Chapter 9
VISION PROFILE: THE CAT DOCTOR
KATH’REN BAY AND ALEXIS Higdon co-founded The Cat Doctor in Boise, Idaho, to provide veterinary care in a welcoming, comfortable environment for felines and their humans. But the road to their big-vision small-business dream was rocky, making the clarity and strength of their founding vision a crucially important beacon for their journey.
Higdon had worked in veterinary clinics from the age of seventeen, doing everything from cleaning kennels to operating the front desk. While in her thirties, she became a veterinary technician and at age 45 completed her doctorate in veterinary medicine. She and Bay envisioned creating the ultimate in health and hospitality for cats by incorporating several of the 12 big-vision priorities into the operation of the clinic they would launch.
“We wanted a place that looked like you were going to Grandma’s house, and in working only with cats you can have casual antique furniture and area rugs with hardwood floors,” says Bay. With very specific business and lifestyle priorities in mind, the two scoured demographic information on the city’s neighborhoods to find one area that suited their needs. Then, after a two-year search for the perfect location, Higdon and Bay bought a 50-year-old Boise farmhouse and established Idaho’s first cats-only old-fashioned veterinary hospital and hotel. Compared to the challenges that would follow in the coming year, finding the right city and location in which to manifest their vision would seem easy.
“The period between June 1996 and the time we actually opened in May 1997 was a financial nightmare,” remembers Bay. Higdon continued working in a Seattle veterinary hospital and Bay stayed with friends in Boise while they worked out the financial complexities and started plans to renovate the farmhouse into a hospital. Despite having a thoroughly researched business proposal and impeccable credentials, Higdon and Bay were denied financing by one bank after another—eight banks in all.
“Nothing is more likely to help a person over-come or endure troubles than the consciousness of having a task in life.”
VICTOR FRANKL
“We suspect that there may have been some discrimination with us as a couple or because we were women and older, but mostly they just didn’t understand what we were trying to do. They weren’t familiar with the concept of a feline-only veterinary hospital, although they are common elsewhere in the United States,” says Bay. Fortunately, the owner of the property was willing to work with the partners, allowing time to secure the necessary loans. At the ninth and last bank in Boise, they found someone willing to take the risk to help finance their big-vision small business. “The banking representative was a woman and a cat owner who got our vision and really fought for us,” says Bay. “We got our SBA loan in January, but by then the city building codes had changed, pushing our construction costs 36 percent higher. We had to lease all our startup equipment and supplies. When we opened our doors, we had 10 dollars in the bank.”
But financing wasn’t the last hurdle the partners had to leap. “We hadn’t been opened three days when our autoclave in surgery caught fire. It filled the hospital with smoke and we had to call every friend and family member to bring fans to clear the air. Not more than an hour after the fire was handled, we had a flood and ended up with suds in the hall. Then a client came running out of the bathroom—the toilet had overflowed. Toward the end of the day, I was trying to do the closing and the computer crashed! Alexis and I got up, walked out the door, and walked down the street. And I said, ‘If this is what it’s going to be like, I don’t think I can handle it.’ But we just kept that vision in front of us, and now we laugh about it!” says Bay.
Despite these challenges, the two kept faith in their dream. “We wanted to provide a special type of service and create the means to do that,” says Higdon. Intent on having an environment that was more pleasant than the typical clinic, Bay and Higdon made sure their facility had ample windows for natural lighting. They selected soothing pastel colors, installed natural-spectrum lighting, and placed wicker furniture on the front porch. And they’re equally adamant about fostering right relationships with employees and clients.
“Because we’ve been employees, we know what’s needed to feel valued and instructed well. We’re committed to our staff, and they’re committed to us,” says Bay. The partners therefore offer excellent wages, full health benefits, disability and retirement programs, reasonable work hours, and a supportive, familylike work environment—perks not always associated with small enterprises or veterinary clinics, which are often run on shoestring budgets. Because of such policies, the vision for the clinic is one that employees are proud to be associated with. This is the case in many big-vision small businesses that see higher morale and a sense of meaning as results of an inspiring vision and aligned action.
“Their sense of pride and ownership is incredible,” says Bay. “The feedback we get is that they’re proud to work in an excellent hospital where people really care. It’s sad to say, but in businesses throughout the country you have a great variance in commitment to the client. Our employees have a sense of inner satisfaction in being associated with a business like this. We don’t have gossip or pettiness, and we as owners set the example.”
Higdon, Bay, and The Cat Doctor’s staff work to follow through on their commitment to their clients. “We have a great facility, on a corner lot with trees and flower beds. The parking lot and yard are well tended and immaculate, and we’ve had clients say that if we keep the place this clean, they know we’re taking good care of their cats,” says Bay. The investments in the facilities aren’t the only factors that help distinguish The Cat Doctor from a more average enterprise that might view such expenditures as an unnecessary drain on potential profits. The pace and personal connection between patients and clinic staff are also high priorities for qualitative excellence.
“Our three doctors are pleasant and approachable, and we schedule 30 minutes per appointment in contrast to the industry norm of 15 or 20 minutes. We have personal business cards for every employee, and there isn’t a client who walks in the door that doesn’t get a follow-up telephone call from a doctor or technician.” The group’s genuine care for clients manifests in other ways as well. In addition to a friendly welcome, first-time feline clients receive a homemade catnip toy. The clinic also features coloring books for visiting children and, at the other end of the thoughtfulness spectrum, offers invoices and individual care packets that are carefully designed to be legible and clear.
“As time goes on, our vision is the same, the philosophy is the same,” says Bay. “We’re more flexible now. We don’t panic any more when something comes up and we need to do something differently. Even though we work hard and make personal sacrifices, we feel incredibly blessed to do the work we love and be with people we care about, so we feel we’re always on the receiving end.”
And Bay’s advice to other big-vision, small-business owners who strive for something beyond just quantitative accomplishment to offer something extraordinary? “Keep the vision at all times, and then hang onto your hat, because you’ve got the tiger by the tail!”
Taking the Vision into Action
This profile, along with the stories included in the previous section on growth, give some sense of how a clear and inspiring vision can be an important anchor and guide during times of challenge and transformation. They help to demonstrate the ways in which your vision of what’s possible gives you a place to land in the midst of chaos; some baseline measure from which you can recommit and plot the way to transformation. As Carolina PetSpace owner Ellen Kruskie says, most big-vision small-business owners have invested so much—personally and financially—that persevering in the face of challenge or crisis is the only option they recognize. Why? The vision of making a more qualitative contribution, one that goes beyond owning a store and selling products to meet revenue goals, is so compelling that it helps them withstand the inevitable cycles that are a part of any journey. And since the risks are their own and they tend to be the sole or primary investor, big-vision small-business owners can more readily decide to pursue idealistic as well as financial goals and opt to wait patiently for a longer-term return.
These stories also suggest that an effective big small-business vision, inspiring though it might be, must be linked with the daily decisions and actions of those in the organization. What helps to connect the two? A good plan. The next chapter takes a look at the planning process as it relates to big-vision small-business stewardship, and then moves into discussions about practical approaches.