Q. Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
A. Canada Chiropractic is a chiropractic office located in Salt Lake City near Liberty Park. We use an evidenced based approach to chiropractic care. Meaning that Dr. Canada’s treatment plans are based off of best practices that are suggested by the American Medical Association and not the latest fad or gimmick.
Q. Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
A. Dr. Canada received her Chiropractic Degree from Western States University in Portland, OR. She also has an undergraduate degree in Sports and Exercise Science from the University of Utah as well as a Massage Degree from Utah College of Massage Therapy.
Dr. Canada believes in giving back to her community she does this by volunteering with Best Friends of Animals and Special Olympics.
Q. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
A. I have always been interested in helping people. When I practiced as a massage therapist I would always try to figure out the root cause of my clients pain. Even though my clients would leave feeling better I felt like I was only getting to the surface of their issue. This is why I decided to go back to school and get my Chiropractic degree.
Q. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
A. Take advantage of community resources like SCORE or local chamber of commerce. You can learn a lot from other entrepreneurs.
Networking is never a waist of time
Don’t Compete on Price
Q. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
A. Patience, Persistence, Self-Motivation
Q. How many hours do you work a day on average?
A. Six to eight
Q. To what do you most attribute your success?
A. Being knowledgeable in my craft and honest with my customers
Q. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
A. My marketing knowledge is minimal. I have been most successful by networking and building relationships within my community.
Q. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
A. Utah Microenterprise Loan Foundation, I used community resources like SCORE to help me write a business plan and prepare for the process of obtaining funding
Q. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
A. Be honest and effective with the service or products that you offer and you will be rewarded by word of mouth referrals
Q. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
A. Working in the same clinic with the addition of a chiropractic associate
Q. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
A. Dr. John Bach built a successful practice that I am excited to continue to build upon in the future.
Q. How important have good employees been to your success?
A. It is important that all your employees are on the same page and are able to perform excellent customer service so that the patient feels cared for from the time they call to book the appointment to the time the check out at the end of the appointment.
Q. How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
A. Six months to a year usually.
Q. What motivates you?
A. Helping people feel better
Q. What are your ideals?
A. Treat people with dignity and respect.
Q. How do you generate new ideas?
A. Usually I start with an idea then I research it for a few days to a few weeks to come up with the final product
Q. How do you define success?
A. Being trusted and respected by you patients and peers.
Q. How do you build a successful customer base?
A. By providing effective treatments to patients without pressuring them to sign up for long term treatment plans.
Q. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
A. Being able to implement an idea and see it work.
Q. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
A. Purchasing the practice from Dr. Bach and continue to have high patient satisfaction reviews.
Q. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
A. Entrepreneurs are able to see the big picture and work outside of the box to make changes. Employees just see the task in front of them and work until it is completed.
Q. What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
A. The culture at Canada Chiropractic is to be helpful. Weather that is by helping a patient get out of pain or just explaining how their insurance plan works. I want our patients to feel like they can come and get their issues resolved.
In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Always learning and tweaking things as I go and grow.
Q. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
A. Start at a younger age so I had more time to build my practice.
Q. How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
A. It was hard at first because I did a lot of work with little to no pay. Now that things are more established things are better because everyone is happy with what they are doing both at work and at home.
Q. What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
A. Not keeping up with the business that Dr. Bach trusted me with when he retired.
Q. How did you decide on the location for your business?
A. I purchased this business and kept the location the same.
Q. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
A. Yes be honest and helpful and do get greedy.
Q. If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
A. Probably Max Roach just because he is an awesome drummer that played with all the jazz greats.
Q. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
A. My husband he always has my back and will pick me up when I am down
Q. What book has inspired you the most? (OR what is your favorite book?)
A. I am not a big reader.
Q. What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
A. Acting on something before analyzing the risk and then getting stuck in long term contracts that are not effective at building my business
Q. How can you prevent mistakes or do damage control?
A. Taking you time when deciding to do something new.
Q. What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
A. I play drums in a local bagpipe band. Wasatch and District Pipe Band. I also like to golf and ride my bike
What makes you happy?
My husband and my dogs
Q. What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
A. I have less money and time to travel. I used to travel a lot before I opened my business.
Q. If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?
A. I am not the best interviewer. This is a skill I need to improve on.
