BUILD: Working ON Your Business Part 1

Bulletproof Dental Practice Podcast Episode 36

Hosts: Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Key Takeaways:

What does it mean to work ON your business instead of IN your business? A lot of dental practices aren’t really run like business at all. Ignorance is NOT bliss. The e-myth (entrepreneurial myth) is that most people who start a business are entrepreneurs, when in reality, most people who start a business are technicians. Because we have a high level of understanding of dentistry, we think that uniquely qualifies us to run a business that provides that dental work. Most dental practices are set up as people-dependent practices, when the focus should be on a systems-dependent process. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? People-dependent practices are dependent on specific people in the office, whether it’s you or an employee. Should something happen to that person the office becomes very vulnerable. Corporations are process-dependent business, which is why independently owned practices have something to fear. They are far less vulnerable. Working on your business means one thing; creating a system for everything so you can get superior results consistently, predictably, and with a lot less stress and work. Everything you do should be documented in a manual, a video, a checklist, etc. Create the system intentionally. If you’re “too busy” to step back from the drill and devote real time to creating processes, then you can’t expect a different result. Having a systems-dependent practice means you’re ready to scale and amplify effortlessly. Thriving business have three roles in common; the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician. Entrepreneur is the visionary who thinks ahead, keeps planing for the future, and setting the GPS for the team Managers establish order and create consistencies, and hold everyone accountable Technicians (hygienists and dentists) do the technical work Everyone at their core is better suited to one of these roles, but ideally you should be able to do all three in equal amounts, especially in the beginning In order to run a successful dental practice, you have to give up doing all the dentistry yourself to allow yourself the time to grow the practice. Three practice stages: Stage 1 – Glorified Job Stage 2 – The Eager Stage Stage 3 – The Mature Stage First, we must assess where we are in the process, and situational and personal awareness are way undervalued in our professions Tips: Take some time and truly look at the pain points in your operation Create and optimize your practice operations manual Act like a patient, or hire a secret shopper and have them document their entire interaction Make a process for everything, assume you’re writing it for a 5th grader Silo 1 – Clinical operations Silo 2 – Business & admin operations Silo 3 – Marketing, growth & online reputation operations Silo 4 – Metrics & KPI’s

Part 2 coming soon!