Going Solo?: The value of reserves.

I used to like the holidays, especially as an employee. You know why? Life seemed to slow down, get more manageable, less hectic, especially in a busy urology office or as a urology resident in a busy urban hospital.
Now I don't like it so much. A 30-50% reduction in volume from 100-70 patients per week makes life better as an employee who collects a paycheck, but as an owner in a start-up, to go from 35 to 15 patients per week and see a reduction in new patient phone calls, well, that just sucks! It really, really sucks. It sucks because it causes boredom and cash flow reduction and run-away thoughts; thoughts like, "that's it, its all over, washed up, bankrupt." Crazy stuff. It's better to be busy.
It also sucks because 2 weeks of slow new patient growth spills over into the first few weeks of the new year and makes 2 slow weeks turn into 3-4 slow weeks. Not good.
Now I know why my Dad used to always close his dental office for the 2 weeks surrounding the holidays.
Not good!