Opening a Dental Practice in 2021: 5 Things You Should Know
Jul 12, 2021
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After long years in school and mastery of your clinical skills, you may be thinking of setting up a dental practice. You’re ready to step out there on your own. But being independent requires plenty of responsibilities, from getting permits to finding customers.
As a CEO of your own company, you will have to make numerous business decisions. You may experience ups and downs in this journey. However, to make things much more manageable for you, you should know below five things before opening your dental practice in 2021.
Understanding your budget is a must!
When starting a dental practice, the biggest concern is always the cost. It requires a considerable sum of money that is around $500,000, to have everything operating. It includes supplies, equipment, software, etc.
Many health professionals who thought of starting their practice underestimated the cost of being independent. In turn, they had no choice but to rely on credit cards to look for the additional capital they didn’t prepare for beforehand.
To stay on top of the costs of opening a practice, estimate the initial cost to get your practice up and running as best as you can. The initial budget should include the operating expenses that your office sustains day-to-day for the first few months. Moreover, keeping money aside for unexpected costs is often overlooked, but it will help you significantly.
Take time researching what equipment to use.
When opening a business from scratch, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the many types of equipment you have to purchase. From supplies, software, furniture, equipment - you have to think of how you’re going to buy all of these and how you’re going to pay for it.
It’s an expensive and lengthy process; that’s why you have to take time to research what products are easy to work with and what supplies are endurable. Try out Weave - software for dentists for more modern and efficient software. Numerous businesses are switching to Weave, and for a good reason. It offers state-of-the-art software for dentists, and it’s a unified platform - making it easier for busy staff to use the software.
Choosing the right location does wonders.
No doubt, a location has the most considerable effect on costs. So before choosing a place to locate your dental practice right away, it’s a must that you research the area of your choice first. When you do this, you get a better understanding of the target market in the area.
You might think that you can just set up in a low-cost area, but that’s not usually the case. Sure, it can save money up to 20% for the total costs. Still, the location may be inconvenient or inaccessible for your target market. Also, it may even limit your growth goals. As a result, it may not be practical to open a business in a low-cost area.
Ideally, the location that you should look for is an area where it’s easily accessible by your target market, cost-effective, and in line with your growth goals. Additionally, avoid areas where it’s already congested with other dental practitioners.
Of course, since location is a significant factor in the cost, so does the size of your clinic—the bigger the size, the bigger the expenses. You will have to set up in your clinic, which depends on how big the place is.
Make staffing plans.
Before opening your practice, make plans about how you’re going to staff your dental practice first. If you’re starting a practice from scratch, it’s budget-wise to hire staff that you need and keep it to a minimum. Make sure that you choose a time in your schedule to screen the candidates properly.
Other than their salary, there are also other considerations that you’ll have to budget for, like time off, health insurance, paid maternity leave, and other benefits.
Get your license as soon as you can.
We get it; opening a dental practice is complicated; you have to juggle many things, which can get chaotic at times. However, avoid procrastinating until the last minute to get your license and all the other legal aspects of opening a dental practice. Earning the credentials needed to open practice can take months.
There are many things that you have to get properly licensed for. Hiring a healthcare attorney to assist you is a good idea to make sure that you don’t miss anything. You have to be sure that you’re fully prepared when opening a practice so that you avoid possible accidents in the future.
Takeaway
Starting a new business is frightening for everyone. You have to think of numerous things, research, and observe many things. Still, no one said opening a dental practice was ever easy.
Be cautious every step of the way with your decisions to avoid making bad decisions. Use the information above to be aware of what a dentist should know about when starting a dental practice - to help you open your business much more manageably.