Dental Entrepreneur Winter 2018

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CLASS OF 2019 | WINTER ISSUE

DENTALENTREPRENEUR.COM

Business Beyond the Classroom

Amisha Singh, DMD

Erinne Kennedy, DMD

The Power of Saying Yes How to Find Your Dental Dream Job ARE YOU PREPARING FOR YOUR FUTURE?

How opportunity comes from diving in GamePlanning Your Career

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Winter 2018 VOLUME 20, ISSUE 2 Editor & Publisher Anne M. Duffy RDH Assistant Editor Michael Duffy Content Strategist Michelle Perritt Executive Assistant Patti D’Agata Production Ruthie Kelty Publishers Press Inc. Editorial Board Dr. Dirk Fleischman Dr. Gene Heller Dr. Harold Sturner Dr. Ryan Dulde Dr. Earl Douglas Rachel Teel Wall, RDH, BS Dr. Tom Snyder Derek Champange Dr. David Rice Dr. Hugh Doherty Layout and Design John O’Connor

Class of 2018 Contributors Jayme Amos Dr. Tyler Bolin Dan Croft Bridget Fay Elizabeth S. Fitch, CPA/US Laura Hatch Dr. Matthew Pelais Dr. Erinne Kennedy Christy Ratcliff, CPA Dr. David Rice Dr. Kyle Roth Angie Svitak, CPA Bob Spiel, MBA

Dr. Dale Wagman Dr. Amisha Singh Dr. Roger Levin Dr. Earl Douglas Shen Chao Robert J. Waite and John Cusimano Mary Fisher Day Mark Hollis Chuck Blakeman By: Dr. Patrick Yancey III David Black David Rice

Editorial Office

12233 Pine Valley Club Drive Charlotte, NC 28277 704/953-0261 Fax 704/847-3315 anneduffyde@gmail.com Send materials to: Dental Entrepreneur Magazine 8334 Pineville Matthews Road Ste. 103-201 Charlotte, NC 28226 When you have finished enjoying this magazine pass it along to a friend and PLEASE RECYCLE Copyright 2017 Dental Entrepreneur, Charlotte, NC Material herein may not be reproduced, copied or reprinted without prior written consent of the publisher. Acceptance of advertising does not imply endorsement by the publisher.

Welcome

CLASS OF 2018 WINTER ISSUE VOLUME II

October is my favorite time of year. My husband thinks it’s because I share my birthday month with our oldest son. And while I do love presents and celebrating birthdays, it’s more about the excitement of change in the air. The colors of the season are showing their beauty, and the holidays are on the horizon. Now, it’s time to be thankful for how we’ve grown and the coming of new opportunities. Fall a is good time to take stock of where you are and where you’re going. You have put time, talent and treasure into your education. You are starting to envision your career beginning and forming your vision for your future. Whether you’re just starting your dental education, graduating in 2018 or have been practicing for a few years, this issue will help you decide where you need to focus to succeed. Embrace the change that is upon you! Our cover docs are true dental entrepreneurs. Drs. Pelais and Bolin share their enthusiasm with you. It takes girt to plunge into a startup right out of the shoot. As they say, “If we can do it, you can do it!” Their story could be yours if you are game and follow some of the advice in this issue. Be open to opportunities that present to you and build on your strengths. I especially loved Jayme Amos and Bridget Fay’s article on location and signage. It will entice you to look further. Check out their links. I personally was surprised at their take. Bob Spiel elaborates on leadership at its core. His new book, Flip Your Focus, is a must for all of us. Almost 50 percent of the graduating dentists are women. Angie Svitak and Christie Ratcliff give hope that it is possible to have it all while being a Dental Entrepreneur Woman (DeW). Speaking of DeWs, Dr. Erinne Kennedy makes a case for working in public health. Have you ever thought about that? There are many opportunities that females in the industry might not have considered, and Erinne dissects one of those areas. My husband, a business owner himself, was particularly drawn to Dr. Dale Wagman’s article on earned equity. This will give you much to consider as you look at new associateships from both sides. And, of course I love how our pied piper, Dr. David Rice, wraps up in his Power to Succeed contribution. In fact, each author gives you something to ponder. Please reach out to them with your questions. They are here to help and write to inspire. Reach out to our sponsors, for without them this free publication would not exist. They deserve your business and respect. As the seasons change, so could your career path. I sincerely hope and believe this issue of Dental Entrepreneur can serve as a guide as you continue your journey.

All the best,

Anne M. Duffy Publisher 2 Winter 2018 Dental Entrepreneur

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Contents Prologue

4 The Power of Saying Yes How opportunity comes from diving in Dr. Erinne Kennedy and Dr. Amisha Singh

Getting Started 8 Why I Can’t Own My Own Practice – An interview with You Dr. Earl Douglas

12 Game-Planning Your Career Dr. Roger Levin

14 Lower Your Carbon Footprint with these 6 Tips for a Greener Dental Office Shen Chao

16 How to Find Your Dental Dream Job Sarah Shoeneck

Business Fundamentals 18 Are You Preparing For Your Future? Robert J. Waite and John Cusimano

20 The two most under-utilized words in business are Thank You! Mary Fisher Day

22 What is The Most Secure Dental Software with The Lowest TCO? Mark Hollis

Practice Builders 26 Three Ways to Get Everybody Engaged in Building a World Class Practice Chuck Blakeman

28 As Dental School Graduation Approaches, What’s Next? Dr. Patrick Yancey III

The Power To Succeed 30 Emotional Intelligence The Five Core Skills of EQ David Black

34 Your Pathway to Practice David Rice, DDS

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Prologue

The Power of Saying Yes How opportunity comes from diving in Dr. Erinne Kennedy and Dr. Amisha Singh Amisha Singh: On Meeting Meeting each other was a little bit of serendipity and a little bit of strategic insight from the founder of IgniteDDS, Dr. David Rice. In the middle of a hot summer in Las Vegas at the Ideal Practices Blueprint Symposium, I scoured the ornate reception hall to spot my fellow Igniter, a girl named Erinne who I’d never met. We both attended this conference on behalf of IgniteDDS. I left my son, then three months old, gurgling and cooing in my husband’s arms in the hotel room; they came with us because I didn’t want to sacrifice breastfeeding for my career goals. I was destined to have it all (with a little help from my ever-patient husband, of course). This scene was the embodiment of my heart at the time: new chapters and endless potential, a burning desire to find a rocket ship and board it, to find a place to apply my passions and change the world. After giving birth, I was finally ready, both physically and emotionally, to get back in the game. I was stock full of gumption and acceleration, and I was ready for a change. And at this very moment is when I had the pleasure of meeting Erinne Kennedy. It was an instant click, a feeling of finding my tribe and a partnership that would change my life. Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, gave Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook some stellar advice that I take to heart: “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, you don’t ask what seat. You just get on.” That rocket is indeed what this friendship became.

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Erinne Kennedy: On Accelerating Soon after we met, we hopped on that rocket ship of friendship, mentorship, and most of all change. We had no idea what we were getting into, but we went for it. We recorded our first vlog on the plush red velvet chairs in the basement of the Cosmopolitan. One take. One take is all it took for us to be glued at the hip for the next year or so.

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The next year we traveled twice a month speaking to students across the country, coblogged weekly, and started to grow as speakers, leaders, and dentists. It was truly, pedal to the metal. What I didn’t realize when Amisha and I first became friends and co-igniters was that we were going to need each other for the next year more than we realized. As soon as you start speaking, writing and traveling you need someone to help you make decisions, to deal with tough feedback and to grow. The blessing in disguise was that we weren’t just friends, but we’re going to help each other grow and move through (often painful) change. I can’t tell you how many late nights we spent discussing painful growth spurts in leadership in our pajamas in a hotel room. Sipping on tea and hashing out our next presentation or great idea. Honestly, I can’t imagine starting to speak and write without a friend there to build me up. I had no idea I needed support during the acceleration process the way that I did, and I am truly thankful for Dr. David Rice for having the vision of putting us together. In September, we spoke at our first IgniteDDS event together. We went to the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) District 2 Conference in New York City. Thankfully we co-spoke. If you know me at all, I have no problem filling the silence, but speaking in front of hundreds of students was more daunting than I imagined. Having Amisha on stage with me was like speaking holding your mommy’s hand. I was comforted and challenged at the same time. I remember getting feedback that day that I didn’t move around stage enough, and I thought, “I know, my feet were glued to the floor. But I’m happy I didn’t faint.” When I told Amisha, she gave me the greatest words of encouragement: “We will move more next time.” Any time life accelerates, you’re quickly thrown out of your comfort zone, and will most definitely run into obstacles. When we face these challenges alone, we are quick to

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give up or feel defeated. With Amisha there, I have been able to tackle every mountain. To all new dentists and women in the dental field, I think this is a testament to our careers and life. If you find yourself starting to accelerate, make sure that you have a support system and team in place to guide you along the way. It may be one person, or it may be many, but if you are planning to go far, don’t go alone. Amisha and Erinne: On How Friendship Made It All Possible Peer to Peer Mentorship Who says that mentors have to be people who are older and wiser and more experience than you? Mentors are sources of inspiration. They guide your life’s trajectory through every peak and valley. We are this for each other and have been since the day we met. A good peer-to-peer mentor relationship involves having the insight to see each others’ potential and harness it. We offset each other’s strength and weaknesses like any other good partnership, but our mentorship takes it a step further. We work to help make the other better, stronger, faster. Peer-to-peer mentorship is a fresh take on the traditional mentor-mentee relationship. First, you are constantly reversing roles. One month, one person might need some mentorship and guidance, the next week it’s the other’s turn. Sometimes, when life is crazy and opportunity is booming, you’re both giving and taking advice and inspiration. Because the roles are not traditional, we believe the relationship has be to based on mutual trust, respect and honesty. Peer mentorship won’t work if you are trying to “oneup” or “use” the person you’re mentoring. The same goes if you’re the mentee. It’s the ultimate symbiotic relationship. When you put your partner first and the other person does the same, the result is a thriving of both parties. One of the biggest challenges this creates is when you are selfless and honest, you really have to be vulnerable.

