOT my idea!  I have to thank John Thompson, the former President of First United Bank here in Krum, for taking that leap of faith with me.  He did not know me from Adam, yet still had his bank loan me six figures to start this place up...to someone that at the time wasn't even 30 years old and had zero business experience....that was huge and I realize that.  But, I think he must have seen my desire and passion and knew I had something to offer.  There are a lot of great vets out there, and I've worked with several, but not every practice has the compassion, the heart, the dedication to treat everyone as family and as they are important.  That is where I wanted to be different...I wanted people to feel welcome and not feel like just a number.  I wanted them to be family, for me to know their families, to watch not just their pets grow old, but their kids grow up and just do life with them.   And, I wanted to have a team of people with that same heart and focus and passion.  I feel we do have that here, and no, we aren't perfect and there are days where we miss the mark, but that is the underylying heart beat of this business and I believe why it has been successful.

There were MANY people, some even friends that were vets, who tried to discourage me, tried to tell me that I wouldn't see success until after the 5 year mark, if I even made it, etc, etc...that was hard to hear but I just kept my focus and refused to quit.  I remember like yesterday the day Trish and I (who God bless her is still with me), opened the doors and just stared at each other like, NOW WHAT?  I didn't know if we would have one client that day, but before long, they started to come in and we gave out about a million estimates that day, had a major computer crash where we just had to fly by the seat of our pants for a few hours, but we made it.  I looked back today to see what the day end total was that day...it was $915...I can tell you I've never been happier to make $900 EVER and never worked harder for it either!  I really thought no one would show up if I'm being honest so when I went home that night, I had a big smile on my face.

Over the past 5 years, I've learned that word of mouth is better than any advertising you can do.  WE have clients that drive from Dallas, Bridgeport, Lewisville, Carrollton (all at least an hour away), just to bring their pets here and that is amazing to me.  They pass umpteen vets on their way here but they choose to come to our practice because they know we go the extra mile and we care for them.  I've even had a client drive from SAN ANTONIO (and no, it wasn't my sister or anyone she knew!) for an appointment that anyone could have done but they trusted me because of a loyal client who just sung my praises.  I mean, that is humbling and just makes me smile!  I literally love my job, love my business and love what I do, and not many people can say that and I realize that.  I think that dedication to do my best and continue to grow and learn has made me a good vet but more importantly, a good communicator.  I don't talk down to clients, use big words (and I've forgotten most of them anyways--just kidding!), or try to pull a God complex on them...I just shoot straight from the hip, I'm honest and we always do the best we can do with the resources they have...and sometimes they don't have many funds!  But, at the end of the day, we treat everyone with respect and that's hard to find in a lot of businesses now days.

I'm not saying the last 5 years have been easy...there have been ups and downs and times where I didn't know how I would pay the bills, but God has always provided.  The last year has been tough because the economy has finally caught up with us and the community, as well as I had a tough year personally going through a painful divorce.  There were days when I just didn't want to get out of bed, but I knew I had 10 people up here counting on me and my doors were open and I just couldn't let people down...so I got up, put one foot in front of the other, and I came to work.  I never missed one day.  I dried my tears, set my professional face on and I went to work and I tried my best to not make life hard on those around me because this wasn't their fault!  Most clients didn't know what was wrong with me, but they just knew I was quieter, not bubbly/happy, and they were concerned.  Praise the Lord I didn't run people off by my actions but I knew I could show up to work and do the job, but I just didn't have anything left for the "extras" that the day needed.  My staff, God love them, rallied around me and really took care of things up here and shielded me from things they knew I just couldn't handle emotionally.  I never let my baggage get in the way of the job as far as doing quality work, but I know that there were days that my bedside manner wasn't the best.  So, to my employees and to my clients, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me when I was down.  It has meant the world to me.  But...I'M BACK!!!

We've had a lot of fun days but we've also had our share of some tough days...we all grieve at the loss of our elderly clients and this job teaches you a lot about loss and grief and how people take it...from their pets to the actual people.  There are days when you are emotionally drained because you go through many tough euthanasias of pets you've worked so hard to save and keep going for years...and now their day has come.  We cry a lot with the owners and feel their pain but we try to focus on the good times.  We have many clients that are down on their luck...from job loss, to being widowed, cancer, health issues, to death of children...all phases of life....and we've walked it with them.  We've even had the painful loss of a client through a murder/suicide of the couple after a euthanasia (yes there were many other factors involved but that was the straw that broke the camel's back).  Devastating for me, for the staff...things like that you are tough to get over and shake you to your core...but we made it.  But, then there are the happy things...births of children, adoption of children by families and the joys there, graduations, marriages, and of course a lot of new pets!  Those days are the fun days and they make it all worthwhile to see the smiles that we can put on a person's face by a job well done.

That big leap of faith taught me alot about how uncapable I am but how capable God is...and I've learned most of what I know about running a business by just being thrown into the fire!  Let me just say they teach you none of this in vet school!  But, God has protected me and provided for me and allowed me to not make too many bad decisions so I'm so thankful for that.  Again, I say a huge thank you to every client who has walked through our doors, for every employee that has spent time working hard here, and for every vendor who has worked with us to make my dream a reality.  You guys make Krum Vet Hospital what it is in my mind!  I look forward to the next 5 years and just where God is going to take us in the road ahead.  And to all you naysayers out there, let me take this time to say that we made it! 

To the future!

JOY