Podiatry Hive Member Profile – Matthew & Louise Martin

  • Member Profile

    Name: Matthew & Louise Martin

    Name of Clinic: Barefeet Podiatry North Sydney

    Where do you operate: North Sydney NSW

  • How long have you been in business?

    6 years

  • What attracted you to Podiatry?

    When I was 15 yrs (Louise) my mother had plantar fasciitis and went  to a Podiatrist. I always wanted to work with health and when my mother took me to her appointment as she thought  Podiatry was the career for me I was sold. It ticked all the boxes.

    1. ability to be my own boss
    2. flexibility to have children with no glass ceiling
    3. helping people with their problem

  • What are the 3 crucial elements to your success?

    1. Never Give Up
    2. Have a business plan. (it’s never too late)
    3. Hold your breath & just go for it, the worst thing that could happen is you fail.

  • What’s your philosophy on WHY you’re in business?

    So I can be a mum to my four young childern (6,6,2,1) and still have the satisfaction of my career. I am a better mum if I work 3 days a week.

  • What has been your biggest ‘OOPS!’ moment?:

    After about 3 years in my business, I looked back & released what a risk Matthew & I took. Hi rent, 80sq meters, business loan & twins that were six months old. Luckily it worked out. Probably helped that Matthew is an accountant.

  • What has been your biggest ‘A-HA!’ moment?

    When I Finally stopped treating patients & realized there is a whole another world out there that I know  very little about — Which is actually managing the business and making it survive without me treating patients.

  • Can you you share one or two marketing elements or methods you’ve used in your practice, that have been successful, and have provided growth?

    • Setting KPI’s for my self & my staff
    • Systemising reception & clinical procedures in the clinic
    • Planning

  • If you had your time over again, what would you do differently?

    I would try to hire staff that will be better than me. That way I could Stepped into management earlier as It took me six years to stop treating clients, when I could have done it about three years earlier.

  • Other than being a fabulous Podiatrist, what do you do outside of Podiatry?

    We are parents to four beautiful children.  We go on holidays at least once or twice a month. Our lives are packed with fun activities, family time and a little bit of chaos thrown in.

  • You are a Podiatry Hive BlackBelt Mastermind Member, can you explain what you have learned from BlackBelt and your 3 biggest achievements / wins since joining BlackBelt:

    1. Completely stopped treating clients.
    2. Have a clear direction on where our company is going & how to achieve it.
    3. Less spinning in a a circle in life & now we know what to do & how to achieve it
    4. Change our business model to be more profitable.
    5. Learning to become a better manager.