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Vulnerability is what breeds and grows deep roots in true friendship, but also stems from humility. A mantra we both repeat is: “Life is all about progress. Progress is all about change. And change … change is hard.” Be sure that you have a mentor willing to be a part of your life through the mountaintops, and most importantly, in the valleys. We were blessed one of our mutual mentors paired us and gave us the opportunity to work with one another. But if you are looking for a peer mentor, look for someone who is selflessness, honest and has the same values that you do. When you have a mentor, you will confide in them, and they’ll help you make some tough decisions in life. You want to make sure your core values are aligned. That when they offer you advice, criticism and perhaps a little tough love, it’s from a good place. Be prepared to receive that feedback with an open mind and a receptive heart. If your peer mentor is anything like we are for one another, you’ll just know, and the relationship will just click. You might be asking: “Where do these relationships work well?” We believe that these relationships work well in all aspects of life. From relationships, to business, to speaking and career goals. The Power Behind “Yes” We both firmly believe a huge key to any success is the strength and faith required to say “yes” when opportunity knocks. Sometimes you can’t predict where the yes is going to take you. You may not be able to visualize the entire road ahead, but that leap of faith tends to pay off and so we both tend to say yes. But one thing we both noticed is that after partnering up, we both said yes more often and to more things. Before partnering together, we individually weren’t able to say yes to as many projects. Mainly, it’s because if you’re working alone, you can only go so far. We both realized that when we started blogging together, teaching together and traveling together, we were able to capitalize on each other strengths and cover twice the distance in the same amount

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of time. We were able to have more time because we both had someone we could count to complete their end of the task. Many times when you are working in groups, you might be working with someone who frequently drops the ball. When you find someone you trust, and they say “I got it,” and you know they do, you can cross it off your list. For many leaders, when you know you don’t need to follow-up, it not only saves time, but it reduces stress and clears your mind to focus on what’s next. It aligns your energy and your pursuit to the goal at hand instead of menial tasks that can hold you up. As the leadership guru Craig Groeschel says, it allows you to focus on the “important” instead of the “urgent.” As much as we love to say yes, as familyoriented females, we have had to practice hard to say “no.” Sometimes when our guilt kicks in, we have a pact to say no for one another. We also help each other vet opportunities to make sure that our affirmations are actively contributing to our ultimate goals and aspirations. Being peer mentors and friends, we help each other vet opportunities so we can say yes to the right events and opportunities, ones aligning with our values and ideals. One meeting can change your life. You hear it all the time. But the two of us, we’re

living examples of just how fiercely one moment can change the trajectory of your path. In the early hours of the night, we often found ourselves in deep conversation about the idea of the universe conspiring to give you the resources you need when you’re dedicated to a goal. We both believe this and we both have lived it. Finding the right ally can win an army the war. And finding the right friend will prepare you for the ride of a lifetime.

Please contact us at: www.commonwealthdentistry.com/ and matthewpelais@gmail.com

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Getting Started

Why I Can’t Own My Own Practice – An Interview with You. Dr. Earl Douglas

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ure, you’ve convinced me that owning my own practice would be great, but you just don’t understand it isn’t practical, or even possible, for me now. It would take an entire article just to explain that to you. … OK, if you insist. First of all, I’ve got a huge student loan debt and no bank will lend me the money to buy a practice. Our team has helped many new graduates with student debt to borrow the money it takes to buy a practice. Many times, it involves a Small Business Administration guaranteed loan, but there are lenders who are willing and able to lend money for a practice purchase, notwithstanding educational debt. OK, but practices cost too much, and I could never afford the payments. You’ve shown me a practice where the monthly payments are over $7,500 each month – that’s over $91,000 per year. There’s no way I could afford that. I wouldn’t expect you to make those payments. In this practice, the hygienists produce $224,000 per year and you pay them $93,000 per year, leaving an annual hygiene profit of $131,000 per year. So let your hygienists

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pay them for you by that using some of that $131,000 hygiene profit to pay that $91,000 annual practice payment. Alright, but the seller also wants me to buy his building for $266,000. There’s no way in the world I could afford to do that, so let’s just forget it. If you pay $266,000 for the building, you’ll get a loan for that amount with typically a 15- to 30-year term. Using 15 years, the shortest payback, your monthly payments would be $2,175 per month. Compare that to the $3,100-per-month rent payment you’d have to pay if you didn’t buy it. And let’s bring the hygienists back in to help with this mortgage payment. They handed you a profit of $131,000 per year, and you used $91,000 of that to pay the practice loan. That leaves $40,000 of hygiene profit still left over which covers the $26,000 per year building payments. That still leaves you $14,000 that you can put toward your retirement savings or other purposes. So you’re telling me that my hygienists would pay for this practice and building too? How is that possible? I’m saying that in the case of this actual practice that the hygiene profit alone pays for the practice and building payments. Does this happen in

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every practice Obviously not, but with expert guidance you can find practices have strong financial “bones” that will perform profitably for you. OK, so getting a loan and making the payments to buy a practice is not impossible. But a friend of mine took a job at a clinic, and while he made a big salary, he had to pay over a third of it in income tax. What’s to protect me from taxes eating up what money I make? Transitioning from dental student to an income-earning dentist is a taxable rude awakening. Associates pay the maximum income tax because they have little or no ability to shelter income from taxes, while practice purchasers are able to depreciate the entire price

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of their practice. Depreciation lowers your taxable income, but it doesn’t take a penny from your pocket. In the case of this practice, you will be able to deduct $596,000 from your taxable income over the next 15 years, saving you around $240,000 in taxes. Bottom line, you’ll be paying $240,000 whether you buy this practice or not. If you’re an associate, you’ll give it to Uncle Sam and get nothing in return, or if you’re a purchaser, you’ll give it to the practice seller and get a $240,000 practice discount. In this practice, you will have actual tax savings of $40,000 in the first year alone. OK, so the hygienist will be making the practice and building payments and Uncle Sam will pay 40 percent of the practice price for me too, but you still don’t understand, I

don’t want all the long hours and hard work of owning a practice. Most practice owners that I know work 32 hours per week or less – Monday through Thursday. Associates working for DSOs work an average of 45 hours per week. So if you don’t want to work that hard, work for yourself and spend a day and a half less at the office. And since the average practice owner makes 50 percent of what they personally produce – double what clinic jobs typically pay – owning your practice and making the same money for half the work might just be attractive to you. Well surely you can understand why I need security, given my student loan, and don’t forget, I have a family to support. How secure am I as an owner?

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If you want security, don’t depend on another person or corporation to get it. Your best security comes from depending on yourself, owning your own practice and working for yourself. Associates have the least security of anyone – they can be fired. Financial success is not a given, but it is a result of careful and welladvised examination of practice options. So if you need job security and the highest percent net income compensation and the opportunity for substantial tax savings, practice ownership is the only place to find it. I don’t think you’re getting it – I want the lowest risk option possible. Everything we do is a risk. There is also risk by doing nothing. The risk of spending a career as an associate has a very high lost opportunity cost. But let’s look at the statistics of failure among practice purchasers. A number of lenders who primarily lend for dental practice acquisitions consistently report that their default rate for dental practice purchasers is less than a half of one percent! I would suggest that dentists who fail in a practice purchase would have failed in whatever career direction they took. If we carve out the Four D’s – Drugs, Divorce, Depression, aDDiction – the failure rate for purchasers would be next to nothing. The risk of working for someone at half the percentage net for their entire career is an unacceptable risk in my opinion. OK, OK, but I have no idea of how to run a dental practice. We are fortunate that dentistry is such a good profession that even we dentists can succeed in it. I do agree that a scratch start practice is quite challenging since it requires creating every management and administrative system needed, as well as the daunting task of hiring and training a staff. Contrast that with buying a practice where the purchaser acquires a fully functioning operation with all systems in place and a trained and experienced workforce to handle the day to day operations. And keep in mind that the seller is a tremendous resource and mentor after the sale when needed. When I bought my practice, I was very fortunate to have a staff that knew much more than I did about how to run the practice, so my primary

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role was doing dentistry. My not knowing how to run a practice did not slow me from doubling my practice gross in the first year. I’m just not ready to make a long-term commitment such as owning a practice. News flash! You have already made a longterm commitment by graduating from dental school! Like it or not, you’re going to be practicing dentistry for the next 30 years or so. Like it or not, you are committed. Now you simply need to figure out how to make the most of that commitment so you can reach financial security and be in a position to retire and enjoy your life, versus working into old age because there wasn’t money for retirement. Remember that when a practice owner retires, they sell their practices and put another sizable contribution in their retirement account, something associates cannot do. You keep bringing up this idea of profit. What’s so special about that? I understand profit – it’s the money that I’m able to take home – so what’s the big deal? Profit is a concept that very few dentists understand. To best explain profit, let’s take look at Karen. She works for FedEx and makes an annual salary of $125,000. Karen also inherited 5,000 shares of FedEx stock. FedEx expects to pay a $2 dividend per share this year, which will give her a dividend of $10,000, her share of FedEx’s profit. She did not work for this dividend, but received it because she is an owner (shareholder). This year Karen will have two income sources – a salary she worked for and a separate profit that she received simply because she is an owner. Just keep in mind that profits are not earned, but are solely a benefit of ownership. In looking at this actual practice, your salary of $202,040 is calculated as 35 percent of your projected $577,258 production. That’s the salary you receive for the work you did. You will also receive practice profit of $238,818, which you didn’t work for, but received solely because you are the owner. This profit is a 40-percent return on your practice investment, which was borrowed at that. Karen’s FedEx investment by comparison yielded a dividend, or profit, of $10,000, which is a 0.84-percent yield . Now

Please reach out to our authors and our advertisers. They care about you and keep us in print!

