Steps to building a successful dental practice.

Achieving success with your dental practice is no small feat. But it’s something you can achieve with the right approach and a little help. In this first entry to our three-part series covering how to master the art of dental practice success, we’ll cover how you can get started on the right foot with your practice. Developing a solid foundation will prepare you for future success and growth, which we’ll continue to guide you toward with future entries.

Develop a robust business plan.

A comprehensive business plan is an important pillar for any successful business, especially one as complex as a dental practice. You need to go in with a clear idea of where your practice is headed, as well as of the practical steps necessary to take it there.

First, creating financial projections is necessary to gain an understanding of your costs and potential revenue and ensure the viability of your dental practice’s success. You’ll need to consider startup costs, such as those of your office space and equipment, along with recurring costs, like your staff’s salaries. Create forecasts of different scenarios for revenue from patient services and compare them with your calculated costs.

How you promote your new practice will be just as important. Identify marketing strategies that will help you reach your target demographics, such as establishing your branding with a practice name, logo, and tagline. Consider digital marketing outlets, such as a website and social media, along with traditional advertising by way of flyers, radio, and local partnerships.

Setting both your short-term and long-term growth objectives is also an important task to tackle from the start. Whether defined in patient volume, revenue, or service expansion, you need an idea of where your practice is going, as we’ve said. You can monitor your progress against these goals and use them to guide important business decisions.

Choose the right location.

When starting out, choosing the physical location for your practice is a major decision to make. While you might want to keep your practice close to home, that may not be all too realistic. 

Careful demographic analysis is essential to ensuring that you’re setting up somewhere you can achieve genuine dental practice success. Look at the local population in terms of age distribution, income, family size, and other metrics to evaluate your potential patient base. The specific groups you’re looking for will depend largely on your specialization.

The level of local competition is another important factor. If there are too many practices in the area you have your eye on, you will likely struggle to establish yourself. Still, it’s important to evaluate not just the number of practices but the specific services they offer to identify if there is a niche for your practice.

One last important factor in determining your location is accessibility. You want your practice to be accessible and welcoming for all patients. That means choosing a physical office that meets ADA compliance and has the space and layout needed for the practical, everyday operations of your practice. You must also consider how certain demographics, such as the elderly or children, might fare in the specific office environment you’re looking at.

Invest in technology.

Ensuring that your new practice can provide a wide range of quality treatment options with efficient workflows is key to lasting success. Starting with the right technology and training to provide advanced treatment can position your practice to provide better care for your patients.

A variety of advanced dental technology is available to provide higher quality care and save you and your team time and resources. Digital X-rays, intraoral scanners, and CAD/CAM systems can provide improved diagnostics, treatment planning, and execution. Investing in technologies, such as 3D printers and chairside mills, can expand your options even further.

There are also technologies available for better administration workflows. A variety of software options and platforms can make practice management easier with automated scheduling, billing, and more. You can also handle patient records through electronic health records to maintain privacy and security, while also making administration easier for both your team and your patients.

On top of that, expanding your practice’s options with more treatments is also an effective strategy. You can improve the impact on your patient’s lives by considering the addition of specialized treatment. Pursuing orthodontic courses to understand how to put technology and treatments to effective use can bring together general dentistry and orthodontics within your practice.

Situate yourself for dental practice success.

Taking the right approach to creating a dental practice business plan prepares you for success. Following through on that plan is just as important. The American Orthodontic Society provides a wide range of resources to help you do just that. Consider becoming a member today, and don’t forget to check back for the next part in our series on mastering the art of dental practice success!