by Karah Karah | Nov 15, 2017 | Wealth Wisdom
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Most people have inspirations and wise leadership in their life that helped point them in the right direction with their career. Dr. Craig Smith credits his parents with instilling wisdom of finances and business from an early age. He joins us on the show to share his journey to finding his passion for dentistry all the way until now where he is the owner of his own general practice and the developer of Dental CE Network.
Craig shares what initially drew him into the dental industry and what priorities in his life helped him to decide his path and where to put his focus. He also shares the steps he took to get to ownership and discusses some issues and roadblocks he had along the way. He talks about his hesitance to buy a practice and weighs the positives and negatives of partnerships.
Finally, Craig talks about how he started the Dental CE Network and why he decided to get involved in that area. He casts a great vision for revolutionizing how, where and why dentists can get the continuing education that they want and need.
Key Quotes:
- “We don’t look backward for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney
- “You put yourself on an island and begin to measure yourself by a standard that’s impossible to achieve.” – Dr. Dave
- “Effort and intentions sometimes don’t always go how we wished but as long as we’re not intentionally cutting corners and trying to maintain high value for our patients, then we can all sleep well at night.” – Craig
- “You remember more of where you’ve been and what you’ve seen than what stuff you’ve had.” – Craig
- “Wouldn’t this be great if there was one site where you can just type in the address and see if there’s any CE courses?” – Craig
- “If I would’ve believed in myself, I would’ve gone and purchased a practice earlier.” – Craig
- “If we pull away and do something different, it allows us to enjoy dentistry when we have a little time away from it.” – Craig
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by Karah Karah | Nov 8, 2017 | Bold Biographies
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Tiger Safarov is a firm believer in the American Dream. After coming to the United States when he was twenty years old—with the plan to earn enough money to buy a BMW and move back to his home country of Russia—Tiger was thrilled to learn that starting his own business in the U.S. was as easy as filing the paperwork and opening a bank account. Knowing firsthand how difficult it was to start a business in Russia, he jumped at the chance to start a company here.
Now the founder of Zen Supplies, an inventory management platform for dental supplies, Tiger has realized his own American Dream. In this episode, he shares his entrepreneurial journey, as well as why he sees being an immigrant as a huge advantage.
Key Quotes:
- “People talk about the American Dream—it’s truly alive because you can still start a business with a bank account … you can start a business without having a business.”
- “I said, ‘What if I start my own company?’ and the professor said, ‘Don’t even think about it, it’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.’ In two days, I had my own company.”
- “School was not easy for me, and I wanted to prove that I’m good at something.”
- “A key take-home for listeners is that sometimes things won’t be as opportunistic—the economy, local markets, staffing issues, patient issues—and being a little scrappy, being willing to do what other people aren’t willing to do is the upper hand.”
- “There are two types of entrepreneurs: there are ones that are trying to pull out of their rear end an idea and do something about it, and there are other entrepreneurs that are trying to scratch their own itch—and I believe in the second one.”
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by Karah Karah | Nov 1, 2017 | Hints for Happiness
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The pressure on dentists to be able to do all types of procedures and do them excellently could be hurting the profession and your practice. Dr. Mike Grossman joins us on the show to share his wisdom and insight about how he found his own niche that has allowed him to focus his efforts and be more effective.
Mike also talks about the way he leads his businesses by using delegation and helpful guidance as a way to make things run smoothly for everyone. He also shares his experiences starting out in the career, who guided him along the way and how he ended up as an owner. We also discuss time management and the importance of pursuing progress rather than perfection.
Key Quotes:
- “Find the one thing, even if it’s fillings, that you’re excited about and run with that.”
- “If you’re creating value and you’re enjoying it, then the financial rewards will follow.”
- “Delegating is trusting people to do the right thing and having them understand that you’re there as a support not as a boss.”
- “There is that surprise no matter what, whatever discipline, whatever niche procedure you dive into when you first start.”