If you have any questions, comments, or responses to our magazine, please connect with us on Dental Entrepreneur Magazine — our official Facebook page! Read us online at dentalentrepreneur.com Send your questions or comments to anneduffyde@gmail.com dentalentrepreneur.com

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you know why corporations want to own your profession. Consider that this unearned profit of $238,818 can easily cover the annual practice and building payments of $112,000, still leaving $126,818 in profits. Combined with the $202,040 salary, that gives a total net income of $328,858 after all expenses and loan payments have been paid. That is the equivalent of working as an associate at a 57-percent commission. And there’s more – in 10 years the practice loan will be paid off, giving a $91,000 per year pay raise. OK, so why are you telling me all of this? I want you to make the best-informed career decisions in your own best interest. Compare this practice purchase opportunity to other offers that you encounter. For instance, many DSOs will pay a 25-percent commission (contrasted with the 35 percent I impute for practice ownADS.south209

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ers), and they keep all of the profit since they are the sole owners. If you were doing the same amount of work for a DSO clinic, you would get a salary of $144,315 with a big tax bite taken out of that. Associates don’t get tax savings of $40,000 the first year, there would be no equity increase of $69,000, there would be no $57,725 higher salary and there would be no profit of $239,000. Employee are also subject to being supervised in their clinical activities. This $405,725 lower financial benefit also comes at a 40 percent longer work schedule. Thank you for giving me this interview and having an open mind. I wish you the best of success in your dental career.

Earl Douglas, DDS, MBA, principle of ADS South, LLC, began his dental career in 1971 and began his dental transition career in 1982. In 1996 he founded ADS Transitions, a national association of practice brokers. His company, ADS South, LLC, performs dental practice transitions and valuations throughout the Southeast. He can be reached at earl@adssouth.com or 770-664-1982.

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Practice Makes Perfect “Dr. Earl Douglas and the staff at ADS South have been real helpful in steering me in the right direction in the purchase of my first practice. Dr. Douglas’s experience, organization and detail-orientation, pointed out to me where improvement is needed and how to go about achieving it.” Elizabeth H. Guerrero, DDS Get off to the perfect start. Call your ADS transition specialist for AL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN and VA today.

ADS South (770) 664-1982 ADSsouth.com DentalEntrepreneur.com

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Getting Started

Game-Planning Your Career Roger P. Levin, DDS

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here will you be three years after graduation? How about five or 10 years? Many dental students have a vague idea, such as joining a practice near their hometown or working in a particular area of the country. Some probably haven’t given it a lot of thought. They’re focused on doing the best they can from now until graduation and haven’t given a lot of thought to what will happen post-graduation. And that’s OK … for now. But I would recommend taking some time over the next few months and creating a career vision statement. This document will help you clarify what you want to accomplish in your career over the next three years. You can look further into the future than that, too. Maybe your 10-year goal is to own a large practice with multiple offices. Maybe it’s being debt-free and having a practice near the beach. Dentistry is a rewarding career. But it takes planning and followthrough to get where you want to go. Creating a career vision statement will help you reach your goals (and destination) sooner. Just follow these five steps to get started:

2. Revise Your List Start by eliminating any ideas that you’re not interested in. Owning a dental practice on a sparsely populated island may have sounded good at first, but after thinking about it some more, that’s one for the discard pile. Keep pruning away until you’ve got a solid list of career objectives. Don’t expect to have all the answers at this stage. Also, realize your aspirations may change once you enter the profession.

1. Brainstorm Take 30 minutes or so and write down everything you want to accomplish in your career. There are no right or wrong answers. Just let it fly … state-of-the-art cosmetic practice … small three-person office … dental missions … giant mega-practice with offices in seven states. If there are seemingly opposing ideas, that’s fine, too. You’re just throwing stuff against the proverbial wall and considering possibilities. No decisions have to be made at this point. Once you’re done with your initial list, read it over. Over the next week or so, jot down any additional ideas. They will often hit you when you least expect it, such as when you’re walking to class, eating lunch or taking a shower. Use your smart phone or a notebook to list these new thoughts. After a week or so, compile all your notes into one master document. Read it over several times. Let it sink for a few weeks.

4. Create Yearly Goals Based on the Vision Statement Your vision is not an academic exercise – it should be a working document that serves as a guide for achieving your career goals. If your 10-year goal is to be the owner of a practice generating $1 million in production, you need to build a year-by-year outline for reaching that goal. Here’s a simplified example:

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3. Write Your Career Vision Statement You need to write it down because it shows that you’re committed to making your vision a reality. If you don’t write it down, then it’s far less real. The act of writing shows thoughtfulness and deliberation. It means you’re serious. It’s not a vague idea that’s floating out in the ether, but a blueprint for achievement. The length of your career vision statement should be 1-3 paragraphs. Not too long, but substantial enough to be a source of constant motivation. I recommend looking forward 10 years. You can do more than that, but a decade’s worth of accomplishments will suffice for most people.

Years 1 & 2 – Work at a DSO and pay down school loans by 50 percent Years 3 & 4 – Join a practice in the Southeast as an associate; Finish paying off loans. Year 5 – Open own practice in Central Florida. Continue to expand clinical skills.

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Years 6 & 7 – Build a great team; Equip practice with state-of-the-art technology. Generate $700,000 in annual production. Years 8 & 9 – Grow production by 15–20% annually.

update your vision. Maybe you accomplished more than you thought possible or maybe you ran into some obstacles. You might even have changed your mind about some of your long-range goals. Whatever the case, review the vision and then update it as you see fit.

Dr. Roger Levin is a third-generation general dentist and the Chairman and CEO of the largest dental practice consulting firm in North America, Levin Group, Inc., which has served more than 22,000 dentists and specialists since 1985.

Year 10 – Break $1 million in production. You could easily have 5–10 goals for each year. My point is that your career vision statement shouldn’t be tucked away in a drawer. It’s actually an important tool that you should constantly use to create the career you want to have. 5. Revise Your Career Vision Statement as Necessary At the end of the year, review what you accomplished and decide if you need to

Conclusion Even though it seems far away at times, graduation will be here before you know it. A great career awaits you … get a jumpstart on it by creating a career vision statement.

To learn about how to run a profitable, efficient and satisfying practice, subscribe to Tip of the Day for free daily emails from Dr. Levin at www.levingroup.com/tip.

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Dental Entrepreneur Winter 2018 13


Getting Started Lower Your Carbon Footprint with these 6 Tips for a Greener Dental Office Shen Chao

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id you know that you can go green with your dental practice? Green dentistry is a high-tech approach towards dentistry that reduces your environmental impact and follows a dental model that works well for patients, according to the EcoDentistry Association (EDA). This approach to dentistry implements sustainable practices by keeping your resource consumption in line with nature’s economy by consciously reducing or eliminating waste. Going Green in Your Dentistry is Good Practice for Our Planet Going green in your dentistry reduces your waste and pollution, which is quite shocking when you find out how much waste your dental practice generates. Technological advancement will improve your dental practice and be better for both your patients and the environment. Going green supports the growing community of consumers who seek dental professionals who share their values of eco-friendly practices and ideals.

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6 Tips to Achieve a Green Dental Practice and Office 1. Go Digital and Save Paper Eliminate the use of paper and upgrade your practice to a paperless digital world. If your office is already operating in a paperless manner, then you can upgrade it to the cloud. Using a cloud-based practice is very convenient, as you can easily communicate with your staff and patients from anywhere. Using cloud-based dental practice management software will help you create and look up patient charts, set up appointments and send automatic reminders to your patients via their smart devices. A recent Microsoft study shows that cloud computing can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 90 percent. Making your office paperless also means your patients will be able to fill out their forms online, implement electronic billing and use digital x-rays that expose your patients and staff to less radiation. 2. Apply an Environmentally Friendly Sterilization Program Applying an eco-friendly sterilization program is a lot more efficient than the traditional sterilization process as it uses non-toxic infection control and steam sterilization. Chemicals that are traditionally

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used to sterilize and control infection can be harmful to your patient’s health and the environment. Using single use disposable autoclave wraps, disposable patient bibs and single sterilization items adds up to a lot of the waste produced by your office. You can eliminate the waste you generate by using re-usable wraps, pouches and cloth made patient bibs. You can also further separate your waste into plastic, paper and cloth categories to recycle more easily. 3. Invest in an Amalgam Separator and Avoid Mercury Disposing of waste generated by dental amalgams is tricky, as the mercury enters and contaminates water bodies with a poisonous substance. A solution to this is to buy an amalgam separator designed to filter out the dangerous waste particles from your clinic’s wastewater system. 4. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Implement Waste Control Programs You can begin recycling from the bottom up with printed paper and food, stop using disposable cups and plates and replace them

with reusable drinking and eating vessels. You can also use biodegradable cleaning products. At a later stage, you can start to recycle the paper and plastic separately from the rest of the autoclave bags. You can recycle whatever you want, as long as your local recycling program is ready to accept it. 5. Use Cotton Towels Opting to use reusable cotton towels instead of the disposable paper towels is a positive step. Cloth sterilization wraps, pouches and reusable cloth bibs are becoming a popular option in a lot of dental offices. Despite the many benefits of using cloth towels, they should be used with care, as they can hold microbes. 6. Conserve Energy, Light and Water Having energy efficient windows and skylights installed will allow more natural light to enter your clinic and save on your heating and cooling costs. Save energy by turning off the lights and other machinery when not in use. Use fluorescent or LED light bulbs rather than incandescent light bulbs and install occupancy sensors for your lights as they can last up to 7-11 times longer.

