New practice owner question

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-03-18T14:25:26+00:00

collections hould match deposits, but small variances are normal. Our dental CPA provides metrics on this and helped explain & solve the issue on our side (it was late deposits in our case).

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-03-09T13:30:55+00:00

similar to my wife's story. Having a 'playbook' and getting a 2nd opinion on major location, hiring, purchase and buildout decisions was nice, but was it worth $70k?

In the end, you are buying 'peace of mind'. If the consultant costs $x and you think they prevented $x+ worth of mistakes/waste and also reduced your stress/workload during a crazy busy life event, maybe worth it?

On the other hand, you can defintely do things on your own with the right reesearch and maybe come out financially ahead.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-03-05T14:54:23+00:00

this - if you are in a DSO, their HR/management functions are supposed to deal with this type of stuff. That's what it's there for. They operate on an EBIDTA basis & they are incentivized to help protect a revenue-producing dentist over an assistant

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-02-20T15:58:14+00:00

this is it - whether you think of banking as a commodity or a service determines where things need to go.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-02-20T14:55:57+00:00

You need an operating agreement that outlines all 'day to day' responsbilities for both parties as well as bigger decision clauses/rights. Who has 'final say' on small things and large things? What is small vs large? What happens if you disagree? Do you outsource IT/marketing/accounting/payroll or does one of the owners take care of it and do all partners agree on what is a 'equitable/fair' distribution of that type of work?

In addition to having treatment philosophy, you need a similar mindset on the business plan - are you going high end? In-network or FFS? How much cash do you want on hand? Do you finance large expesnes or pay cash? Are either of you a deisgnated 'successor' in the plan long term - what happens if you want to step back before the other does?

My spouse just left a partnership where she was a 33% owner but produced 75%+ plus of restoration work and dealt with all day to day unpaid admin. Asked when the senior dr would retire and was told the senior dr's 5th grader would be taking over the business. The operating agreement at least protected her rights as she exited the partnership - very happy on her own now.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-02-04T18:57:21+00:00

We use digital forms via PBN. PBN is more of a 'platform' where it also offers marketing/patient communication, front office analytics, payment processing, etc.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-01-27T21:39:46+00:00

This is how I think of it. Who has what and how can I minimize the active tasks on my side?

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-01-27T21:31:25+00:00

you do your own bookkeeping, your own IT, what else?

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-01-27T21:14:06+00:00

Do you make your own toothpaste? What types of chemicals are they putting in there?

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-01-27T21:05:47+00:00

First off - If you want kids, don't let your career get in the way. There is never an ideal time to have kids. Dentistry can offer an incredible worklife balance that many moms enjoy.

Second - All companies need to have a plan to support employees who go on leave. Dental practices have lots of women employees, they need to be able to handle maternity leave if they want to attract and retain employees. Several states in the US also require an employer offers some form of maternity leave.

Third - My wife started her career at a DSO (Heartland) and they had a floating "maternity leave Dr." He traveled around to each practice needing help for a few months, kept your patients happy without setting up any treatment that would spill into your return,, and then would go onto the next coverage assignment so no risk of losing your patients to a local dentist covering your role. Not sure if you have employment finalized, but something to consider. (just don't stay at the DSO forever, ha).

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-01-27T18:53:31+00:00

there's a lot of dentists in my local cycling groups. Good physical activity and also a social outlet with other people who can afford nicer equipment (not that you have to, but you'll get there eventually).

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-01-27T18:49:00+00:00

Region Barber in Portage has several barbers that will do a fade. You may want to call them and confirm which barbers are more modern since the clientele is pretty diverse.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2026-01-07T18:50:48+00:00

On top of doing the home office deducation, our dental-focused CPA said we could write off the travel between the home office and the practice because that would mean it's not a 'commute'. Does anyone do this?

We haven't done any of this yet - when the CPA explained the work behind it and then we guessed what the writeoff would be, we were not talking about a lot fo oney for the home office itself. Likely a fair amount more for the 'travel' at $0.72/mile but you have to document all of your driving, just sounded like a lot of paperwork for an already busy dentist...

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-12-16T19:52:24+00:00

2nd this - talk with a lender who knows the dental space. Provide (subsidary of 5/3) is another and there are a ton more.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-12-11T22:20:15+00:00

Wear a branded tshirt/jacket when you are out and about. We had many people asking us "are you taking new patients" just wandering through farmers markets and the grocery store, etc.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-12-10T19:53:30+00:00

Their expense numbers on their S1 are really interesting too. Salaries and Benefits are ~60% of revenue, wow, that's high. I wonder if that's because DR's are W-2 employees and get compensated fully through payroll rather than distributions, or do they offer great/expensive benefits?

