There's a bigger future for all those who want one

Two conversations yesterday that confirmed and increased my optimism about the future of dentistry:

Call #1 - A young Principal who bought her second practice 2 years ago and wants to make sure that it becomes associate-driven. The temptation is to be drawn in to clinical time there so as to make up the shortfall in finances. She, however, wants a self-managing business as a satellite to complement her original practice purchase.

Call #2 - Another dentist who is in due diligence on the purchase of her first practice (due for completion in March). With her non-dental husband we discussed the two years of integration that will be necessary after completion and the need for pace and not race in winning over the existing team and patients - and building robust systems and a strong management team.

Business life is going on - and although there is a continuing exodus of distressed owners who are selling up, the good news is that the market is matched by ambitious newcomers to the world of dental entrepreneurship.

I found it revealing that neither of yesterday's clients had ever heard of "The E-Myth Revisited" or Michael Gerber.

Here we go again, you might say - but that, in itself, is encouraging for me personally as there will clearly be an audience for dental business coaching for many years to come.

Come January, I'm going to be delighted to introduce the two I've mentioned here to my client base, so that they can learn from them as well as me.