- “There’s a huge push for dentists in general that they feel like if they’re not doing implants especially, but implants and every aspect of dentistry, and doing every aspect of dentistry well, then they’re not doing it right.”
- “I like to really focus in on what excites and motivates me professionally.”
- “The trap is definitely getting into the habit of always comparing yourself to other dentists who are doing XYZ.”
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by Karah Karah | Oct 25, 2017 | Prescriptions for your Practice
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When new generations come to work, it can be hard to adjust the way things are done in order to retain them. Gary Kadi is on the show and has some great insight on how to work well with millennials and build a practice that is engaged and effective. He also discusses why he stands against corporate dentistry and how he communicates more effectively with patients.
Gary really has found an interesting system to work with millennials that could benefit all practices. From a regular feedback and reward system, he has figured out how to speak the language of millennials that retains them and keeps them motivated. He also touches on why it’s so important to focus on preventative care rather than just reactionary care in order to truly protect the oral health of your patients.
Another big mission for Gary is his fight against corporate dentistry. He explains why this business model can become harmful to the dentistry industry as well as to the patients. He discusses what he is doing to save private practices and encourage the type of care that is patient-centered rather than board member-centric.
Key Quotes:
- “Millenials only want to work in a purpose-driven business, they don’t want to be working in a transactional business.”
- “They have a purpose, they have a bonus structure, they have a dream program and those layers are game-changers.”
- “People do business with people who have the same beliefs.”
- “The way to make money in dentistry is S – Salary, P – profit and F is freakin’ equity.”
- “Retaining the private practitioner retains the care, the quality care for patients.”
- “Our job is not just, you know, putting crowns on, but we’re here to create longevity and saving peoples’ lives and making a difference on the overall health of the patient.”
- “The minute you believe that you should find the chief complaint, the game is over from the start.”
- “We have to serve the patient from a preventative position not a reactive position.”
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by Karah Karah | Oct 18, 2017 | Legendary Leadership
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Insurance complications with patients and the lack of consistent reoccurring revenue are problems that most professionals in the dental industry face. Jordon Comstock, a natural problem solver, has found some simple ways to get rid of these common issues. His passion for leadership and a self-sufficient style of doing business is what got him to where he is today with many happy and successful clients in the dental industry.
Jordon shares his story and how he ended up working in the dental industry and found his passion for improving systems and processes. He also talks about key areas that are critical to building a more self-reliant and consistently profitable practice. Jordon sheds light on a few areas where dentists tend to miss opportunities for increased functionality, customer loyalty and profits.
The business that Jordon built, Boom Cloud, addresses many of the organizational issues that come with having a subscription-style practice. He talks about what services they provide to increase scalability and cut out the headaches that come with insurance billing and expired credit card payments. Overall he really plants a great idea that practices can easily avoid much of the hassle they currently deal with and gain more loyal and consistent clients.
Key Quotes:
- “I look for employees that are leaders, I don’t look for employees that look at me to be a leader”
- “Despite going through that year of hardship and challenge, I believed in my product, I believed in the concept and I just stayed persistent and I found ways to make money on the side and then all of a sudden we launched Boom Cloud a year later.”
- “You reap what you sow and sure enough that’s what happened.”
- “A critical component of self-reliance is getting other leaders involved and people that can lead different aspects of a practice.”
- “I do believe in the concept of reoccurring revenue, that that helps a lot.”
- “Dentists should be reliant on their own system, their own team, to grow and flourish.”
- “We’ve got the insurance companies that are policing the dentists but who’s policing the insurance companies?”
- “I believe in systems and processes. If we don’t have those, it’s very hard to manage things in any type of business.”
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by Karah Karah | Oct 11, 2017 | Maverick Mind Shifts
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Envisioning where you want to end up in life is the first step towards making it happen. Andrew Turchin did just that and built his business patiently and wisely so that he could end up exactly where he wanted to be. On this episode, he shares the hurdles and fascinating details that are a part of his story. They all helped him end up with a successful and fulfilling life in an unlikely place.
