Dentists, what does a billionaire and a beggar have in common? - Dr Kinnar Shah

The funny thing about business is that quite often you need to make decisions like you’re already a billionaire, even if you’re not. Now, why would I say something so bold? How could you make a billion-dollar decision if you’ve never been a billionaire? How would you even know what a billionaire decision is?

Let me save you the pondering. Let me give you the punch line right up-front. The only thing a billionaire and a beggar have in common is time. Despite their economic polarity they each have 24 hours in a day and 7 days a week.

The billionaire has exactly the same amount of time as the beggar, they have just used it differently. How people spend their time determines their outcomes. A billionaire uses their time in a way that compounds their dollars without stealing from their time.

THE ONE RULE THAT WILL RADICALLY CHANGE YOUR PRACTICE FOREVER

Now, have you ever heard of The Pareto Principle? Or what is commonly known as the 80/20 rule? It was named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who realised that 80% of consequences (results) come from 20% of the causes (actions). For example, 20% of certain clinical procedures could drive 80% of the practice’s profit, or 20% of a unique marketing campaign style could drive 80% of New Patient Enquiries.

As a Practice Owner, look at what actions you focus on. You need to know how much time you are allocating towards practice growth strategies that constitute this top 20% and the ones which are responsible for 80% of your practice profit and success.

The old adage “Time is money” is true. You may have eight working hours a day. Your staff have eight working hours a day. But what you’re doing with those hours determines your level of success. Those eight hours can be focused on high yielding activities or they can be focused on running around trying to do everything all at once.

I have worked in Dentistry for 20 years and in a nutshell, here’s what I did to achieve a “$1M per chair” practice. I say this from several years of initial failure, which has shaped my experience and mindset to date. Thousands of Dentists have attended my seminars over the past 8 years and what became apparent was that whilst they are time-poor, they tend to focus on the wrong elements. Due to attending various seminars I have hosted, several dentists have managed to shift their focus and energy to deliver a more unique and beneficial patient-centered experience.

With my practice, ‘Smile Concepts’, I focused on what brought me 80% results from 20% of my and my team’s time. Simple. In other words, we focused on high yielding important actions that drove business success and brought in 80% of the results and stopped wasting time with fluff activities.

SO, WHAT ARE THE HIGH YIELDING IMPORTANT ACTIONS?

Now, just before I reveal these super actions (which I call STRATEGIES), allow me to give you my definition between a system and a strategy.

A system = what everyone does and needs to implement.

A strategy = a system done in a unique way.

For example, how to switch a computer/autoclave on, is a system. There’s no unique way of switching it on. But, if I tell you how to deliver a 7 Star Customer Experience or a Marketing Plan, that’s a strategy. There’s a unique way to do it.

Strategies set you apart from the crowd. You don’t have the herd mentality. Systems are part of the everyday running of a business.

Therefore, a strategy is the most important focus because it includes a system done in a unique way. It is strategies that will help you explode your business growth.

I believe there are 10 powerful strategies that can propel your dental practice to incredible heights, making it a “$1M per chair” practice. I say this because I’ve done it and I’ve helped many dentists achieve this.

These 10 Strategies are mainly focused on creating immense value for your patients. I call it the Patient Value Journey.

Allow me to reveal these 10 exclusive strategies to you:

I want you to think about the above 10 strategies and its significance to acquiring more new patients, giving them the ultimate patient-focused experience, building loyalty and how these will truly help you level up your practice growth.

These 10 strategies will start you thinking and implementing new ways to set yourself apart. You need to be unique and different because often the biggest challenges facing dentists is competition. Competition rises. Thus, you need a catchy way to stand above the rest. Moreover, it is critical to understand that 80% of these strategies are implemented by your team. Hence, your team needs to be trained exceptionally well in these strategies.

There are two kinds of people out there; those who criticize and complain and those who go and get results. In our dental industry, most practice owners are giving excuses rather than getting results. Or, focused on systems, rather than strategies.

In my home country, Kenya, we have a saying that you all know. It’s ‘Hakuna Matata’, which best translates to ‘no worries’. This laid back attitude is great to have a stress free life, yet it also doesn’t get you very far. For the lions out there, the ones hungry for success, freedom and independence, that saying only goes so far. We do worry, in fact if things don’t go well, we tend to worry all the time.

I remember those days very well. Sleepless nights because my business wasn’t financially securing my family’s needs. If you are familiar with that pressure and the pain that comes with it, I’ve got good news for you. There is a way to escape the rat race… your practice can do well. It just needs a few little adjustments and strong leadership.

My challenge to you is to give up criticizing and complaining and start training and implementing these 10 strategies. Begin to grow today, not tomorrow.

For a practice to really boom, it takes some time to mature and grow, but it certainly doesn’t take forever. Implementing these 10 strategies uniquely will help you accelerate your practice growth. It will help you step up and stand out from your competition.

Over the next few editions, I will delve into my top 10 high yielding strategies of success in further detail, to help you skyrocket your dental practice by design, not by default.

So stay tuned for more education and entertainment where we will go more in depth on the 10 powerful strategies!