Why a dental entrepreneur should wear 4 hats

I’ve spent the last 3 months listening to Sheila Scott brilliantly explain how Edward De Bono’s 6 thinking hats can help dental teams to make tough decisions after all views are taken into account.

Last week, a conversation with a client reminded me of the 4 hats of dental entrepreneurship.

As a dental business owner, are you being paid properly?

1. Hat #1 – the Clinician – are you paid the going rate for associates in your practice, based on your own personal production?

2. Hat #2 – the Managing Director – are you paid the going rate for the hours that you put in working ON the business and not IN the business?

3. Hat #3 – the Landlord – if you (or your pension fund) own the building, are you paid the going rent?

4. Hat #4 – the Investor – if you have capital invested in the business, do you take dividends as a shareholder?

This essentially illustrates the difference between a lifestyle business (one in which none of the above are true) and a real business (in which all them should be).

So which type of business do you own?

One of the things I enjoy doing is taking clients on the journey from Lifestyle to Real Business.