At its core, dentistry is a business like many other businesses. And like other businesses, your practice can reach a point where you’re not growing, but you’re not shrinking. Your earnings are either flat or are growing just enough to keep pace with increased costs. You’re going, but you’re going nowhere. Your business has plateaued. Yours may be a very comfortable plateau. Your revenue may be more than enough to provide you with a good living and to fund your retirement. Your staff may get occasional raises. Maybe you can occasionally invest in new imaging equipment or update your CEREC technology. Overall, life is pretty good. If this is true for you, and you’re not bored to tears, quit reading now. This article isn’t for you. Or maybe your plateau isn’t all that comfortable mobile dental unit. Your margins are shrinking as costs rise, but you’re pretty well stuck at your current price points due to your competition. Depending on your stage of life, you may have the added expense of children entering college, or maybe you’re looking a little anxiously at your retirement savings. Or maybe you’re completely bored with your plateau. You’ll make it financially, but the dentistry you used to love is now looking like an unending conveyor belt of “same old, same old” patients. This is not how you saw yourself living life. Or maybe, just maybe, you miss the thrill of driving your own success micro motors australia. You remember what it was like to roll the dice, to take the big gamble figuring out your market and what would give you a leg up on your competitors, and the satisfaction of seeing your waiting room go from deserted to full. If you’re in any of the last 3 categories, this article is for you The decision to leave your plateau requires considerable courage. There’s a very human tendency to fall back on what’s worked in the past when we’re stressed. To take a flyer on something unknown or unfamiliar to you can seem like madness because basically you’re risking everything you’ve built. It’s easier, if unrewarding, to stick with what you know. But if you have the courage, the possibilities are vast. There’s an old saying credited to Benjamin Franklin: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. When you’re ready to get off your plateau, it pays to map out things first. Step 1: Define Your Goal Exactly where do you want to take your dental practice? If you want to maintain a solitary practice, are you after more patients, higher average case value, or more interesting cases? Or, if you’ve been bitten by the expansion bug, do you want to open more locations and hire affiliate dentists, or would you rather expand a single location? Defining your goal gives you a roadmap of sorts. You have a starting point and an ending point. What remains is to figure out the best route to reach it. If you’re going to indulge in wishful thinking, this is the place to do it. Aim high. Once you determine the steps required to reach your goal, you’ll know whether your plan is feasible.A Fatal Fad? for more information.