Dr Ross Lamplugh Doctor, Restaurateur, Entrepreneur, Innovator.

I grew up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. In Grade six the teacher was going around the room and asking all the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up. I don’t know why, or where it came from, but I instinctively said I wanted to be a doctor. Everyone in the class burst out laughing including the teacher. (Ross now owns 31 individual General Practices around the country employing over 200 Doctors)

Cashflow in business can be a killer. We suffered from a rookie mistake. We acquired 13 new practices in 12 months. This was all funded by retained earnings with the My advise to any one in business is always keep an eye on your cashflow and make sure you have access to back up to extra quick cash if and when you need it. Another important point to remember is, if you have staff who work as hard as ours do in the lean times, you really do have to reward them when you can, they deserve it. Technology has been a huge part of our business. When Hamish (business partner) and I combined our practices in Burke back in 1999, we connected our practices with the other local practicer and the local hospital. This was done over 2 phone lines with 36k modems! This allowed us to get access to patients records when we needed them. Until then, if a patient arrived at our practice of the hospital and they were unconscious, you had no way of knowing their history. At the time, it was pretty revolutionary.