Dental graduates often say that they chose dentistry because they like science and working with their hands, as well as the monetary return for their efforts. Many of them thought medicine would be their path, but in medicine they saw lack of control and too much time away from family.
Profitability can be elusive in a dental practice. You may feel like you’re trying to outrun your overhead. You may feel like dentistry has become number one in your life and there is no other life for you. You may be frustrated because you were hoping to be farther along in your debt reduction and wealth accumulation. You’re putting in the hours but not receiving the return.
Many things can get in the way of profitability. We want you to know that you can have a profitable practice, and that a larger net return can be yours.
Time to reflect
It’s time to look at you, the leader, the one who wants to win in the game of profitability. The keys to profitability are you, your attitude, your team, and their attitudes, which comes from the leader, and the systems you need in place to be more efficient.
You are the key to opening the profitability gate. What is your current attitude about your life, success, and situation? How do you feel about the future? This might be a challenge for you to evaluate because you’re slightly prejudiced, so ask a family member or close friend if they would assess your attitude and positivity about yourself. If you harbor years of negativity, this can be a challenge.
Here are some questions to help assess your attitude:
• What are your goals five years from now?
• What are you looking forward to?
• What do you want most out of life?
• What do you like best about yourself?
• What do you feel motivates you?
• Do you have any personal power in your life?
“Deserve level”
At Blatchford Solutions, we work with dentists and teams about their “deserve level” early in the coaching process. Most books about business share this “deserve level” as an innate condition people have regarding all levels of activities and thoughts in their lives. Areas to assess your choices could be the place you choose to live, friends you surround yourself with, who you marry, the schools and courses you choose, cars you drive, where you vacation, which restaurants you choose, and on and on.
We all have comfort zones for these areas and when pushed out of those comfort zones we may reply, “I would never go there, do that, try that, spend time on that . . .” There is a floor and a ceiling surrounding our comfort zones. We have a level we would never go below in our gas tank, bank account, friends we gather with, area we live in, and more.
You’re born with a your “deserve level.” You can alter it with a clear vision, strong determination, and some outside help. You need to approach this as knowing whether your “deserve level” allows you to be profitable. You can sabotage your success without knowing your “deserve level.” Look at the bankruptcy rates of professional athletes and lottery winners.
What is profitability to you? Write down some numbers and spell it out for yourself. Is a net of $500,000 or $750,000 unreasonable for you? Is a net of $1 million something you deserve? Do you deserve to have 60% overhead on $1.2 million collection? Do you deserve to be debt free? What would change in your life if you were debt free?
To show you the importance of this “deserve level,” it also affects the quality of your team members, the building and area of your practice, your continuing education courses, as well as many non-dental activities. You can already see some factors and choices your children are making based on their “deserve level.”
Are you ready to be profitable or do you prefer to complain about your situation? You can be as profitable as you deserve. When you’re ready to be profitable and take the steps to make that become a reality for you, your “deserve level” will be a big factor in moving forward. You can do this! Dentistry is not just about your clinical excellence. It can be about your excellence in the business of profitability.
Bill Blatchford, DDS, practiced dentistry for 20 years in Corvallis, Oregon. He founded Blatchford Solutions, and for 35 years he has helped thousands of doctors achieve practice success and stay in the game. After brief careers in fashion merchandising and interior design, Christina Blatchford, DMD, attended dental school at Oregon Health and Science University. She owned her own practice before joining her father at Blatchford Solutions. In their Custom Coaching Program, Drs. Blatchford work personally with doctor, spouse, and team to achieve their dream practice. Blatchford Solutions is one of America’s leading dental business coaching solutions. Blatchford dentists have more efficiency, which creates a higher net and more time to rejuvenate. Visit blatchfordsolutions.com to watch doctor and team testimonials and learn about Drs. Blatchford’s latest free book, Seven Principles of Highly Profitable Dentists.