Train your staff and patients to turn off the tap when they’re brushing, as this can save up to eight gallons of water daily. You can hang up reminder signs in your office for this. Switch from using single use batteries to rechargeable batteries that can be recharged more than a 100 times. Replacing old batteries is hazardous, considering they contain mercury, amongst other materials. I hope these six tips about green dentistry were useful to you and that you consider implementing them to your dental practice. Shen Chao is part of Dr. Joshua Hong’s Smile Clinic. While working for the Smile Clinic, he’s gained first hand experiences into the questions and concerns that dental patients have. He has been writing to inform people about various dental topics to help his readers improve their oral health. When he’s not working, you can find him on a hiking trail with his dog or having a Sunday cook-out with friends.

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Getting Started

How to Find Your Dental Dream Job Sarah Shoeneck

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aybe you’re n e w to the dental field and looking for an opportunity to leverage your skills and launch a promising career. Or, perhaps you’ve worked in the dental field for several years and you’re ready for a new challenge. Whatever reason has you searching the employment ads, finding and landing that dream job can feel overwhelming, if not downright unsettling! So how do you go about finding the “perfect job?” The one that feels like “home” and makes you wake up eager to begin your workday? We’ve compiled a list of eight things to consider as you go through the journey of finding your dental dream job. Identify Your Wants and Needs If you don’t have a clear picture of what your dream job looks like, the chances of landing it are approximately zero. Take time to figure out what interests you and what makes you happy. Then ask the right questions in your interview so you know how closely your needs align with those the position offers. When you find a job that allows you to do what you love and what you’re good at, you’re well on your way to workplace happiness and success! Choose the Right Practice Model Do you want the freedom of working as a solo practitioner with the ability to hire your own staff, take time off when you need it

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or purchase the latest technology equipment? Perhaps you prefer to receive extra guidance as an associate, allowing you to forgo the added responsibilities of ordering supplies, keeping track of OSHA and HIPPA, and evaluating new employees. Or, maybe you dream of being part of a group practice giving you all the benefits of practicing dentistry without the responsibilities of running a business. There are pros and cons to each, and it’s important to take the time to discover which model best fits your needs. Find a Job That Supports Continuing Education As a professional and an expert, your patients count on you to solve their dental problems. That’s why continuing dental education – and staying on top of industry changes – is extremely important. Do you want to continue to improve patient care and achieve better results? Find a job that gives you the opportunity to learn and master the latest dental techniques. Thanks to technology advances and scientific

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inventions, “best dental practices” change every day. Boost your career by furthering your education. If your office doesn’t offer continued education opportunities, consider watching a free webinar (http://www. pattersondental.com/Services/ContinuingEducation). Ask Lots of Questions One trait most successful people share is curiosity – they constantly ask questions. Start by asking yourself some basic questions. What do you like? What are you good at? Do you like the people you work with? How important is it that you have a short commute, diverse coworkers and prestige? Then start questioning others in your line of work. What better way to determine how good your dream job actually is than from asking it directly from someone living it?!

What steps have they taken to land their dream job? What does a typical day look like for them? You will learn what steps to take and what mistakes to avoid along the way. Remember No Job is Ever a Dead End Even though it might not seem like it at the time, everything you’ve done – from the mundane to the inspiring — has helped you grow personally and professionally. In fact, every job you’ve had has led you one step closer to your dream job. And with those experiences under your belt and a positive mindset, you’ll achieve success that much faster. The greatest part? This is YOUR journey and you control your future path. Use Patterson Connect You’ve probably spent countless hours

searching internet boards and sifting through old, out-of-date dental publications for the perfect job … but the sheer volume of completely irrelevant job listings can make your search maddening. Sometimes your hard work can feel like a waste of time. Before you throw your hands in the air and give up, give Patterson Connect a try! The website allows you to communicate with owner dentists directly through your free account without having to wait for a third-party introduction. And to keep you sane through your job search, remember that sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince. This can also be true when finding your happy dental home. Finding the practice that is right for you is a process that can, and should, take time. Don’t give up, your dream job is out there.

PROPEL YOUR PRACTICE Try our spectrum of practice management eServices as part of our introductory offer.

SPEAK WITH A TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST TODAY AT 800.294.8504. pattersondental.com/Eaglesoft

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And when you begin your transition to Eaglesoft today, we’ll include a sampling of our groundbreaking digital services as part of our introductory offer, valued at $3,500: • Eaglesoft Advanced Charting Module • 3 months of eStatements • 3 months of eClaims • 2 months of a backup solution (DDS Rescue or PattLock) • 1 month of RevenueWell Offer valid for any new Eaglesoft account signed by April 28, 2017

17T0153 (2/17)

Did you know that Eaglesoft Practice Management software can reach into every aspect of your practice to build efficiency? And it’s true – when you can manage patient information better, you can spend more time taking care of people.

Dental Entrepreneur Winter 2018 17


Business Fundamentals

Are You Preparing for Your Future? Robert J. Waite and John Cusimano

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hether you’re just starting out or firmly ingrained in your practice, retirement will be here sooner than you think. Are you doing enough to prepare? A taxdeferred retirement plan may be the roadmap to a successful career and an even more joyous retirement. There are a variety of plans at your disposal – SIMPLE Plan IRAs, SEP IRAs and 401Ks to name a few. We’ve heard it all before, but are you truly implementing what we all know we should be doing? Perhaps not. Almost 72 percent of workers in small com¬panies have no retirement plan available through the company; an additional 9 percent have a companysponsored plan available but do not participate. Only 19.5 percent of workers in small private-sector com¬panies report participating in a retirement plan. 1 Ultimately, the primary reason many small business owners have not established a retirement savings plan is that they are simply too busy running their business. They are busy driving revenue growth, dealing with employees and prospecting for new clients. Many business owners make the assumption that the business itself will be their retirement fund. Unfortunately, in many businesses, it can be a difficult transition to sell or to pull the liquidity out of their entity. They may also have outstanding debts and student loans. While it is extremely important to stabilize your personal finances by paying down your student loans and building your personal savings, offering a retirement plan is extremely important in growing and stabilizing your business. The benefits of a retirement plan go beyond simply preparing for your future. For one, offering a plan gives your dental practice a competitive edge when it comes to attracting top talent and similarly, reducing employee turnover.2 It goes without saying that if an employee has the choice between two equally appealing job offers and one company offers a retirement savings plan while the other one does not, most astute employees will opt for the position that offers a more attractive total benefit package. In fact, nearly 40 percent of small business employees say they would leave their current job for one that provides some type of retirement 18 Winter 2018 Dental Entrepreneur

plan.3 Establishing and maintaining a retirement plan not only shows that you value your employees, but also by retaining employees, you will reduce your costs on recruiting and training new ones. Secondly, there are potential tax benefits to offering a retirement plan. For one, your business may be eligible for a special $500 tax credit for the first three years of a new 401K plan. This $1500 in savings will drastically reduce any start-up costs associated with the creation of the plan. Additionally, if you match a portion of an employee’s contribution to their retirement plans, you get to deduct those matching contributions at tax time and further help your employees grow their savings. As a further benefit, the business owner will also save on their own personal taxes by investing in the company retirement plan. It is a common misconception that employer sponsored retirement plans are difficult to set up and maintain. This could not be further from the truth! Today’s plans are designed to be easy for the small business owner to set up, administer and maintain. With online setup and management, plan administration requires very minimal paperwork and very little time commitment. Employees have 24/7 access to their accounts online and a retirement specialist or advisor is just a phone call away. This is especially valuable for many small business owners who do not have a dedicated Human Resources department or contact.

