I get asked quite a bit for consulting on how to grow to multiple practices or to scale an existing practice into a much larger practice.
While I don’t currently offer any service for this type of thing I thought I would write a two part series where I go into some of the things that I think have given me the ability to scale.
1. Understand risk and ROI!
I wrote a post about risk that you absolutely must read.
https://www.facebook.com/445548958941873/posts/602945943202173?s=756730706&sfns=mo
To scale to multiple locations you must be willing to take on a reasonable amount of risk. This may not be in everyone’s personality but it must be done. It’s important that the risk is calculated and analysed very well. It took me three years to go from my first practice to my second but then after I had gained experience in business and practice ownership, I started four practices in one year!
Return on investment is another thing that you must be able to calculated quickly and easily. For any major equipment purchases, for expansions of existing sites, even in recruitment of staff members and marketing!
I discuss ROI in lots of detail in this post: https://www.facebook.com/445548958941873/posts/603858103110957?s=756730706&sfns=mo
2. Timing expansion well and being aggressive at existing sites
I firmly believe one of the major reasons for the success I’ve had is that I’ve always approached my existing established sites with a “build it and they will come” mentality. While, I understand the fine balance between putting capital to use and having it wasted unnecessarily, I am extremely confident in my ability to market and bring in patients. Many owners do NOT realise that failure to expand is a major issue and severely limits growth. I always laugh when I hear an owner proudly boasting about the fact they are booked out weeks or months in advance! This is a ridiculous business fail. Our biggest surgery that bills around 3.5million a year is never booked out even one week in advance. This is because as soon as the terminal chair on any practice is 75% full consistently, I’ll add a chair. This ensure we can get most emergencies in on the day or the next day and don’t lose them to newer or quieter surgeries. Owners simply don’t realise that emergencies are a huge source for not only new patients but if your dentists have the communication abilities, they can convert to good long term patients too. Even if they don’t, emergency income is a major source of revenue and profitability for most suburban family practices.
I will continue with more tips in the next part of the series, but if you have enjoyed this post, please like, share or comment below.