By: Keith W. Gruebele
Practice financing can help at any stage of your dental career, whether you are just entering the workforce and thinking about starting your own practice, or you already own a practice and are thinking about expansion or opening a new location.
There are many business opportunities and challenges that dentists may encounter in their careers, but the one thing they have in common is the need for financing. Having the funds you need when you need them can help you take your next steps with confidence. Here are seven ways dentists can make practice financing work for their business.
1. Starting a New Practice
If you’re starting a new practice, some common investments include real estate, construction, equipment, patient acquisition/marketing costs, as well as legal and accounting fees. You should also consider the size and type of staff you will be hiring to help you run your practice, in addition to the benefits you want to offer them, including health insurance and retirement plans.
2. Acquiring an Existing Practice
If you’re thinking about acquiring a practice, you may want to consider having working capital beyond the purchase price to provide you with some additional cash to make necessary adjustments in the early stages of ownership.
3. Expanding a Practice
Expanding your medical practice can be an overwhelming but exciting decision. At this stage, dentists should decide if they want to expand the patient base with targeted marketing, and potentially add new treatments and services to keep up with the competition or get ahead of emerging trends.
4. Market Yourself
Letting the community know about your dental office can help build your reputation and attract new patients. If you don’t have the time, budget or expertise to build and execute a marketing campaign on your own, financing can enable you to hire a consultant and pay for any advertising costs.
5. Modernize Your Practice
It can be difficult to keep up with ever-evolving dental technology—not to mention challenging to budget for, as dental software, hardware and equipment are always improving. Making smart investments can give dentists new options to increase their revenue and bring their practice to the next level (and can even save money in the long run).
6. Find Breathing Room
Managing practice finances can often feel like a juggling act. Any dentist knows things like delayed insurance reimbursements, missed appointments and increased healthcare regulation are just a few factors that can slow down a practice’s revenue cycle. When cash flow is tight, a practice-financing loan can lessen the weight on your shoulders and allow you to focus more on the day-to-day business.
7. Consolidate Debt
You may have various forms of debt resulting from financing your business at different stages—loans, credit cards and lines of credit—and spend too much time tracking and managing numerous balances, interest rates and payment dates. It may be time to consider consolidating your debt into a single monthly payment and at a lower interest rate, which can save you money and potentially improve cash flow issues.
Regardless of what career stage you are in, Bankers Healthcare Group offers a suite of hassle-free financing solutions that can help you take the next step with confidence.
Keith W. Gruebele oversees all loan originations as Senior Vice President at Bankers Healthcare Group, the premier provider of hassle-free financial solutions to healthcare professionals. If you’d like more information about partnering with BHG to finance your practice needs with fixed rates and flexible terms, have one of our experts reach out to you directly. Not ready to take the next step? Visit our cash flow calculator to better understand whether your monthly cash flow is sufficient to meet your expansion and career goals.
