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Understanding EBITDA: 3 Key Dental Practice Metrics for Measuring Success

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The dental practice industry is rapidly moving toward massive consolidation. Most dental practices operate at 50% of their potential with slim profit margins, typically 15-25%. The root cause of these outcomes is a lack of entrepreneurial focus and understanding of how to operate a business.  

We at Optimize see an urgent problem in this, which is, dentists need to learn quickly how to fulfill their potential, increase profit and build a sustainable exit strategy to protect their assets and retirement prospects. The hard part is…How? How do you increase your potential, while increasing revenue, while building a sustainable exit strategy? That’s a lot.

Think Like an Entrepreneur 

There are many ways to increase revenue, you can scale your business model and open a second or third location; plan and execute an expansion of your practice in another way, like adding an associate or hygienist; or you can implement and aggressive marketing strategy. There are a few effective ways to expand efficiency, fulfill your potential and increase your profit and revenue. And some of these will create a successful exit ramp when you’re ready.  

Measure Twice, Cut Once 

And in dentistry, you need to be measuring, like, all the time. But there is one key metric to look at, gauge and increase as you look to grow, build and exit. It’s called EBITDA.  

This is the one essential financial metric for evaluating the performance of your practice and figuring out what you’re fiscally prepared to take on. EBITDA is a magical formula that allows you to measure the actual and fiscal success of your business. So, what is it?  

What is EBITDA? 

EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. It is a financial metric used to measure a company’s operating performance by excluding certain expenses that can vary widely between different businesses. EBITDA provides a clearer picture of a company’s core profitability and operating efficiency. 

dental entrepreneur

Why is EBITDA Important for your Dental Practice? 

In the context of dental practices, EBITDA offers valuable insights into the business’ financial health and performance. And if you’re interested in fulfilling the potential of your practice, which leads to an increase in profitability which leads to an increase of protecting your most valuable asset on your way to retirement, then it’s EBITDA that will allow you to see the big financial picture and track the value of that asset.

“Dentists need to learn quickly how to fulfill their potential, increase profit and build a sustainable exit strategy to protect their assets.“

~ Josh Gwinn, CEO, Optimize Practice Alliance

Three Invaluable Tools in One 

EBITDA does three things – 

  • Focuses on Core Operations: By excluding non-operating expenses such as interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, EBITDA focuses solely on the core operations of the dental practice. This allows practitioners to assess how well the business is performing in terms of generating revenue from patient care. 
  • Facilitates Comparisons: EBITDA provides a standardized measure that allows dental practices to compare their performance with industry peers or benchmark against historical data. This comparative analysis can help identify areas of strength and areas needing improvement. 
  • Simplifies Financial Analysis: Calculating EBITDA simplifies financial analysis by removing the impact of non-operating factors that can distort profitability metrics. It provides a clearer picture of the underlying profitability of your dental practice, making it easier for practitioners to make informed decisions. 

How to Calculate EBITDA for Your Dental Practice 

Calculating EBITDA for your dental practice involves several steps –

  • Start with Net Income: Begin by determining your practice’s net income, which is the total revenue minus all operating expenses, including salaries, supplies, rent, utilities, and other overhead costs. 
  • Add Back Depreciation and Amortization: Next, add back depreciation and amortization expenses to the net income. These are non-cash expenses that represent the gradual reduction in value of assets over time. 
  • Add Back Interest and Taxes: EBITDA excludes interest and taxes, so you’ll need to add them back to the net income. Interest expenses represent the cost of borrowing, while taxes are statutory payments to the government. 
  • Adjust for Non-Recurring Expenses: Finally, adjust for any one-time or non-recurring expenses that are not reflective of the normal operating performance of the practice. 

Once you’ve completed these steps, you’ll arrive at your practice’s EBITDA figure, which can be used to assess its financial performance. 

Use EBITDA to Measure your Success 

Now that you understand how to calculate EBITDA for your dental practice, let’s look at tactics for how you can use this metric to measure success – 

  • Monitor Trends Over Time: Track your practice’s EBITDA over different time periods to identify trends and patterns. A consistent increase in EBITDA indicates improving profitability and operational efficiency. 
  • Set Performance Goals: Use EBITDA as a benchmark to set performance goals for your practice. Establish targets for EBITDA growth and strive to achieve them through strategic initiatives and operational improvements. 
  • Identify Areas for Improvement: Analyze your practice’s EBITDA to identify areas where costs can be reduced, or revenue can be increased. This may involve optimizing staffing levels, improving billing and collection processes, or expanding service offerings. 
  • Inform Strategic Decision-Making: EBITDA provides valuable insights that can inform strategic decision-making for your dental practice. Whether it’s expanding into new markets, investing in technology, or negotiating favorable terms with suppliers, EBITDA can guide you in making informed choices that drive long-term success. 

