When is it time to start thinking about partnership as a dental entrepreneur? When my partner, Jack Bayramyan, was ready to start looking for funding for his vision for scaling his previous organization, Kids Dental Place, he ended up “kissing a lot of frogs.” But the challenges didn’t start there. Let’s back up. Dr. Jack had reached the capacity of what he was capable of delivering as a leader. How did he know that and what gave him the ability to be that honest with himself about next steps for his dental practice organization?
He had looked around, realized the ground was fertile for a partnership and he was inspired to meet the challenge of creating and collaborating within the boundaries of a true partnership organization, one that put the dental entrepreneur at the center of his vision and strategic plan for growth.
When he began to build upon his vision, he soon realized that growing his vision to scale was beyond his capacity to do it alone. He needed a partner. So, how do you know it’s time for a partner?
Jack Bayramyan in his own words –
Designing Your Vision to Scale Your Dental Practice
How did Jack know it was time to bring a partner into the process? He started with a vision. Jack took the time to write his vision out, fully fleshing out his ideas, his goals and his current Point A, where he was starting from and what he was starting with.
Once he had fully engineered a vision for his company, seeing on paper the list of assets he currently had, seeing the challenges he faced in scaling, and seeing exactly where he wanted to go, his Point B, he had the realization that he couldn’t do it alone.
This was a big realization. Assessing your business, while also assessing your own talents, leadership capabilities and skillset takes a certain amount of courage and humility. It’s very easy, as an entrepreneur, to get into an “I can do it by myself” mentality. But this flexion point, where your business is growing slightly beyond your capacity to continue to shepherd that growth, is where many entrepreneurs get stuck and then they get overwhelmed.
The risk of not being honest with yourself and trying to keep doing it all alone is that in your state of overwhelm, you may take on a partner that is not the best fit for your practice.
Realizing you need a partner only comes after assessing your true point A, the assets you have access to and where you want to go. Once those questions have been answered and you can soberly look at the state of your company or vision on paper and you’ll know whether you need a partner to help you scale. You gotta write it down to make an honest assessment.
A Vision for Scaling Your Dental Organization. Now What?
Jack had the vision, but he also knew vision alone wasn’t enough. With a growing organization and significant payroll obligations, he needed capital, leadership, and scalable business systems. What he didn’t need was a partner who only cared about money.
As he met with investors, something became clear: while plenty were interested in the numbers, very few were interested in values, leadership philosophy, or long-term alignment. The conversations felt transactional, not intentional and that wasn’t the future Jack was building.
So he did something most people don’t. He stepped back.
Before choosing a partner, Jack reassessed his goals, clarified what truly mattered to him, and decided that alignment, not urgency, would guide his next move. That decision became a turning point, and it sets the stage for Part 2 in this series on the power of partnership.
This is exactly why we created the Extraction GPS. This tool helps dental entrepreneurs clarify their values, define their current reality, and map a clear path forward, so major decisions like partnerships, scaling, or capital infusion are made with confidence and intention, not pressure.
Partnership works best when both sides want the same future.
Thinking about partnership or scaling your dental practice organization?
Download the Extraction GPS to clarify your Point A, define your vision for Point B, and ensure any future partner aligns with what truly matters to you.
At Optimize Practice Alliance, we believe the future of dentistry belongs with dentists and that future is built through clarity, alignment, and intentional leadership.