Initial Capital Investments, Organized Outsourced Accounting & Every Aspect in Between

As with any small business, building a dental practice from the ground up is no easy task. The entire process can quickly become overwhelming, especially for those with no prior business management experience. Many questions must be answered before embarking on this undertaking. A wide array of areas must be covered to ensure financial longevity and success. Holbrook & Manter specializes in dental practice accounting and we offer our expert advice to those looking to open their own office.

Choosing the Necessary Medical Equipment for Your Practice

Mapping out your capital investments is one of the most crucial steps during business development. What services do you want your practice to provide? How much will all of this cost you? You can hire an accountant to organize capital costs and seek out various medical devices that come with tax incentives and rebates. Not only do you have to determine what capabilities you want your office to have, you should also consider the amount of time you will be in that particular area. We advise a building lease of at least 10 years, giving you enough time to establish yourself in the market without locking you into a lifelong deal.

Choosing the best location is crucial for success. What should you look for?

• Plenty of parking space
• Access to public transit
• A relatively populated area
• A non-saturated local industry market
• A location with consistent foot traffic, if you look to offer walk-in appointments
• An area with a rising economy & expanding business landscape

Expanding Your Initial Marketing Efforts

In regard to your new business, the best way to get the word out is to start talking. If you build a sound marketing plan and partner in the right way with the right people, your practice’s scope of market exposure will increase significantly before your doors even open. Getting involved and building a strong association with some of these networks, including the Dental Health Alliance, can help get your practice placed into the pool of dentistry professionals and garner more clients.

In addition to aligning yourself with the correct industry professionals, take a look at local advertising options. Do you find that the print publication’s target audience is your clientele? Contacting the publisher for advertising or getting a new business feature could grant you substantial exposure to the audience you want to reach. Establish your brand on social media. While the dental industry isn’t infiltrated with too many online players, more and more potential clients are turning to various social platforms to answer dental questions. Here is where you can flex your muscle, provide tips, become the expert and, if all goes correctly, win over new clients – for free.

Controlling Your Dental Practice Accounting

As all the parts and pieces of your practice start moving, keeping all of your financial figures in order can prove to be quite the cumbersome task. By hiring an outsourced accountant, you can alleviate the accounting burden from your shoulders. Instead of having bookkeeping become just another thing you do yourself, the task becomes the single most important mission for a dedicated dental practice accountant. These professionals stay up to date on all new tax laws, regulations and rebates. With their organizational skills and expertise working for you, your team can focus on providing an all-around outstanding customer experience.

The Importance of the First Year

Your first fiscal year can tell you a lot about the future of your company. You get to know your client base, explore the local economic landscape and adjust your business goals according to the successes and (hopefully minimal) failures of that first year. Whether you were able to do it yourself or you hired a dental practice accountant, you should have all of your financial information in front of you, ready to be examined. Time to answer some questions. Did you meet your annual goals? What were some of the unforeseen costs? Where do we go from here?

As you and your practice move forward, you can solidify your brand through more advanced marketing measures, expand your in-house team and add to your inventory of medical devices and catalog of dental services. The hard part is over once the first year is under your belt. From here on out, you can look to thrive, not just survive.

For more information on dental practice accounting, start-ups and medical device tax details, contact Holbrook & Manter’s Business Services & Solutions Team today.