EBITDA is a valuable metric for measuring the success of your dental practice or organization. By focusing on core operating performance and excluding non-operating factors, EBITDA provides a clearer picture of profitability and operational efficiency. By calculating and monitoring EBITDA, dental practitioners can make informed decisions to drive growth, optimize performance, and ensure the long-term success of their practices. 

One Tool – Three Powerful Uses

This is one powerful way you can focus on the three areas: low potential, slim profit margins and little to no exit strategy. But by using this one metric effectively, you are switching your mindset from dentist to dental entrepreneur. You are getting out of the dentist’s chair and taking a 10,000-foot view of your practice or organization.  

And it’s imperative you take this step, for yourself, for your family, for your team and for your legacy. My business partner, Dr. Jack Bayramyan, and I believe the future of dentistry belongs with dentists. Using EBITDA is one way to keep that future safe.  

One More Tool to Measure Growth in your Dental Practice

Understanding and tracking your practice’s financial metrics, like EBITDA, is essential for sustainable growth. But making real progress means consistently measuring what matters most, so you can spot trends, identify opportunities, and make confident, data-driven decisions.

That’s why we created our KPI Tracker. This free, easy-to-use tool helps dental entrepreneurs like you monitor the key performance indicators that drive profitability, efficiency, and long-term value. With the OPA KPI Tracker, you’ll have a clear picture of your numbers, empowering you to make smarter choices as you grow your business.

Ready to move beyond guesswork and take control of your practice’s success?

Download Your KPI Tracker

Actionable Leadership: Resolving Conflict in your Dental Practice, 1 Tool to Rule Them All

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How do you resolve conflict in your dental practice culture? This month, my partner, Jack Bayramyan, and I are exploring the role of leadership in your dental practice and using your leadership to guide your organization to greater success. So, I want to talk about a tool that I use that has had a profound effect on my leadership abilities.

The Importance of Leadership in your Dental Practice

Team culture is a huge, unavoidable aspect of growing your dental practice. If you don’t have team cohesion and a coalescing around your vision for growth you won’t get from point A to point B. It’s a stark reality, but it’s the truth.  

If you don’t have a cohesive team culture, the issues begin to mount:  

  • Breakdown of communication  
  • Lack of respect for roles and leadership  
  • Reduced productivity  
  • Lack of collaboration  
  • Lack of understanding for the practice vision 

The list sadly goes on. Team cohesion is vital to the growth of your practice. And there is never a more glaring example of this than when a conflict arises within the practice. Without proper cohesion within a business culture, when an issue arises, people resort to bad habits or limited experience with these situations. There are various negative responses to conflict and we’ve all seen them:  

  • Finger pointing 
  • Not taking responsibility for results 
  • Bullying  
  • Retreating or hiding from conflict or confrontation  

When a practice doesn’t have team cohesion, strong leadership and non-existent culture, people will fall back on bad habits or reactive behaviors. But if a practice has strong leadership from you, strong team cohesion and a collaborative culture of teamwork, then, when conflict arises, people have the ability and tools to rise above their reactive behaviors and solve problems together.  

Conflict Reactivity in your Dental Practice 

Fortunately, as a dental practice owner, you do have blueprints and solutions to resolve conflict, spark collaboration and create greater team cohesion even amid disagreement and dissension. First, let’s get a greater understanding of the way conflict tends to play out typically in a business organization with no team culture or cohesion and a lack of strong leadership.  

The Karpman Drama Triangle was first developed by Stephen B. Karpman in 1968. This model was designed to understand the ways in which people react during conflict, professionally and personally. There are three main roles in this paradigm. These descriptions were taken from a brilliant blog post at The Profit Recipe, that reminded me of the importance of using your leadership role to rise above conflict and see it through a new paradigm. 

The Original Karpman Drama Triangle Roles  

  • The Persecutor: The person in this role is very critical, finding fault with others and blaming them for the problem while feeling the need to step in and dominate to set things right. They may be perceived as a controlling bully, but sometimes shift to becoming the next category if they’re called out on that behavior. 
  • The Victim sees themselves as a victim of circumstances or others that make them feel powerless and hopeless. They may complain without taking productive action; are oppressed by the Persecutor; and often seek or receive help from the third role. 
  • The Rescuer, has a default orientation of “let me help.” They’ll automatically step in to save Victims, often doing it in a way that enables victimhood and fails to solve the long-term problem. Further, the Rescuer may morph into the Persecutor/Villain or the Victim if they get frustrated.

