They say we must learn from other’s mistakes. But what if we could also learn from the mistakes that others did not make? Perhaps, that question is worthy of serious inquiry especially when being answered by renowned London-based dentist Dr. Armand Amselem. He has successfully opened clinics in France, Spain, and London and continues to expand the reach of his expertise as we speak. In this article, he shares 5 tips for aspiring dentists to scale their practices.
Keep growth in mind when hiring
Innovation is at the heart of this job. From equipment to other dental practices, things are always on the conveyor belt of modern advancement. While most dentists are quite adaptive to new technology, what most of them fail to factor in is the requirement of new employees to carry our new practices or become adept at using new equipment. To avoid sitting on new purchases, dentists need to hire the supporting staff they need ahead of time.
Never stop being a dentist
A dentist cannot stay out of touch with his/her practice for too long. Staying consistent with your practices helps you stay on top of your game. This also makes good business sense because it helps you continue to do what you love and make that additional stream of income that you might miss out on if you let go of your practice too much or too soon. While you also focus your energies on scaling your business, it’s important to remember that your customers will prefer, more often than not, to have the same person working their teeth. Building reliability among customers is a time-tested way of scaling your practice.
Understand online marketing
Dentists need to join the social marketing bandwagon like everybody else. Word of mouth is the most traditional way of getting people to come to visit you. However, in recent years, competition has become fierce among dentists and dental clinics. The need to make one’s presence felt is dire and best achieved via platforms like Facebook Ads, click-to-call ads, mobile call-only ads, appointment reminders, targeted Google Ads, and more. Adapt, if you wish to evolve.
Participate in group practices
Forming dentists’ group and conducting group practices are among the fastest-growing dental sub-segment. This is primarily due to the ability of a group to survive a downturn, create spare cash to invest in technology, generate a better cash flow in general, and to be flexible while catering to patient’s needs. By building privately owned and operated group practices, dentists maintain practice ownership/partnership while at the same time sustaining their revenue. Once the group earns a good name among customers for offering reliable dental solutions and among the fraternity for being ethical, they can sell their practice group to a corporate franchise for a strong profit.
Invest in your team
After you have invested in creating a top-notch hygienic environment for your clients, it’s time to direct your energies towards harnessing the power of right recruiting. Know the requirements of each of your departments – finance, reception, management, nurse, etc – and send out ads that spell out your requirements clearly. This will help you target the right people for the job and save you time filing through the wrong appointees.
Scaling up is a matter of patience, common sense, and a heart for taking calculated risks. Dr. Armand’s tips can help aspiring dentists gain control over their practices by taking control of their business and vice-versa.