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Growing Your Dental Business
You are ready to open another dental practice. That’s exciting! But before you sign on the dotted line, here are some of the questions you should ask.
Step 1
Is My Existing Dental Office Successful?
Before thinking about opening another dental practice, it is important to fully understand how successful your existing business is. We often see dentists who feel they are ready to expand only to find out that their existing practice still has major growth potential.
Ask yourself:
- How long has my existing business been profitable? (Must be more than 2 years)
- How much debt do I have? Is it too much?
- Will my existing dental practice remain as successful if I am there less?
If you think your existing business has reached its full potential, and you are ready to expand, let us help you make 100% sure. From financial audits and profit planning to dental practice consulting, we can help you make an informed decision!
Step 2
Should I Open Another Dental Office?
All too often, dentists work years to build a successful practice, assume that the second or third location will also succeed, only to fail. While the failure rate for dental practices might be relatively low, their financial success rates vary widely. Making uninformed decisions can have a major impact on your overall profitability.
Ask Yourself:
- Will the bank give me another loan?
- Do I have the ability to manage more locations?
- Will a new location cannibalize my current patient base?
Banks treat second locations as an expansion, not a start-up, which has implicatins for your ability to qualify for a loan. They will also scrutinize your first location’s cash flow before considering financing for a second. In most cases, the second location is the most difficult to open. We provide Consulting and Financial Planning services to help position you for success.
Step 3
Should I Buy Another Dental Practice or Start a New One?
The first question you should ask yourself is how much financial risk you’re willing to bear. If you are looking to build your own empire and find the right location, at the right time, for the right price, then starting your own from scratch certainly has its benefits. This is especially the case if you want to avoid buying a practice build on the bad habits of the current owner.
There is, however, less risk in buying an existing practice. While the debt load is similar to opening a brand new location, a major advantage is existing cash flow. The key factor is whether you can find a good practice in the right location to buy, the most important consideration for a dental office.
To learn more about considerations before buying a dental practice or starting your own, we provide an in-depth discussion on our podcast, Beyond Bitewings. We also offer transition services to make sure you make the best decisions for your personal needs.
Step 4
Questions To Ask When Buying a Dental Office
Gathering accurate information on the practice, understanding whether you are getting a good deal, and negotiating interest rates on a loan are just some of the many decisions you will need to make.
Dental Practice Acquisition Checklist:
- Is it the right time to buy a dental practice?
- How many patients are currently in the practice?
- Where is the practice located?
- Will the location of the practice be beneficial?
- What is the value of the equipment?
- Are the existing staff members adequately trained?
- How was the practice price determined?
These are only some of the many questions you need to answer before thinking of buying a dental practice. We can help you make these decisions with our Consulting and Transitional services for dental practice purchases.
Step 5
Do I Need an Associate?
If you already have all the answers you need, and you are ready to take the next step, you are probably thinking How will I manage my time between the different locations? or Do I need an associate to help me manage the new location? Before you even start to think about moving to a new office, you need to put in a considerable amount of time screening potential candidates or getting to know existing employees if you are acquiring an existing dental practice.
These people will be delivering your services and interacting with your patients. If you do not choose the right people, it can seriously impact the success of your dental practice. In addition to what you will pay your staff, you also need to decide what benefits you can afford to offer. This can be especially tricky if you are purchasing an existing dental office that offers benefits to its staff that you don’t currently offer. We provide transitional services that help our clients through these negotiations.
In most cases, we also recommend you spend the majority of your time at the new location, at least during the initial stages, to ensure operations are running smoothly. Even with the help of an associate, balancing your time between multiple businesses can be exhausting and frustrating at times. This is why coaching programs, team building, team accountability, office management, and more are so important for the long-term success of additional locations. We provide Practice and Staff Management Consulting services to help guide you on your path to success.
Are you ready to meet us?
We Are Your Financial Experts.
Step 1
How Can I Improve My Dental Practice?
Once you have an established dental practice, the next step is to ask yourself how you can continuously improve your business so it can be the best it can be. From profit planning and operational efficiencies to team building and patient communication strategies, it is your responsibility to stay ahead of your competitors.
In addition to the myriad services we provide, we regularly make referrals to other providers who can help you improve your practice. These vetted resources provide consulting services to help established dental practice owners fine-tune their businesses to be the best they can be.
Step 2
How Can I Pay Less In Taxes?
Am I paying too much in taxes? What tax deductions do I qualify for? These are questions we hear all the time. The truth is you probably could be paying less in taxes but knowing how to do so legally gets tricky. From the equipment you bought for your practice, to work functions you attend, to investment gains, there are many reasons you could qualify for tax breaks.