We don’t need to get too in the weeds here, but this paradigm offers a good understanding of the general reactionary roles people tend to fall into when there is conflict but no cohesion.  

Generally, people fall into 1 of these 3 roles when there is no awareness or formalized process for conflict resolution predetermined and agreed upon by team members beforehand. And this model, by no means, is set in stone. This is a guideline for understanding human behavior and how it plays out in unstructured and structured settings, as it relates to business environments.  

Resolving Conflict in your Dental Practice
The Profit Recipe: Drama Triangle and Empowerment Dynamic

A Paradigm Shift in your Dental Practice  

Now, I want to share with you a tool that I use myself that has proven incredibly efficient, cohesive and inspiring. I’ve used it in my experience as a team leader, business consultant and CEO, to help me reframe roles while helping my teams sort through issues responsively rather than being reactive.  

If you look at the top part of the diamond graphic, you’ll see another version of the Karpman Drama Triangle. This version is called The Empowerment Dynamic and this paradigm was developed by David Emerald.

The Emerald Roles of Dynamic Empowerment 

  • The Challenger replaces the Persecutor: Individuals in both the original Karpman role and the new one see themselves as “truth-tellers” who call situations accurately. But instead of affixing blame and dictating actions, the Challenger “consciously builds others up, encouraging them to also learn and grow, despite difficult situations.” 
  • The Creator is the positive replacement for the Victim. Instead of viewing themselves as a prisoner to circumstances and problems, they learn they “can choose their response to life’s challenges.” They embrace “what inspires them” and become focused on solutions and outcomes, not the weight of challenges holding them back. 
  • Finally, the Coach steps into the Rescuer role. Essentially, they provide real support for Creators rather than enabling their victimhood. A Coach uses “the art of inquiry, curiosity, and deep listening to support others in discovering what is best for themselves.”

David Emerald describes his paradigm as “a profound, yet clear and simple method to free yourself from your reactive habits.” David Emerald has spent over 30 years in leadership education and executive and organization development and is the author of The Power of TED: The Empowerment Dynamic. And his website offers tools and support for using this paradigm to shift your understanding around conflict.

When you can redefine and reframe the conflict paradigm in your organization, you get to solutions and resolution much faster. This reframing allows people to free themselves from reactionary triggers and stay open to collaboration and solution.  

Using This Paradigm in your Leadership Role

There are two vitally important ways to use this model to get the results you want. The first is with yourself. As a leader, situational awareness is key to your success. It behooves you to know who your team members are and where they sit on the bus (your organization). Studying this dynamic gives you a great understanding and awareness of the way conflict plays out in a professional setting. This awareness will elevate your ability to see these dynamics and help team members avoid these roles.

The other way to use this model is to introduce it to your team and have an open and honest conversation about the model and these roles. You, as an organization and team, can then work towards the paradigm shift presented in the empowerment dynamic and use these new roles to elevate the conversation during a conflict. But awareness is the key here. It first starts with you, as a leader, becoming aware of these roles and how and if they play out in your organization.

Orienting your team around a cohesive culture is your job as the leader. And your awareness around the way your team resolves conflict will equal greater success in communication, resilience and collaboration. You got this.

Improve Your Leadership with Clear Communication and Practical Tools

Effective leadership isn’t just about inspiration, it’s about having the right strategies to resolve conflict, build connection, and keep your team moving forward. While support and community are invaluable, sometimes you need a proven tool to tackle challenging conversations head-on.

That’s why we created the DESC Coaching Template. This free, step-by-step worksheet gives dental leaders a clear framework to describe challenging behaviors, express impact, specify desired changes, and communicate positive outcomes. With DESC, you’ll turn potential conflict into opportunities for growth and understanding, while building greater trust and cohesion within your team.

Whether you’re dealing with day-to-day friction or working to strengthen your entire practice culture, the DESC Coaching Template helps you lead with confidence and clarity.

Ready to resolve conflict and level up your leadership?
Download your free DESC Coaching Template now and start building a healthier, more unified dental team, one conversation at a time.

DOWNLOAD THE DESC COACHING TEMPLATE

Values-Based Leadership in your Dental Practice: 5 Essential Benefits

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When I met my business partner, Josh Gwinn, the thing that instantly connected us was our shared values. So, when we started Optimize we made our shared values a foundational principle in building our organization.    

