Five Steps To Business Success: Step One

In the dynamic world of dentistry, achieving business success is essential for practitioners, each for different reasons. However, amidst the complexities of running a dental practice, one universal truth remains – great dentistry cannot thrive without a successful, thriving business at its core. At Dentally from Henry Schein One we’re here to help you achieve this. 

It's a two-way relationship; the business empowers the dentistry, and the dentistry fuels the business. So, what does it take to achieve this crucial business success? From supporting over 40,000 practices across North America, we know the answer is refreshingly simple: 

1. Compelling Vision: A clear, compelling vision serves as the guiding light for you and your team. It sets the tone, shapes the culture, and inspires everyone within the practice towards a common goal. 

2. Get Focused: Focus is the secret sauce that turns vision into reality. It's about channelling your energy, resources, and efforts towards the most impactful actions, driving the practice towards its goals. 

3. Keep Score: Monitoring progress and key metrics is crucial. It's about having a clear understanding of where your practice stands and using that data to adjust and improve continuously. 

4. Make Time for What Matters: Time is precious, and how we allocate it shapes our success. Have you ever documented all daily tasks in your practice, assessing their value versus time-wasting activities? Having the time is about priorities so find out what you can automate and reallocate your time. 

5. Execute Consistently: Consistency is key. It’s the steady, relentless pursuit of excellence and the daily commitment to doing the simple, sustainable things that build success over time. 

Over the next few weeks, we will be providing you with everything you need to build a thriving practice with our series ‘Five Steps To Business Success’: 

• Join us for a two-part webinar with your Canadian Henry Schein One team 

• A series of blogs to revisit the topics covered 

• A FREE downloadable workbook with practical ideas on how to put your new findings into practice 

Today, we begin our journey with step one: Creating a clear, actionable vision and strategy for your dental practice. 

We encourage you to take advantage of our exclusive downloadable resource, which accompanies this series to support you in implementing these steps, ensuring you can begin to seamlessly integrate these actions within your practice. 

In part one of our webinar, we delve into the persistent challenges facing dental practices across Canada. We explore the national shortages of dental professionals, the regional variations in job growth, and the costly impact of staff turnover. We’ve seen these hurdles lead not only to operational disruptions but also a need to review the workplace environment and team dynamics, which are paramount for the success of your practice. 

Although recruitment may seem like a ready solution, investing in staff retention presents a far more cost-effective and rewarding approach. 

We also introduced Patrick Lencioni's framework which highlights "The Three Signs of a Miserable Job," which includes anonymity, immeasurability, and irrelevance—the core elements contributing to job dissatisfaction. By tackling these areas with a strong practice vision and the steps we set out in this series, you will create an environment of fulfillment and engagement – in turn, setting yourself up for success in the current state of the industry. 

The Vision 

You must differentiate between having a purpose and having a strategy. While strategy encompasses the steps to achieve results, the vision and purpose fuel the passion to reach those achievements.  

It's about understanding the answer to "Why do we exist?" and "What are we aiming towards? 

Imagine two flights—one with a defined destination and path, the other without. Which one instills more confidence? Your practice is like a flight, and your team relies on you for a sense of direction and assurance. Without it, you risk disengagement and inefficiency, making it difficult for your team to feel a sense of accomplishment. 

The key to an effective vision is ensuring it resonates with the team. It’s more than a monthly salary—it is the picture on the puzzle box that helps everyone see how their piece fits into the grand scheme. An aligned vision promotes enthusiasm, unity, and satisfaction within the team, setting the foundations for reaching practice success. 

The Practical Steps  

We encourage you to take advantage of our exclusive downloadable resource, which accompanies this series to support you in seamlessly integrating these actions within your practice. 

In the workbook, you will find: 

• A framework to support you in organizing an inclusive vision-building session with your entire team. 

• A template to help you ‘find your hedgehog’. 

 Start today by downloading your free workbook and take your first step towards a unified vision and strategy for your practice.