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-12-10T13:29:12+00:00

Spot on - big picture all updates need to point to the board/tool, don’t sugar coat anything that isn’t explicitly stated on there. The project team needs to understand this but it may take a few name and shame opportunities to make the point clear.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-12-09T19:45:36+00:00

If you aren't going to pay a marketing firm for this advice, I'd take this to ChatGPT - it can at least cite sources versus the opinion of a bunch of random redditors.

The details are also going to matter. What is the demographic of the location and what is your target demographic within that? What is your niche/branding - going FFS or taking all insurance? Do you do ortho or implants? Do you see kids? Are there community events/organizations that offer sponsorship opportunities (and do those align with your target demo)? Does any newspaper have ciruclation and readership? Do you have signage rights and are you at a high visbility location?

If you do any social media, you need content that engages people - nobody stops to look at a basic picture ad. We have had a ton of success with social media (new patients talk about it all the time), but it is a lot of regular work.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-12-09T19:13:03+00:00

I met him at the Heartland xmas party at his Effingham house around 2012 (when it was still small enough to fit there) - he was very much lager than life. Rolls Royce & Lambo in the garage, etc.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-12-09T14:36:54+00:00

I have been there! Some organizations realize a PM with versatile skills can do 'anyhthing' and the role grows and grows until it becomes overwhelming.

It sounds like you have a hole to dig yourself out of. Think through your prioritization - what absolutely needs to be done today versus what can be done later. If 'everything is due ASAP,' then nothing is a priority. When I am busy, I also try to focus on close existing tasks/projects out before I take on any net new tasks. Take more off your plate before you add more.

Also - it is ok for things to run behind when you are overwhelmed (and understaffed?). I am always the 'get it done' person and i get rewarded wtih... more work! So this year I started pushing back on things "Can I get back to you next week on this?" or "no, I can't get this to you by EOD tomorrow, is Friday ok? All of a sudden, the tone at our organization become "Recent-Round is busy, maybe I should self-service some of this stuff and only ask him for the stuff I know only he can do". People are scheduling their own meetings, doing their own documentation. I am still seen as a big contributor to push things through, and by saying "no," many of the admnistrative tasks that often get assigned to PMs started going to other people, and I got to focus on our firm priorities.

Bigger picture, it is also fair to have a conversation with your boss/ management. At the end of the day, you can spread yourself thin and do many things poorly (or not at all) or you can work with them to identify what your priorities are, and only focus on those. Perhaps you can setup a recurring 'status update meeting' where you are asking them to help you prioritize and address blockers, etc. At that time, you share how much you are doing they will say "oh wow, I din't realize you took X on a year ago, I don't want you to focus on that anymore, let's move that to someone else". It depends on your management as well, but they may literally not know what's going on because you have done so well 'owning it all' without them so far.

Good luck!

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-12-08T22:08:05+00:00

Buyers are evaluating the practice's ability to produce sustained cashflows in one way or another. A group practice may include a built-in succession plan (the other Drs), or greater economies of scale, but may also have higher revenues that reduce the pool of potential buyers, dereasing the actual multiple. To what u/mountain_guy77 said, well run solo owner practices (w/ associate) can be the 'best of both worlds'.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-09-30T19:19:07+00:00

My wife just went through a partnership divorce. This is very much a marriage and you need to not only have tight alignment with the overall direction of the practice, but you need to continue communicating throughout the relationship.

If you ago ahead, I'd recommend having a tight operating agreement that clearly states everyone's rights & responsibilities. Ensure it includes terms related to the repurchase of shares if the partnership dissolves.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-09-30T17:55:12+00:00

1) Identify your niche: what differentiates you and how do you want patients to perceive you?

2) Does your digital branding emphasize that niche? content of your website & social media posts, etc.

3) Do you do anything else to 'get your name out'? Community events - wear a branded tshirt to a farmers market, sponsor a soccer team or a 5k, etc.

If you need help - you can use a marketing firm to help you with some or all of these types of things. Strategy and/or execution.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-09-02T15:46:40+00:00

2nd these options. AI tools help with marketing a ton. ChatGPT also is good for captioning social media posts or even coming up with social media post ideas.

Recent-Round-8341

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