I started exploring my own personal values and the role they played in my business life while working with Strategic Coach and specifically my coach, Cameron Herold. Defining my core values helped me in so many areas of my business life, including working with my teams, setting expectations for how we worked with patients, even choosing vendors and choosing the right path for scaling my organization.  

So, when it came time for Josh and I to set the groundwork for our vision of Optimize Practice Alliance, our shared values became foundational to both our vision and our strategic planning.  

Using Your Core Values in your Dental Practice 

But is it helpful or even appropriate to use your core values in your business as a dental practice entrepreneur? Implementing your values in your dental practice does have a lot of benefits. With your core values, you can:  

  • Showcase your unique ability and what sets you apart from other dental practices 
  • Find a common basis and understanding for communicating with your teams 
  • Create a strong team culture
  • Provide a foundation from which to make big and small decisions every day  
  • Galvanize your vision for growing your practice 

There are so many benefits to truly utilizing your core values as a dental entrepreneur. And they alone can set the tone and tenor of so many of your daily dealings that not utilizing them can leave you squandering for words, answers and solutions when they are needed most.  

What Are Your Core Values?  

How do you determine what your core values are? My process started in 2014 when I began working with Dan Sullivan at Strategic Coach. I went through a process of discovery using a concept called Unique Ability®. In that process I developed a set of beliefs that became my core values.  

But there are many ways of determining what your values are and which ones you want to be the core values in your dental practice organization. It behooves you to take some time and discover what your values are and how to apply them in your dental practice.  

But for now, I’d like to tell you about our core values here at Optimize. You can, of course, check out our About page and read our core values there. But I decided to dedicate an entire post to them, that is how important they are to the everyday functioning of our organization. They are vital to how we interact with each other and lend our leadership and dedication to our partners.  

Our values are the foundation of our actions, participation and cooperation and we strive to center those values in our interactions and daily execution of goals and our vision for Optimize and our partners. 

Using Mission, Core Values and Norms in your Dental Practice

We Believe in Transparency and Integrity  

Integrity and Transparency are the cornerstone values on which all of our other values are built. At Optimize our actions and words are rooted in integrity. We strive for clarity and honesty in all our interactions and take full responsibility for our results. Transparency is the natural companion to integrity, showing everyone, we work with how we do what we do, with the goal of bridging trust between our partners and ourselves.  

We Believe in Collaborative Teamwork 

Collaborative teamwork is how we stay rooted, not just in our vision for Optimize, but in the visions of our partners and clients. We not only value their input and feedback, but we also need those insights for us to stay accountable for the visions our partners trust us to achieve with them, not just for them.   

We Believe in Growth While Staying Focused on Results 

What does “results focused” really mean for us? At Optimize we view problems as tools for designing solutions to quickly and efficiently remove the obstacles to growth. Our ever-present focus is on the solution using accountability, collaboration and commitment to quickly resolve issues and create opportunities to reorient ourselves towards our goals. This unique advantage of seeing problems as opportunities creates an atmosphere of cooperation and cohesion and helps our teams and partners grow both personally and professionally.  

We believe in Giving World-Class Service 

Giving world-class service is a core value for Optimize. We strive to provide a cohesive, synergistic and professional experience for all our partners, clients and vendors. We also espouse this value across channels so that our vendors and service providers offer the same level of professionalism and world-class service.  

We Believe in an Ownership Attitude  

At Optimize our ownership attitude does not end at our doors. We vest our interests and stewardship in every single partnership we create and build. By taking this approach, we balance our organization’s needs alongside those of our individual team members and partners.  Our ownership attitude gives us the freedom to focus on long-term success rather than short-term profits for us and for you.  

We Believe in Optimizing our Potential  

It’s in our name, we optimize our potential through optimizing your opportunities for growth. And we start with the basics and strive for excellence in all we do. In optimizing your systems, operations and processes we learn, measure and grow your business with the best tools, strategies and vision while maintaining our focus on your individual and optimal personal experience.   

These values are what hold us apart from all others and give us the ability to give you the opportunity to grow your vision and live your dream because we believe the future of dentistry belongs with dentists.  

Putting Values-Based Leadership Into Practice

At Optimize, we believe that the best way to give back to our community of dentists is by equipping you with practical tools that bring your values and vision to life in your practice. As a dental entrepreneur, it’s not just about having strong values, it’s about building systems and strategies that make those values a living part of your business every day.

If you’re ready to lead with greater clarity and purpose, our free Extraction GPS Template is the perfect next step. This step-by-step worksheet will help you define your core values, assess your current position, and set clear, meaningful goals for the future of your practice.

Whether you’re aiming to strengthen your culture, set a new vision, or align your team around what matters most, the Extraction GPS gives you a practical roadmap to get there.

