A dental practice has lots of moving parts on a constant basis, and a practice owner is required to wear a lot of different hats throughout their career. While your dynamic will never be set in stone and will always evolve, setting a foundation is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle when starting a dental practice.
You could be a new dentist, fresh out of school, or someone simply looking to make a pivot in your career and take up the ownership of a practice. Well, first off, congratulations for taking this momentous step in launching your first dental office.
Like any entrepreneur, I’ve made plenty of mistakes. But I’d rather fall flat on my face than look back with regret. Trust me when I say that taking this leap is worth it—you’re going to shed light on many of those “what-if’s” you’d otherwise have to live with.
One of my favorite hobbies—and the reason I write blogs like this—is to help others overcome any strife I’ve run into myself. That’s why I want to impart some wisdom on you and provide you with three key dental practice startup tips.
1) Choose the type of practice you want to start and where you want to start it.
You can’t get anywhere without knowing where you’re planning to go. You need a Point A and a Point B. From there, you can begin paving your path and walking your road in your journey of starting a dental practice.
Dental practice owners have to make a lot of decisions when they are starting up. Choosing your location is one of the most important. That’s because the demographic of your patients will affect how your practice looks and operates. For example, if your patient base is mostly low-income families with young children, then you’ll likely want to offer more affordable payment methods like cash and credit cards, and less expensive services like sealants for teeth rather than fillings for cavities.
Another thing to consider when launching your first dental office is how you want to go about insurance. We’ll get to that on another day, as that’s a complex subject to tackle. In a nutshell, you’ll typically choose between a PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) or FFS (Fee-For-Service) dynamic. The former are generally dental offices that take insurance while the latter are generally dental offices that do not take insurance or are out-of-network.
Again, we’re saving that topic for another day. For now, let’s talk about how you can build your practice by setting the right goals.
2) Set goals for your business.
First things first, you need to make a list—and a big one—because the more goals you have, the merrier. You can always narrow them down as you discern what’s realistic, what’s more of a pipe-dream, and what really excites your entrepreneurial spirit. After that comes the implementation of goals in your dental business planning.
One of my favorite tools is the acronym of “SMART” goals. These goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Here’s a great link to how they work and how they can help you in starting a dental practice.
No matter what, you’ll need to proactively measure your progress. Your goals are your North Star. Don’t sell yourself short; set the bar high and build a runway you’re comfortable taking off from with a final destination you desire to land in.
That’s not to mention that getting into “good” habits is a super important component of running any business, and that’s why I’ve always been a fan of habit-stacking. We’ll tackle habit-stacking on another day, but you can check out this article and look at Carrie Flynn’s “Big Entrepreneur 3”—Tip #3—to get a basic idea of how it works when launching your first dental office.
3) Craft your vision for what you’re building.
It’s one thing to talk about vision and it’s another to actually achieve that vision. As dental practice owners, stress is always going to be a big player in our game. Unfortunately, that often results in us keeping our heads down and taking things one day at a time. Then, one day, we realize we’ve been running a rather stagnant business that hasn’t brought us as far along as we’d hoped.
That’s why goal-setting is so important in your dental business planning, and the overall gist of goal-setting is to not only get an aim of where you want your practice to be in three, five, and/or 10 years from now, but to proactively work toward that aim. People often overestimate what they can do in one year but underestimate what they can do in ten years time.
So, start reverse-engineering and discern which objectives are a manageable means of pursuing your dreams. And while retirement might not be in your picture for the next decade, don’t forget that it’s important to plan for. You’ll also likely experience burnout, so it’s worth planning periods of time off in your agenda. Go ahead and plan to hit the Bahamas, go for a cruise in the arctic to see the northern lights, or sip some well-deserved wine in the streets of Paris!
Don’t let the stress get the better of you!
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to know everything and you need to accomplish it all today when starting a dental practice. Time is on your side—slow and steady wins the race—and, so long as nothing catastrophic happens, you’ll always be on your way (minus some inevitable bumps in the road).
I run a community full of dental professionals who can give you some nuggets of wisdom about your first rodeo. So, join the Nifty Thrifty Dentists Facebook group and reach out! People from all across the globe will be happy to let you in on their two cents about launching your first dental office.
This new dental practice guide should help you get started on your journey. Remember, starting a dental practice is a big step, but with proper dental business planning and these dental practice startup tips, you’ll be well on your way to success.