How to Start a Business
Opening a Dental Practice
Find out what successful entrepreneurs have to say about starting and operating a business. This guide to starting a dental practice provides a wealth of information about how to do it right.
Wondering how to start a dental practice? We take you step-by-step from start to success.
Best Practices: Business Plans for Dental Practices
Struggling to get the attention of lenders and investors? Maybe it's because you're lacking a high quality business plan.
The financial section of your business plan is especially relevant to funding concerns. The financial chapter of your business plan is one of the first places investors and lenders look, so it needs to contain forecasts and budgets that are rooted in business realities rather than your personal best case scenario.
Subsequently, a thorough understanding of business plan financial basics is a prerequisite to effective business plan writing for dental practices.
Don't Ignore Competitors
Before you open a dental practice in your town, it's a smart move to see what the competition looks like. Use the link below to generate a list of competitors in your city. After following the link, enter your city, state and zip code to get a list of dental practices in your area.
It's important to be aware of what the competition is doing. Take the time to visit the competition to properly assess their strengths and weaknesses.
A Good Source of Advice
As part of your due diligence on opening a dental practice, the next step is to learn as much as you can from somebody who is already in the business. Local competitors are not going to give you the time of day, mind you. What's in it for them?
On the other hand, an individual who has a dental practice in a different city may be willing to share their entrepreneurial wisdom with you, once they realize that you are not going to directly compete with them in their community. Indeed, many experienced entrepreneurs enjoy offering advice to startup entrepreneurs. Our estimate is that you may have to contact many business owners to find one who is willing to share his wisdom with you.
How do you locate somebody who runs a dental practice who is willing to talk to you but doesn't live nearby?
It's easy. Here's a link you can use to find a mentor outside of your area.
Dental Practice Acquisitions: Financial Considerations
Startup dental practices carry a host of financial risks and concerns. Without an operational history, it's hard to predict how your startup will actually perform in the marketplace.
One of the ways to mitigate the financial risk of a startup is to modify your approach to tap into the financial benefits of buying an existing dental practice. Many entrepreneurs buy an existing business for the sole purpose of tapping into the financial benefits of an established customer base.
An acquired business also has documented assets and earnings - a big advantage with lenders and investors.
Consider Franchising
Recognize that your chances of becoming a successful entrepreneur are substantially improved if you opt for franchising in lieu of doing everything yourself.
As part of your process in starting a dental practice, you ought to investigate whether there are good franchise opportunities available that might make sense for you.
The link below gives you access to our franchise directory so you can see if there's a franchise opportunity for you. You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.
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