Ready to build a practice that truly reflects your values?
Download your free Extraction GPS Template now and take the first step toward a values-driven, growth-focused future.

DOWNLOAD YOUR EXTRACTION GPS TEMPLATE

Navigating your Dental Practice Strategic Plan: 7 Critical Mistakes to Avoid 

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Your dental practice needs a strategic plan when you decide to undertake any major changes to your business, your operations or practice focus. That plan is the roadmap of how you will get from here to there, from point A to point B.  

Last week, my partner, Dr. Jack Bayramyan, talked about your vision, the what of your plan. Your vision is your point B, where you want to go, what you want to achieve.  Your strategic plan is the how you achieve that vision. Your strategic plan is the roadmap that gets you to point B.  

The Difference Between a Strategic Plan and your Vision

But your plan needs to be thoroughly vetted and examined so you avoid any soft spots in your planning, execution and communication with your team on what the expectations are going be.

Lack of Clarity in your Vision 

One of the fundamental errors in strategic planning is a lack of clarity. If your goals, objectives, and the steps to achieve them are vague, your team may find it challenging to align their efforts. Be crystal clear about what you want to achieve, how you plan to get there, and the milestones along the way. 

In the ever-evolving business landscape, failing to consider market trends can be detrimental. Stay abreast of industry changes, technological advancements, and shifting consumer preferences. An effective strategic plan adapts to the external environment rather than ignoring it. 

Not Doing a Thorough SWOT Analysis for your Dental Practice 

A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) is a cornerstone of strategic planning. Neglecting this critical assessment can result in an incomplete understanding of your business’s position in the market. Do a thorough SWOT analysis to make informed decisions. 

This is a great article on using the SWOT analysis for your strategic plan and offers some great templates to follow.

Setting Unrealistic Goals for your Team 

While ambition is commendable, setting unrealistic goals can lead to frustration and a deceleration of motivation. Ensure your objectives are challenging yet attainable. Break down larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks to maintain momentum. 

Neglecting Implementation Plans 

Creating a strategic plan is only the first step. Failing to develop a robust implementation plan is a common misstep. Clearly define team roles and responsibilities as well as timelines to ensure that your strategy moves from paper to action seamlessly. 

Inadequate Communication with your Team  

A strategic plan is a roadmap that everyone in your organization should understand and embrace. Communication is key. Regularly update your team on the progress, changes, and achievements related to the plan. Foster a culture of open communication to keep everyone on the same page. 

Lack of Flexibility  

The dental industry landscape is unpredictable, especially post-pandemic. A rigid strategic plan may become obsolete in the face of unforeseen challenges or opportunities. Build flexibility into your plan, allowing for adjustments and pivots as needed. 

One way to know if you need to pivot or change strategies is by measuring your results as you execute on your strategic plan. This post explains how to measure, what to measure and why to measure. Measuring and testing your strategies is a key component to a healthy and effective strategic plan and should be part of your regular strategy planning meeting cadence.

Crafting a strategic plan is not rocket science but it is a lot of hard work. And taking on this much hard work can only be worth it if you know you’ll succeed. There are no guarantees, of course, but avoiding these mistakes brings you closer to an airtight plan focused on reaching your point B. You got this. Remember, a well-thought-out strategy is not just a document; it’s a living, breathing guide that evolves with your business. 

Turn These Common Pitfalls Into Opportunities for Growth

Running a dental practice means juggling growth goals, patient care, and team management, all while trying to avoid costly missteps. Too often, practices stumble on the same avoidable mistakes that stall progress and drain energy.

At Optimize, we’ve seen firsthand the difference a clear, strategic approach can make. Our consultants work with dentists every day to cut through the noise, uncover blind spots, and set a path for sustainable growth.

Instead of learning these lessons the hard way, you can get clarity now. Book a free 30-minute consulting call with an Optimize consultant, and we’ll walk you through how to sidestep the most common pitfalls holding practices back.

Your 30-Minute Consulting Call

A Vision for your Dental Practice: 12 Key Areas of Value

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You didn’t build your dental practice without some sort of plan. And you didn’t create a plan without first having a vision. You know how I know that? Because no one ever wakes up and says, “I want to give myself a whole bunch of work without knowing if that work will ever lead to anything.” Amiright?  

You gotta have a plan if you’re going to be successful but you gotta have a vision of where that plan will lead you. Think of it this way, your plan is how you will get where you want to go, your vision is the place you want to end up at, your point B, if you will. So, in this post, let’s break down what a vision is and how to define it, outline it and make sure it’s on solid ground before you strategize a plan for it.  

