It’s not hard to find dental practice owners in the United States. After all, it’s the next step in your dental career. That’s why 73% of dentists in the United States have their own practice.

However, you’ll have more on your plate if you want to run a successful practice.

You’ll need a different set of skills if you want to open a dentist office with success. Follow the guide below to learn how to start a dental practice.

Create Your Business Plan

Being a great dentist doesn’t mean you’ll be able to build a successful practice. There are countless dental practices in the United States. Why would someone choose you over someone already established?

You need to have a plan if you want to succeed in your new venture. Before you take your first steps, you’ll need a business plan.

Your business plan will cover your long-term goals, short-term goals, milestones, target audience, and much more. Try to create a plan for as much as you can during this process.

Of course, you don’t want to spend all your time planning and never start. Try to keep things simple and give yourself a roadmap to get started and enough information to make your initial decisions. You can always adapt in the future as you come across new challenges in your journey.

Pick an Office Location

Location is one of the most critical success factors for a dental practice. Nobody wants to drive a long time to get to a dentist’s office. They want an easy commute that doesn’t take the whole day.

You want an office location that’s central to your target customers. Check your local real estate to look for buildings large enough to accommodate your needs.

Of course, real estate that’s completely central and in the middle of everything can get expensive. You don’t have to be right in the middle, but try to get as close as possible. Use your budget to determine the right amount of money to pay.

Nail Your Financing

It’s not cheap to start a dental practice. You have countless pieces of equipment and products to buy. On top of that, you’ll have a lot of ongoing costs because of your location and staff.

Most people don’t want to front the whole risk of this venture themselves. It makes sense to look for financing to help the process.

Reach out to your local lenders to see how they can help. You’ll need to provide your business plan, current finances, and the ability to pay your loan.

Try to shop around as much as you can during this process. You want to find a lender with a reasonable interest rate to ensure you don’t waste all your profit on interest payments.

Buy Dental Equipment

Once you have the money to start your dental practice, it’s time to start spending it. The first step after finding your office space is to buy the equipment you need to treat patients.

Don’t just go for the bare minimum you need to handle cleanings. You want the necessary equipment to offer a variety of services to your patients. All you’ll do is send people elsewhere if you don’t have the right equipment.

You’ll also need the products to handle treatments. This includes anything from anesthesia to paper towels. Leave nothing to chance and buy everything you think you’ll need.

Hire a Great Team

Great equipment and skill will only get you so far when running a dental practice. You won’t be able to serve your patients on your own. You’ll need a team to help care for the people seeking care.

The first place to start building your team is the front-of-house staff. These are the people who will take care of patients while they’re waiting for you to get to them. You’ll need to hire people with great attention to detail and customer service skills.

It also pays to have at least one other dentist who can help. You’ll need help with some patients and someone who can take on some of the workloads. This help will ensure you won’t keep people waiting while working long jobs.

Create a Marketing Plan

A great advertising plan is a must if you want to see success with your dental practice. Most areas have countless dental offices for people to get dental work. What makes your office stand above the rest?

Your dental marketing will help you stand out in a crowded market. One place many new practices start is digital advertising. An online presence is an easy way to describe why your company is excellent and why people should work with you.

At the bare minimum, you should build a website for your brand. You can use it to talk about how your practice works and your experience as a dentist.

Once you have a website, you can set up Google My Business to show up on Google Maps. This will help you show up for searchers looking for local dentists.

You can also invest in paid ads to jumpstart your website traffic. You can bid on local dental keywords and show up at the top of the search results.

Make Sure You Open Your Dentist Office the Right Way

You’re making a significant investment when setting up your own dentist office. Unfortunately, you can waste all your money if you don’t do things right and fail to get new patients. Follow the guide above to improve your chances of success as a local dentist.

Head back to the blog to learn more tips that will help you run your dentist office the right way.