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expressed in this blog are the authors own and are derived from the author’s
experiences and observations. This blog is the intellectual property of the
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Of all the recent and advanced changes
the field of Dentistry has seen in the past few years, the most striking and
ground breaking has been the transformation of clinical practice from a
“service-centric” to a “business-centric” mode of operation. Gone are the days
when localities housed “family-dentists” like “family-doctors”. Dental clinics,
both private as well as corporate now dot most urban landscapes and the
“patient” now seeks options; better, specific, cost-effective and long-term
when it comes to even the most basic of treatment needs. This has led to most
clinics now competing directly with each other for a greater percentage of the
“market-share” often indulging in a “price-war” just like a big corporate. The
only difference being that the dentist is still not recognised as an “essential
service provider” for reasons like a lack of awareness about oral health and
many more (This can be a topic for another blog altogether!). The whole point
of this discussion is that dental practice today is not just about running a
clinic; it is about running a small business.
The budding dentist however; fresh out
of college and a few months of locum old establishes the mindset that all a
trained dentist needs to start earning is just a place and a set-up. While this
mindset is not entirely “flawed” given that “not earning” is impossible if you
do own a set-up, the problem arises when you figure in factors such as the
running cost of your practice which also includes the rent and the living cost
in an urban area. The MAJOR reason for the dissatisfaction amongst the current
generation of dentists today “seems” (since this claim is purely out of
interactions and observations and I have no scientific data to back it) to be
the failure of their “earnings” to meet their “standard of living” turning
their practice and approach into a “hamster-wheel” that ends up being concerned
only with meeting monthly running costs, targets and meagre profits.
Coming back to the start of the
discussion, since dentistry has in reality become a business, it goes without
saying that the rules that apply to successful businesses, apply to dental
practice as well!
As author and lifestyle design guru, Tim
Ferriss quotes;
“You want to measure twice and cut
once when it comes to starting businesses...if you start a machine, a monster
that you have to feed that is a prison and is not something that provides you
with freedom...then you are screwed and it’s going to be a lot harder to fix
after”
His second quote is an inspiration
from a German proverb;
“Everything with measure and
objective”
Both these quotes follow a common
mindset when it comes to launching successful businesses, that of “EFFECTIVE PLANNING
BEFORE ACTING”. The word EFFECTIVE here is important since it differentiates
the achievers from the non-achievers. Now cutting back to dentistry, how many
budding dentists today carefully draft a blueprint prior to establishing a
successful practice? How many budding dentists are influenced solely by lower
costs when it comes to establishing and running their practice? And how many
budding dentists get caught in the “hamster-wheel” practice only temporarily and
effectively break the cycle? The answer is...VERY FEW.
While this blog is more about the
MINDSET than a HOW TO GUIDE on business, I personally believe that MINDSET does
play an important role in the success of a business and just as FINANCIAL
PLANNING determines your monetary success, PRACTICE PLANNING determines the
success of your practice!
Keeping these points in mind, here are
a few questions that you, the budding dentist needs to answer before jumping
the gun on establishing your practice out of peer pressure, family pressure or
just a plain fear of “losing out”;
#1 Are my goals SPECIFIC?
Being able to pay the rent.
Earning enough to live comfortably.
Establishing a successful dental
practice.
If these are examples of the goals that
you set for yourself and your practice, you’re going nowhere. Simply because
these goals are way too vague. In order to establish a successful practice, you
need to be as clear and specific with your goals as possible.
Are you aiming to practice at the same
location for life? Do you have a number on the expected running cost of the
clinic? Have you researched the potential of the location to serve you with a
patient base? Is your clinic well accessible? What is the cost of supporting
your family? What are your monthly expenses? What is your target income in
order to meet the expenses of your clinic, home and lifestyle and what kind of
practice will you need to meet those costs comfortably?
Obviously you won’t be able to answer
all of these at once but having a specific goal helps you to draw a blueprint
and helps you measure your progress as you start your practice. A regular
evaluation of these goals not only tells you where you were successful and
where you fell short, it also helps you to make “course-corrections”, strike
out what is necessary and what is not and make changes accordingly.
For the budding dentist, having a
specific set of goals is the equivalent of the “Where do you see yourself in 5
years and how do you plan on doing that?” type of question that job applicants
are asked before being hired to work for a company. The only difference being,
in case of budding dentists, the answer either puts your practice on track for
financial success or gets you stuck in the “hamster-wheel” for an extended
period of time.
#2 Have I tested the waters enough?
To
be continued...stay tuned for PART II...20/12/2017
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