Your vision is your point B for your dental practice. It’s where you want to end up at the end of all that hard work. Your vision can be personal or professional or a mix of both so that you’re as satisfied personally as you are with your business results.  

In fact, with the doctors I consult, I make sure they include and prioritize their personal well-being as well as their family’s and team’s well-being. If you don’t prioritize that in your vision, you will watch yourself run ragged for a dream that you’ve come to despise because it’s made too many demands on your mental and physical health. You must be mindful of what you’re capable of and what you need to delegate.   

Along with how you’re feeling personally you want to have a clear picture of what every aspect of your business looks like and where your practice(s) will be when you arrive at your vision. That is typically a 3-year period. So, what is it and how do you use it?  

What is the Vivid Vision® method for your Dental Practice?  

I was introduced to the Vivid Vision method a few years back when I started working with my coach, Cameron Herold. Cameron is the author is Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool for Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future and he introduced me to using his Vivid Vision® method in figuring out where I wanted to take my organization. Using that process allowed me to create a vision based on my values, my passions and how I wanted to live my life.  

Cameron Herold on his Vivid Vision® Process

So, what does creating a Vivid Vision® entail? There are 12 key areas of focus that you will need to address in creating your Vivid Vision®. Remember, this vision is your point B, it’s where you want to end up in 1 year, 3 years or 5 years, depending on the current state of your practice.  

I highly recommend doing a full audit of your point A, how your practice is performing right now, so you get a clear idea of how long it might take to get to your point B.

Read this article about assessing your practice, Clarify your Dental Practice Vision: Assess your Point A and Launch your Legacy 

Once you’ve done a thorough assessment of the state of your practice, then you can begin to craft your vision. As I mentioned, there are 12 key areas of focus that you will want to pay attention to as the first steps in crafting your vision. Check out some wonderful examples and a checklist here for some ideas of how to begin and where to put your focus.  

These 12 areas are fundamental to your practice, but they also encompass how you want to live and operate within the boundaries of your organization. This process asks a lot of you in the beginning but watching my organization transform and grow because of this foundation I created has been the most rewarding experience of my professional life. I urge you to take the time to do your due diligence and answer all these questions fully.   

The first thing that goes on the blank page is the statement –  

“It’s December 31, 20__ …”  

This beginning will help put you in the future and let you see what your practice can look like in that year, typically that year will be 1 year, 3 years or 5 years from the day you begin writing your vision. Be generous with yourself, don’t try to solve every issue, transform your culture and double your annual revenue in one year. Give yourself time to fulfill this vision.  

Your Personal ‘Why’  

Why I do what I do – These 1 to 3 sentences are a description of why you started your practice and what you hope to achieve with it. This comes from the heart. Keep it simple and short.  

Core Values – Paired with your personal ‘why’, your core values are what will guide your vision. You don’t want to put yourself in the position of going against your values even and especially in business. Identifying your core values will help you make decisions about your practice while crafting your vivid vision. Do you know your core values?  Check out James Clear’s list of core values here.  

The People in your Dental Practice 

Culture – What do you want your team culture to look like? How do you want to interact with people in your offices? How do you want them to interact with the public and your vendors? What kind of cohesion do you want to build within your teams? How do you want to build that cohesion?   

Team/Employees – Write down every key role in your practice. Do you have the right people in the right seats? Is everyone doing the job they are best at and most passionate about? Do team members work and live with purpose? 

What You Do – Your Dental Practice Focus 

Core Business Activity – What does your dental practice specialize in? Emergency care? Cosmetic dentistry? Are you a concierge practice? Detailing your USP or unique selling proposition will help you create offers, messaging and services in alignment with your core business activities.  

How the World Sees Your Dental Practice 

Operations – How do your patients see your practice? What do your reviews and testimonials say about your services, operations and in-office experience?  

Offices/Headquarters – What does your office feel like walking into your practice? Does the office reflect the types of services you offer? A comforting environment for emergency dentistry? Or a sleek, upscale vibe reflective of a cosmetic dentistry practice? A homey feeling for a more traditional hygiene practice? Does your office aesthetic reflect your practice’s services and values?  

How Your Dental Practice Communicates with the World 

Sales/Marketing – How do you communicate with the world to attract patients to your practice? Do you have a marketing strategy? Is it based on your core values and mission? Is your social media presence reflective of your core values? Is your marketing strategy successful?  

Community Involvement & Giving Forward – Does your dental practice support local and community-based charities or organizations? Do you have sponsorships, scholarships or dental intern programs? How do you give back to your community?  

