3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Owning a Dental Practice.

Dentistry is the greatest profession on earth. There are so many reasons I say this, one of them being that we get to choose our own adventure.

You’re reading this because you’re ready for the rubber to hit the road and want some wisdom from someone who has run a few rodeos. Perhaps you’re wondering if being an associate and working within a dental practice is a better option for you.

Building our vision is the first piece of the puzzle, and it often requires tons of pivoting. Unfortunately, the majority of us get our visions wrong on our first swing. These three questions should help you avoid some of the pitfalls many of us fall into when building our vision for owning a successful dental practice.

1. Are you willing to take risks?

Do you have the stomach for owning an entire business? This comes with a lot of strings attached between managing a team, paying bills, communicating with patients, and doing dentistry.

The fact is, you’re going to take on debt; you’ll constantly be plugging holes in your boat or putting out fires over the course of your career. You’ll need to constantly make risky decisions, face bumps in your road, and lose money. That’s just the name of the game when it comes to dental practice ownership risks. Some of us live for that and others would rather avoid the headaches. Again, you’re likely reading this because you’re trying to decide whether that sounds like something you’d want.

Being an entrepreneur takes a risk-taking mindset, it’s as simple as that. Risk-taking is in the definition of “entrepreneur,” after all, which is defined as “a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.” All in all, your desire to own a successful dental practice has to be strong, to the point that you’re willing to push yourself along the path—without help—come hell or highwater.

Let me ask you: would you never be happy as second-in-command? Then perhaps the entrepreneurial mindset in dentistry is for you. If you’d be fine with running in the middle of the pack or taking direction, however, then your leadership tendencies may not align with owning a dental practice. And there’s no shame in that.

2. Are you willing to learn how to run a business?

You won’t ever learn everything there is to know about being a business owner. For folks like me, that’s the beauty of it—we’re constantly on the path of growth. However, growth-oriented mindset or not, you’ll need to be excited about the prospect of learning to run a dental business. If that’s not the case in your situation, it’s worth taking a step back to get a better idea of whether you’re really willing to take this stress on.

In dental school we learn a whole lot about practicing dentistry. But we only learn the tip of the iceberg when it comes to learning to run a dental business—if anything. While there are tons of supplemental classes—both CE and non-CE—about running a business, lots of our learning will come through frustrating phases of trial-and-error.

Running a business is going to mean slipping up, dealing with frustrations, and facing unpredictable events (and, sometimes, catastrophes). If you don’t think you have the grit to face all that, then running a business might not be in your best interest.

3. Are you willing to work on being a leader?

Some people are natural leaders. But, even if we’re naturals, putting concentrated time and effort into building our leadership skills for dental practice owners is a must.

That means you need to have an open mind, because your employees will come in all sorts of varieties. What works with one person may not be the case with another, and you’ll need to adapt to the needs and wants of your team in order to delegate and elevate on a constant basis. 

To be a leader, you’ll always need to be comfortable stepping out front. You need to be comfortable with handling the emotions of those under your guidance. And, the truth is, you can be willing but not able.

So, do some soul-searching and find out for yourself whether stepping out of your comfort zone is within your capacity. Likewise, figure out whether doing so makes you feel too out of your comfort zone.

Owning a successful dental practice takes both appetite and aptitude.

Do you have the grit? Are you hungry? Do you have the appetite to own a dental practice? That said, at the end of the day, it comes down to more than an appetite to take risks, run a business, and work on being a leader—it also takes a great degree of aptitude.

Things will inevitably become chaotic in any dental practice whether you’re a leader or an associate. The best way to know the answers to these questions is to look to your past. That said, never get down on yourself about past mistakes—the future has tons in store for all of us.

I run a community full of dental professionals who can give you some nuggets of wisdom about dental practice ownership risks and running all sorts of dental practices. 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 developing an entrepreneurial mindset in dentistry and honing your leadership skills for dental practice owners.