We are constantly inundated with questions from our colleagues about how it is to start and run a dental practice. We know we are not experts but we are learning. We are definitely better than we were a year ago when we were just making notes and planning our dental clinic and we will learn and grow even more next year this time. Dr. Shivani and Dr. Vishwas thought it would make a good blogpost to give a glimpse into what they have learnt about the dental business the past couple of months.

The most important takeaway from starting your own business is that no one and we repeat no one will care about your business the way you do! This may be a bone of contention with your employees- i.e- you want them to go above and beyond their duties like you do but at the end of the day- this is just a 9-10 hour job for them which stops once they leave. But for you- you are constantly thinking about your work and how you need to be changing, adding and modifying certain things to your business. This clinic is our baby and we wake up thinking about it and sleep worrying about it. We learnt that no one can match the passion you have for your practice and you shouldn’t expect them to- it is a lesson that we learnt early on and honestly is one of the most important.

Employees come and go. The attrition rate is very high and unless you are blessed with that one extremely loyal and trustworthy employee- learn to deal if someone unexpectedly decides not to show up to work one day. We have dealt with this especially when it comes to dental assistants. As a clinic owner it is never not your job - no matter what it is. Your assistant is not coming to work?- you need to know how to sterilise instruments and arrange them for procedures. Your receptionist decides to take a long break- you need to answer calls and deal with labs, suppliers etc. Your housekeeping staff is missing?- you need to know what to do! As a business owner no job is beneath you and honestly you need to know how to do everyones job so that you can train them in the first place.

This is the first part of a topic we are dealing with everyday- stay tuned for Part 2!