Profit First for Dentists

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...

This is my new series about the business side of owning a dental practice. Each week I will be posting a new video on specific topics of business and how It relates to dentistry. I will also be sharing the challenges that I see dentists facing. After reading this week's blog, don't forget to check out my video on this topic as well.

Now, if you are like many of the dentists that I speak with, things are a bit hectic and you are never able to get everything done. There is always a lot going on in a practice. I always say that dentistry has a lot of moving parts. It makes the day fly by and at times it seems to just slip away. It may seem that you never have that extra time to manage all the administrative tasks of your practice.

My goal is to simplify the money management process in a dental practice. I do this by using the Profit First system. I help dentists to fully know where they stand in regards to their finances. I teach them how to pay themselves first, how to pay their...