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These are some of the most common small business retirement plans: Safe Harbor 401(K) – This plan is for an employer who wants a plan that allows employees to contribute to their own plans. In this plan, the maximum annual contribution limit is $18,000 ($24,000 if you are over 50 years old) and all employees over the age of 21 with one year of service must be eligible to make salary deferral contributions. The Safe Harbor 401(K) requires employers to contribute either 3 percent to all eligible employees or match employee contributions up to 4 percent. All matching contributions are automatically vested for employees. The Safe Harbor 401(K) also allows owners and employees with higher wages to contribute up to their maximum contribution limit. 401(K) – The standard or traditional 401(K) is similar to the Safe Harbor 401(K) but allows owners to add a vesting period. Employees may have to work one, two or three years before matching contributions are fully vested. Unlike the Safe Harbor 401(K), owners and higher wage income employees are limited on the amount they are allowed to contribute. Profit Sharing – This plan is considered a defined contribution plan. The employer is responsible for determining when and how much the company contributes to the plan. The amount allocated to employees is typically based on the employee’s salary or level within the organization. Unlike other plans, a profit sharing plan does not allow employees to make contributions. Employer’s contributions are discretionary; there is no set amount. Factors such as a company’s financial performance may influence the employer’s decision to make a contribution one year but not the next. This is why it’s called a “Profit Sharing” plan. Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) – This plan acts like a pension and all contributions are made by the employer. The maximum contribution is 25 percent of an employee’s income or $54,000 in 2017, whichever is lower. All SEP IRA contributions are deductible as a business

expense and employers are not required to make contributions every year. Simple IRA - Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers, better known as the SIMPLE IRA plan. This plan lets your employees defer up to $12,500 in 2017 ($15,500 if age 50 or older). The business owner must promise to match employee contributions dollar for dollar up to 3 percent of pay, or to make a “non-elective” contribution for all eligible employees, whether or not the employee contributes, equal to 2 percent of pay. (The 3 percent of pay match may be reduced to as little as 1 percent in any two of five years.) These retirement plans are typically tax deferred, meaning that the contributions are made with pre-tax dollars and the assets grow tax free until ultimately withdrawn. Ordinary income taxes are only paid when an employee withdraws money from the account, ideally upon retirement. It should be noted that the 401(K) and Safe Harbor 401(K) plans also allow for after-tax Roth contributions. In this instance, the contributions are made with after tax dollars while the earnings continue to grow tax-deferred. The biggest difference is that here, all withdrawals are tax free as long as the assets have been maintained within the account for at least five years and the account owner is over the age of 59.5 years old. Please note that after-tax Roth contributions are eligible to be withdrawn with no tax implication, at any time. With so many different options, the decision can certainly be daunting. There is no disputing that choosing the right plan takes careful consideration. Each plan type has its own separate and distinct eligibility rules and overall benefits and considerations. Together, John and R.J. have over 27 years of experience. They work with a vast network of retirement plan administrators. For more information please call toll free 1-800-531-3660 to speak with either R.J. Waite or John Cusimano at Raymond James Financial or visit www. raymondjames.com/rjwaite.

Please note, changes in tax laws may occur at any time and could have a substantial impact upon each person’s situation. While we are familiar with the tax provisions of the issues presented herein, as Financial Advisors of RJFS, we are not qualified to render advice on tax or legal matters. You should discuss tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional. With over 18 years of industry experience at both Raymond James and Wells Fargo Advisors, John Cusimano can assist with all of your financial needs including Retirement Planning and Investment Management. John is a registered Supervisory Principal, a Registered Investment Advisor Representative (IAR) as well as a certified Dave Ramsey SmartVestor™ Pro. He holds the Series 7, 9, 10, 31, 63, and 66 Securities Licenses as well as his Life and Variable Annuity Insurance Licenses. John graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia and now resides in Charlotte, NC with his wife, Michelle and two children, Reilly and Cole.

With Over 11 years of industry experience, R.J. Waite has extensive experience in asset management, investments, financial planning and retirement plans. R.J. has a Bachelors of Science degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He holds the General Securities Series 7, Investment Advisory Series 66, General Securities Sales Supervisor Qualification Series 9 and Series 10.

1https://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-retirement-plan-availability-and-worker-participation 2https://www.sharebuilder401k.com/turnover-cost.aspx 3Small Business Annual Retirement Trends survey conducted by Harris InterActive for ShareBuilder 401k.

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Business Fundamentals

The two most under-utilized words in business are Thank You! Mary Fisher Day

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he dental industry is no exception. Throughout my career as a consultant, I’ve spent countless hours with dental team members, and one of the questions I ask is, “What aspect of your job gives you the most satisfaction?” Recently, I placed a poll on social media asking which of the following is most important to dental team members: Compensation, Appreciation, Relationships with Co-Workers or Other. The top answer by far, has always been appreciation. While monetary compensation is important to all, the overwhelming majority chose appreciation. Consider this -- how often to do you say “thank you” to patients? To your lab? To your supply consultant? To your equipment service technician? To your UPS person? I would hope that your answer is often or always. Now, how often do you thank the members of your team? It should be often. Examples: At the end of the morning huddle, say, “Thanks everyone, let’s have a great day!” At the end of the day when saying goodbye, say, “Thanks, have a great evening.” When you’re handed something by an employee. When you’re given a phone message. A great rule of thumb is, any time you have an interaction with a member of your team, end it on a positive note. If you have nothing else to say, just say “thank you.” Make “thank you” a habit, and trust me, this habit will pay off for the rest of your career! Additional Ways to Show Your Team They are Appreciated * Provide a “thank you” lunch from time to time (you don’t have to go out, you can have it delivered from a local catering company, and it’s not necessary that you stay for the lunch). * After a difficult week, give everyone a gift certificate for a manicure or pedicure. * Look each team member in the eyes and say, “Thank you,” when giving any form of compensation. There is not a bigger morale killer than an employer who appears to begrudge employee compensation. * Always pay your team on time and please don’t make them ask for their wages.

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* A yearly review is as important to members of your team as it is to you. They may expect to hear what they’ve done wrong. Tell them what they’re doing right and say, “Thank you for your loyalty.” * Hold regular team meetings, be present and listen to what your team members say. Implement their suggestions when possible. * Be fair, don’t play favorites. You’re human and you will have favorites, but you never want to make it obvious. * Lead by example: Come to work on time. Don’t put your people on your team in the position of making excuses for you. If you want your team to care about your practice, you have to show that you care. Chances are, You Will Hire at Least One Person Who is Not a Good Fit for Your Team If there is someone in your employment who you don’t enjoy working with, let them go. They are likely just as unhappy as you are. Give this person the opportunity to find a job that’s a better fit. Their continued employment in your practice isn’t fair to either of you. The rest of your team can feel the tension, and your patients probably do, too. Finally, surround yourself with competent, upbeat, professional people who have your back and say “thank you” often!

Mary Fisher Day’s career in dentistry has spanned more than three decades and began after graduating with Honors and a Certification in Dental Assisting, from FlorenceDarlington College. Before beginning her Consulting career, she worked as a Chair-Side Assistant, Scheduling and Financial Coordinator, and Office Manager. Mary founded The Dental Business® in 2002. In addition to having been interviewed on some of the Industry’s leading Podcasts, she has authored articles, blogs, and columns for multiple dental publications. www.thedentalbusiness.com mary@thedentalbusiness.com

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Business Fundamentals Purchasing, Starting or Expanding a Dental Practice: Investments in Technology are Key for Entrepreneurs Mark Hollis

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ne of the most important decisions a dentist makes is the selection of practice-management software and their software developer. Software is at the core of everything a practice does. You can’t run a successful practice without it. There are several capable software programs you could use to run your practice, but what if one required significantly lower combined initial and ongoing investment over the life of your practice (Total Cost of Ownership - TCO) and enabled greater security and productivity? What if it was far easier with that software to comply with HIPAA, to avoid millions in federal and state fines and to avoid ransomware and other malware?

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Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) If you’ve sold a home, you’ve looked back over time and calculated your TCO. You don’t realize how many heating and air conditioning units, windows, roofs, etc., you’ve replaced and how frequently until you have to calculate your tax basis for capital gains. Dentists should do the same when comparing computer software systems if they are to make a smart business decision. Look forward 10 years or more to compare your total investment, the “return” on your investment and the residual value. Renting vs. Buying Software

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Software isn’t like a car that you tend to replace every four or five years. Software is a commitment that should stay with you for the life of your practice. Don’t be deceived when comparing an upfront investment to a monthly software rental. The software monthly rental fee might seem small for cloud, however you pay FOREVER, you do not own your data AND you rely upon people you don’t know to secure your data. And even though you may access your data using a Mac browser, your data is actually in Windows or Linux on a shared remote server, which is vulnerable to PC viruses and ransomware. It’s also likely will incur higher Internet service fees for both your primary and backup connection. Cyber security experts all expect Internet interruptions to expand due to DDoS attacks and the growth of IoT. If that happens, you will lose access to your data intermittently. If you prefer, you can also make monthly payments on software you buy (versus rent) by financing or applying for a tax-qualified lease. A lease runs typically 3-5 years, but a benefit is writing your full investment off in the first year, reducing your income tax by thousands of dollars. After the end of your lease, you will only pay annual support and updates fees, and YOU own the software. This table contrasts some anticipated Mac Client Server, Windows Client Server and cloud cost factors. The Mac Server, which can also be used for data entry, uses the same free operating system as your computer at home and may cost only a few hundred more than your terminals. Your values may differ. The

Workstations and network support are not included, but contrary to what many IT professionals advised, IBM reports every Mac saves them $535 over four years, which amounts to an additional savings of $7,500 or more over 10 years. It’s clear that Macs cost less when considering Total Cost of Ownership over 10 years. And with 92 percent overall user satisfaction,

The software monthly rental fee might seem small for cloud, however you pay FOREVER, you do not own your data AND you rely upon people you don’t know to secure your data. MacPractice software beat the other PC and cloud software in almost every category in the Clinicians Report User Survey published in March 2017. Clinicians Report is one of our industry’s most respected sources for independent evaluations and information on dental products.

