The One Choice that can Set the Future of Your Practice

Tired of feeling like growth is always easier for someone else? We pull back the curtain on the real pivot point in practice ownership: not a lucky break, better reimbursements, or a unicorn office manager, but a clear decision to lead as CEO. Once that identity shifts, everything changes—how you spend your time, what you tolerate, how your team shows up, and how fast the numbers move.


If you’re ready to stop reacting and start designing a team-driven, profitable practice with real freedom, join me for a live, virtual training that’s recorded for replay: dentalpracticeheroes.com/freedom. Subscribe, share this with a colleague who needs the push, and leave a review telling us the one thing you’re done tolerating. Your next chapter starts with a choice.

Come Join us at the DPH Live Retreat in Tennessee April 24th-26th.   Click Here for More Info and to Register

Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life

We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams.

Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

Transcript

Who This Show Is For

Paul Etchison 1:54

All right, so this podcast, our podcast, the Dental Practice Heroes Podcast, this is a podcast for dental practice owners, but not just any dental practice owner, a certain type of dental practice owner. Now, if we look back and we go back like 10 years, there was, you know, not that many podcasts. I mean, I've been doing this eight years now, since 2017. Dear lord, it's been nine. Back then there was maybe 20 or 30 podcasts. Now there's like a hundred, I think. There's like so many, and I feel like they pop up every day, which is cool. I mean, it's one of the things about a podcast is you can literally just start one. It's not like you have to be recruited by some talent agency. I mean, you just record things and you release them into the world, and hopefully people like them. But this podcast, I mean, it's developed over the years, and it's for practice owners that typically want to run a very profitable, efficient practice and want to make a lot of money and hopefully want to take good care of your patients and good care of your team. But nonetheless, at the root of it, looking at episode titles that perform well, you might think that the audience of this podcast is really just interested in making a lot of money, which that's okay. Money is cool and money does a lot of things for us. But since you're a practice owner or you're somebody who wants to be a practice owner very soon, I want to ask you a question. Do you ever feel like you're just stuck? Do you ever feel like you're just spinning your wheels, like you're doing the same thing year after year, and you're getting to the point where it's getting kind of old. And you look at other people that you know or that you graduated school with, or and you wonder why practice success is so much easier for them than it is for you. Or maybe you're listening to this podcast and you're listening to me thinking that, or you're listening to this podcast and you're listening to some of my guests that are interview. I don't know. It just seems like the grass is greener, and that's a trap that we can get ourselves into as practice owners. There's got to be some point in your thought process where you might have thought, well, maybe they just got lucky, and maybe you are just unlucky. So then you tell yourself things like, oh, it's it's the staff. I just can't find the team I need. Uh, it's the insurance, we're just not getting reimbursements like we used to. The DSOs are making it, they're screwing up everything. The stupid interest rates and the economy, it's a down year, and it's just the way the dentistry is now. It's just not the golden age like it used to be. But deep down, I really think that you know something uncomfortable. I think you know that there is this small possibility, just possible, that nothing has changed and you might feel stuck because you just haven't been fully in on that decision to change it. And that decision could be scary because deep down, you might really feel that even if you make that decision, you aren't sure how to change it. And maybe if you did know how to change it, you don't have the skills to actually carry it through. You might be tolerating the team dynamics at your office. You might be tolerating a single employee that you don't think you can lose because maybe he or she has so many patients that like them in the town, or they're really popular in the town, or that they have a lot of social power with the rest of the team. And it causes you to tolerate this chaos and you tolerate the stress at your practice and you chalk it up to being like, just this is normal. This is part of practice ownership. I've thought that, I have felt that. I've been I've said that to myself. Like, it's not, this is practice ownership, and I gotta get used to it. You gotta, I gotta change your my expectations. I have to, I have to be comfortable with this. And fact of the matter is, that never really worked very well for me. And I'm guessing it's not working very well for you. See, you're tolerating being exactly where you are, tolerating getting exactly the results that you're getting. So, for today, for this episode, I want you to listen to this one and really take it in. I want you to get honest with yourself and really ask yourself these questions about what I'm gonna talk about. Because I do believe that you just haven't decided yet. And I'm gonna challenge this idea that you're trapped by your circumstances. I want you to explore that possibility that most practice owners, they're not really stuck at all. They're just operating without that magic decision. And once they make that decision and truly internalize it, everything else can just become the logistics of how do we do it. So that's what we're talking about today. How do you create the exact type of practice that you've always wanted? When we zoom out on a macro level, not talking about the how, what are the little things that we do, but we zoom out what is the big decision that we have to decide, and what are the things that we really need to come to grips with if we're gonna make this happen? Now you are listening to the Dental Practice Heroes podcast, where we teach you how to create a team-driven practice that allows you to make a ton of money, take a ton of time off, and take great care of your patients and your team in