> De Novos
Getting Started with De Novos If you want to develop a practice based on your vision, de novos are the best approach. By Dee Fischer
Starting a dental practice takes a lot of hard work. There are no easy choices, and every decision you make introduces a set of new equally challenging questions that you have to find an answer for. Whether you are choosing to build a practice or purchase a practice, the processes are equally challenging. Even with the inherent challenges for starting a dental practice, there is one advantage to the de novos approach.
With de novos, you get exactly what you want. You get to create and manifest your vision for your dental practice, without the hassle of buying someone else’s culture. With acquisitions, everything comes as a packaged deal: the doctors, the support team, the building, and the company culture. That does not mean acquisitions are less effective, but they will not have your fingerprints on them
32
without spending extra money after a major purchase. If you want to do this your way and develop a practice based on your vision, de novos are the best approach.
Establishing your location First, you need to decide where you want the dental practice to be located. When I start to plan a de novo, I take a five-mile circle around
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 • DENTAL GROUP PRACTICE
the general location that I am looking at and learn everything I can about that area. Go in and talk to the surrounding businesses to see how they are doing, what their traffic looks like, who their customers are. Who is moving in and out of the neighborhood? Are their families close by? What is the average age of the families? In addition to the demographics of the people in the area, it is also important to understand the market of that area. Are there any other dental practices nearby? Are they in a mall? Are they standalone? I will often visit other practices in the area to see how busy they are. In fact, I will act like a patient and ask for an
dentalgrouppractice.com
