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Practice Finance: Improving Your (Profit) Margins

Practice Finance: Improving Your (Profit) Margins
by Joe Lamour

This last year in the dental industry has been one of the most dynamic we’ve seen. Stories of growth and success are happening all across the country as dentists improve their business acumen, positioning themselves to not only work in their businesses, but also on their businesses.

Having visited over 1,000 dental practices across the country during the last six years, it has become blatantly obvious to me why some dental practices are riding the wave and others are being buried by it.

Here I’ll outline the common strategies undertaken by offices that consistently capture healthy profit margins, create recession-proof practices, and have fun while doing it.

A quick disclaimer: none of these ideas are new. There are some things in life that just “are.” Take gravity. We can leverage our understanding of gravity in order to stay grounded or to fly. But the principle itself is pretty basic. Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy is the same. We can leverage what we know about it for our benefit, but the principle is pretty basic—some things will float and others will sink. It’s the same with the principle of reaping and sowing: people reap what they sow, plain and simple.

You shouldn’t view change as a threat. We are truly in a new order of dentistry. Let’s call it BC (before consolidation) and AC (after consolidation).

In the new order of dentistry, leadership skills and management philosophies must adapt. What do I mean by that? I’m glad you asked. Here are three areas that, if approached strategically and acted upon, will allow you to ride the largest wave this industry has ever seen.

Are you ready? Let’s go.

Read full article on Dental Economics.