Profit First for Dentists

Hello, everyone!

When you want to tell a patient about the state of their oral health, what do you do? Most dentists use a disclosing tool to tell patients the truth about their oral health because these disclosing tools are designed to help the patient understand what exactly is going on and then take control of their dental health.

It’s pretty common sense to most of us that patients really do want to know how their oral health is–even if it is poor–because they want to be able to find solutions and get healthy again. However, many dentists are afraid to go through the work of assessing their practice’s financial health, because they don’t really want to see the truth. They would prefer to keep their heads in the sand, even though they long for more profitable outcomes. This is where the profit first for dentists model comes into play. 

I know that it can be nerve-wracking to turn on the lightbulb and see what’s really going on financially...

How would you answer the question, “Why isn’t my dental practice profitable enough?”

Many people would say the reason they aren’t profitable enough is that they aren’t growing enough. This is a natural assumption, but I would argue that equating profits with growth is an old formula. To truly grow your profits you have to know your profitability. When you have no idea what your profitability is, however, or what services or benefit plans you provide that are profitable–that’s a problem.

The solution? Take your profit first.

You need to operate under a new formula of Sales - Profits = Expenses, instead of Sales - Expenses = Profits. This new way of doing business will challenge you because you have to totally rethink how you’re doing business, but the challenge will be worth it in the end. You’ll need to be resourceful, honest with yourself, and ready to stop doing things that aren’t helping your profitability. But when you...

Hey everyone! Thank you for sticking around with me for the last video of this series!

Are you a small business and/or a dentist that is in need of keeping your profit? Are you struggling a bit financially? It can be hard to navigate finances as a dentist with the way taxes are. Well, today’s topic is to help you find the resources you need to profit first.

Today we are going to be talking all about GAAP: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. GAAP was created for accountants to follow when reporting their business client’s income to the government. An equation that accountants still use today is: sales - expenses = profits. Therefore, the business has sales that collect the money that is needed to pay all of the bills. Afterward, the business owners get to keep what is left. Unfortunately, small business owners and dentists do not always get to keep the profit that they wish to have or deserve. This is where Profit First for Dentists is available to help you and your...

So many dentists that I talk with seem to be asking the same question: where is all the money going?

They’re working hard, getting new clients, and feel like things are going well, and yet, at the end of each month, their profits are not increasing. To make things more difficult, many dentists can feel overwhelmed or confused by their Chart of Accounts. If that sounds like you, don’t worry–you are not alone! I’d encourage you to take a step back, breathe, and work on organizing just one part of your Chart of Accounts. Today, I want to help you organize your expenses, which really fall under 2 major categories and a few subcategories.

The two types of expenses that your dental practice has are: Fixed Expenses and Variable Expenses.

A Fixed Expense is an expense where the dollar amount you’re spending each month does not change, but the percentage of the expense in collections will vary. Fixed Expenses include:

1. Team Compensation
2. Occupancy...

This week we are talking all about dealing with benefit plans in your dental practice. You can watch the video here!

There are many coaches and consultants out there who specifically work with dentists to figure out how to deal with benefit plans. I believe that no matter what approach they’re coming from, they are all doing good, valuable work that can work for different practices. However, my approach comes from a profitability stance because the Profit First system is what I am trained and certified in.

I believe that any good business decision can be made only by looking at the data. It does take work to determine what data is really true data, but once you are able to determine what your cash flow is, you can begin to make decisions that will increase your profitability. To begin making good analysis of benefit plans and making educated decisions about how to deal with them, you need to determine if your cash flow is sufficient, and if not, how to increase it by...

What if I told you that focusing on profit would actually allow you to provide a better patient experience? While some people may fear that prioritizing profit is a selfish act that creates distance between you and your patients, it is actually a key component to creating a healthy, positive patient relationship. You are taking wonderful care of your patients when you put profit first!

While this may feel unintuitive, the reason for this is quite simple: stress is challenging to manage and can negatively impact relationship dynamics (which can not only affect your work, but also your life outside of the workplace). Relationships with patients are no exception to this! When you are feeling comfortable and confident in your cash flow and profit margins, you will be able to fully focus on providing the best care that you can for your patients. 

On the flip side, when things are tight and you are feeling financially squeezed, it is inevitable for some of these feelings to shine...