How Media Portrays your Dental Practice 

Media & Awards – What has the media said about your dental practice organization? How are you portrayed to the public? Have you been recognized in local or national publications?  

The KPIs of your Dental Practice  

Financials – This aspect of your vision is your chance to see the actual heartbeat of the dental practice. What are your sales, yearly revenue and profit? What is your annual growth rate? Have you done an EBITDA analysis of your practice?  

From Dental Practice Owner to Investor and Leader 

Founder Feeling – Although this is the last key area of your vision, I consider it one of the most important ones because this is where you take time to evaluate how you want to show up in the practice, your day-to-day interaction with your practice and your mindset.  

Ask yourself, “how do I want to spend my time?” “What does my daily activity look like?” “How do I want to feel every day?”  

You can also take time to write down your mentors, how you became a dentist, what your core motivation was, your initial passion for starting your business and what personal growth looks like now to you. Take your time. Write down from the heart, where it all began, how it’s going and where you truly want to be by December 31st, 20___.  

This is an incredibly transformative experience if you dare to embark on the journey of crafting your Vivid Vision®. This brief overview that I’ve laid out here is only the beginning. If you would like more information, I recommend checking out Jennifer Hudye and her site Conscious Copy & Co. And here’s more info on my Vivid Vision® process, check out my book, Extraction: The Surprising New Formula to Systemize, Scale and Sell Your Business.

Remember, to get to point B, you need to start at point A, define where you want to end up, your point B, and then develop a strategy for how you’re going to get there. But the first step is always to define what point B looks like for you. Similar to a GPS system, you punch in where you want to go, then punch in where you are, once you have both of those coordinates you can devise or choose a strategy for getting there from here.  

One More Tool for your Toolkit 

At first glance, creating a comprehensive vision for your dental practice might seem overwhelming—another big task on top of everything else you do to keep your business running. But there’s a powerful reason to take this step: to design the life and practice you truly wanted when you started this journey.

As a practice owner, you quickly discover you’re not just a dentist, you’re also the CEO, the strategist, and the visionary. If you’re feeling the weight of burnout or wondering how to recapture that original spark, you’re not alone. Many dentists face these same challenges as their practice grows.

That’s why we developed the Extraction GPS Template. This free, step-by-step worksheet helps you clarify your vision, define your values, assess where you are now, and set clear goals for your practice’s next chapter. With the Extraction GPS, you can turn those 12 key areas of value into a concrete, actionable plan, so you can build the business and the life you’ve always envisioned.

Ready to take control of your future and lead with clarity?
Download your free Extraction GPS Template now and start mapping out a vision that works for you, your team, and your family.

DOWNLOAD YOUR EXTRACTION GPS TEMPLATE

Strategic Planning for your Dental Practice: A 10- Point Roadmap to Achieve Success  

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Do you have any big plans for your dental practice this year? If so, do you have a strategic plan for those plans? Last week, we talked about the difference between a vision and a strategic plan. In this post, let’s look at how to create a strategic plan for your big goals.  

When you create a Strategic Plan, what you are really creating is a roadmap that bridges the gap between where you are right now and what you want to achieve. Your Strategic Plan is what my partner, Dr. Jack Bayramyan, likes to call your Growth Positioning System.  

The planning process is a way of reverse engineering your vision into measurable goals and then developing a written plan with a clear understanding of the obstacles in your path, investments you need to make and the resources and capabilities you need to have to achieve these goals.  

For Your Dental Practice to Grow, first you Need a BHAG 

The steps laid out below are the exact steps that Dr. Jack used to develop and reach his BHAG or Big, Hairy Audacious Goal. The BHAG concept was developed by Jim Collins in his book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.  

One of the advantages of having a huge goal is that it gets you out of bed in the morning. We can utilize the Goldilocks effect here: your goal can’t be so small that it’s easily achievable and offers no excitement or challenge to you or your team; but it also can’t be so big that it’s seemingly impossible to achieve or too intimidating for your team to even think about. Your BHAG must be right.  

And you’ll know that your goal is just right when you can easily reverse engineer it and can build the roadmap to achieving it.  

BHAG for your Dental Practice

This image illustrates how you can break a goal down into achievable parts over time. This particular goal is for a multi-site practice. The BHAG is growing the practice to “Serving 50k patients in 3 years.” We break this goal down into yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily goals.

In order to achieve the daily goal of 65 appointments per practice, you can reverse engineer that to see how you’ll achieve it. Do you need more operatories? Do you need to hire more hygienists or associate dentists? Do you need to overhaul your patient management software?

