The intangible value of practice success

Dr. Albert (Ace) Goerig discusses the many ways to improve the quality of your personal and practice life

I’ve written frequently about how most endodontists in typical practices can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to their bottom line. We have a highly successful system, and it works. However, tangible “raw” dollars are only half the story. The intangible value is often overlooked. Here are some of the key intangibles that come into your practice and life when financial success takes a big leap forward.

Elimination of financial worries

Whether it is education debt, practice debt, mortgages, consumer debt, or anxiety about saving for future needs, financial stress is a 24-7 burden. When you significantly increase your practice income, you can immediately start paying off your obligations quickly and forever. Debt-free equals stress-free because all income previously diverted to debt service payments become 100% discretionary cash flow without any emotional overhead. If your goal is to save for the future, an extra $200k per year lets you save incredibly fast.

Escape from the daily grind mindset

Practice ownership has its challenges. Doctors have a big investment, and with that comes a necessary level of oversight, team management, and attention to business details. Sometimes every day can feel like a grind, especially when your income falls short of expectations or goals. Boosting your income changes your daily mindset. While it doesn’t eliminate your responsibilities, it gives you the satisfying context of heightened success that tells you that your efforts are worthwhile, meaningful, and rewarded.

Confidence to innovate and reinvest

Many doctors have goals that require innovation or reinvestments to improve the practice. For example, those may include enhanced team training, updating technology and equipment, renovating the office, or even building the facility of your dreams. Without the financial flexibility of high profitability, doctors often feel constrained. Financial growth in the practice gives doctors choices, sometimes for the very first time, to envision and achieve exactly the kind of practice environment that would make every day in the office an absolute joy.

Team performance and retention

Having a great team is a key factor in practice enjoyment and success. In highly successful practices, team members know they are working in a high-performance environment, and they know their individual performance needs to rise to that standard. Higher profitability also gives you the financial health to ensure you can always hire, train, and retain the best team possible. It makes a huge difference when every day is spent alongside an empowered and productive team who is having fun.

Work-life balance

Endodontists are among the worst of all dental specialists when it comes to taking time off. We often feel we must be available for referrers every day. There is also the general mindset that to earn more income, you must work more. In fact, daily teamwork and clinical efficiency are bigger drivers of income than hours worked. Highly productive practices mean fewer days worked per week and per year while earning more, and doctors get proper rest and relaxation for long-term health and to avoid burnout.

“Independent practice owners have a largely untapped opportunity to unlock an incredible level of life success based on improved practice success.”

Lifestyle freedom

“Lifestyle” is an umbrella term that covers everything from how much you spend on a bottle of wine to what school your children attend, and everything in between. It includes things that are absolutely essential (like living expenses) and absolutely discretionary (like art or travel). There is no wrong lifestyle, except if you don’t have choices that are meaningful and enjoyable for you. Economics is ultimately a tool for making lifestyle choices, and so a more profitable practice can immensely enhance your options.

Family goals and legacy

Family goals are more than just lifestyle but also planning for great family unity and individual goals for everyone. How do you give your kids formative experiences to shape their outlook? How do you create special experiences that keep you close to your spouse? Great economics are a key part of the family equation. Even more, highly profitable doctors can create generational wealth that becomes a vital and enduring legacy for the family or to dedicate to philanthropic goals.

It’s easy to understand each of these intangible benefits at face value. However, what is so important to appreciate is when all these benefits start to occur at the same time in your life. It is transformational and unbelievably uplifting. You will feel like a different person and the best version of yourself that you could ever imagine. Independent practice owners have a largely untapped opportunity to unlock an incredible level of life success based on improved practice success. If you would like to learn more, Endo Mastery offers a complimentary practice analysis.

For more information, visit www.endomastery.com, or call 1-800-482-7563.