Ransomware Kills Practices In 2016 and 2017, thousands of malware events were reported affecting millions of patients and eventually killing hundreds, if not thousands, of practices, which are required by HIPAA and states to report breaches to HHS, patients and the media. Law enforcement agencies say most breaches, of which Ransomware is one cause, are unreported. This is bad for most businesses, but would likely be catastrophic for your dental practice. Why Mac Users Aren’t Affected MacPractice is ONC-ACB Certified native macOS dental practice management and clinical software with tightly integrated services. MacPractice designed MacPractice DDS and their iOS products to protect practices and patients. Because of their superior design and commitment to security, Apple products are not vulnerable to PC viruses, malware or ransomware. Malware is by and large developed to target vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, Android, web browsers, firmware and Linux. If you avoid these products and operating systems, you avoid cybercriminals. Does Your Software Have ‘Built-In’ Encryption? Unlike other dental software, Apple built encryption into their products for data at rest and in motion, and the password is unique and encrypted. They also built-in network secure messaging (email). All these are required by


the HIPAA Security Rule, and a practice that protects its patients’ data in such a system can qualify for HIPAA’s Safe Harbor. Safe Harbor releases a doctor from having to report a breach to HHS, their patients and prominent media, in addition to reporting on their homepage. Something to keep in mind: More than 50 percent of patients surveyed said they would abandon a practice that has exposed their identity and health information.

and iOS are, and will continue to be, very hard targets for criminals. Learn more about MacPractice’s advantages by visiting and registering on MacPractice. com and attending a webinar. See MacPractice demo videos. See what MacPractice’s happy clients have to say. MacPractice is the future of dental software.

Why an ‘All-In-One Design’ Is Better All-in-one design integrates every practice function, including secure email, network fax, patient portal and other services. For example, MacPractice’s built-in networked word processor not only increases productivity and eliminates the cost of Microsoft Office, it also eliminates a favored target for hackers.

Mark Hollis has a broad background in education, in public office in NYC, as a bookstore owner, a Certified Financial Planner, an Apple Product Expert, and a practice management consultant to more than 600 doctors’ offices for 25 years.

Apple Devices and OS - Least Cost Many companies like IBM, which supports 500,000 PCs and Macs, have proven for themselves that Macs are more secure and cost less. As a matter of fact, every Mac saves IBM $545 over four years. Conversely, PCs require 5.4X more onsite service, and PC users call for support 8X more. In addition, Windows must be updated 104 times more annually than macOS. macOS is free and so is Pages (word processor), Numbers (spreadsheet) and Keynote (favorite dental presentation software) with free updates and new versions. On the other hand, Windows Server (required on a PC server) can cost $800 and requires expensive IT support, Windows 10 Pro cost $200/PC, and Office 365 costs $99/year/user while requiring an Internet connection and a web browser (another favored target for cybercriminals). In a seven-user practice with a dedicated server, Microsoft products alone cost $2,900 in the first year and $700 every subsequent year, as opposed to being free from Apple. Apple Products Make People Feel Safe and More Productive Apple users love macOS and iOS and are more up-to-date than Windows users. Along with the fact that Apple releases new and more secure operating systems every year, macOS

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Please reach out to our authors and our advertisers. They care about you and keep us in print!

With 30+ years of industry experience, Mark is an expert with unique knowledge. His articles on Apple Technology, security and encryption, ransomware, HIPAA compliance and electronic health records have appeared in numerous dental and medical publications. Mark was a featured lecturer in the practice management curriculum at UMDNJ for several years and has lectured at national and regional medical and dental meetings, spoken to doctors at Apple Stores and facilities across the US. Mark is CEO of MacPractice, a client-centric practice management and clinical software development company dedicated to the development and support of best-of-class macOS and iOS native software and associated services for 30,000 dentists, physicians, chiropractors, and eye care professionals in 31 countries. Like at IBM, Cisco and most companies who offer a choice, Mark’s experience working with doctors has proven to him that Macs are better than PCs, and certainly more suitable for the business of healthcare with greater ease of use and security, and a far lower Total Cost of Ownership.

If you have any questions, comments, or responses to our magazine, please connect with us on Dental Entrepreneur Magazine — our official Facebook page! Read us online at dentalentrepreneur.com Send your questions or comments to anneduffyde@gmail.com dentalentrepreneur.com

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MacPractice Simplicity in practice

DOES YOUR SOFTWARE MATTER? DOES BEING THE BEST CLINICIAN MATTER IF YOUR OFFICE ISN’T RUN AFFORDABLY AND EFFICIENTLY. DOES EFFICIENCY MATTER IF YOUR SOFTWARE DOESN’T PROTECT YOU FROM VIRUSES AND RANSOMWARE AND MAKE EVERYONE IN YOUR OFFICE FEEL EMPOWERED TO BE THEIR BEST? DOES INNOVATION MATTER ANYMORE? AT MACPRACTICE, WE BELIEVE IN THE UNBELIEVABLE. IT’S WHY WE BUILD THE BEST SOFTWARE YOUR MONEY CAN BUY. AND TOMORROW IT WILL BE EVEN BETTER. YOU BETTER BELIEVE SOFTWARE MATTERS.

(855) 679-0033 | www.macpractice.com WEBINARS, DEMO VIDEOS AND MORE

MacPractice beats Dentrix, Eaglesoft, and Softdent in CR Reports User Satisfaction Survey* - Read full report at macpractice.com/dds * CR Choice designation in the March 2017 issue of the Independent Clinicians Report

MacPractice Simplicity in practice


Practice Builders Three Ways to Get Everybody Engaged in Building a World Class Practice Chuck Blakeman

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very dentist I talk to wants their staff to be more involved in making their practice great. The fancy business buzzword for that is engagement, and it is abysmally low in business today. Gallup says 68 percent of staff are phoning it in, just doing enough to not get fired. And it’s been that way for years, to the point that many dental practices and other businesses across the landscape of the economy have come to accept that this is just the way it is. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We know too many practices and other businesses with closer to 100-percent engagement for them to be skillful exceptions, randomly lucky or unique. It’s not about being smarter, luckier or niched. It’s about how we approach leadership as dentists, or conversely, how we manage people when we shouldn’t. The problem isn’t that two-thirds just won’t get engaged. The problem is the way we try to engage them is stuck in Industrial Age Factory System thinking from the early 1900s. The lack of engagement isn’t about them, it’s about our time worn, top-down beliefs about people and the way we organize work to reflect those antique views of the world. When we change our assumptions and change the organization to reflect the emerging work world, our staff will jump on board. In 1911, Frederick Winslow Taylor wrote Scientific Management, which became the foundation of modern management thinking. Peter Drucker, one of the leading management consultants of all time, said Taylor’s thinking had as much impact on the 20th century as Freud, Darwin and Marx. There were a lot of good things in his thesis about process and productivity, but he made two fatal assumptions about people that gave formal permission to the idea of top-down hierarchy as the default way to organize business. And in the process he ensured the majority of staff would never be engaged. Taylor’s first assumption was that people are stupid – “the average worker is so stupid that they more resemble the ox than any other type.” His second assumption was that the average worker is lazy – “they will work only so hard as to not get fired.” He called it “soldiering.”

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If you believe that most people are stupid and lazy, how do you solve this? You find the few smart and motivated ones, lord them over the stupid and lazy ones to force them to be productive, and thus management was born. Yes, modern management was born in a swamp of mistrust (you’re lazy) and misperception (you’re stupid). Taylor’s views were institutionalized and became known as Taylorism. None of us would say our staff is stupid and lazy. We would just say that we went to dental school and have more education, experience, knowledge and investment in our practice, so of course we should make decisions for them – it’s in the best interest of the practice and those people who did not go to dental school. It all sounds so logical, but the data we reviewed above shows it doesn’t work. There is a better way. Part of the Industrial Age assumption was that “good authority” shares its power with the workers. But this is simply an extension of Taylorism and a subtle message that “you’re not quite as smart or motivated as I am.” This very subtle, powerful shift in our thinking and approach to our staff is at the core of getting everyone involved in leading your practice into greatness. When I attempt to empower people, it assumes they are not empowered until I give them power, a subtly condescending, top-down view of the world. I’m the king, and at my discretion, I’m giving you some of

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my power. Until I do, you have none. It’s all in my hands. Our job is not to empower them, but engage them. An acorn can help us get our heads around the difference. People are like acorns. When they show up at your practice on the first day, they are a complete acorn, fully empowered to become a great oak tree at your practice or somewhere else, and there is nothing you can do to add to their “acornishness.” Everything they can bring to the game they brought with them when they walked through the door that first morning. Empowerment is up to them, and you can’t add to it. I can’t make them more of an acorn, but I MUST give them every reason to become a great oak tree from day one – that’s engagement. What are we doing to create vision, to motivate, to include, to create incentives, to encourage innovation and highly discretionary effort? “Why should I become an oak tree here?” is everyone’s unspoken question on the first day. And the answer to that “engagement” question lies with the practice ownership, not with the staff. Vision, motivation, inclusion, respect, incentives, believing in their ability to innovate – all of these things and more are the sun, warm ground, fertilizer and water that will make people want to become fully engaged at your practice. What are we doing to make people want to give it everything they have, every day? Empowerment is all on them, but this engagement question is 100 percent on us. Here’s four practical questions to help us create 100-percent engagement: 1) On a scale of 1-10, where do most of your staff function right now? Most practices are functioning from 3-8. Very few assume that everyone should be bringing it all every day and functioning from 8-10. We get what we intend. Are you tolerating average or below average performance, behavior or attitudes in even ONE person? If so, everyone else will be dragged to the bottom with them. By keeping that outlier, you tell everyone it’s OK to perform badly. 2) Who makes the decisions? Managers