And remember, you don’t want to create a goal that is so big it feels unachievable or so small that you and your team aren’t inspired or challenged. It should feel a little scary but not terrifying. The same goes for your resources. Don’t over-commit your resources or take on something that will cost you or your organization more than you can afford in time or money. That’s why a plan is necessary, it will help you see what is achievable and what might need to wait.

Your Dental Practice Strategic Plan 

Ok, so you’ve got your BHAG. Now what? Let’s look at the exact plan Dr. Jack followed to reach his goal. This is a breakdown of steps you need to take and questions you need to answer for your strategic plan.  

Clarify what you want to achieve in your Dental Practice 

  • You need to be very clear about where you want your practice to end up when you achieve your goal. For instance, you may want to increase the number of patients seen by a certain amount. You will need to know how many patients your team, practice and operations can handle and what the limit is so you can plan to face the challenges that will arise as more patients come into the practice.  

Write down your measurable goals into a well- developed measurable scorecard to be shared with your team  

  • Very similar to the goal chart [see image above] that Jack created for his team, you can break down that goal into increments to see how to reach it, how to delegate the different tasks to your team, and how to create the correct strategies for measuring those goals.  

Set deadlines by breaking down your three-year goals into annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily objectives  

  • One of the most helpful tools I’ve found as a CEO is insisting on my teams keeping a regular meeting cadence. Meetings dedicated to one topic, in this case your BHAG will keep everyone focused on the objectives and cohesive in your strategy.   

Identify and list all the obstacles in your path preventing you from reaching your goals and objectives 

  • Taking the example above, of “increasing patients seen,” you can begin to see where your practice is optimized to receive new patients and where you may face challenges when that number increases. For instance, you may not have a big enough team. You may need to hire an associate or another hygienist. These are the specifics that you will become aware of when you create your plan and look for the obstacles to reaching BHAG.  

List all the resources and capabilities you need to transform those obstacles into growth 

  • These resources may be a more robust CRM (customer relationship management system); You might consider hiring a marketing agency to help you attract, retain and track new patients; with these changes, you may find that your accounting software needs updating. Fleshing out the details of what you already have on hand and where you may need to expand, fund or source new resources or capabilities will save you money and time in the long run.  

Organize your goals into a sequence of priorities  

  • Follow the 80/20 rule which states that 80 percent of your results will come from 20 percent of your activities. It’s important to list them in order of priority and sequence with detailed steps, dates and timelines.

Build an accountability structure for your team 

  • Create a visual accountability chart with specific goals and deadlines for each critical role in your business: most importantly, marketing/sales, operations, and finance. That way, each person knows exactly what part of the BHAG they are responsible for while also knowing the timeline for execution and completion.  

Assign a member of your leadership team to each role. Note that some leaders may have multiple roles 

  • Make sure that each team member knows not just what and when to execute and complete their responsibilities but how they’ll get your vision completed. They will need the proper resources and hands to get the job done. Another quick tip is reviewing that accountability structure in your monthly or quarterly meetings.  

Calculate the investments you need to make to acquire the resources and capabilities listed above  

  • Reaching your BHAG will most likely take a lot of resources including money. You may need to take a business loan, source investors or find revenue in your business. No matter how you source and acquire that money make sure it’s accounted for and earmarked for your BHAG and not simply quotidian funds in your practice. You must keep your eye on the ball.  

The investment you make is a critical part of strategic planning. This investment is not only money, but your time and energy towards the commitment of achieving your BHAG and ultimately realizing your vision for your dental practice.  

Undermining the value of investments and confusing investments with expenses has been the greatest bottleneck to growth for many entrepreneurs and organizations. It’s a good rule of thumb to remember we must invest before we can unlock the benefits of growth.  

Your Dental Practice Strategic Plan Needs A Framework 

Now that you’ve designed your strategic plan, the real work begins… execution. Setting a bold goal, enrolling your team, allocating resources, and committing to the journey ahead can feel intimidating. Big visions tend to do that. But when you know exactly how you’re getting from Point A to Point B, much of that fear fades into focus.

A clear roadmap is essential, but it only works if it’s supported by the right mindset. Belief, discipline, and follow-through are what turn plans into progress. Without them, even the best strategy stays stuck on paper.

That’s why we created the Extraction GPS. This tool helps dental entrepreneurs clarify their values, assess their current reality, and define a clear, intentional path forward. It turns strategic planning into something usable, something you can return to when decisions get hard, momentum slows, or distractions creep in.

Vision plus effort is powerful. Vision plus effort and clarity is unstoppable.

Ready to turn your strategic plan into intentional action?

Download Your Extraction GPS

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