In a previous article, I talked about three important questions you need to answer to reverse engineer your success. Once you answer these, you must focus on the one big thing that is the catalyst to ensuring that you can deliver … your schedule. I call my schedule “the bank account.” This is because you can never out-earn your schedule.
You are what you do
If you’re going to do a good job, you must create a more profitable schedule, understanding that your life is your schedule. Sadly, many people have no control over their schedule. Most of the time, their day is built around accidental success. Whatever is on the schedule when they walk into the practice is what they do. Now, perhaps, you are one of the few astute and ambitious practitioners who create some same-day dentistry, but beyond that, you’re pretty much going through the day according to your patient schedule. If this is the case, you can easily look back every day at what happened and see missed opportunities.
This is why it’s important to focus on your schedule. If you do, it can pay off to a great degree. Since most dentists are analytical, think of your schedule as your daily math problem. You’re never going to make more than your schedule adds up to.
Whether you have a good or bad day, it’s all based around your schedule. This seems simple, but the dynamic of everything you do and achieve in your life parameters all boils down to how you manage the minutes. Because if your minutes are profitably utilized, you can make more money. If they're not, you’ll find that you barely break even, or sometimes even lose money.
Organize and orchestrate
You must organize and orchestrate what’s best for your patients to get the result you want. It’s possible to move to a seven-figure income within 12 months, but you must control your schedule and make it a top priority. The reality of most dental practices is either a) You have a big month followed by a little month and it takes all the profit from the big payout to cover the losses of the small one; or b) You have a nice vacation without any diagnosis or dentistry, and then ramp back up again.
If you really want to be successful, this has to stop.
Of course, we all want to take lots of vacations, just without the dip or the lulls. Instead, it’s important to create a baseline of profitable growth that goes in your schedule. Right now, you may shudder at the word “schedule.” But let’s look at it in a more positive light …
Not busy, productive
You already know this; it's common sense in every dentist's mind. Just because you have a busy practice doesn’t mean you have a better practice. It doesn’t mean that you have healthier patients, a fulfilled, happy staff, or more money. It just means you’re busy, which could be counterproductive to everything you value and want. Do not mistake activity for accomplishment.
If you currently judge your practice in terms of “busy-ness” rather in terms of how productive it is in doing the dentistry you want to deliver, change is necessary.
If you want to be at the top of your game, you need to be challenged and have diversity. But how do you avoid falling into the busy trap?
It doesn’t need to be difficult. To start, know that it doesn’t matter how many patients you see, instead focus on how much dentistry you do.
This is the main point; you do not want to have a day with so many patients crammed in that you can't spend any time with them. The more patients you see, the less money you make. The more stressful the day is, the higher the expenses are. The more this happens, the more the team is bound to increase their tendency to show up late to the office. It’s a recipe for disaster. That’s why we want as few patients as possible doing as much dentistry as they need.
Complete, comprehensive dentistry
This is also where the money is. Every doctor wants to put their skills to use, to do life-changing dentistry. However, this requires time, which means you can't possibly do this if you see too many people. You don’t want a slow and steady pace, just a productively well-managed pace that matches exactly what you want for your life.
To create a schedule that helps you meet and exceed your dreams as a dentist, start by understanding that not all patients are created equal. Engineer your practice for success by determining what you want and then creating a realistic number that matches the value of your clinical day. For example, you may create anchor appointments in the morning to get the good stuff out of the way and stay ahead of the schedule. Once you figure this out, you’ll know what your hourly figures need to be.
Let's say you work eight hours. You need to do $1,250 per hour to get to $10,000 a day. This amount, with or without write-offs, works out to approximately $2 million annually. This is entirely possible with the right schedule. After all, this is the cost of a single crown for heaven's sake—a cheap one at that.
Building a profitable schedule
Instead of seeing as many patients as possible, take control of your schedule. Think about the services you offer and when, offering bundled treatments, and building a profitable day. For instance, you don't need to do one, two, or three teeth next to each other, but you can bundle teeth across the mouth and possibly get some bigger cases going. You basically want patients to move forward with more things at one time.
Start with the anchor appointment and build value there. Then, layer onto your day by writing down what I call the “primary production column,” to organize your dollars. Keep all of the “non-productives” out of this primary column. Once you have this in place, let your team know the specific goals they need to focus on each day.
This way, you have room to work so that you can slow down, enjoy the pace, and make your services more meaningful. You’ll actually accomplish something. With the right schedule, you structure the money in a certain way so that you can achieve your goals as fast as possible with as few patients as possible. Then, you can roll these patients forward, so you get ahead of the schedule.
This is the key to everything. Getting ahead of your schedule means peace of mind, and with this, everything else becomes clearer. Take control of your life and success will follow!
Editor's note: This article appeared in the November/December 2024 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.