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make all the decisions, leaders train others to make decisions, and then they get out of the way. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square says, “When I’m making decisions, I’m not leading.” When we’re making the decisions for others, we communicate very strongly that they are at least not as smart and motivated as us, and that they should wait around for a decision from on high. Then we get mad because nobody is engaged. Here’s a great leadership principle that will create 100-percent engagement: Decisions

Empowerment is all on them, but this engagement question is 100 percent on us. should be made where they have to be carried out. That doesn’t mean anarchy or chaos. You should ask hard questions until you both know they’ve got a good plan, but our default is to just tell them what to do, which is immediately dehumanizing and demotivating. 3) Do you ask, or do you tell? This is an extension of No. 2 above. Managers TELL, leaders ASK. Management is much easier to begin with – “because I went to dental school, that’s why.” I’ve heard that too many times. But all it does is create codependency. Leadership is harder to begin with, but infinitely easier in the long run. Training by asking questions takes patience and real engagement with staff, but when you’re done, there are many of you functioning as fully engaged leaders, not a bunch of “underlings” waiting for the manager to tell them what to do. 4) What are you delegating, tasks or responsibilities? When managers delegate tasks (“put this nut on that bolt”), people feel used, because tasks are for machines. But leaders delegate responsibility (“deliver a great service”), that is a much broader request that requires thinking, solving and deciding. When given responsibility, people take ownership, and

ownership is the most powerful motivator in business. Are you delegating tasks, which simply require action, or delegating responsibility, which requires the whole messy, creative person to show up? Captain David Marquet inherited the worst rated submarine in the US Navy, and in one year he turned it into the best rated submarine. And here’s the kicker, he did it with the same 134 people who had made it the worst. He changed one simple thing – he blew up the Industrial Age practice of “leader-follower” and declared “leader-leader.” Everyone would now be a leader, and we would all lead from our seats and our positions. Instead of barking orders and telling people what to do, he allowed and required (some didn’t want to do it) that people start figuring out what works and then tell him what should be done. His job would be to ask hard questions and make sure they had thought through their decisions. Memorize this statement that we teach dentists every day – it will transform your practice and create 100-percent engagement: The art of leadership is to know how few decisions the leader needs to make. Stop managing and become a leader – stop solving and deciding, and focus instead on asking questions. Everyone will be better off if you do. And you will experience 100-percent engagement – acorns becoming oak trees. It’s a beautiful thing to behold.

Chuck Blakeman is a successful entrepreneur, best-­selling business author and w o r l d -­r e n o w n e d business advisor who built ten businesses in seven industries on four continents, and now uses his experience to advise others. His company, Crankset Group, provides outcome-­ based mentoring and peer advisory or business leaders worldwide.

Dental Entrepreneur Winter 2018 27


Practice Builders As Dental School Graduation Approaches, What’s Next? Dr. Patrick Yancey III

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enior year of dental school is one of the busiest and most exciting times of your life. It also might be a little frightening as you consider your career goals and plans after graduation. Many will join an existing practice and others will open their own. Regardless, young dentists should be thinking ahead to what they’ll need to do to be successful. Continuing education (CE) programs and conferences are a key component in helping prepare you to start and manage a dental practice, learn best practices from experienced dentists and stay abreast of the latest developments in the profession. They also make it possible for you to meet your CE requirements year after year, while making connections that can catapult your career and practice. If you plan to establish a dental practice or even join an existing practice, there are many things to consider that may not have been covered in your dental school coursework. Joining a dental organization like the Hinman Dental Society and attending annual dental conferences like the Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting can help prepare emerging dentists for successful business ownership and provide a professional network that you can always rely upon for the life of your career. Dental associations/societies and the meetings they organize can provide tremendous value to new dentists, including:

groups also provide a network of professionals you can turn to for advice and assistance. Through your membership and active participation, you have access to others who can share best practices, consult with you on difficult or challenging cases, or provide advice on new technologies, equipment and services in the profession. Why re-invent the wheel when you can learn from others who’ve experienced the same challenges?

• CE Designed for New Dentists Fortunately, most of the large dental meetings in the country host special programs tailored for students and emerging dentists. At Hinman, student registration is free and there is a reduced fee for first- and second-year dentists after school. Hinman’s G.O.L.D. (Graduates of the Last Decade) Program is designed specifically for students, residents and new dentists who’ve graduated from dental school in the past 10 years. The program is a half-day session, which focuses primarily on financial and wealth management, as well as other topics that address everything from owning your own dental practice to overcoming the challenges of running a practice as a young dentist.

• Free Hands-On Experiences Just like any profession, there are new advancements in dentistry being introduced daily. To stay abreast of the latest, most major dental conferences and meetings make it easy by hosting hundreds of companies in an exhibit hall where you can try new equipment, products, and technology. Often, you can receive hands-on instruction and see demonstrations of the products and equipment before you decide to invest in them for your practice. Additionally, conferences like Hinman provide complimentary courses for students like their “Hands-On Oral Surgery Workshop,” in which students can hone their oral surgery skills using fresh pig mandibles.

• One-on-One Networking If you are seeking a support system, dental organizations and

• Employment Opportunities Dental organizations also can be a valuable resource for

28 Winter 2018 Dental Entrepreneur

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young dentists searching for a practice to join or for professionals to hire to help grow your practice. Hinman hosts Career Connections every year. It’s a great way to connect with top dental practices and learn of available opportunities. You can review job openings, prioritize the employers that you want to visit and prepare a quick introduction online prior to attending the meeting and networking with potential employers.

Dr. Patrick Yancey III is General Chairman of the 2018 Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting. He is a practicing dentist in historic downtown Newnan, Georgia with his older son, Dr. Patrick Yancey IV. Yancey Dental opened

its doors in 1959 and Dr. Yancey practiced alongside his father for 13 years. He graduated from the Medical College of Georgia’s dental school and is a long-time member of the Hinman Dental Society. For more information on the Hinman Dental Meeting, please visit Hinman.org.

• Social Events As important as it is to attend workshops and lectures from some of the world’s dental authorities, it’s also valuable to socialize with your peers and other experienced dental professionals. Where else will so many dentists gather in one place? Conferences offer many social events that lend themselves to meeting and networking with others in the industry. Often there are special receptions and events just for students. At Hinman, you will find alumni receptions hosted by a variety of dental schools as well as a dental student happy hour in the Hinman Hoops area of the exhibit hall to connect with other students from around the country. While you certainly have the option to complete CE requirements online, it doesn’t replace the experience and network that dental meetings and organizations can clearly provide. Through in-person events, you’ll find the tools needed to embark on your career in dentistry and get set up for success. In a profession that is constantly evolving, it’s also important to stay abreast of the latest developments in order to provide your patients with optimal care. Dental meetings and organizations offer unprecedented value and can be a critical part of your journey as a new dentist.

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Dental Entrepreneur Winter 2018 29


Power to Succeed

Emotional Intelligence: The 5 Core Skills of EQ David Black

A

s a recent graduate of dental school, you have had at least 7-8 years of intense study. I have never met a dental school graduate I believed to have below-average intelligence. That’s not to say I haven’t run into some dentists without common sense who make poor decisions. Beyond graduation, what makes the difference in the those in your class that will make good dentists and GREAT dentists – the rock-stars of the profession – who accomplish things most of us only dream of? Forget the rich and the famous. What makes some dentist hate their job, have a bad marriage, a staff that hates them and patients who NEVER accept the treatment they suggest? Compare this to dentists who are happy and content with their job and marriage, see their staff as a helpful team, and build trusting relationships with their patients. What’s the Difference? All leaders have three essential skill sets in differing degrees. Those skill sets are: 1. Operational skills: This is what you’ve been concentrating on all those years in dental school. It’s how you become technically excellent in dental procedures. This is a baseline skill, a minimum requirement to function as a dentist. There was a student in our class that had As in all the basic science classes ... but we were in a second semester laboratory course, doing a wax-up and setting teeth on a denture project. In the last week of the semester, he took his project to the instructor for approval. The instructor told him it was not acceptable and needed much improvement. He looked at the wax-up for a minute and walked to the trash can, threw it in the trash and walked slowly down the hall to the Dean’s office. With his intelligence, he is probably a PhD somewhere, but he did not have a baseline “hands” skills needed to be a dentist.
 2. Cognitive Abilities: This includes analytical reasoning we 30 Winter 2018 Dental Entrepreneur

use in our business and interpersonal relationships. It also includes the ability to diagnose and plan the appropriate treatment choices for each patient. We have to be able to gather information, process all the choices available and communicate what is needed with the patient. This is tied in a lot of ways to your basic intelligence, your IQ. 
 3. Emotional Intelligence: This is the ability to work with others and be effective in leading change. I believe this third quality is the one major attribute that makes the biggest difference in who is good at dentistry and who is GREAT.

