In this vulnerable episode of Ask George, Dr. George Hariri pulls back the curtain on the lonely, difficult realities of dental practice ownership that most doctors refuse to discuss publicly. Despite years of rigorous preparation, George found himself battling severe imposter syndrome on day one as a 25-year-old boss managing staff 30 years his senior. He openly shares his turbulent dental practice ownership journey—from hitting early financial milestones to a devastating nine-month "rock bottom" where he worked four days a week with a 100% overhead, taking home zero personal income.

If you are currently struggling to achieve sustainable dental practice growth and feeling completely isolated in your dental practice management, this episode is proof that you are not alone.

Here is your guide to avoiding the hidden traps of early dental practice ownership:

Beware the Honeymoon Phase: Early clinical success often comes from diagnosing the untreated needs of a legacy patient base. Once those existing treatment plans are completed, your production will crash unless you have intentionally reinvested in new patient marketing as a core part of your dental business strategies.

Identify Your True Bottleneck: Stop throwing money at random ideas. George was losing money because he was paying for a bloated, multi-doctor team while only serving a solo-doctor patient base. Identifying patient flow as his primary constraint was the only way to right the ship.

Profit Requires Intention: Scaling your collections will not automatically fix your dental practice profitability. Generating true profit requires intentional cost control, especially when fighting against modern inflation and stagnant insurance reimbursements.

Do Not Isolate Yourself: The isolating struggles of the "messy middle" are incredibly common among growth-minded dentists. Plugging into a community of peers and utilizing objective coaching will drastically shorten your learning curve.

Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, or click "Free Practice Assessment" to let our team objectively identify the specific bottleneck holding your practice back. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Dr. Andrew Clingan sits down with Steve Steinbrunner from Provide, Inc. to map out the financial realities of dental practice acquisitions and long-term dental practice ownership. Understanding exactly how a bank evaluates your risk profile is a critical piece of dental practice management, whether you are buying your first clinic or investing in a multi-doctor commercial real estate project.

Master Your Initial Financing
Do not aggressively pay down your student loans at the expense of your personal savings.

Banks care significantly more about your liquidity—your cash on hand minus any revolving credit card debt—than your total student loan balance when funding dental practice acquisitions.

General dentists should aim for at least six months of associate experience to prove clinical production capability, though specialists can often secure funding immediately out of residency.

Include consulting or advisory fees in your initial loan request. Banks view professional business coaching as a core part of your dental business strategies that reduces risk, and they will gladly finance it.

Leverage "Ready to Grow" Clinics
If a target practice is underperforming and lacks traditional cash flow, ask your lender about a jumpstart loan to drive sustainable dental practice growth.

These unique loans treat the acquisition like a slow-growth startup, potentially offering up to $500,000 for the purchase alongside additional working capital and interest-only periods to boost early dental practice profitability.

Scale with Commercial Real Estate
Never prioritize owning the real estate over the health and location of the actual business during early dental practice acquisitions.

Once your practice is established, you can leverage the equity built up in the business to secure 100% financing for commercial real estate or ground-up construction without needing a massive cash down payment.

Navigating the complexities of dental practice ownership requires a specialized team. Surround yourself with dental-specific lenders, attorneys, CPAs, and advisors to ensure you make objective, data-driven decisions at every stage of your career.

Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

Disclaimer: Provide, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fifth Third Bank, National Association. All opinions expressed by the Provide employee participant are solely their current opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Provide, its affiliates, or Fifth Third Bank. The Provide employee participant’s opinions are based on information they consider reliable, but neither Provide, its affiliates nor Fifth Third Bank warrants their completeness or accuracy, and they should not be relied upon as such. This content is for informational purposes and does not constitute the rendering of legal, accounting, tax, or investment advice, or other professional services by Provide or any of its affiliates. Please consult with appropriate professionals regarding your individual circumstances. All lending is subject to review and approval. https://www.getprovide.com/

Are you currently focused on building liquidity for your first acquisition, or are you exploring real estate expansion for an existing practice?

In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Dr. George Hariri interviews Dr. Paul Etchison, founder of Dental Practice Heroes, to uncover the secrets of elite dental practice ownership. Dr. Paul shares his incredible journey of growing a 2012 startup into a highly efficient dental practice, hitting $3.34 million in revenue out of just five operatories by 2017. He achieved this by mastering schedule efficiency and identifying the ultimate rate-limiting step in his dental practice: himself.

As your dental practice scales, relying purely on clinical hustle becomes a liability. Dr. Paul explains how dropping down to three clinical days a week allowed him to step into the CEO role, eventually expanding his dental practice to 11 operatories and building a business that thrives while he only sees patients two days a month.

Here are the crucial strategies to optimize your dental practice ownership journey:

Implement Split-Shifting: Maximize ROI and lower fixed costs by keeping your dental practice open 13 hours a day with staggered provider shifts.

Prioritize Proactive Leadership: Effective dental practice management requires freeing your office manager from reactive daily fires so they have the time to proactively solve team issues before they escalate.

Use the CVI Method: Address dental practice team friction by getting Curious about the problem, offering Validation for their perspective, and extending an Invitation to collaborate on solutions.

Don’t Fear Turnover: Never let toxic attitudes run your dental practice; confidently let go of legacy staff who refuse to align with your core values.

Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.