Share this Post
These dentists not only realized later this advice was not financially beneficial, but found it was actually detrimental—and, in some cases, held their practices back. They often say they wouldn’t take this advice if they could do it all over. As a new dentist, you shouldn’t take this advice either.
Good business sense indicates that entrepreneurs shouldn’t over indebt themselves on nonproductive expenditures, as it simply takes away cash reserves from other uses and ties up borrowing capability that might be needed in the future. To a new business venture, cash is king. When opening a startup practice, you can never fully anticipate all of the unintended expenditures you will need to make or how long it will take to get your practice cash flow positive. You always want to ensure you have cash and/or borrowing ability if needed.
Having credit lines tied up in unused equipment in extra treatment rooms won’t do you any good in a crunch.
Dentists who purchase all their equipment at once often realize they spent everything in their loan for equipment but didn’t leave sufficient funds to hire marketing consultants or to invest in advertising to grow their practice. The higher monthly payments for excess equipment loans constrains them further, as these loans take more of their working cash created by practice revenue.
Not only that, additional borrowing can impact your personal credit rating and your ability to take out personal loans for cars or houses. It also might put you into a higher interest bracket than you deserve. So it’s very important to only borrow what you need to productively launch your dental practice.
The first step is to plan well and to only purchase the equipment and supplies you can put into production right away. This may mean avoiding supply stocking programs and fully equipped offices unless you really believe they will be used from the start.
Planning out your office and expenditures is more than just getting the right look. Use discernment when reviewing preformatted budget templates, and consider the importance of each area to generating initial practice revenue. Before you purchase equipment, ask yourself if it’s really necessary for you to open your practice. This will help you get down to a much more realistic overall budget that isn’t filled with excess equipment, supplies or post construction décor.
Think like a large manufacturer that is planning to grow. These companies need to be able to easily ramp up their production lines in the future, but don’t want to over spend until their sales numbers justify the expansion. So while they would consider finding a large enough facility that allowed for planned growth, pre-wiring it and completing some of the interior finish, they would not buy additional production line equipment until it was required.
The trick is to ensure construction is completed and readily allows for equipment to be moved in, set up and easily connected. There are now handy in-wall and floor junction boxes that facilitate running electrical wiring, IT cabling and plumbing. These built-in boxes come neatly enclosed and don’t detract from an empty treatment room’s appearance, yet they make it very easy to connect equipment as needed.
To maximize your office space cost, it is important to get the most from your space. Building leases are based on a price per square foot, which is the horizontal dimension. Keep in mind you pay nothing more for the vertical space. Large dental cabinets require a big horizontal footprint without adding to treatment capability. Modern dental equipment is more compact and can integrate instruments, computer systems and monitors into one console, reducing the footprint and taking advantage of the vertical space. You can design smaller treatment rooms yet achieve an open and spacious feeling for you and your patients.
Modern modular dental equipment is much easier to set into place and connect without a lot of installation difficulty. This equipment easily adapts to expansion and even different operators’ requirements, including ambidextrous or multi-specialty needs.
No matter what equipment you invest in as you start your practice, don’t feel like you have to buy it all at once. Take a phased approach instead
John W. McPeek is a former CPA turned entrepreneur. He has started a number of successful ventures and began ASI Dental, a division of ASI Medical Inc., 25 years ago. ASI Dental has helped numerous dentists by providing equipment solutions that enable them to begin their practice in a cost-effective manner.
A look at where adhesives are today, and the progress being made toward suture-less surgery....
Benco’s Managing Director discusses the importance of putting the customer first and the role full-service distributors play in the dental industry....
As dental professionals, it is our responsibility to guide our patients through this maze of promises, social media postings, and subtle, but aggressive, marketing psychology....
Ultimately, treatment planning is a series of decisions, and therefore a series of choices....
Understanding risk will get your patients back in the chair and your practice back on track....
As a general dentist, I was excited to add orthodontic treatment to my practice early on in my career. I had the benefit of a great mentor partner dentist who had been performing comprehensive ortho for years when I joined the practice....
She was tired of traveling to different study clubs and groups all the time, especially when some of the dentists attending her talks were only there for the free lunch. It just wasn’t rewarding, and it was eating into time she could be spending...
As co-author of “The Ultimate Cheat Sheets,” Dr. Fang is instrumental in connecting the medical and dental worlds—which has proven especially critical during the COVID-19 pandemic....