Andrew’s specialty and passion in dentistry is with reconstructive and cosmetic dentistry. He grew and sold a successful practice in NYC and is now growing a successful practice in the small tourist town of Aspen, Colorado. Training and retaining staff, as well as customers, is a common issue with local businesses, but he was prepared for the challenge – thinking out of the box to make it work.
You will gain some great insight from Andrew regarding the importance of beginning with the end in mind as well as “dreamscaping.” He emphasized the unconventional method he developed his skills, as well as the important process of gaining confidence. He later shares how you should not be afraid to ‘toot your own horn’ along with great tips on how he gets his team motivated and involved.
Key Quotes:
- “We try to report leading indicators and get people excited – Take good opportunities to say, “You did a great job!” and “Awesome!” and people just do it more. It’s just positive reinforcement.”
- “Life does guide people where they should be if you’re listening close enough.”
- “I’ve taken plenty of courses, don’t get me wrong, but my best knowledge has been practicing in the practices of those people that people end up taking a continuum with.”
- “I truly believe in somebody being right there either chair-side or a phone call away to help people through the process and to learn that way, versus sitting in a lecture and thinking you’re going to go back and reconstruct someone’s mouth Monday morning.”
- “You can either focus on that failure or you can make it a success.”
- “I’m not very shy so I’ll tell people who I think I am and what I think I can do for them and I’ll do that every day.”
- “Focus on your zone of genius or unique ability as much as possible.”
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by Karah Karah | Oct 4, 2017 | Bold Biographies, Prescriptions for your Practice
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Being self-employed and running your own business can bring some incredible rewards. It also tends to bring many dilemmas and issues your way that other people may not understand. There are things that entrepreneurs tend to sabotage themselves and their business with that can easily be managed and avoided.
Peter Shallard, the “Shrink for Entrepreneurs” is here to share some insight on common issues entrepreneurs have and how to fix them.
On this episode, Peter tells us his story on how he ended up working mainly with self-employed entrepreneurs and why he loves what he does. He sheds some light on issues like self-sabotage, perfectionism, over-optimization syndrome, and discomfort avoidance. Peter explains how these issues can negatively affect your success and how to avoid thinking and acting in ways that bring on these problems.
Key Quotes:
- “The problem with self-employment has always been that it’s this very lonely place to sometimes be because you’re doing an incredible amount of work and you’re wrestling with problems and challenges that other people by nature of what they do just can’t quite connect with or understand.”
- “There are a huge number of small business owners that have an execution problem.
Who just don’t have the capacity or focus to take action on all the good ideas they have.” - “The self-sabotage kind-of kicks in because the human brain isn’t really that well optimized for operating in a state of kind-of social isolation.”
- “Perfectionism is a danger because it’s a false narrative, sort-of a self-deception, that we tell ourselves as a way to sort-of keep ourselves in the comfort zone and prevent ourselves from having to do work we fundamentally find scary.”
- “It’s more comfortable to be working on something than it is to finish it and put it out there in the world and find out, Oh this didn’t go quite as well as we thought it would go.”
- “Entrepreneurs learn and get the best kind of insights and experience from executing.”
- “There’s nothing of value or substance created in the business world without somebody leaning into discomfort and uncertainty and doing courageous work to make it happen.”
- “We’ve almost gotten so comfortable that we believe it’s bad to feel uncomfortable.”
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by Karah Karah | Sep 27, 2017 | Bold Biographies, Legendary Leadership, Magnificent Marketing
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In this episode, Dr. Dave Bender (Fishers, Indiana) shares his entrepreneurial journey with us and explains how he balances both managing his three dental practices with living a healthy, active lifestyle. 
His early-set goal to own multiple practices was challenged with the difficulties of clinical dentistry, but he shares how his bigger vision for what he projected his business to become was the driving force for his success.
Dave carries with him a powerful message that can transform the way we run our practices. His progressive thinking coupled with his early childhood influences pushes him to always “be comfortable with being uncomfortable”.
