“Leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with “where” but with “who.” They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats.” ~Jim Collins, Good to Great

We’re going to take a slight break from our normal discussions of ROI, growth rates, scale and finances to delve deeper into the most important capital in your business – human capital.  All of your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) don’t add up to much if your team can’t execute the plan, so we’re going to talk about five critical roles in the typical DSO and how the responsibilities of each need to scale right along with the person who is accountable for it. 

“I have a memory like an elephant.  In fact, elephants consult me.” ~Noel Coward

We have had the honor of speaking at many conferences this year and have fielded too many questions to count.  Having said that, one particular question seems to come up with great frequency among those who own one to three or four offices: “What’s the real difference in a group practice versus a DSO, and when does it make sense to form an actual DSO?”

“I have a memory like an elephant.  In fact, elephants consult me.” ~Noel Coward

I recently wrote a blog post about creating time in your schedule to work ON your business instead of always working IN your business.  Let’s face it: we’re all time-broke – and nobody sees that changing any time soon.  Strategic planning is critically important for any business, but there’s one aspect of working on your business that often goes neglected: working on YOU.

The Planning Process for Early Stage Development of your Group Dental Practice or DSO

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." - Abraham Lincoln

Various versions of this quote have been attributed to our 16th President and most of the variations are based on the amount of time, but the overriding point is one that gets down to the aspect of working “on” our group dental practice (DSO) versus working “in” our group dental practice (DSO). Many of us talk about this, but how many of us actually have scheduled time set aside every week, month, quarter and year devoted to planning, developing and executing our strategy? 

Strategic planning is the discipline of sharpening your saw and it doesn’t “just happen” when you’re done with patients.  It also doesn’t “just happen” when you’re alone and usually tired.  Planning is a process, and the process starts with blocking time.  Can you commit to blocking 2 hours of every week and 4 hours one day per month?  If so, that would gain you 10 hours in a typical month (for a 4-week month: 2 hours per week * 3 weeks + 4 hours on the 4th week).