What to Consider Before Starting Your Own Dental Clinic

For most dentists, the idea of starting a dental practice is appealing. After all, it provides limitless earning potential as well as the chance to be your own boss. If you are thinking about taking the leap and starting your own practice, though, there are a few things to consider first – here they are.

The Costs

Starting a dental clinic is very expensive; you could end up spending £250K just getting the practice up and running. Of course, there are business loans to help you out, but you’ll still need to ensure your business is profitable enough in the future to make it back and more.

It’s not just the initial costs that you have to worry about, though – the ongoing costs are hefty, too. So, before you decide to start your own clinic, you must consider how you will pay for everything.

The Equipment You’ll Need

A large part of the initial and ongoing costs will be dental equipment. Before opening your clinic, you must think about the dental supplies you’ll need and who will be your supplier. Remember – a lower price doesn’t always mean cheaper, especially if you have to replace equipment in the first year.

The Location

The location can make or break your clinic, so you must find somewhere that is densely populated without too much competition. If there is nearby competition, think about what you can offer that no one else does.

You should also consider whether you will start the dentist from scratch or if you will purchase an already equipped dental practice. There are benefits to both – purchasing one already there will cut down on your renovation times, whereas starting from scratch will allow you to be more selective with the location.

How to Market Your Practice

You need to attract patients for your practice to be profitable. To do this, you’ll have to put time, effort, and money into marketing. Plus, it’s not something you just do at the beginning – to ensure your clinic stays up and running, you’ll need to stay up to date with the latest marketing strategies and use the right ones for your business to grow.

How Profitable it Will Be

You can’t go into running a dental practice expecting it to be instantly profitable. It takes time for most clinics to turn over a decent profit, with most only earning around £40K in the first year, so you’ll need to be patient and make sure you can get by financially during this time.

How Much Time It Takes

An ordinary dentist career is like most other jobs in terms of time in that you often won’t work over forty hours per week. As an owner, though, you’ll need to dedicate a lot more of your time, so consider how much you have to spare before jumping in.

Why You Want to Open Your Own

For your clinic to thrive, you must go into opening it with the right intentions. Why do you want a dental practice? If the answer is because you want to give staff a positive workspace, build a great profit, and provide patients with excellent oral care, then the chances are, you’re destined for success.

Thanks to Zoe