What are the Five Core Skills of Emotional Intelligence? 1. Self-Awareness: You have to first know yourself. We all have certain emotions that operate in us at different degrees at different times. A good exercise to help you understand your range and level of emotion is to take one hour during the day and allow yourself a brief mental break every 10 minutes. This break will only be a few seconds, and you need to do two things: determine what emotion you’re having at that moment and what situation caused that emotion. Write it

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down. You will have six notes after that single hour. Repeat this process one hour each day for a week. Then, take a few minutes to reflect on what you wrote down – the situations, the emotions and how you reacted what was happening in your life at that moment. Highlight the emotions to see what repeats. Highlight the situations that caused those emotions. The exercise will help you understand what situations cause what emotions. You can then reflect on this as a beginning to self-awareness. You’ll also need to determine how you react to certain things and decide how that affects your mood and performance.
Another way to learn this is find a time to be quiet and be REFLECTIVE, to just be quiet occasionally and think about what is going on in your life. You can learn about yourself if you quiet your mind enough. Yoga is a popular way to do this. The way I prefer is to read scripture or inspirational material and just meditate on it. 
 2. Self-Realization: Once you’ve started to be aware of your emotions and what causes them, you’ll have to decide which emotions are positive and which ones are negative. Next, you need to decide what range of emotion is acceptable and which ones you will need to address. You may decide there are certain situations you will need to avoid and others you may need to change. You will also realize what causes you to have pleasure to experience more of those situations. You need to understand you are in charge of how you react to your range of emotions. 
 3. Knowing Others: This also could be called EMPATHY; putting yourself into other’s shoes. Everyone has the same type emotions, whether that is happiness, sadness, anger, excitement

32 Winter 2018 Dental Entrepreneur

or depression. Each person will have the same type and range of emotions, but they also may react very differently than you to the same situation. To interact with each individual, you need to listen to their story and make an interpretation of how they react. When put yourself in their shoes, you’ll have a better idea of how to have a positive relationship with that person. Reading people is often about asking questions and listening. If you ask the right questions, you most often will discover much about who people are and what they want. 
 One of the tools I found useful to understand myself and others is the DiSC personality tool. It classifies people into four general types, with many subcategories. DOMINANT personalities, are people who want action and are very direct. INFLUENCER personalities tend to be high-energy, talkative people who want to be the center of attention. STEADINESS personalities tend to be gentle and accommodating. They want to keep the peace. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS personalities tend to be analytical and reserved with a strong focus on detail. Knowing more about a person’s personality gives you a starting place, along to Listening to their story, to get to know them and have empathy for their situation. 4. Manage Your Social Skills: This is the application of the first three skills. You have to know yourself, your emotional range and what situations create problems or pleasure for you. You then can apply this same range of understanding to the people you are interacting with and develop empathy for their situation. Developing your team is an individual, one-on-one

activity when done best. Each person is different and has different things that will motivate or demotivate. The same principle is used to understand the needs of your patients and guide them through the diagnostic and treatment of their dental needs. As an example, I am a combination of Di. I am direct and have a high need to get things done NOW. A mistake I often make is to approach others from my style, assuming I can get them to act immediately, when in fact they may need more detail or time before they are ready to move forward. If I don’t recognize this, there will be conflict and no agreement until I realize their needs. We have to approach people in their style to get a cooperative group decision. None of these first four steps is something you take a seminar and immediately apply. It is simple, but it is not easy or fast. You learn it by becoming self-aware or reflective. You then can learn to control your range of emotions when experiencing certain situations, which also takes time to develop. Then, and only then, can you start to be effective in applying it to your team and patients. 
 5. Motivation: In some later literature, self-motivation was mentioned as a fifth attribute. It is a drive to achieve beyond their own and others’ expectations. I personally think you can’t teach someone to be self-motivated. You can discipline yourself to be more motivated until it becomes a habit, but it comes from within, not an external force. 
 What is Dental EQ? Dental EQ is the application of all these principles to the

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practice of dentistry. How do you act with staff and patients? What upsets your day? Who on your schedule makes you break out in a sweat? How do you learn the necessary skills to be able to handle the worst day and the worst patients? On the other side, what brings you pleasure and a sense of accomplishment? What do you want to do more of? I truly believe that our ability to become technically excellent is directly related to the effort we put forth. FEWER of us spend the necessary time and study to develop great communication skills and the ability to be emotionally intelligent enough that we rise to a different level in our practice. With this extra, different tool, clients accept treatment because we spent the time to know their needs and how to develop a trust. Dental EQ leads

to both clinical excellence and emotional maturity that helps turn us from good to GREAT. The first step toward your Emotional Intelligence is to realize that this is an essential skill that is required to be exceptional, eventually committing to spend the time to master it.

Dr. Black practice dentistry for 45 years before retiring from private practice to teach, volunteer in Free Clinics and with students in residency programs. He also gives keynote talks on dental and Leadership subjects, as well as longer seminars and talks. Dr. Black’s interest in Emotional Intelligence

has come from a natural extension of his consulting experiences and his interest in Leadership in the dental office. After study of Personality Types in DiSC studies by Wiley Co and Pat Lencioni’s “Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, the natural progression was why are some bosses better leaders than others. Dr. Black was led to the seminal work on the subject, “Emotional Intelligence”, by Goleman and also to a related work, “Sales EQ”, by Blount. Dr. Black thought this same information could be applied to dentistry and how dental Leaders who are successful apply their EQ to their relationships and their business. You can find shorter e-books on subjects of dental transitions on his Website- Pinpoint Dental Consulting.

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Dental Entrepreneur Winter 2018 33


Power to Succeed How to Not Fail Miserably as you Graduate David Rice, DDS

D

4’s, get ready…homestretch ahead. D1-D3’s, getting ready early… is exactly what you need.

As a D23, practice owner, and founder of igniteDDS, everyday, I get asked what the most successful young dentists do differently. The short story…they become president and CEO of their personal corporation. Translation… Like all top CEO’s, these students formalize their inner circle. AKA, they build a personal advisory board. Here’s the skinny on HOW. First: 1. Name 2 people who’s lives, represent who you want to be. 2. Name one person you trust who sees life like you do. 3. Name one person you trust who will challenge your choices.

Second: 1. Secure a financial advisor. 2. Secure an accountant. 3. Secure an attorney.

Third: 1. Ask those 7 to join YOUR advisory board. 2. Set an initial 30 minute virtual meeting. 3. Get a commitment on a standing monthly meeting time. Remember: As you lead, your board will follow…or not. You’ll want your meetings to be concise, creative and collaborative. That said, these meetings are really checkpoints and a measure of accountability. The real work happens in between via each board members suggestions, findings and recommendations. Creating a shared google doc or working with apps like Asana streamline this process.

34 Winter 2018 Dental Entrepreneur

The Initial Agenda: 1. Welcome; thank you; quick intro. (You, 2 minutes) 2. Board member intros. (You lead the order, they speak, 14 minutes) 3. Share your vision. (You, 2 minutes) 4. Ask each board member for one initial thought. (You lead, all answer, 11 minutes) 5. Thank you/verify next meeting time. (You, 1 minute)

Want to learn more? • Check out our latest edition of CRUSH and other ebooks at https://ignitedds.com/app/ebooks • Email me directly at david.rice@ignitedds.com and DE and igniteDDS will show you the way

Until then…

Together We Rise!

Dr. David Rice, DDS graduated cum laude in 1994 from The State University of New York at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine. In 1995, he completed his general practice residency from the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. With a strong belief in continuing education and mentorship, Dr. Rice went on to complete continuums at the Pankey Institute, The Dawson Center and The Spear Center all while building the Restorative Practice of his dreams and maintaining an associate clinical professorship at the SUNYab School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Rice combined his passions for teaching, mentoring and making a difference and igniteDDS was born. Today he continues to maintain his private practice and travels the country inspiring dentistry’s future to live their dream, have great success and to make that same difference that has brought him so much joy.

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WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU. For over 100 years, Patterson Dental has built relationships with practices of all kinds, listening to needs and delivering industry-leading solutions. From office design to dental supplies, we offer the help you need to create the ideal practice environment. And a de-stressed office means you’re free to provide the best possible care to every patient.

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Your Guide to Practice Success


Dental Trade Shows 2018 Mid-Winter Meeting of the Chicago Dental Society February 22 -24, 2018 McCormick Place Chicago, IL Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting March 22 -24, 2018 Georgia World Congress Center Atlanta, GA ADA Annual Session October 18-22 Hawaii Convention Center Honolulu, HI Greater New York Dental Meeting November 23-28 Exhibit Dates November 25-28 Jacob K. Javits Convention Center New York, NY March 22-24, 2018

WINTER 2018

Roaring Into Your Future! Katherine Eitel Belt

Growing Your Business in the Information Age: A Millennial’s Perspective Minal Samplat

You Are Enough! Jasmin Haley

PLUS:

The Greatest Gift I Never Received The Analytical Mind vs. The Emotional Mind Sharing Practice Operations With Your Spouse Or Partner

dew.life

Dental Entrepreneur Woman

1

Index of Advertisers ADS Dental Transitions South……………………………………………………………........................... 13 ADS Dental Transitions…………………………………………………………….................................... 33 D5............................................................................................................................................. 35 Dental Care Alliance..................................................................................................................... 13 DeW.Life .................................................................................................................................... 31 Henry Schein Nationwide ............................................................................................................. 37 Hinman...................................................................................................................................... 29 MacPractice................................................................................................................................ 25 Orascoptic .................................................................................................................................. 21 Paragon...................................................................................................................................... 15 Patterson Dental........................................................................................... Inside front cover/page 1 The Progressive Dentist.................................................................................................................. 9 Wells Fargo......................................................................................................................Back cover 36 Winter 2018 Dental Entrepreneur

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To get started, call 1-888-937-2321 or visit wellsfargo.com/demagazine to request your free Preparing for Ownership workbook. Wells Fargo Practice Finance is the only practice lender selected especially for ADA® members and endorsed by ADA Business ResourcesSM.

All financing is subject to credit approval. ADA® is a registered trademark of the American Dental Association. ADA Business ResourcesSM is a service mark of the American Dental Association. ADA Business Resources is a program brought to you by ADA Business Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Dental Association. © 2017 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Wells Fargo Practice Finance is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. 3153-1216 WFPF-Ad-Dental-Entrepreneur-Winter-2017


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