Starting your own dental practice is, essentially, starting a business. And while you may have been the top of your class in dental school, and well-renowned for your skill with the toughest of wisdom teeth removals, running a business isn’t a natural extension dental theory.
Recognizing this fact is key, because then you can also take advantage of these other time-tested tips that go a long way towards a successful dental practice:
- Go back to school – Take a bit of time to understand some business courses. At a minimum, at least an accounting courses for a small business and a course in sales are a must. While no one expects you to start selling cars or real estate, people skills make a huge difference in building clientele. And accounting is how you know when to grow your business or monitor your business financing. Plan on finding a CPA to help you with your payroll for staff and tax reporting; don’t do it yourself as a business.
- Get practical knowledge – Talk to other dentists who’ve already been running a practice. Talk to a mix of folks, both new firms and those at the end of their tenure. This will give you a broad spectrum of what mistakes they made, what has changed running a dental office, and what to expect going in that will otherwise surprise you.
- Don’t go discount with equipment, work with a specialist – Equipment specialists match their inventory to your actual needs. While you might spend a bit more, you will have exactly what you need for a long time versus stuck with a bunch of items you only use 10 percent of the time but it was discounted price at the time, so it must have been a bargain, right? Wrong. Value comes in utility. Invest wisely, and good equipment will reward your practice.
- Hire reliable staff – Same as equipment, pay your staff well and hire carefully. Long-term support is far better than a revolving door of problems.
If you’re unsure how to start with the financial side, guidance and dental practice financing Charlotte NC help are available with SDT Planning. You won’t be disappointed.
