Mentorship

If you own a dental practice, you own a business which has a profit and loss statement and a bottom line. Money comes in and goes out, people get paid and people spend. Do you have a current business plan for your practice? If not, we can help. With an effective dental mentorship program, you can develop the skills you need to operate your practice as a successful business.

The Right Approach

Just as no two smiles are alike, no two dental practices are alike. As your life and practice evolves, changes take place that affect the way you operate. This can leave voids that are left unattended, which creates unnecessary stress in your personal and business life.

The best way to combat this and to manage a successful practice is by following a business approach, something which most dentists are not trained to do. In 2008, for example, we had an economic recession, and many doctors were concerned about the adjustments that were taking place in their practices. By assessing your situation and compiling a customized business plan to serve as a roadmap for your practice, you can prepare yourself to overcome any challenges you experience.

Determining Your Vision

To create a customized business plan, it’s necessary to start by identifying your vision for the practice. This is a “big picture” view of what you want to achieve, and by when. Perhaps you want to generate a certain level of revenue within a specific period of time, or you want to grow the practice to a particular size in terms of the number of patients, staff and/or associates you have. Our dental mentor program will help you to break down what you want to accomplish, determine what your vision is, and give you the tools to achieve it.

Setting Goals

When you have outlined your vision for the practice, it’s time to develop the short and long-term goals. Additionally, detailed plans, timelines and criteria will allow you to measure and achieve success.

These goals form the foundation of a business plan that outlines exactly what actions you need to take to move from where you are to where you want to go. During the dental mentorship program, you’ll learn how to hold yourself accountable, measure your performance and accomplish your goals.

Developing a Business Plan

Developing a business plan starts with compiling a list of your practice’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis). It requires you to address the emotional characteristics, the personal elements, as well as all business aspects of the products and services you offer. The plan should include:

• An executive summary - provides an overview of your vision and major goals, how you intend to achieve these, a description of who you are, the culture you want in your practice, the products and services you currently offer, and any new offerings you plan to add in the foreseeable future
• Your marketing strategy - includes characteristics of the audience you want to target and your pricing structure
• Staffing strategies - includes the number of people on your team and any plans for additional staff in the future
• Operational details - property, facilities and systems in use
• Financial forecasts - cash flow forecasts, profit and loss, and growth projections

Participating in our mentorship program will enable you to understand and compile the information you need, and determine what steps you should take to progress from each stage of the plan to the next.

How the Dental Mentorship Program Works

KLAS Solutions has been working with dentists for a combined 150 years. Through this unique program, we assist you in creating a customized business plan to accomplish your vision and goals. We assess all aspects of your practice and pay close attention to your needs to develop an effective business plan. We have the resources necessary to create a team of professionals that will support you throughout your career.

During the dental mentorship program, you’ll discover essentials such as how to create a Break Even Point (BEP), as well as how to monitor your numbers and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). KLAS Solutions will also assist you with your design and equipment needs.

Our experts will guide you through the decision-making process to see if your numbers support your loans and expenses, and guide you all the way through your future retirement plans. 

Real-Life Examples

PPO's and DSO's have had a huge impact on the business of dentistry. Some of the questions dentists often ask that can be addressed through our dental mentor program include:

• “How do I bring on an associate with all of the lower insurance fees?”
• “How do I compete against the DSO companies?”
• “I want to expand my practice, but I am not sure If can afford an associate.”
• “Can my facility accommodate my growth plans?”
• “I don’t know if I am ready for retirement.”

Some examples of doctors we have mentored through this program are:

• A holistic doctor wanted to expand and transform their practice into a boutique style practice, but they had major financial hurdles. We helped them create both personal and financial budgets, negotiate the lease and building options, and developed a leadership program focused on accomplishing their goals.
• A doctor wanted to own multiple practices. We empowered him to find the right practices to buy, set up systems for a multi-office ownership, developed leadership skills and implemented suitable business systems.
• A dentist with financial problems had a goal to become debt free. We taught him financial systems and best practices to eliminate the debt and gain financial freedom.
• A dentist wanted to sell her practice on her own. We mentored her on the protocols maximize the sale of her practice.

Contact us for more information about our dental mentorship program and learn how to create a customized business plan to achieve success!