26 Jun The Hidden Skills Every Successful Dental Practice Owner Needs
Recently, I had a one-to-one with a Club Connect member and a practice owner. They summed up their current situation in a sentence that you recognise.
“I know dentistry isn’t the problem, but what else do I need to do?”
It didn’t completely stop me in my tracks, but it was a reminder of the realities many practice owners face that you may recognise.
Here was someone clinically excellent, passionate, hardworking, reading constantly, yet still looking for answers.
And the conversation wasn’t about dentists, it rarely is. It was about cash flow, a team member who needed more support, patients who never returned and the rising costs that seem to arrive every new financial year.
Many are realising that being the best clinician in the practice isn’t the same as building the best practice, and that’s the transition so many practice owners wrestle with.
When you first own a practice, success comes from doing more dentistry. Then one day, you discover the next stage of growth has very little to do with picking up a handpiece. Instinctively, you know it comes from asking better questions, developing leaders, creating systems, understanding your numbers and building a culture that delivers consistently, and even when you’re not watching.
So we spoke about the rising costs, and rather than crunching those numbers, I asked this question;
“If you couldn’t save another pound, how would you create another £10,000 a month?”
The answer wasn’t, of course, to ‘work harder. Instead, it was recognising that it is always about having better conversations, strong leadership, looking after people, patients and the team. In other words, better behaviours.
Remember, cash flow is a result; it’s not the starting point. It’s an obvious measure of success, but it’s not a behaviour.
Year on year, we are seeing practices that continue to grow, not just because of clinical achievements, but because they are led by owners who evolve from expert clinicians into exceptional business leaders without losing the values that made them successful in the first place.
That’s not an easy transition, and it can be uncomfortable on your own. So don’t do it on your own. Talk to us because we are comfortable having those uncomfortable conversations.
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