As we begin this transition in earnest, I want to bullet point the foundational premises that we will be following. We will not get into great detail, but I will give you a bit of insight now and later as we go through actually finding, measuring, and purchasing an office we will expand your understanding and the logic of where we are going.
It seems that all great things and especially challenges, are always uphill from where we are. This will be no different in this journey to profitability. It will require engagement, setting your preconceived ideas and limiting believes to the side, and earnestly being open to consider a different perspective of success. Because we are making this commitment to a different idea of owning a dental practice that creates profit immediately, I want to state a series of goals that we are shooting for.
- All of the information will have applicable knowledge for the dental student, recent graduate, seasoned dentist, and entrepreneur. We will always start with the fundamentals, expand to the higher-level knowledge, and in every case, we will help you understand the why and any neat tricks you can use to maneuver yourself more competently to a successful finish.
- Begin with the end in mind realizing that there is never a perfect transition, purchase, or startup. I want to get you off procrastinating about making any dental decision. Wise entrepreneurs as well as great leaders make decisions with only about 70% of the information most would need. Timing is important but you will always miss every shot you don’t take. Be the person that always goes for the shot instead of just analyzing it to death and losing the opportunity.
- This strategy has to work for the average dentist, not just the one in a million doctor that could make things happen anywhere. I always assume that you are not that “one” person that can pull off a miracle. If we plan as if we are “average” you are guaranteed to come out a winner.
- Each step must have a quantitative measurable result pointing to the how, when, where, and what we are doing and why we are doing it. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. You won’t know what the score is if you don’t have a quantitative system in place. We will detail this to death.
- It must ensure success over 90% of the time and even if we fall short there will still be profit made, and never was there any possibility of our initial investment being in jeopardy. This is called a safe harbor approach. Never lose your principal.
- This strategy will drastically decrease stress. Competence breeds confidence and a confident person taking a competent strategy need not be nervous or stressed.
- The culture created, and the practice systems are so impressive that we will maintain long-term team members and there will be a line of others waiting to work for us. If you have not yet gotten your copy of The Super General Dental Practice second edition free at www.supergeneralpractice.com please do so. Make sure your read chapter 18: The Purpose Driven, Doctor Led, Staff Owned dental practice ASAP.
- Our primary cultural goal will be serving our patients in a “remarkable” way. Keep in mind that only the patient will have a vote. Far too many doctors think they are serving their patients in a compassionate, caring manner and are “remarkable” in the eyes of those they serve. If you are not growing 20% or more per year with an overhead of less than 60%, and are not moving towards financial freedom, you are not on the path to “remarkable”. Few are! In fact, most doctors are headed the opposite direction by being addicted to instant gratification, thinking debt is normal, and living beyond their means. In our practices, from a patient perspective, you should be getting over a 50% direct referral rate from your existing patients. Your recall rate should be at least 85%, and new patients should be in the 40 plus per dentist or at least 30 new patients per full time hygienist with twice the number of hygiene hours as dentist hours. Please don’t give up yet, I know these benchmarks are significant, but we see them every day in many practices that have taken the time to learn the business side of dentistry. This can be found in chapters 16 and 17 of The Super General Dental Practice.
- We will have positioned our office and team to weather any economic storm in this new dental climate change we find ourselves in. This will not be commonplace as we see the number of independent dental offices decrease and more and more offices find themselves just above bankruptcy and financial catastrophe. This will be built on and ensured through common sense and an incredible proof of concept as we go through every detail.
- While we install these systems and protocols, each and every one must pass the ability to be teachable, reproducible, scalable, and adaptive at any level of practice or competency of the owner or team.
- These strategies will not limit the “type” of practice you can create: General dental practice, boutique, fee for service, or Medicaid/Medicare style of practice. All the techniques, systems, and strategies transfer to any and all of them.
- This “premise for profit” new practice must give the greatest opportunity to have consistent growth in numbers of patients and profit while limiting debt.
- These types of practices will create transferable value in the future if and when you sell this asset. No two dental practice are alike, and we want to ensure that this model creates the highest dollar sale value that you can find: Growth, profit, and long-term teams with a history of weathering challenges and still making a profit.
- We will also explore the possibility of a real estate component in the process of a successful acquisition of a new practice. I like mailbox money from assets that pay me every month without having to trade time for money. This is real wealth.
- Understand that each and every strategy can be transferred into a multiple practice component of wealth building.
I have attached a link for you to download a Summit Growth Analysis Spreadsheet. If you already own a practice, we will use this spreadsheet to analyze where you are and help you diagnose your challenges. If this will be your first practice acquisition or you are considering a second office, we will use this document as a measuring stick to qualify the potential purchase while diagnosing the good, the bad, and the ugly of any particular offering we are looking at. Download it, save it, and use it as a template as we move through the process of acquisition.
Link for the Growth Analysis Spreadsheet:https://summitpracticesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2020/01/SPS-growth-strategy-analysis-worksheet.xls
Next up will be assembling a team along with some tricks to locate this new option for purchase. Be sure you have read and consider the implications of the “premises for profit” in this discussion. We are not going to purchase just any old office. We are not going to do it the way most others do it. As we move through the process you will find that we might pass on dozens of options before even considering a real deep dive in a purchase. Don’t hesitate to call with any questions or, as we move further into the selection process, send me your data on a potential purchase and I will be happy to go over it with you. My goal is to minimize your stress and avoid any mistakes while ensuring your complete success.
Michael Abernathy DDS
[email protected]
972.523.4660 cell