Education Tips For Dentists Who Want To Start Their Own Practice

If you want to start your own dental practice after you’ve graduated from dental school, you should look into following some courses outside of your regular curriculum that can help you prepare for running your own business. Dental school curricula aren’t usually focussed on the business aspects of running a dental practice, even though these topics are very important if you want to start a successful practice. Many dentists struggle with combining their role as a dentist with that of a business owner because they lack some of the basic business skills that are needed to run a small business. Below we’ve listed some topics that you should start studying, whether on your own or by taking extra courses at your university, that can help you prepare for running your own practice.

Marketing

Getting a steady inflow of clients is crucial for any dental practice. Without clients, your practice will go bankrupt and you may find yourself in a lot of debt with no money coming in. Marketing isn’t rocket science, but it does require some hard and effective work. Study the basics of marketing for small businesses and then try to find any material targeted specifically at dentists. You’ll be able to find a lot of information about dental marketing on the internet. Try to educate yourself on all aspects of internet marketing for dental practices, since more and more potential clients are searching for dental services online these days.

Finance

In order for your dental practice to be successful you at least need to have more money coming in than you are spending. In order to know exactly how much money you are making and spending, you need to keep track of your practice’s finances. Any dentist should study the basics of finance so they can create a financial plan for their practice or at least understand the financial plan that they have a financial expert create for them.

HR Management

If you’re starting your own dental practice you’ll probably have to hire a few employees, if not right away then at least once your practice starts growing. In order to keep your clients happy and your practice growing, you’ll need to hire great employees and keep them happy on the job. You want to hire dentists who are great at what they do but who also have good people skills. Clients don’t just want a dentist who does their job well but also one who is easy to talk to and makes them feel at ease. Good employees will help promote your practice through the great work they deliver and the connections they develop with clients. You also need to learn how you can keep your employees happy with the work they do as well as the paycheck they receive.

If you’re really serious about building a successful dental practice, you may want to consider attending a full business program after your dental studies or while you’re already working as a (part-time) dentist. Some universities even offer full programs that cover all the business aspects of running a dental practice.

Zane Schwarzlose is a writer at The Lakeway Center for Family and Cosmetic Dentistry, an Austin dental office. Zane thinks that accounting is the most helpful course a small business owner could take.