Do you find yourself showing up late and leaving early from work? Finding it takes 60 hours a week to get everything done? The joy has left your work and you so look forward to the end of the week, but dread Monday more than a root canal without anesthesia? Has your attention span waned as your waist line increased? Do you find that only your hobby makes life worth living? Do you spend more time dreaming about vacation than planning your practice and financial future?
No one graduated from dental school wanting to be average, but that’s where most of us will land, a lot of us will fall short, and 4% will be financially independent at age 65. If you feel like you’re in the wrong profession, you are not alone. 67% of Dentists would choose a different career if they had to do all over again. Occasionally, no, often, I will run into doctors that know they “should” want to change, hire us to help, but then realize they are not willing to do what it takes to make things improve. Obviously I have no idea of where you are emotionally or physically when we look at the attention and engagement it will take for you to improve your practice. We want you to have the best practice you can have. In fact, I want you to have the practice you always thought you would have. The problem occurs when doctors find out the depth of commitment it takes for this to happen. It is hard, but not any more difficult than living with the idea that you never fulfilled your destiny and goals. It does take time, but where would you be if you didn’t take the time to do the things you know you should do? Most doctors experience burnout several times during a long career. The trick is not letting you stay in that place of self-doubt and energy drain that burnout produces. Like the old Nike ad says: Just do it.
We will give you a matrix to follow, train your staff, and help implement systems that will turn your practice around. We will be there every 4-6 weeks to create accountability for the commitment you made in hiring us. What you need to realize is that there is nothing we can do for you that you can’t undo in the four or six weeks between visits. This commitment to hire Summit is the first step, not the only step you must take to change the culture and the results in your practice. Consulting is beginning a journey in which you will never reach the destination. The trick is to embrace this journey and revel in the successes and small setbacks you have as you move closer to your goal. You are much closer than you think. The secret has always been in the small things. We probably won’t ask you to make some huge reversal of strategy, but we may ask you to make forty small course corrections. Consider that most dentists work 200 days a year. If you could just do one more crown a day, you could add about $200,000 a year or, in your case, an easy 30% increase in profit.
My dad who was a reformed alcoholic and lifetime member of AA carried a “tuit” in his pocket: A small coin marking each year of his sobriety. Here is what it said: “God, grant me the serenity go accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things that I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Overcoming is what Summit is all about. Giving you choices and a better future is what we can offer. Give me a call and let’s talk about the practice you always thought you would have.
This is how we Summit.
Michael Abernathy, DDS
972-523-4660 cell
[email protected]
PS — An update on helping you cope with corporate practices. I am so surprised at the companies that are lining up to give you huge discounts for all sorts of services. This may take a bit longer than I assumed, but it looks like by the end of the year, you will be able to buy supplies and equipment, lower your credit card rates, what you pay for electricity, insurance, and loans with little to no cost to you. I am so excited about the possibilities. In researching what we pay, and what we could lower it to, I am shocked at the amount of time it has taken me to realize how bad we are being taken advantage of. We no longer need a middleman. Be sure and let me know if you are in. To make this a reality, we must get a few hundred dentists to use the services. I look forward to giving you more updates as they come.