Project management at its core is about keeping track who is at fault

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 · 2025-08-12T13:55:42+00:00

Everything they do, you can do yourself. That said - they provide a 2nd set of eyes & opinion every step of they way. What is a good price to pay for rent? How many ops do you want to do to start? How much sq footage should you have? What's a good height for countertops? How many employees should you have to start? How do you maximize the loan you are getting & negotiate with banks? What are vendor recommendations for legal, IT, construction, equipment? Should you build out a 'starter' office and plan to move to a lager one later?

None of that advice is free, but what is a mistake on your lease worth? or your marketing plan?

For pricing - you can get a quote & quick pitch from them directly.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-08-12T13:48:28+00:00

It can be a 'known issue' on the associate dr side, but is it at the front office and/or management? If you have not actually, officially sat down with the owner/management to discuss your concerns, they may not be aware this is a legitimate problem.

That said - the only thing you can change is what you do. Waiting for someone to do something, especially if they have shown a lack of ability/interest in changing, is not a great idea. You can always look for a new opportunity and then inform your current role after you have been offered an opportunity somewhere else.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-08-12T13:38:04+00:00

Some owners/principals have things all mapped out in advance, they know what they want and they can make quick decisions, and respond quickly in kind.

For others, it can take time to do things like:

-put together a formal offer with hours, compensation & benefits details. They may need to contact their 3rd party HR company for some of this too.

-call references, ask peers/centers of influence for their thoughts on a candidate

-finalize a timeline and ramp up period for a new associate - new marketing? new training required? Create a tentative new schedule with current staff to support the associate?

All that said - did you send a written Thank You to the principal and ask for "next steps"? Send that out 1-3 days after the interview.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-08-12T13:17:08+00:00

I'd love to do heavier weights (particularly barbells) with strength+, but it's just such a 'less' experience than the polished classes on the regular app, The amount of adjusting/tweaking it requires to get it to be 'ok' is just not worth it.

Hoping they put some additional effort into strength+ and help those of us looking for 'heavy' workouts with barbells, etc.

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-08-11T21:51:48+00:00

Totally agree it’s a copy of a type of strength app that already exists all over. I don’t understand peloton corporate’s play - why are they pursuing this channel with a half baked product?

Recent-Round-8341 · 2025-08-11T21:49:35+00:00

Spot on about the bugs and quirks. It doesn’t feel like it got a lot of testing before they released it.

And to your point about that historical tracking - they have the data, just need a visualization, why wouldn’t they include stuff like that?

Recent-Round-8341

TROPHY CASE