Are you thinking of venturing into the world of entrepreneurship? Are you confused about how to start up a dental practice? A start-up can be a struggle in the beginning, especially if you lack the correct information and tools on how to navigate in the field. Nevertheless, entrepreneurship can be successful if done the right way. Your time in dental school may not have taught you how to manage a business, but you are in luck because we have compiled a simple guide for your dental practice to succeed.
Tips to Start Your Dental Practice
Do your Research
You are making a major life decision, so be sure you know what you are getting into. One way to succeed in anything is to do proper research. The success of your dental practice relies solely on you. Some areas you should focus your research on are:
- Surrounding yourself with experts in various fields. Your network will advise you on how to navigate in the field. Ask your seniors and seasoned professionals in the practice how to start up a dental practice. You will learn a lot from them. They will share the dos and don’ts to help you avoid common pitfalls. Some of the people you should have in your network are:
- Financial experts – these can be loan lenders, tax consultants, and accountants. You will require a significant amount of financial investment to set up your dental practice. The goal is to help you make sense of the finances and advise you on investment options, tax obligations, and priority lists in purchases.
- Attorney – a lawyer is instrumental in helping you set up your dental practice the legal way. A lawyer will also advise you on the type of permits required and file your paperwork for the registration of the business.
- Marketing and advertising professionals – a major key in setting up a dental practice are delivering your services to the right audience. Your products and services need to reach the intended market. Marketing and advertising will help put your business out there and increase your customer base.
- Search the internet. There is a lot of information online that will help you move a step closer to setting up your dental practice. You can also learn from other similar businesses and borrow valuable tips from them.
- Come up with a list of possible challenges you are likely to face in your journey and the solutions if the challenges materialize. A mitigation plan will help you plan for any eventualities.
- Conduct a survey of viable locations that could be suitable premises to set up your dental practice. You need to consider a list of things when selecting the location such as proximity to amenities, rent, and electricity among others. The key is to acquire a space that meets both your and your clients’ needs.
The first major step in how to start up a dental practice includes coming up with an actionable plan. Your intended plans need to be realistic and achievable. It should outline your goals and objectives for both the short term and long-term. It should also define your target market and include your budget. Some of the key elements that should be present in your business plan include:
- A timeline – You need to have an outlined period when you should achieve proposed milestones. For instance, when do you propose should be the opening date? When will you obtain business permits?
- Tasks and deliverables – Each outlined task should have its deliverables. For instance, if you secure a suitable location, what action should you take?
- Business projections – Each business has a plan to expand in the foreseeable future. You need to have the business projection graph together with a corresponding financial forecast to guide the business.
- Budget – You need to have a financial breakdown of the projected expenses and allocation of revenue for each item.
- Marketing plan – Your dental practice has to meet a given threshold for new patients or sustaining customers. The plan is to ensure the practice is operational and its needs are included in the business plan.
Separate your personal goals from your professional goals
Why do you want to start your dental practice? Will you have time for your family if you start the practice? Think about your career goals in the long-term. Once you start thinking of how to start up a dental practice, you need to be clear from the onset what your career and personal goals are. Envision your future before you make any decisions. Some of the critical questions you need to ask yourself include:
- What are your retirement plans?
- How will you acquire funding to set up your dental practice?
- Do you plan to specialize in your practice? If so, when?
- Will you start as the only dentist or will you hire associate dentists?
Answering these questions will bring a better perspective to your plan. You will create objectives that support your professional goals without interfering with your personal life. The last thing you want to do is rush into a business only to get overwhelmed before takeoff and end up closing prematurely.
Establish Your Business’s Needs
When you think of how to start up a dental practice, there are a few questions you need to have in mind. Just like any business, you need to be able to anticipate its needs before you start. Will you require staff or can you handle the tasks yourself? Will you purchase equipment or rent? You need to prioritize the necessary items during start-up and follow your business plan in expanding once you have enough cash flow. Allow your business to expand naturally and respond to the needs as they emerge to avoid taking on too much too quickly.
