Starting a dental practice can be scary and intimidating for most graduates right out of college. Creating your own dental practice can come with costly mistakes if your business plan isn’t in order. To avoid these expensive mistakes, you must first research, plan, and prepare yourself for success.

Prepare yourself

What will it take to run your own business and be your own boss successfully? Meet with as many current practice owners as possible. Try and get both good and bad information. Talk with successful practice owners and those who have failed. Collect as much information as you can to prepare yourself for what lies ahead. Be prepared to meet many people when opening your dental practice. Meeting these people will help you build a network of advisors that can be trusted.

Dental practice financing

Just like purchasing your own home, there will be plenty of banks out there willing to loan you money. Pay attention to interest rates; you want to avoid high-interest rates if at all possible and lock in at a fixed rate. Stick to a 10-15 year loan, and remember you can always pay more towards your loan if your business is doing well.

Create a successful business plan

Familiarize yourself with the dental business. Your network can and will help you save time and money. Get yourself involved in dental seminars and magazines that will have essential information about the dental industry. Always keep up on your research even if you have already created a successful dental practice.

Budget

Managing your budget when first opening your dental practice can be challenging. Apply for a little more on your loan to cover equipment expenses. Once your practice is ready for success, hire someone that can take care of your budget/costs for you. Seeing patients full time and budgeting your expenses is not the right mix.

Set goals for yourself when opening your dental practice, stay focused, and have patience. Don’t expect to be successful overnight, be prepared to spend a lot of time, money, and energy. As long as you have your financing to design a successful business plan and budget, you will succeed in opening your dental practice.

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