Starting a new business is always a scary venture, even more so when you’re looking to set up in a super specific niche. A new dental practice, for example, takes a lot more expertise to establish properly than just your standard startup. Having a good plan and knowledge in place, then, can be important to at least attempt success from day one.
So, here is what you will need to know about setting up a business as a dentist next year. 2020 may be the year for you.
Create a Plan
A business plan is necessary for almost any type of company that you want to establish, but almost more important for medically-oriented organisations. A business plan needs to include your finances, market research, plans for marketing and sales (patient retention, etc.), and even who will be involved or running the practice.
Once you have an effective business plan in place, you can work to actually establish the business further. And a good plan can help to actively entice investors to take an interest in your new practice. The more planned/secure your business seems, the better an investment you will become. Not only that but it gives you a framework from which to actually grow your business into something which you can take on both a short and long-term growth plan.
Know Your Finances
Money-wise, setting up a dental practice is quite a costly endeavour. It’s not a simple cost of having a laptop and internet connection on hand like with any number of other startups. For that reason, knowing your finances and where these start-up costs are coming from is vital. Otherwise you may find yourself running out of money before your new practice has a chance to truly flourish.
Realistically, your own funds may not be enough to cover setting up a new practice. So consider taking up with a partner, a business loan, some sort of angel investor and maybe even try to secure funds from friends or family. Whatever your finance route, you may need to take several, you need to ensure there is enough in the pipeline to secure the immediate future of your practice. As only when it starts generating money can you be financially secure to grow further.
Location, Location, Location
The location of your new practice can make or break the success of it. The fact is that somewhere easy to get to, in a central location, will make it more appealing for people. Especially if it is located somewhere close to transport links or likewise. If you choose somewhere more out of the way, then be prepared to only attract people who are willing to travel (a small potential patient base).
Parking, disabled access and building appeal are three areas that you can’t compromise on, no matter your final location choice. You can be a dentist in Warrington and specialise in all on four dental implants, for example, so long as you don’t compromise.A well lit area can also be important as more natural light can help potential patients feel much more comfortable.
Fitting Out a Practice
Starting a dental practice isn’t quite like starting a normal business. You can’t just buy a few desks and rent a small space in the cheapest part of the city, instead you need professional equipment. You need to operate to a certain standard. So, how do you go about doing so?
First things first, you should consider something simple to keep track of everything. A paper list might seem old school, but it might help make sure that you don’t miss whatever it is you will need to actually get your new dental practice running off the ground. Simple things to add to this include:
- Reception Furniture
- Dental Chair
- Hygiene Chair
- X-Ray Machine
- Suction Pumps
- Decontamination
- Storage Cabinets
These are the very basic items which you will need in order to fit out a practice, all of which are fairly costly. So, as with the point above, make sure your finances are in order before doing anything.
Consider Marketing
Once your business is set up for the most part, you will need to consider seriously marketing it. Without marketing, even basic word of mouth methods, there’s a good chance that no patient will even know your new practice exists (unless they see it in passing).
Marketing can take many different forms and the fact is that there is almost too much to choose from in 2020 and beyond. Choosing the best methods for your business, personally, then, can be a case of market research. Some dental practices have awful websites, for example, so establishing a good website already helps to place you above the competition. You may also want to explore social media, traditional marketing (banners), advertorials in the local newspaper, etc.
Conclusion
And there you have it, the first steps you need to take in order to establish your very own practice.