the process. I'm your host, Dr. Paul Etchison. I'm the author of two books on dental practice management, a dental coach, and the owner of a large group practice in the south suburbs of Chicago that has collected over six million dollars a year. So if you're looking to be the owner of a practice that operates like that, you are in the right place because that's what we talk about. All right, let's dive into our topic today. Now I want to rewind and tell you a little bit about my story. I graduated in 2009. I took an associateship and I started just taking some CEs. I started like, you know, learning more about Inbezzaline, I was taking an endo course and stuff like that. But I took this practice management course and it really just like lit this ball of fire under me because I saw what was possible with practice ownership. And at that point, I wasn't talking anything about profit, making money or anything like that. I was just seeing that wow, you can really get intentional about the kind of experience and the kind of practice that you want to run. So I came back to my associateship and I was telling like my coworkers, hey, like I just took this class, I really think this is a good idea. Why don't we try doing things this way? Why don't we try changing up this system? I think we could take better care of patients, I think it would make it easier for everybody. Maybe you've had a similar experience. Nobody was as excited about it as I was. I mean, I was the one, I just couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to have that type of practice. They wouldn't want to take care of people that way. So I was like pushing everybody up the hill. Let's go, let's do this. I remember talking to my boss and being like, What do you think about this? Maybe we should have more meetings. I think we should do this. And he would just like, oh yeah, yeah, it's okay, yeah, I'll think about that. But in reality, he was probably like, dude, shut up. Like, you're just an associate. Shut the hell up. You're being annoying. I'm busy. I've got other things to do. So essentially, after running into a wall with the things that I wanted to do at my associateship, the things I wanted to change, practice ownership started looking more and more palatable. And I started to think, you know what? I think I'm ready. I'm at a point where I'm not having a lot of questions about the patients I'm treating. I feel pretty comfortable where I could be at a practice on my own because I was at this practice, it was a group practice. There was a lot of dentists there. It was really nice. It was a great learning experience. So it was time that I really decided like, what does this look like? Am I ready to open a practice? Now you know how it is. Now, I graduated in 2009. I had 230,000 in dental school debt. I know that's nothing near what people have now, but you know what? That was a lot of money to me back then. And I was also a doctor, so I had to buy a truck I couldn't afford. This was 2009, so coming right out of the housing crisis. Of course, me and my wife bought a house in 2006 that we got a loan for. I don't know how, because she had a job as a hygienist. She was making like maybe 60k a year or something like that at that point. And here's how here's how we got a loan. My father-in-law put$3,000 into our checking account and we had to let it sit there for a month, and then we had to bring in the checking account statement that showed that we had$3,000 to our name. And they're like, Yes, we will give you a loan for$300,000 for a house. And that's just the way it was back then. And then all of a sudden, we get this house and I'm a dentist and I'm paying for it. And I thought, like, you know, I was gonna be making a ton of money and I was gonna pay off these debts really fast, but shit, it doesn't work like that. So here's the debt I had. I had about$230,000 in school loan debt. I had about$70,000 of credit card debt that we racked up while we while I was in dental school. I had two cars that had payments and just a number of other bills. And I remember saying to my wife, I really want to open a practice. And she said, I just don't think it's the right time. I'm worried about like our debts. This seems very risky. And you know how it is. Like, I mean, if you're if you're a guy, sometimes we're a lot more risk tolerant than our wives are. But I was like, I really want to. And it helped because I was so frustrated at my associateship that I felt like I really wanted to take that jump. But nonetheless, it was risky and I was scared. And I remember sitting there and looking at all my debt and going through, lining up what the interest rates are, trying to come up with a plan. Let's pay off some debt, let's get in a little bit better of a situation, then we'll open the practice. And I wrote it all down and I found out at the current rate I was going, it was gonna take like nine years to pay off all that debt. And I'm like 28 at this point, and I'm like, dude, like 37 years old, like nine years from now, opening a practice. I don't think I could be an associate for nine more years. So I made the decision. I said, I'm jumping in. I'm going to do it. And one of my favorite quotes is from Ray Bradbury. He's an author. He was giving a commencement speech to Brown University, and he said, Sometimes you just gotta jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down. And I was convinced I was all in that that's exactly what I was gonna do. I didn't know how to run a practice, I didn't know how it was gonna go, but I decided that I was all in and I was gonna do everything I could to figure it out. Now, fast forward three years after opening, what happened? We were really successful. It was going really well. And I paid off all of that debt in three years, roughly about$340,000 worth of debt. And what the moral of the story is, I made that decision. And everything changed when I made that decision. There's a moment in every practice owner's life where they're looking at their practice, they're looking at the results that they're getting, and they make the decision where they say, I'm no longer willing to tolerate being the overwhelmed dentist. I'm no longer willing to tolerate this teen culture that I'm dealing with. I'm deciding, I'm making the decision that I'm going to be the CEO. I'm going to run this like a business. And you step into that CEO role. In that moment, it doesn't happen because you hire the perfect