How to Successfully Set Up Your Own Dental Practice

Setting up your own dental practice in the UK is one of the most exciting prospects for young dentists, but it can also be a thoroughly daunting task too, with many things to consider and a lot on the line. Much the same as any new business start-ups, a dental practice will challenge you to the limit in many different aspects, from your business acumen to your financial knowledge to your people skills, not to mention maintaining outstanding clinical standards.

If you’re struggling to take the first steps to opening your dental practice and want to get on the road to success, we’ve got some tips and tricks which might just lend a helping hand.

·         Make a business plan

When you have trained in dentistry and are raring to go after gaining the qualifications you need, it can be easy to forget that a dentist practice is a business like any other, and for this reason, you will need a business plan. Ensure that you take your time to cover everything you need for your business to look viable, including figures, numbers and marketing strategies.

A good business plan will help you to gain dental practice funding and support from others. Not only that, but you will be able to plan your resources and strategies, and you will have more confidence and faith in yourself when you are sure that the business plan will work.

·         Premise

Your premise should be your primary consideration when you are first planning your business. You will need to consider the market for what you have to offer, the location you are looking to target, as well as your catchment area.

When looking for your premise you will also need to consider your budget. This means looking for somewhere which is suitable for your requirements whilst also taking into consideration that you may have to compromise on some desirable elements.

It is worth noting that in terms of a dental practice, it is generally simply not financially feasible to open a small business when all costs are considered. This means that you will realistically need to consider opening a larger practice with three or four chairs along with a sizeable waiting area, reception, decontamination room, staff room and toilets etc.

·         Facilities

The facilities for your new dental practice are another considerable factor to think about when planning for your business, and by thinking of all these facilities you will be able to see the daily demands that you will face in your business.

Make a list of all the equipment you will need to be able to run the practice effectively. This includes all of your dentistry fixtures and fittings and the appliances you will need. You will also need to consider quantities, how long all your materials will last for, how regularly they will need to be replaced and how many patients you will need to be able to treat at any one time in your premise.

·         Patients

Your patients are the people who keep the business running; you need them to be successful. From the outset, you need to establish who your target audience are in terms of the catchment area, and demographics such as age and income.

If there is a lot of competition in your catchment area, it is also important to make sure that you offer something different to other dental practices in the area, and use it to your advantage when marketing your business. Some original ideas which will set you apart from your competitors include family dentistry, longer opening hours or offering support to those who suffer from dentist anxiety.

If you are opening your own dental practice in an area you have been practising, use your knowledge of the area, what patients want and what might be missing to your advantage and decipher your target audience from this.

·         Financing

In terms of financing your company, there are several options for you to consider, including acquiring a bank loan or gaining investments from various other contributors. You will need to consider the least risky, most profitable option for your business. It is important to be realistic when it comes to working out your funding. For the first short while you are likely to have to make large expenditures without much profit whilst you are getting to your feet.

When you plan your financing strategy, try to think of all your expenditures, from paying wages to restocking printer paper. Make sure you make proper calculations and if anything, overbudgeting will ensure that you do not run out of money before you know it and will account for any issues which occur that you may not have thought of, for example, plumbing problems.

·         Hiring staff

When planning for your dental practice, you will need to take staff into consideration. This includes everything from the hiring process you will use, to the methods you will employ to keep them within the company. You will also need to consider their wages, and how each member of staff you plan to employ will fit into the overall management of the dental practice.

The consideration of how each employee will fit into the running of the business is also worth considering in terms of the long-term prospects of your company. It is likely that you will need a lot of people to get the company up and running, but you will need to consider where your company will be in one year to three years, and where that will leave your staff.