Business Advice for Dentists

Is there really a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

Sweat, stress, anxiety and sleepless nights – my business advice for dentists.

Don’t kid yourself if you think owning and running a business is your path to riches and financial freedom. For many entrepreneurs there isn’t a pot of gold waiting for them, but in fact stress and many sleepless nights.
Whilst on social media and TV it may appear that owning and running a business is easy, the truth of the matter is that most businesses fail – Why?

Because running a business is NOT easy.

Challenges come in many forms, including:

• Building a motivated and committed team
• Getting new customers and looking after existing ones
• Managing cash flow
• Trying to make a profit
• Dealing with taxes….

Just to name a few.

But, in my opinion, running a business requires you, as an individual, to really step into the unknown.

A zone where you don’t know if you will have sufficient funds to meet payroll, or whether a client will pay you on time (or even pay you at all), or the bank will support you in your hour of need.

The uncertainty of business can be too much for many, which is completely understandable, especially if you have loved ones to support.

Yet, for those that can tolerate the pain, and the rollercoaster of building a business, the possibility of a pot of a gold waiting for them is still slim.
Good luck, fortunate timing, hard work and tenacity have a huge part to play in building a successful business, but most importantly your mind set is the thing that will determine if you reach your pot of gold.

Income vs Building Wealth

After struggling to build a business with a committed team, many individuals settle for building a business around them, where they are the monkey AND the organ grinder.

I meet many solo dentists, or business consultants, who do just this, building a decent income stream dependent on their efforts, but the problem here is that if they stop working, there is no income, and ultimately there is no value created.

The key is to build a business where it is not reliant on you being the CEO, chief financial officer, the IT manager and the Client manager, as well as the cleaner…this will not be sustainable and will ultimately create further stress for you, and not be worth anyone wanting to buy.

Remember the pot of gold waiting for you?

Business buyers want to buy a business that is not reliant on one party, they want to spread their risk, they want to buy something that will continue to grow into perpetuity, with or without you in the business.

Getting that right is downright difficult, but for those that achieve that, the pot of gold can truly become a reality.

That’s when you have built considerable wealth, which can be life changing for you and your loved ones.

So what about Mind Set?

As I highlighted earlier, your mind will ultimately be the determinant of your success.

Expect knock backs after knock backs, expect problems, expect difficult team members, difficult customers, difficult times, lack of cash flow, tough decisions, and of course hard work.

Business = Problems

Personally, I’ve had my fair share of all of these, including employment tribunals, cash flow issues, contractual issues, difficult clients, all whilst dealing with children in hospital, dealing with dementia with parents,  but truth be told, I relish nothing more than a challenge in business, I actually thrive on solving problems.

But if you can handle this, and your family can handle this (as you need support from them), then perhaps that pot of gold is waiting for you at the end of the rainbow?

It’s there for the taking, but remember, only a few will ever reach it – are you one of the few?