At Edwards & Associates PC, we can potentially help you keep more of what you earn. It’s as simple as that. Our team of tax experts is highly skilled at identifying tax break opportunities while ensuring 100% compliance with IRS tax laws.
Our Monthly Core Services set us apart from other firms. We create a flat-rate plan customized for your specific practice and its needs. You will receive all of the typical tax & accounting services that we offer, along with customizable options specific to your business and personal needs.
Step 3
Where Should I Invest My Money?
As the owner of an established dental practice, you have certainly generated some profits by now. What you do with that money will determine your future financial success and retirement options. How you invest your newly earned profits will have a major impact on your future, so it is important to always keep your long-term goals in mind. Knowing how your money can work for you is critical to sustaining success both professionally and personally.
As a dental-specific CPA firm, we can help with just that! Our personal, comprehensive, one-on-one financial planning sessions are explicitly tailored to each client and aim to set you up to meet your goals.
Step 4
How Can I Expand or Enhance My Dental Practice?
Expanding your dental practice could mean opening a second location, but it doesn’t have to. By adding specialized services or procedures—such as Invisalign, implants, or other advanced treatments—you can attract a broader range of patients and increase revenue without significantly altering your current operations. Another option is to partner with a specialist to handle these services in-house, eliminating the need to refer patients elsewhere. These strategies not only enhance your practice’s offerings but also strengthen patient loyalty and position your office as a one-stop solution for comprehensive dental care.
We provide Consulting around ways you can expand your services to ensure you make the right financial decisions, at the right time.
Step 5
Do I Need a Dental CPA?
If you are a dentist, with taxable income, investments, assets, and plan to eventually retire, then the simple answer is yes. A dental CPA firm not only helps you make the best decisions for your dental practice, but also helps you keep more of what you earn.
We are a CPA firm with more than 30 years of experience, contact us to learn more!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you ready to meet us?
We Are Your Financial Experts.
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Have Questions?
Contact us at info@eandassociates.com or call us at (972) 267 9191 to schedule a consultation!
What Is the Dental Practice Failure Rate?
To become a general dentist or specialist requires many years of education and a significant amount of financial investment. That’s why it’s understandable why the question of failure rate is asked so often. Dentists should feel confident in their future success as they are in a promising profession. The failure rate of dental practices is less than 3%. That being said, the risk of mismanaging funds or not adequately planning for financial success remains. That is why most dentists make use of a dental CPA to ensure the highest probability of success.
Should I Buy or Lease a Vehicle?
If you’re going to use that vehicle for more than 50% for business, then you should buy it. If it’s less than that, then leasing it will probably give you a lower monthly payment, which will benefit cash flow. Keep in mind that the IRS does acknowledge that doctors use their vehicles for business to some degree. However, they’re willing to accept somewhere around 25%, but not 50% or more unless you own multiple practices, which requires you to drive to various locations. If, however, you own one dental practice, we can justify a deduction of about 25% of the vehicle’s operating cost, and leasing it will then provide you a lower monthly payment. If you have multiple practices, you can justify greater than 50% business use, and you would get a bigger deduction than by purchasing the vehicle.
Are Dental Practice Management Consultants Worth It?
If you own a dental practice, you know that it’s a job that requires you to juggle many responsibilities. From maintaining your practice and dealing with human resources, to tax compliance, staying competitive, keeping patients happy, upgrading equipment and so much more. The reality is that not everybody is cut out to juggle all of these things while also being a good dentist. And even if you are one of the few dentists that can “do it all”, how do you give it the time it deserves while also seeing patients and perfecting your craft?
Unless you’re prepared to hire an in-house team to run your business, you’ll have to look elsewhere for guidance and support. A great place to start is with a dental practice management consultant.
A dental consultant helps dentists improve their practice by providing advice, training, and expertise. This includes:
- Coaching Your Team
- Building Patient Relationships
- Identifying Behavioral Styles
- Team Building
- Partnerships that Thrive
- Implementing Incentive Programs
- Case Presentation/Verbal Skills
- Effective Telephone Techniques
- Patient Loyalty
- Team Accountability
- Office management
- Patient interaction
- Staff training
- Equipment purchases
- Finances and billing
- Maintaining an Effective Hygiene Program
- Scheduling to Goal
Dental Practice Consultants are most useful when you are starting up a new practice, looking to expand your dental empire, or going through other transitional periods such as adopting new management software, onboarding new staff members, or selling your dental practice. Dental practice consultants can also be used to help you improve your practice efficiency and evaluate weak points.
At Robert Edwards & Associates PC, we are lucky to have renowned dental practice consultant Dr. Sharon Tiger, who has decades of experience in helping dental practices make the best decisions to ensure success.