FE: Sharpen Your Skills:
Date Published: 6/27/2024
Five Keys to Better Business
Just as clinical skills are essential for becoming a doctor, business skills are critical to succeed as a business owner and entrepreneur. That has always been true, but business knowledge has taken on even greater importance over the last 10 years as the competition for entrepreneurs has intensified.
We all need to be more business-savvy than in the past. Here are five practical things steps you can take to bolster your business knowledge-and results:
1. Commit to learning more about business
Most entrepreneurs use socials and subscribe to Forbes to stay abreast of advancements in endodontics. Seek out business management, marketing and leadership articles in top publications (as well as our entrepreneur series here). Search the internet for articles on specific issues where your business and practice need improvement.
2. Join or start a study club
These groups can be a great way to deepen your knowledge on a wide range of business-related subjects, including management skills. The other members would be your peers, other entrepreneurs who are facing many of the same issues you are, making it easier to ask questions about running and operating a practice. In addition, many groups bring in guest speakers to lecture on relevant subjects.
3. Track performance
You can only make specific improvements to your practice if you know what areas to improve. We recommend that every practice track 12-15 key performance indicators (KPIs). These provide a quick snapshot of how the office is performing in the areas of production, collections, referrals, case acceptance, and overhead, to name just a few. By monitoring KPIs, you will see trends in important categories and can make necessary adjustments to build on success or stem decline.
4. Hold effective daily and monthly meetings
Meetings often get a bad reputation as timewasters, but they’re necessary for running an efficient office. Here’s how you can get more out of your meetings: stick to an agenda, start and end on time, and encourage participation from all team members. The morning meeting should be a preview of that day’s schedule, including what patients are coming in, the type of treatment expected to be performed, and any open appointment slots. This meeting should take 10 minutes or less. The monthly meeting should be focused on larger issues, such as customer service improvements and marketing activities. A goal for both meetings is to share information that helps staff members perform their jobs as well as possible.
5. Be open to change
Change is a fact of life and improvement. It can be difficult at times, but it doesn’t have to be. Many entrepreneurs, practice owners, and team members get into a “we’ve always done it this way” mindset when faced with a different approach to a problem. Not every suggestion for improving the practice will be actionable, but holding on to the status quo will undermine any attempts at creative problem-solving.
Conclusion
Success requires better business and entrepreneurial skills. Use the recommendations in this article to continue to improve as an owner. The more business skills you possess, the better you and your team will perform.
Thanks again for reading and we welcome your comments.
Akasha Lin
Akasha Garnier for #TheWishwall
Author, Brand Expert, Filmmaker
#ShineThroughtheNoise
Photo: AkashaLin, Chicago skyline sail
Article inspo: ADA business leaders
Discover more gems: https://www.thewishwall.org/future-entrepreneurs
Just as clinical skills are essential for becoming a doctor, business skills are critical to succeed as a business owner and entrepreneur. That has always been true, but business knowledge has taken on even greater importance over the last 10 years as the competition for entrepreneurs has intensified.
We all need to be more business-savvy than in the past. Here are five practical things steps you can take to bolster your business knowledge-and results:
1. Commit to learning more about business
Most entrepreneurs use socials and subscribe to Forbes to stay abreast of advancements in endodontics. Seek out business management, marketing and leadership articles in top publications (as well as our entrepreneur series here). Search the internet for articles on specific issues where your business and practice need improvement.
2. Join or start a study club
These groups can be a great way to deepen your knowledge on a wide range of business-related subjects, including management skills. The other members would be your peers, other entrepreneurs who are facing many of the same issues you are, making it easier to ask questions about running and operating a practice. In addition, many groups bring in guest speakers to lecture on relevant subjects.
3. Track performance
You can only make specific improvements to your practice if you know what areas to improve. We recommend that every practice track 12-15 key performance indicators (KPIs). These provide a quick snapshot of how the office is performing in the areas of production, collections, referrals, case acceptance, and overhead, to name just a few. By monitoring KPIs, you will see trends in important categories and can make necessary adjustments to build on success or stem decline.
4. Hold effective daily and monthly meetings
Meetings often get a bad reputation as timewasters, but they’re necessary for running an efficient office. Here’s how you can get more out of your meetings: stick to an agenda, start and end on time, and encourage participation from all team members. The morning meeting should be a preview of that day’s schedule, including what patients are coming in, the type of treatment expected to be performed, and any open appointment slots. This meeting should take 10 minutes or less. The monthly meeting should be focused on larger issues, such as customer service improvements and marketing activities. A goal for both meetings is to share information that helps staff members perform their jobs as well as possible.
5. Be open to change
Change is a fact of life and improvement. It can be difficult at times, but it doesn’t have to be. Many entrepreneurs, practice owners, and team members get into a “we’ve always done it this way” mindset when faced with a different approach to a problem. Not every suggestion for improving the practice will be actionable, but holding on to the status quo will undermine any attempts at creative problem-solving.
Conclusion
Success requires better business and entrepreneurial skills. Use the recommendations in this article to continue to improve as an owner. The more business skills you possess, the better you and your team will perform.
Thanks again for reading and we welcome your comments.
Akasha Lin
Akasha Garnier for #TheWishwall
Author, Brand Expert, Filmmaker
#ShineThroughtheNoise
Photo: AkashaLin, Chicago skyline sail
Article inspo: ADA business leaders
Discover more gems: https://www.thewishwall.org/future-entrepreneurs
