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SHOW NOTES:

Year 1 Start up complete!

What have we done in year one?

1. Opened our Start-Up with no business experience

2. Got married.

3. Had a baby

4. Moved out of apartment and into a house

5. And a whole lot more!

Why am I saying this? Because it CAN be done. Kasey and I made a decision to do a start-up in 2020. We first looked into buying into the office she was associating at but after looking at the costs, we felt like we could start our own that fit our lifestyle better. Boy did we have our hands full!

We told ourselves our goal for year 1 was to be a million dollar office. When we started this journey we had no idea what was in store for us.

From Covid 2 months after signing up with our consultant to getting our office broken in on New Year’s Eve and delays because of our land lord for 6 extra months (on top of covid delays)… with all our equipment in our unit and no windows in place for months… let’s just say we experienced some tough circumstances but we pushed through one day at a time.

I wanted to give a very generic overview on what we did. This by no means is a suggestion for anyone but more so ideas for those in a similar position.

Bank

- Huntington bank for loan

Equipment

- Benco for big equipment Chairs, Motors, CBCT, Etc

- Net 32 and Henry Shine for small supplies

Consultant

- Ideal Practices

Lease/ Building

- Carr realty helped with location

- 2500 square ft location

- 10 year lease w/ two 5 year extensions

- 12 months free rent (got extended to 18+ months because of landlord problems)

- 150k roughly in TI

Computers / IT

- Legend Networking (their support and IT services are top notch. I would recommend 10000 percent.)

- Itero Scanner

Website

- Wonderist (1st website)

- Modern Doc (2nd website)

Marketing

- Lots of hard work. Ground marketing and using the power of social media.

Marketing Material

- local photographer 1st

- Studio S8E

- Ourselves for the rest

Opening Day

Schedule

- 4 days a week

Initial Build out

- 3 ops fully built out and one consult room ( 7 ops total layout)

- Mobile nitrous

Team on day 1

- 1 front desk

- 1 assistant

- 1 hygienist

- Myself and Kasey

Systems on Day 1

- Open Dental

- Flex

- Mango voice

- FlexPay

- Eassist for Insurance Billing

- Legend Networking (IT Company)

Today

- Team of 9 with 3 front admin, 4 assistants, 2 hygienists

- All 7 ops built out

Year 2 goal

- 2 million+ collections

- Hire Associate Dentist

- Hire 3rd hygienist

- Open second office

- More family time (while continuing to expand)

- Oh and get on Shark Tank!

Biggest takeaways to save others from frustration…

1. Use a software you already know. Do not change with your startup because it’s “cheaper”

2. Don’t get complacent when you’re comfortable.

3. Plan for 12-16 hour days for the first 6-12 months

End note

My wife Kasey and I had no business experience jumping into this. We knew it was going to be tough but never in a million years thought it would be this tough. No matter what you do, you’re going to have problems with a start up.

Learning how to handle those problems quickly and efficiently is what will make your practice successful.

Your mindset needs to match what your realistic goals are. The team around you makes you. The harder they see you push, the harder they will push for you (pay accordingly with bonuses).

Always be ready to pivot your business plan or ideas to match what is working and not working.

This group has helped us out a ton! I try to help those who ask as much as I can.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have! I’m an open book.

Again, these aren’t really suggestions but more so ideas for you to consider!

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Remember that Ashley's revolutionary dental practice is being built in real time. Follow her incredible journey and message her through Facebook or Instagram to say hi or to ask questions about her experience. Email her at drashley@smileandcompany.com.

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