Have a Vision
Significant obstacles continue to challenge dentists and their practices. During the best of times, small- to medium-sized practices operate within tight budgets and often struggle to balance cash flows. Now, downward consumer confidence, inflationary pressures, and talent gaps exacerbated by the Great Resignation make times even tougher.
But challenge and opportunity go hand-in-hand. By being resilient, your practice can recover from or adjust quickly to difficulty or change. While there is no standard formula, truly resilient companies have exhibited visionary leadership, business focus, and people-centric cultures.
Business Focus
Beyond being a visionary leader and cultivating a people-centric culture, highly resilient and successful practices tend to revisit every aspect of their business, including the following six key areas:
Patient relationships. You need to know your patients to meet their needs and pivot as their needs change. Consider prioritizing patients that meet the metrics you have established to identify your perfect patient.
Product offerings. Analyze services and specific treatments to determine profitability, identifying which to promote and which to prune. By knowing your average hourly overhead and lab costs, you can ensure treatment codes are properly priced.
Vendor relationships. Have you been with your current banking partner, dental supply representative, liability insurance broker, employee benefits consultant, investment advisor or other service providers for an extended time? If so, do they still value your business or take you for granted? Consider evaluating alternatives and initiating a formal request-for-proposal process for all key services.
Organizational structure. Is your practice “fit for purpose” based on the current vision and strategic plan? When making a major shift in strategy or patient service, consider creating a new team to handle the shift and reinforce the importance of the change.
Performance reporting. To make informed decisions related to business expenses, hiring, capital investments, and other areas, you need clear insight into financial performance. Even if your reporting is timely and accurate, are you getting the right insights and analysis to run the business?
Talent management. Identify gaps, provide appropriate training, and hire new resources if necessary. Use the Great Resignation to reevaluate staffing. Maybe, for example, there are advantages to reducing hygiene staffing and focus on perio treatments and not just annual recalls.
As advisors, we at JNG Advisors are known for our ability to analyze complex business issues, solve problems, think strategically, and deliver results. By leveraging these skills and your “big picture” view, we can support you in your decision-making.