You’ve decided you want to be a practice owner. You’ve chosen the bumpier road, to initiate a journey of entrepreneurship in lieu of the more reliable (albeit less exciting) option of working as an employee. As you consider this path, it’s crucial to weigh various dental practice ownership considerations.
Many dentists are drawn to the idea of owning their own dental practice, and it makes sense. The autonomy that comes with running your own business is appealing, to say the least. It’s tiring to work for someone else—to not be able to decide your own decisions or make your own schedule. Developing an entrepreneurial mindset in dentistry is key to success in this endeavor.
However, while exciting, taking this leap can also be daunting. It’s not a pivot you can make overnight, and lots of careful thinking is going to be required. That’s why, for this week’s article, I want to give you three questions to ask yourself before taking on practice ownership.
1. Do you have the grit to be an entrepreneur?
Not a huge percent of the population can attest to having zero interest in being an employee. It takes a certain kind of person to have no problem with handling all the extra works that comes with running a business. Dental practice ownership considerations should include an honest assessment of your ability to handle these challenges.
If that sounds like you, then you’re in a minority demographic, believe it or not. Dentistry takes a high-performing sort of person, sure, but just handling the clinical side of things is enough stress for most. For many dentists, it’s easiest to work the 9-5 and go home. There’s safety in taking that route and working a stable living; becoming an entrepreneur always involves risk.
There are headaches that come with ensuring that any business is functioning, let alone what it takes to run a dental practice. Between payroll, hiring & firing, and planning marketing strategies, it gets complex—there are a lot of things that go into the pie and a lot of decisions that must be made. It can cause crippling anxiety, and it’s just not for everyone.
But some of us can take that on. And there are some big benefits that come with being able to take it on. For one, there’s income. If you’re a practice owner, you’re able to make a higher income for the same amount of work. You’re able to reap the dividends of hygiene production (which you don’t need to produce with your own hands). That’s not to mention the tax advantages that come with practice ownership.
Money aside, I’d rather make a hundred thousand dollars less a year working for myself than working for someone else—because there’s so much personal freedom. The decision-making is put in your own hands. It’s tough to say “I’m off to Europe for four weeks” when you’re working a schedule. If you’re working for a corporation, they just don’t want to let you do that most of the time. But, when you’re the owner of a practice, you have that right. Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset in dentistry can help you navigate these challenges and opportunities.
2. What kind of doctor do you want to be?
Once you’ve determined whether you have the grit to be a practice owner, another big question comes in the form of asking yourself what kind of doctor you want to be. It’s important to ask yourself this because it’s going to set a foundation. It’s going to largely affect the way in which everything else in your search is going to go. Because if you don’t know what doctor you want to be, then you don’t know what practice you need to look for. Choosing the right dental practice model is crucial for long-term success.
Do you want to be a fee-for-service (FFS), high-end, cosmetic dentist? Do you want lavender-scented, heated towels in the lobby and a fireplace in the OP? Or maybe you want to roll on roller skates and do a bunch of dentistry each day through Medicaid. Perhaps you want to do a bunch of in-depth procedures. It could be that you want to run a family practice—doing bread and butter dentistry—becoming a staple of the community where you’re fine with seeing a revolving door of moms, dads, and grandpas. There is so much dentistry to be done, and the list goes on. You need to figure out what excites you and aligns with your vision for dental practice ownership.
3. Are you willing to lead an entire team?
Since third grade, you were probably taking control of school projects. Now think about all those other folks who didn’t; that might be your team. For many, running a team seems fun until they do it. Once you start paying all these people who aren’t as committed to being skillful as you, you’ll realize that it’s not so easy to play leader. Leading a dental practice team is a crucial skill for practice owners.
The truth you need to realize is that nobody is ever going to care about your business the way that you do. You must be prepared to deal with that. You’ll find some employees who are better than others—who really want a good place to work and care about the place in which they work—but so many will just want to clock in and clock out for their paycheck.
So, think about it: do you want to lead 20+ people who may not care as much as you do? Are you prepared to motivate those folks daily? Dental practice ownership considerations should include your willingness and ability to manage a team effectively.
If leading a team doesn’t excite you, then I encourage you to at least reconsider employing a large team. When you have four people instead of thirty people, things aren’t so difficult. There aren’t so many people to hire who might complain. There’s less opportunity for drama. Choosing what battles you want to fight is a big part of leading any team, but you have less choice with a larger team because there will be so many more conflicts to mediate.
Think about it like a ship. To operate a big boat, you need to invest in a large engine. But what if you had a small rower—a smaller practice—that runs more like a fishing boat? Simply put, it doesn’t require as much gasoline to get to its destination. You can make quick pivots, not wide turns. Choosing the right dental practice model includes considering the size and complexity of the operation you want to run.
Slow and steady wins the game.
When it comes to owning a dental practice, you can’t rush into it. There needs to be deliberate planning if you want to set yourself up for success. By asking yourself these three questions, you’ll be doing yourself a big favor. Knowing the answers may help you avoid a lot of pain down the line. Planning for dental practice success involves careful consideration of these factors.
I run a community full of dental professionals who can give you some nuggets of wisdom about practice ownership. 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 and share their experiences with dental practice ownership.