In this episode, he shares how his experiences in corporate dentistry at Heartland Dental surprisingly counter the attitudes shared by most practicing dentists. He describes his continuing education courses with Heartland Dental as a value that he, otherwise, would not have experienced in a smaller practice. He later explains how he was unhappy with starting an associate driven practice because of the demanding high capital it required. He now thrives, in multiple aspects, with a co-partnership business model.
Key Quotes:
- Let us live so when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry. – Mark Twain
- With my early struggles – I was forced to be a better marketer, I was forced to run my practice a better way.
- I was forced to do whatever it took to make the patient experience what it could be so that they would tell their family and friends – and that’s honestly how we grew.
- The difficulties we had in the first couple of years forced me to be better and more intentional about our growth process.
- In 2013, I started an associate driven practice and that was a major mistake.
- Some will be good, a few will be great, but only one will be the best.
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by Karah Karah | Sep 20, 2017 | Wealth Wisdom
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By the time he was thirty-five years old, Mike Michalowicz had founded and sold two multi-million dollar companies. Then, after becoming an angel investor, he lost his entire fortune and started all over again. Driven to find better ways to grow healthier, stronger companies – he created innovative strategies to help businesses thrive.
The author of various impactful business books, including Profit First, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, The Pumpkin Plan, and Surge, Mike carries with him a powerful message that can transform the way we run our practices. In this episode, he explains why traditional accounting hurts businesses and shares insight into his profit-first system that will help turn reactionary choices into sound business decisions.
Key Quotes:
- The fundamental formula for accounting—sales minus expense equals profit—is crushing businesses because profit is not the first consideration.
- If you really care about your clients, you’ll really focus on profitability, so that you’re not selling unnecessary things, and you’re not just selling to survive. You’re selling resources that people truly need and caring for them.
- In our business, if we simply wait to see where and when there’s money, we’re in this binge mentality.
- If we intentionally restrict our money supply available to run our businesses, then we are forced to run frugal operations, as we should – helping our businesses grow faster and stronger than ever.
- As money starts accumulating in our profit reserve, it becomes tempting to borrow that money. You’ve got to remove the temptation of borrowing from it by getting it out of sight and out of mind.
- Instead of using a system that makes us change who we are, use a system that works with who we are naturally.
- If you’re really serious about being profitable, then set up a new checking account. It’s going to be your profit account.
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by Karah Karah | Sep 13, 2017 | Wealth Wisdom
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Brady Frank learned early on in his dental school studies that he was interested in transitions and owning multiple practices. What he didn’t know was that he would discover a huge market for dentist-owned DSOs and a strategy that would help many dentists upgrade their practices, remain in control, gain multiple revenue streams and provide incredible opportunities for everyone they work with.
On this episode, Brady goes into detail to explain the transition process and how it is an incredible opportunity that dentists should be getting in on. He goes over the definitions of DSO, DDSO, equity harvesting, value-added practice and much more. The idea is to share the risk and the reward with co-owners while expanding practices using high-level scalability techniques.
Brady stresses the importance of taking control of your business future in order to not let your future business control you. Other important concepts to note are the win-win mentality, the ability to acquire good debt to pay off bad debt, working with real estate and creating your own private equity firm. With the right systems in place, it’s possible to do so much more with your practice than you ever thought was possible.
Key Quotes:
- A dual entity approach is that which allows a dentist like yourself listening to continue to have control over his organization while adding “Partners” (Co-owners).
- For every dollar that comes into the DSO, it is valued at a much higher appraisal than the clinical practice.
- In dentistry we have such an incredible opportunity to buy wholesale investments.
- We’re taking next level investment strategies and applying them to a niche market.
- We don’t want just you to win, it needs to be the other dentists involved in your organization to win. Or else it’s just a sham.
- If we aren’t in control of our business futures, it’s our business futures that control us.
- Dentists through various models can actually venture with each other to grow in regions that they previously would’ve thought impossible to grow in.
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