While there are several solutions dental practices can focus on to remain financially stable during times of economic crisis, there is one in particular that stands out among the others.
Smile Makers Dental Center CEO Geith Kallas, DDS, and Fireside Dental Co. CFO John Bell recently joined Becker’s virtual event to discuss how macroeconomic challenges have affected dental practices over the last couple of years and what can be done to ensure financial success.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What can dental practices do to prepare for the next potential economic downturn or any other economic challenges that we may see down the line?
Dr. Geith Kallas: It’s all about the culture of the organization, keeping team members happy, keeping team members solid and serving the mission statement of that organization. When you do that, you’re going to have happy patients. Dentistry is all about people … If you keep [patients] coming back, that dental practice is going to flourish. It’s going to always be doing well. To do that, you need to invest in the team members and make them the best they can be. [Also,] go and search for what is the best, from equipment to materials to technologies. All of this is going to keep the practice thriving. You don’t need to invest in marketing as much if you can keep the base of patients that you have. It’s really all about keeping the patients coming back.
John Bell: The number one thing practices can do in a good economy, a bad economy, you name it, is build a great culture. Make sure you’ve got the right people in the right seat, and take care of them because if you’ve got a strong team — people who are tenured, they’re well trained and they’ve got the right attitude — you can prosper in a great economy, and that team will find solutions and stick together when in a challenging time.
Let’s assume the economy picks up, and as I mentioned, I believe asset prices will continue to rise. If you’re an owner of a practice, your 401K, whatever it is, your stock holdings are likely going to go up. If you own a home, the value of that’s going to go up. I think dentists need to be careful that as their net worth is increasing and it starts to feel good and like you’re getting some relief, that you keep that focus on, “Alright, well, I’m going to stay disciplined in my practice, and in addition to improving the culture, I’m going to adopt and drive an attitude of continuous improvement.” I’m going to figure out, how can I get my supply costs down? If I have some debt and things are good, maybe I want to be really intentional about trying to pay down or eliminate that practice debt during a good time and not get caught up in the euphoria of a good market and get sort of fat and happy, as we like to say, and then when things do slow down, you wish you made some investments of time and resources to prepare for that.
