Most large scale venues have them. I’m talking about those handy location maps.
Three words reveal the most important element. “You are here…”
Point of reference matters. If you’re planning to navigate from point A to point B you need to know where you are in comparison to your chosen destination.
Being a dentrepreneur® requires navigational support. But first it’s vital to understand where you are in reference to where you want to be…and what to include as you move in that direction.
Thinking like an owner
As a solo-practitioner you understand ownership. And like many dental professionals it’s perhaps not uncommon to feel “owned.”
Daily operations, staffing, payroll, technology systems, etc. are necessary “evils.” Oh, and then there’s the dentistry.
Depending on how long you’ve been practicing those realities leave you looking for a leg-up or a way-out. Consider that thought the “You are here…” on the map of your dental journey.
“Own” without being “owned”
The proverbial fork-in-the-road separates the dental professionals who casually and strategically plan their exit strategy from the dentrepreneurial types who feel the frustration and believe there must be a better (and potentially rewarding) way to do dentistry.
Is that you? Actually, there’s a benefit if you’re either one but I’m primarily invested in the latter.
What a Dentrepreneur® Knows and Understands About Ownership That Opens Up New Venues of Productivity and Profit
People are your most valuable asset
This case in point has a ring of triteness to it. Of course, your team (regardless of how many chairs your practice has) is invaluable.
I won’t ask if they feel that vibe from you. In fact, if you’re a dentrepreneur® that answer will be obvious long before you expand your team.
How you lead your tribe and manage your related processes (notice I didn’t attach management to people). Remember, you manage processes (more on that in a moment) and you lead people.
The ownership factor you must acquaint yourself with as a dentrepreneur® is trust. TWEET THIS
The extent to which you will instill trust in your team and relinquish “ownership” of processes is the extent to which your dentrepreneurial trajectory will rise.
Here’s an example…
Stephen M.R. Covey (son of the late Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), shares the following in his book, The Speed of Trust:
“’Jim,” a vendor in New York City, set up shop and sold donuts and coffee to passersby as they went in and out of their office buildings. During the breakfast and lunch hours, Jim always had long lines of customers waiting. He noticed that the wait time discouraged many customers who left and went elsewhere. He also noticed that, as he was a one-man show, the biggest bottleneck preventing him from selling more donuts and coffee was the disproportionate amount of time it took to make change for his customers.
Finally, Jim simply put a small basket on the side of his stand filled with dollar bills and coins, trusting his customer to make their own change. Now you might think that customers would accidentally count wrong or intentionally take extra quarters from the basket, but what Jim found was the opposite: Most customers responded by being completely honest, often leaving him larger-than-normal tips. Also, he was able to move customers through at twice the pace because he didn’t have to make change. In addition, he found that his customers liked being trusted and kept coming back. By extending trust in this way, Jim was able to double his revenues without adding any new cost.” (p16.)
Trust increases productivity and profit. It’s what gives your “people” the confidence that they are valuable to your organization.
Keep in mind that there are solutions for the challenges associated with human resources. The larger your team (a dentrepreneurial norm) the more leadership capacity you will require.
Processes provide lift to daily operations
We’ve talked about “lift” here before. Dentrepreneurship relies on it.
The processes that provide lift to your solo practice will - directly and in principle - do the same as your dental enterprise expands. That said, you must recognize when the capacity of your current processes has been exceeded or stall will occur.
As a dentrepreneur® you will risk and lead at a higher altitude. This requires greater lift. TWEET THIS
Evaluate your daily operational processes by their effectiveness to help you achieve designated measurables.
Those measurables will emerge from your specific expansion goals and the pace related. They will also gain traction from your responsiveness to coaching.
Again, you’re not alone as a dentrepreneur® (unless you choose to be). Coaching is available to establish and evaluate your processes to assure that the most productive ones are hitting on all cylinders.
There are four fundamentals that never change in business: Clear Vision, Practical Systems, Strategic Solutions, and Consistent Execution. TWEET THIS
Focus and fully engage consistently in these fundamentals and you will be qualified at every level for success and significance as a dentrepreneur®.
Give, grow, and scale. This keeps your momentum going!