Over the last 2 years, give or take, we have been on a roller coaster ride – emotionally, economically, and socially. For months at a time, we have adjusted and re-adjusted to closures and different stages of re-openings. People’s work lives and vocations have changed with many opting to work virtually from home and others opening home-based businesses. This “new normal” has resulted in significant changes. In the dental industry, we now have more stringent infection control protocols, new processes for patient visits, physical changes to our clinical spaces as well as more staffing challenges. This issue of The Professional Advisory guides you through shifting paradigms in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic so you can transition to a new level both, professionally and personally.
In the first article, “Manage Your Premises Event Horizon”, Ian Toms recommends dentists consider a reasonable timeline of practice, first, when choosing premises for a practice. Often, our clinical practice time span is not what we consider at the outset of setting up, relocating a practice, or renegotiating lease renewal terms. However, “working backwards” with this timeline can eliminate future hassles and hiccups. Dr. Weintraub’s article, “The Urgency of Optimizing Internal Opportunities for Clinical and Financial Growth”, encourages us to look within our practices rather than externally for ways to increase productivity and revenue. In this changing landscape, practice teams are invaluable as they have a wealth of information at the ready that can be reviewed, reconsidered, and put into action to help the practice grow by shifting internal processes.
Through the pandemic, dentists experienced degrees of high and low points. As David Chong Yen’s article, “COVID- 19’s Subtle and Pervasive Impact on Dentists” illustrates with a retrospective view of the last 2 years, dentists’ perspectives have changed, they have “gotten their houses in
order” proactively and have adapted to the unstable environment which has allowed them to thrive.
“What to Expect When Selling Your Practice” by Colin Ross reminds potential vendors that a successful sale results from preparedness. Dentists willing to sell their practices must alter their mindsets to view their practices from the perspective of a prospective buyer and maintain some flexibility to realize the best outcome.
For dentists looking to purchase a practice, David Rosenthal provides a “Legal Checklist to Purchase a Dental Practice” that will help eliminate issues that can be challenging later in the purchase process. Again, a shift to being more proactive earlier on in the process will reduce overall stress for all involved.
Lastly, “Live Off Your Dividends – Never Eat into Your Capital” by Mark McNulty shows us that by modifying our outlook on investments, our capital can literally pay off dividends that will sustain us. His team speaks to the ways in which money can be invested so that it generates cash flow.
Practically every aspect of our daily lives has been affected by the pandemic and yet, as professionals we are more resilient than we sometimes realize. With an everchanging world, we must remain agile and fluid in our minds as well as our businesses to be successful. From all of us at The
Professional Advisory, we wish you the very best that 2022 has to offer!