Get the money
A common worry when you start thinking of setting up a dental practice is financing. A significant amount of money is required for the business to open its doors to the public. Some dentists have cash at hand and can start the business without additional financing. Some are not so lucky and will have to look for alternative financing options. Fortunately, most financing institutions consider dental practices as great investments and are willing to support them. You can leverage this information and look around for the best terms for your loan. Banks usually expect you to have an excellent credit score before awarding a loan. If your credit score has the potential to cause you a problem in getting a loan, you can enlist the services of business credit repair companies. Once your credit score has been fixed, lenders are likely to approve a loan and you can go ahead and begin the groundwork for your dental practice.
Engage with the experts
The dental industry is booming and there is a demand for more and more businesses. As a new dental practice owner, you don’t have to navigate the unknown alone. There are a handful of professionals who can offer custom services to suit your needs. So who are the professionals that can help you?
Financial experts
When you are thinking of how to start up a dental practice, the most important question you probably asked yourself is whether you could afford it. Startup prices will vary depending on your location. The price will also go down if you are purchasing an established practice. The financials might scare you away at face glance, but remember, just like any business, you must invest to reap. Allow your accountants to advise you on how to start up a dental practice the right way.
- Building contractors
You need to pick the perfect location for your dental practice to make sense of the financials. Do comprehensive research on your competitors and pick an area that is;
- Not oversaturated
- Has visibility
- Easily accessible
Once you have settled on the ideal location, the next step is to look for credible contractor companies. If you are building from scratch, you will need local roofing contractors for the best roofing solutions, a plumbing company for all your water and drainage needs and a HVAC contractor to set up a heating and cooling system. If you are purchasing an established practice, getting in touch with affordable movers to help you with the relocation logistics will save you a lot of expenses. An established business may not require comprehensive construction services; hence hiring a commercial roofing contractor may not be viable. However, a few repairs, such as a pedestrian door repair may arise. You can consult local repair companies for minor repair jobs.
Attorneys
You will require some licensing and legal documents for your practice to be up and running. A lawyer will come up with a legal structure to register your business and adhere to local regulations and policies.
Insurance brokers
Will your dental practice accept insurance? You need to establish how to start up a dental practice in a way that your clients can access your services with ease. Get in touch with a health insurance broker to set you up with private and government insurance. Medicare advisors will also come in handy to ensure your practice offers services to all those eligible under the Medicare act.
- Staffing
If you plan to hire staff for your dental practice, you need to screen candidates and hire the right people. Will your practice require oral surgeons? Human resource practitioners will help you get the right candidate for each position and save you the trouble.
Marketing and advertising experts
If you are thinking of how to start up a dental practice, consider attending dental conferences. You will network with other like-minded professionals who already put up their practices. You can pick their brains for tips on how to get clients and how to sustain the business. You build your brand by standing out from the crowd. What unique services are you offering? Marketers can help you create your brand and strategically position your dental practice to the target demographic. Some of the questions you need to answer when marketing your brand include:
- Why should clients come to you and not other dental clinics? What is your unique selling point?
- What patient experience do you hope to create? How do you want your patients to feel once they leave your doors?
- Are you solving any problems? Do your clients need the service or product you are offering?
These questions will help you establish the marketing direction you want your dental practice to take. After you have answered these questions, you need to start building your website. Your dental practice will increase its visibility by creating an online presence. Some of the specifics you need to include in your website are:
- The design – Create a user-friendly website that is easy to navigate. You are likely to get more engagements with an easy-to-navigate website.
- Online reviews – encourage your clients to give feedback on the services. It is a win-win situation as you improve your services from dissatisfied clients’ feedback and use positive feedback as a marketing strategy to attract potential clients.
- Compelling copywriting – your website needs to have appealing content that will keep your clients coming back.
The requirements on how to start up a dental practice are just like any business. You need to consult pioneers in the business to help you navigate the field and avoid common pitfalls. There are many experts in various industries who make up the perfect team to help you set up a successful business when they come together. The tips outlined above are a must-have guide for any business hopeful. Factors like insufficient funding should not dim your hopes of starting your practice. With credit repair companies, you can successfully acquire a positive credit score and start your journey to entrepreneurship.