Ramping Up When Things Slow Down in Your Dental Practice

When you're a dental practice owner, how do you react when outside economic forces are working against you? For instance, the U.S. economy is showing encouraging signs of being in a period of recovery, but I still hear from a lot dentists who are dealing with the realities of an economic downturn in their area. They are still dealing with patients who have lost jobs and lost insurance coverage and they are feeling the effects on practice revenue.

The natural impulse in that kind of situation is to become more conservative when it comes to expenditures for your dental practice. It is a "spend less when you are earning less" policy that makes sense on the face of it. But it is not always as simple as that. Sometimes, the right strategy looks different when you take the longer view.

The Economy and Your Dental Practice

Awhile ago, I came across an article in Harvard Business Review that analyzed hundreds of companies and how they reacted to setbacks in the economy. They found that the businesses that resisted that impulse to hunker down and slash expenses came out on top by a wide margin. Rather than retreating into a defensive posture, these companies focused on their core strengths and worked aggressively at enhancing them. By doing that, they not only survived the rough times, they positioned themselves to take the lead when the downturn ended, as it inevitably does. When things picked up and their competitors were just emerging from their shells on wobbly legs, these businesses that had the foresight to invest in their key resources took a commanding lead in the marketplace.

I recognize that dentistry is in many ways different than most commercial companies, but I think this is a principle that is just smart business sense, for anyone. After all, the outside economic forces are the same for everyone in your area. It's what you do in your dental practice during the downtimes that will make the difference in the end.

That's why, when I see dentists turn away from advanced clinical education, or team training, or exciting technology opportunities because "now is not the time," I can only shake my head in frustration. If you're going through a sluggish phase in your dental practice, that is exactly the time to inject new life. And those patients who have to turn down treatment now? The unfortunate reality for them is that they can only wait so long; most likely, they will return to your dental practice and you will be performing more extensive treatment on them later.

Economic cycles change—that's why they call them cycles. The key is to be among those who stay committed to pursuing higher levels of excellence during the down times, so you can be optimally positioned to capture the value that awaits in the good times.


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