person. It doesn't happen because you find some office manager that just left their job and they're going to come into your office and they're going to fix all of your issues. It doesn't happen because the economy changes or the interest rates drop or the insurance reimbursements increase. It happens because you decide and your identity changes in that moment. And that identity change, it changes your behavior. And once you become that CEO, you start blocking out the CEO time and you start designing the practice that you've always wanted. You stop tolerating the toxic behavior and you get clear about what you want. So I want you to think about making that decision. What are you tolerating in your office? What are you accepting? Are you accepting mediocre systems? Are you accepting collecting between one and two million and saying that's awesome? And you're like, and don't get me wrong, that is awesome. I'm happy for you. Are you accepting it that that's the level that you want to crush it at? Or do you want to crush it more? Because you can get stuck in a comfort zone. And if you're comfortable in a good way, great. But most dentists, they're kind of like just comfortable enough. They're not really happy, they're not really thriving, they're not really free, but they're comfortable enough. The revenue, maybe it's decent. Like I said, one between between one and two million. The stress, it's high, but it's manageable, it's part of owning a practice. The team's frustrated and sometimes they piss you off, but you know, if they're they're working out, it's functional. Just challenge that thought because it's kind of dangerous, because it keeps you from building what's actually possible. And what's possible, you're totally capable of. I wish I could just grab you by the shoulders and shake you up and get you to understand what your potential is. You know, I got this three-day seminar I'm doing this week. I'm doing it this Thursday night. I still got a few seats if you want to take it. But these are the things that I'm teaching. It's not just like the systems and the nuts and bolts, but I'm really teaching how do you make that move? How do you implement, how do you bring your team along? But at the beginning of the seminar, we're really going to talk about making that decision, that that's what you want. Because I think making these changes truly, they are at the root just about making the decision. Now, if you're interested in that class, go to dentalpracticeheroes.com slash freedom. It will be virtual. So we're recording it just in case you can't make it. But also, so if you want to show some parts to your team that you think are great, because we're going A to Z, everything practice management, you're going to love it. It's going to be great. But let's fast forward five years from now. What's it going to look like if nothing changes for you? Are you going to be still working the same clinical hours? Are you still going to be working the same fires? Are you going to be dealing with the same staff drama? Maybe going to take a CE course and talking to other dentists and saying, see, everybody feels this way. What's your practice going to look like if you don't change anything? Because if you don't decide differently, you're not going to live any differently. Time does not fix your practice issues. Time does not fix leadership. Decisions do. So I am going to extend to you an invitation here. Okay. On Thursday, I'm putting on the course. Here's what I want you to understand about it. The course, it's not about more information. You already have that information. You listen to podcasts, you read books. So the information's there. You've you've heard it before. But have you made the decision? Have you truly drawn that line and said, I'm no longer running my practice reactively? I am going to build this thing intentionally and I'm going to step into leadership. This is the practice I want. And I'm going to learn it from somebody who has that type of practice I want. I'm going to learn it from somebody who has made the mistakes, gotten through it, and saw the other side so that I don't have to beat my head against the wall to make those mistakes over and over again. But it all starts with that decision. The decision to make the change. And when you make that change, that changes your identity. That's the foundation. So if you're ready to stop tolerating, you're ready to stop saying that's just how it is being a practice owner, and you are ready to become the CEO of your practice. I want you to join me on Thursday. But you've got to make the decision. You've got to decide who you are. You're not stuck. You're undecided. Let's change that. So join me this Thursday. I'm going to teach you how to create and lead a team that is excited to provide excellent dentistry to their patients, that is excited to watch those numbers climb and create value for people in your community. I'm going to teach you how to inspire that team. And I'm going to give you the information. These are the best practices. This is what you're going to do. But underlying all that stuff is getting your team not to do things because you're going to yell at them if they don't, but rather doing things because they're the right thing to do for the patient. They're the right thing to do for their teammates. They're the right thing to do because it feels good on some emotional, deep down in their heart level, to take amazing care of people and to be the most amazing dental office you possibly can. And if you want your team to be like that, you need to master the process of being the CEO. And that's what this course is about this weekend. I truly hope that every person that takes this course will look back maybe three, four years from now and say, that's when I made the change. That's when my life took a turn and everything was different. And that change didn't happen the moment they finished the class. It happened the moment they decided they wanted the change. So make that decision and start rolling out the things that's going to give you the practice and the life that you want. I believe in you. I don't believe there's anything special about the people that are super successful. I don't believe they were lucky. I believe they made the decision and they carried through what needed to get done. I hope to see you this Thursday at the course. Thank you so much for listening and spending some time with me today. And we will talk to you next time.