Doris Dike

Doris is the Founder and CEO of Dike Law Group, a law firm focused on helping entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors break into and find success in the healthcare industry. As a healthcare lawyer, Doris has the goal to bring real change within the healthcare industry by helping those she works with bring disruption and change that will benefit both them and the customers they serve.

Where did the idea for Dike Law Group come from?

I have been a healthcare attorney for quite a while now and I really wanted to go on my own for a long time. I know that there are a lot of people who want to start a healthcare business or who just need help with the healthcare regulatory stuff within their business. For me, it seemed like there was a need in the market to help and serve people. So I wanted to use the expertise that I have learned from working at hospitals, home healthcare clinics, and working at other larger organizations to work with healthcare startups and middle-market healthcare businesses so I can give them expert advice at a reasonable cost.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

During a typical day, I sit down and meet with my amazing administrative liaison and we go through our schedule for the day, who we are meeting with, what clients we will be serving, etc. Then we focus on what content pieces we will be creating and the angles we are going to be doing. Then we will meet with any prospective clients and see if they work well with our organization as well as chat with our current clients, handle any of their matters, and address any of their issues and the day will basically be over. Outside of that, we will also spend time researching new areas of emerging healthcare businesses or new regulations that we need to be aware of. So it’s really broken down to scheduling the day as to what we need to do, trying to do some content creation, speaking to potential new clients, working with our old clients, and researching any new general or healthcare laws we need to be aware of. Because healthcare law is so dynamic, it is important that we are up to date, so we make sure to verify every day so as to not miss a thing!

How do you bring ideas to life?

I will write down my idea and then I will begin to do research around it. I will also talk it over with various people to get different thoughts and opinions as they can be very helpful as often times we get stuck in our own thought process. My husband specifically is someone I talk to as he owns a healthcare business so I’m always excited to see what he thinks. Also, I will talk about it with my administrative liaison, and see what she thinks. If both of them think it is a good idea, then I will start trying to create steps on how I can bring that idea to fruition. That might be doing additional research, or writing some pieces around it, but it really just depends on what the idea is. But even if someone says they don’t understand that idea, and if my research suggests it will be profitable, it would make sense that I push forward with the idea because I know that some people will say that idea might not be necessarily good, but they might not have done the research that I have done. So if the research suggests that it will be good and profitable, then I will proceed regardless of what someone says.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I love the number of people wanting to go into business now and begin their entrepreneurial journey in healthcare. I think the pandemic and recession are making people realize that they can’t have one source of income and they are coming up with ways to be dynamic and do it for themselves, which I think is great! I think the more people come up with their own businesses, the more people we can hire to support those businesses. That’s how you create jobs. Here at Dike Law Group, we are excited about all the people wanting to make a change in the healthcare industry and I am very excited to be a part of their journey. I’ve heard so many ideas and it’s truly exciting!

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Delegating. I think that I have learned to delegate things when necessary to my right-hand girl, my admin as well as my VA who helps me do things as well. No one person is the best at everything, including myself. You need to be able to rely on people and spend the money necessary to get the help you need because people will help create a stronger brand and business for you. So, where I am weak, other people are strong. I want to utilize their strengths to the fullest!

What advice would you give your younger self?

Just do it. So many people hesitate on starting something, and when they don’t and they look back they wish they had. Everything ended up fine and now there is that form of regret. I tried to start my firm in 2018 and I gave up on myself. I did not spend the energy into fully developing it and I would be so much further along and I really wish I had just done it.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

