Business Skills For Dentists
Successful dental practices’ require dentists’ to be:
Visionaries
Leaders
Staff Managers
Human Resource Managers
Team Motivators
Business Development Managers
Financial Managers
Marketing Managers
Customer Service Experts
And that is all before they do any clinical dentistry.
So how can you, the dentist have all of the above skills?
Ask yourself:
1) What do you want to achieve in your practice?
Growth – in the next 1 year; 2 years; 5 years; 10 years; to retirement
Development of practice location or premises
Income levels for the principal dentist; associate dentist and or hygienist
Levels of efficiency for all team members
No. of staff
Type of dentistry – eg; general dentistry; family care; cosmetics; implants
Type of practice – eg; emergency or long - term dental health care
Type of patients’ – eg; age range and the dental needs for these patients
Level of service offered
Practice image – how do you want to present yourself to your patients on every level such as visual appearance of the practice; visual grooming of your team and yourself etc
2) What type of leader are you?
What is your leadership philosophy
What is your leadership approach
How are you going to motivate, train and work with your team
3) How will your attract and keep good staff?
What do you have to offer current and new staff in the way of career development; responsibilities; ongoing learning and achievement
How will you get the best from your staff
What type of incentives or bonuses will you offer if any to your team and how will you measure this fairly
4) What is your Business plan?
What are your goals
How will you utilize your time efficiently; productively and profitably
5) What is your Financial plan?
How much income do you need or want
What is your practice budget for expenditure – monthly and yearly
How much savings do you need to allocate each month and year
How do you ensure that you control your money and not someone else
How do you comply with tax requirements – eg; PAYG; BAS etc
6) What is your Marketing plan?
What is your strategy to retain your current patient pool – eg preventative care program
How do you attract new patients to your practice
How do you give new patients a ‘wow’ experience
How do you increase referrals
How do you retain new patients in your practice
How do you create a positive practice image in your local community
How do you develop networks of referral
The most successful dental practices’ have a detailed business plan and then carefully manage every aspect of their business. Nothing is left to ‘chance’.