Happy New Year! With 2015 finally upon us, we’ve put together a few New Year’s resolutions that will help your dental practice prosper this next year.

Set Specific Goals & Measure

You’ve heard the old adage, if you fail to plan you plan to fail. There is truth to that… because without planning and measurement it’s hard to see the big picture for your practice. Setting specific financial and business goals, even if those goals are not met (or if they are wildly exceeded) allows you have benchmarks to plan around each month, quarter, and year. Some sample target goals might be: acquiring a specific number of new patients, increasing sales by a certain amount, or increasing your net profit by a specific percentage. Working with a dentist specific accounting firm can provide you with a snapshot of where you currently stand, help you organize new goals, and let you know how your practice compares to others in your industry.

Establish or Revisit Marketing

A typical small business marketing budget is between 5 and 10 percent of sales… more if you are a new business or entering into new markets or service areas. If you haven’t marketed much in the past and have relied upon word of mouth, 2015 is the time to establish a marketing plan and budget to grow your business. Kudos if you do have a marketing budget established, but now is also the time to revisit how that’s spent to be the most effective. In our new electronic era, traditional forms of marketing such as yellow pages and newspapers are being quickly replaced with search engines like Google and social media sites like Facebook . Even within digital marketing, the desktop computer is being replaced by our ever more sophisticated and ubiquitous cell phones.

Delegate 

Sometimes as small business owners, dentists wind up taking on other responsibilities at the expense of adding new patients, maintaining a reasonable work and life balance, or even quality care . With a limited number of patients this can work adequately, but in a growing practice the need to delegate is important. Sometimes the concern might be that the job can be done better yourself, but surrounding yourself with competent staff and engaging outside companies for specific tasks, like financial management, can ensure that you can focus on delivering quality care.

Maximize Technology & Go Paperless 

With the ever increasing sophistication of computers, mobile devices and software, there is no time like the present to streamline your practice with technology. With mobile devices like tablets, your practice’s key data is just a finger swipe away, allowing for streamline operations and better customer service. Storing documents electronically and in the “cloud” enhances security and saves time searching for information. With more time spent on patient care and less time on administrative bloat, the paperless practice is a close reality that can reap benefits in 2015.

Call In The Experts 

As dentists, your core competency is provided exemplary care to your patients. If you have talented and experienced administrative staff, that works wonders for office organization, customer service and more. For some aspects of your practice it makes sense to call in experts who specialize in your industry, like experience financial advisors or marketing firms. For less than the cost of part time or full time employees, these experts can take the reigns in certain areas and free you up to do what you do best.

If you concentrate and make improvements in these key 5 areas, we’re confident that your practice will benefit and prosper in 2015. Good luck!