“There’s no right or wrong way to run a business”

Have you ever heard this said?

I think it’s an untruth….

If you run a business the wrong way you can end up in a lot of trouble.

You can have no customers…

You can make no money…

Your business can make no profits…

And what would be the point of all that?

The purpose of being in business is to generate a profit that then allows the business by virtue of its own results to:

Employ more people

Purchase more equipment and materials

Invest in its own premises

Provide profits to its shareholders who in turn spend those profits within the community.

Running a business that is not profitable is a not a very nice way to exist.

It’s no fun living hand to mouth, or worse still, not even drawing a wage from your business as the business owner.

For a Dental Business, the numbers should be fairly straightforward.

35-40% of the collections should be paid as salaries to the employed dentists [including any owner dentists] for their dental expertise.

20% of collections should be paid to all other staff of the practice as wages, and benefits.

20-25% of the collections should be paid for rent, utilities, and supplies and insurances. Pretty well everything else then…

And 20% should be held over for capital expenses, loan repayments [principal], sinking funds, and for marketing, and for dividends to the business owners.

If your overheads do not follow these simple guidelines, then you need to talk quickly with your CPA or your accountant.

Private living expenses for the dentist, like holidays, investments, and school fees etc. need to be funded out of their salaries for performing the dentistry [the 35-40%] and not from the operational 60-65% needed to support the dental business.

Education and practice management need to be allocated correctly.

Education of the dentist as a dentist should be an expense of the dentist and not of the practice.

Practice management of the dental facility and of the dental team should be drawn primarily as a capital expense [an investment] rather than as an operating expense, or cost.

Both forms of education should be looked at critically in terms of R.O.I. [return on investment].

If you find that you’re attending courses and hearing the same thing over and over and over, you need to ask yourself firstly:

Why have I not acted on this information?

If I have previously acted on this information but have somehow ceased for some reason, what is that reason?

And should I begin acting on this information again, this time more seriously?

Going to endless seminars, taking good notes, and then popping those notebooks on your bookshelf doesn’t really make much sense?

That’s called:

SHELF HELP

Taking action on what we’ve learned is paramount.

We’ve all done it though.

We’ve left a course excited about what we’ve learned, and walked into our office on the Monday morning all full of enthusiasm, only to realise that one month later, two months later, three months later….we’re not doing anything different.

What was it?

Was it Dermal Fillers?

Was it Five Month braces?

Was it a Laser?

Was it World Class Customer Service?

Was it better Phone Answering Skills?

Larry Winget said “You’re where you want to be because that’s where you want to be” and if you wanted to change it you would change it.

But you haven’t….

There’s no magic.

Make a decision.

Do what it takes.

And stick to it.

In the movie *Field of Dreams*, Terence Mann, the character played by James Earl Jones is infamous for this one line:

“Go The Distance”.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to run a business.

Going around in circles, with no plan?

Well that’s the wrong way.

If you keep on doing what you’ve always been doing, then you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always been getting.

And if you’re not happy with what you’ve been getting, and where you are right now, then you need a change of plan.

If doing it on your own has gotten you to where you are now, and you’re not happy with that destination, then you probably need outside help to change that plan…

And there’s plenty of good help available.

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My upcoming in depth two day workshops will be held in Manhattan in April as well as in London in August.

You can reserve your places here: Click Link To Order and also Here

I will also be holding my celebrated one day workshop in Melbourne in June and in Auckland New Zealand in July.

You can reserve your seats for Melbourne here.

You can reserve your seats for Auckland New Zealand here.

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Have you read my book , How To Build The Dental Practice of Your Dreams [Without Killing Yourself!] In Less Than Sixty Days.

You can order your copy here: Click Link To Order

*****

The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.

Email me at david@theupe.com

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