6 Questions to Let You Know If You Are You Ready to Grow Your Dental Practice

Every small business eventually hits a plateau.

When you reach this stage, start looking to grow some aspect of your practice. Whether you choose to automate certain processes to free up some time for yourself or hire new employees in order to grow the practice substantially, you need to reconsider your current position.

This is also relevant if you’re looking to sell in the near future, as growing your practice before you do so could add significant value to the sale.

Here are 6 questions to ask yourself to help you decide if it’s time to expand your dental practice.

1. Am I willing to train new people?

Growing your business and hiring new staff takes both time and money. You’ve got to be realistic about the investment you’ll have to put into training these new staff members.

Before expanding, ask yourself honestly; am I willing to spend the time training new people?

2. Do I have enough consistent revenue to hire new employees?

If you are going to take the risk that comes along with growing your practice, it’s vital that you make sure that you have enough revenue coming in. You need to schedule at least 4 to 6 weeks out if you are considering hiring new staff.

3. What new roles will be important to my practice?

Knowing the direction that you want to take your practice is important, and one of the things you need to ask yourself is: what roles will best compliment my business going forward?

Maybe you need to hire another dental assistant, or you need someone for scheduling or treatment coordination. Whatever the case, knowing this is essential, so make sure you’re crystal clear on which roles can best improve your operation.

4. Do I have an untapped market available?

If you’re doing well and there is still an untapped market within your reach, this is a good sign that it’s time to grow.

5. Have I established enough rapport with my current community?

Don’t look to grow unless you are sure that you have stability with your current market. Until you have established real relationships with your new patients, you can’t be sure that you’ll have a full schedule.

6. What can I outsource or automate?

Outsourcing and automation can work wonders for your business growth. However, you want to understand what you can and are willing to outsource. For example, hiring a virtual assistant is a cheap and attractive idea, but it can come across as impersonal to your client base and damage your image in the long run.

Adding value to your dental practice through expansion is always something that should be in the back of your mind, however, deciding the best time to do so is important.