SSC gives dentists the opportunity to gather in small groups to collaborate with and learn from each other—and Dr. Cohen has found ways to keep members connected even during the coronavirus pandemic....
Dr. John Kois started the Kois Center 25 years ago because he wanted to offer a learning experience that wasn’t yet available in dentistry. He used his passion for education and the learning process to create a graduate program for practicing...
The fact Anderson doesn’t have a dental background actually has played a large role in his success in the industry. When he first started, part of his program’s appeal was the fact it didn’t just touch on what was happening in dentistry. When...
For more than two decades, Dr. Dickerson has been committed to advancing Physiologic Dentistry and improving the profession he loves....
These dentists not only realized later this advice was not financially beneficial, but found it was actually detrimental—and, in some cases, held their practices back. They often say they wouldn’t take this advice if they could do it all over. As a new dentist, you shouldn’t take this advice either.
Good business sense indicates that entrepreneurs shouldn’t over indebt themselves on nonproductive expenditures, as it simply takes away cash reserves from other uses and ties up borrowing capability that might be needed in the future. To a new business venture, cash is king. When opening a startup practice, you can never fully anticipate all of the unintended expenditures you will need to make or how long it will take to get your practice cash flow positive. You always want to ensure you have cash and/or borrowing ability if needed.
Having credit lines tied up in unused equipment in extra treatment rooms won’t do you any good in a crunch.
Dentists who purchase all their equipment at once often realize they spent everything in their loan for equipment but didn’t leave sufficient funds to hire marketing consultants or to invest in advertising to grow their practice. The higher monthly payments for excess equipment loans constrains them further, as these loans take more of their working cash created by practice revenue.
Not only that, additional borrowing can impact your personal credit rating and your ability to take out personal loans for cars or houses. It also might put you into a higher interest bracket than you deserve. So it’s very important to only borrow what you need to productively launch your dental practice.
The first step is to plan well and to only purchase the equipment and supplies you can put into production right away. This may mean avoiding supply stocking programs and fully equipped offices unless you really believe they will be used from the start.
Planning out your office and expenditures is more than just getting the right look. Use discernment when reviewing preformatted budget templates, and consider the importance of each area to generating initial practice revenue. Before you purchase equipment, ask yourself if it’s really necessary for you to open your practice. This will help you get down to a much more realistic overall budget that isn’t filled with excess equipment, supplies or post construction décor.
Think like a large manufacturer that is planning to grow. These companies need to be able to easily ramp up their production lines in the future, but don’t want to over spend until their sales numbers justify the expansion. So while they would consider finding a large enough facility that allowed for planned growth, pre-wiring it and completing some of the interior finish, they would not buy additional production line equipment until it was required.
The trick is to ensure construction is completed and readily allows for equipment to be moved in, set up and easily connected. There are now handy in-wall and floor junction boxes that facilitate running electrical wiring, IT cabling and plumbing. These built-in boxes come neatly enclosed and don’t detract from an empty treatment room’s appearance, yet they make it very easy to connect equipment as needed.
To maximize your office space cost, it is important to get the most from your space. Building leases are based on a price per square foot, which is the horizontal dimension. Keep in mind you pay nothing more for the vertical space. Large dental cabinets require a big horizontal footprint without adding to treatment capability. Modern dental equipment is more compact and can integrate instruments, computer systems and monitors into one console, reducing the footprint and taking advantage of the vertical space. You can design smaller treatment rooms yet achieve an open and spacious feeling for you and your patients.
Modern modular dental equipment is much easier to set into place and connect without a lot of installation difficulty. This equipment easily adapts to expansion and even different operators’ requirements, including ambidextrous or multi-specialty needs.
No matter what equipment you invest in as you start your practice, don’t feel like you have to buy it all at once. Take a phased approach instead
John W. McPeek is a former CPA turned entrepreneur. He has started a number of successful ventures and began ASI Dental, a division of ASI Medical Inc., 25 years ago. ASI Dental has helped numerous dentists by providing equipment solutions that enable them to begin their practice in a cost-effective manner.
A look at where adhesives are today, and the progress being made toward suture-less surgery....
Benco’s Managing Director discusses the importance of putting the customer first and the role full-service distributors play in the dental industry....
As dental professionals, it is our responsibility to guide our patients through this maze of promises, social media postings, and subtle, but aggressive, marketing psychology....
We know you’re used to paying more, but you don’t have to! Save over 50% when you shop with us. We are dentists, helping dentists. And we’re sick of paying retail!...