The DIY method to the practice of law. As for many people, trying to figure things out on their own is not the way to go. I know a lot of potential clients that think they can just google it, but I think that when you are going into a heavily regulated industry like healthcare or energy, those are not industries that you can just DIY. It’s not so I can profit off of it, but I am someone that frequently reads DOJ complaints and you would be shocked at how many people get in trouble. People have this idea that it won’t be them. That they won’t be caught. This other person is doing it down the street. Just because someone else does something, does not mean it’s legal. It just means that person has not been caught yet. I am a big stickler, just do it once and do it right. Don’t just do something because your friend said you can do it that way. That’s not how you run a business. You run a business in a way that you can be profitable, and you aren’t looking over your shoulder every second.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I like to look at what my competitors are doing. And not necessarily mimic what they are doing, I like to see how they’ve been successful and see if I could be successful in the same way and see where they have gaps and how I can take advantage of those gaps. I think most entrepreneurs do that, but don’t actually focus on following through which is what I am to do because it’s like success leaves tracks of breadcrumbs, so it’s important to follow. So, if you see someone being successful in doing something that you are interested in, you can do the same thing but also look for ways to expand and excel. That is something that I am focusing on, you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. You don’t always have to “be like her/him”, if everyone says do this but you know that is counter to what works in your industry, don’t do it. You have to listen to your gut and that is something that I am working on too. It’s hard, it’s very very challenging. I think you know your business and model better than anybody. If an expert is not in your industry, it’s going to be hard to advise you on what to do because they don’t do what you do. They don’t understand where your clients are coming from or how your businesses run. So listen to what they say to an extent, but don’t focus on what they are saying because they might not understand YOUR business model. So that’s why I say look at your competitors so you can have a better idea of what’s working.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Content creation has been key to helping grow my business as it has improved brand awareness. I always say, if I am not creating content my phone is not ringing – It’s directly related to my business growth. If I create content, my phone rings, if I don’t create content, it doesn’t. I have not spent any money on paid ads yet and I receive a number of calls each week from the content I create so this has been vital for my business. I think that it can be very challenging for a new business to come up with a solid strategy that produces actual results. People should utilize as much free stuff first and once you have exhausted that route, learn about paid advertising and how it works because it can be extremely costly.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Sales is a very challenging aspect of any business and as an entrepreneur, you just want to do your job. For me, I just want to be a lawyer, or if you are making a widget or product, you just want to make the product and have the sales come in. However, things don’t work that way. I think sales is a skill that everybody should learn how to do if they want to be a successful entrepreneur. The only way to overcome it is to teach yourself. So this means to buy as many books, watch as many courses, watch as many youtube trainings, or whatever you need to do. It’s trial and error and learn, learn, learn. And I’m still in the process myself. I’m learning every day, and with every sales opportunity, I get a little better.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Start a healthcare business. It is the most recession-proof business to get into. And I think more people should because there are ways for non-clinicians to get into healthcare. The Healthcare business does cost money, but you don’t necessarily have to think ‘I’m going to be starting a clinical business. You can sell equipment, or something else related to the industry. There are so many different types of healthcare businesses and it’s the one business that everybody needs. I don’t need a donut shop but I do need a doctor’s office. The doctor’s office needs medical equipment and a billing team. If you can service that industry, I think that’s a way for you to be successful.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

$100 is hard since everything is really expensive now. I renewed my Zoom yearly membership (a little more than $100) as it is an integral part of my business where I am either meeting with a client over Zoom or I’m meeting with a referral partner over Zoom. So for me, having the ability to meet someone virtually is really important. Even though we have a brick-and-mortar office, people don’t necessarily want to come in. They want to have the flexibility to meet you, see you, and see your office but from the comfort of their home because it’s just more flexible for them. We have a world where people want to be remote and I want to be able to provide them with what they need, wherever they are. Zoom is integral to me. So that is always going to be the best $100 spent for me.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

HubSpot. HubSpot collects all the emails of everybody who emails me and it puts it into its own CRM so that I have that information and I don’t have to look for it or find it. So, if I want to send a newsletter or blast, I have people who I have previously talked to or that may be interested that I can send it off to.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Rich Dad Poor Dad. It will get your mind thinking about entrepreneurship and not necessarily working. Look I was a worker and I have no problem with working, it helps you step up your income. However, once you read Rich Dad Poor Dad, you will have a completely different perspective.

What is your favorite quote?

“The best marketer wins”. It’s not necessarily the best product or the best service who wins, it’s the best person to put their business out into the world who wins the potential customer, they become the most successful. So that’s something that I have to get my mind around because you see people who are less experienced than you, make more money, and then you’re like ‘oh my gosh’ but I mean if you are not putting yourself out there in a way that’s client-focused you are not going to be as successful. So ‘the best marketer wins’ and that’s something I’m really trying to learn.

Key Learnings:

• Non-Clinicians can start a healthcare business
• Healthcare is a great industry to be in, especially since it is recession proof
• Entrepreneurship is a constant learning process, never give up on yourself