If you’re an experienced dentist or dental practitioner who is considering opening your own business, you may be wondering how to go about creating a surgery from the ground up. It’s no secret that it can be challenging times for the national industry, with many dentists feeling overworked. However, if you are planning on creating your private practice, you will need to ensure that you not only create a welcoming environment but somewhere where dental professionals will want to work.
A business plan
First and foremost, the fundamental basics of starting up a business, whatever industry you’re working in, begin with a business plan. This should contain everything you need to start and succeed. Take it from fellow dental entrepreneurs, that your business plan should not be full of jargon – it should be simple enough to help you succeed. For dentists, here are a few things that should belong in your plan:
- What area to set up in: if you’d like to be considered as a family-friendly practice, then you will need to set up shop in a place that is close to a residential area.
- Finance: once you’ve decided where you’re going to base yourself, you will need to factor in the cost of the area, and how to finance it.
- Your demographic: other local dentists have listed a breakdown of what each demographic requires in their business plan. This is brilliant for giving each visitor a personalized treatment that’s based on experience and research.
Expertise
You simply can’t open a dental practice without the expertise of a dentist or a trained professional – and of course, the expertise of all the extra dental practitioners in your team. However, every part of your business should include a trained professional – whether that’s your finance plan or your marketing strategy. To have a business plan that works, you will need a trained accountant to analyze your current projections and how to improve them, and you’ll need an experienced marketer to ensure that your business reaches the local community. When it comes to ordering supplies, you will also need a provider who has plenty of experience in delivering dental products to local practices.
A customer service ethos
While expertise is crucial to delivering a service that’s to the best of your abilities, customer service ensures that the patient enjoys the way their treatment was delivered. While some treatments aren’t entirely pleasant, the customer has to be treated well to ensure they come back and maintain their oral health. One of the best ways to execute this is through excellent listening skills and honesty. Being able to listen ensures that customers feel empathized with and honesty will prevent them from being disappointed by something they didn’t receive. Training everyone, including your receptionists, dentists, and hygienists, will help to deliver that experience for the patient.
If you’re planning on putting your years of experience as a dental practitioner into your very own practice, your business plan should always include asking for help from other practice owners. Researching not only your demographic but also how others have run a successful practice is one of the best approaches you can take to ensuring you learn from your peers.
