4 unexpected benefits of growing your practice big

The ball has dropped, the confetti cleared, and the fireworks are over. Now is the time to hit the ground running and begin working on the goals you set for your practice in 2017. I would assume that, like most private practice owners, your top priority is to grow your bottom line, your margin, your business, and your personal successes.

Jay Geier is the president and founder of the Scheduling Institute.

But for many of the thousands of dentists I've met and worked with over the past 30 years, ideas of success are incremental growth and small percentage increases. Unfortunately, this often leads to little satisfaction, both in the office and at home.

So I challenge you in 2017 to think big -- bigger than what you know and have experienced. This year, I've enacted "The big year" for my highest-level clients. This is the year they are going to delegate the most to their team, set extraordinary goals, and grow beyond their wildest dreams.

The great thing about striving to hit extraordinary goals is that you get extraordinary, often unexpected results. Before I explore some of benefits of practice growth outside of the obvious increase in margin, sleep-filled nights, and more time with family, I need to emphasize the role new patients play in that growth.

I have always said that new patients are the lifeblood of your practice and are essential to growing it. If you can master new-patient growth, you are well on your way to enjoying all the benefits -- big and small -- a successful practice brings.

4 unexpected benefits

So let's focus on those bigger benefits. First, you need to recognize that growth of any kind requires effort and the ability to change. After all, growing your practice big is more than just a goal. It is a change to everything you have known before. And significantly growing your practice means thinking really big -- most often bigger than you can even imagine. And when you start to think larger, your perspective changes. That, in turn, changes everything about your practice.

In fact, incredible breakthroughs happen when you make the decision to change. Here are four areas that will change when you set big goals.

1. Your decision-making process

When you are making incremental changes or percentage increases, decisions often can be hard to make. You may take weeks, months, or even years to ponder things such as getting new space, purchasing new uniforms, or adding a team member. When you have a goal that really takes you out of the norm, decision-making actually gets easier. All you have to do is ask yourself this question: Do I need this to go larger? If the answer is yes, you know you need to make the investment to reach your goal.

2. Your team

Growing larger creates a lot of change in your practice, and you need a solid team behind you. From month to month, you will see big changes in who makes up your team -- who steps up to the challenge and who doesn't. You may lose some, but you will gain a lot of team members who all have set expectations, have clarity of purpose, and are growth-minded. The team will be bigger, but with the right players it will be a much better team to work with.

3. Your family

Some may think that setting a large goal will take a lot of your time and effort and that there will be nothing left for home. But instead of working more or harder, you should be working on things with a higher impact and only on the things that you do best and enjoy. Everything else should be delegated. This will result in you having a higher presence in your personal life and give you the ability to really work on creating experiences for those that you love.

4. You

No matter how long you've been operating in the status quo, growing your practice will inspire a change in you as well. Growth requires that you have your head in the right place to achieve success. And like I mentioned earlier, you have to commit to the effort it takes for growth.

As we begin a new year, my wish for you is that you have the courage to make big goals for yourself and your practice, and you welcome the changes that come with striving to meet them.

Jay Geier is the founder and owner of the Scheduling Institute, a dental training and practice consulting company. Visit www.5starchallenge.com to find out how to transform your practice.

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