Defining Your Dental Destiny: What Matters Most?

Announcer:
Hello everyone. Welcome to The Millionaire Dentist podcast, brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. On this podcast, we break down the world of dentistry finances and business practices to help you become the millionaire dentist you deserve to be. Please be advised, we do speak with an honest tongue and may not be safe for work.

Casey Hiers:
Hello and welcome. This is Casey Hiers back at The Millionaire Dentist podcast, in studio with co-host Jarrod Bridgeman.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Casey, good morning. How are you?

Casey Hiers:
Doing well. Just talking to some clients from Sioux Falls, South Dakota that came in. They're podcast listeners. I go, "Oh, yeah, I guess we do have listeners. It's not just Jarrod and I talking."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, they kept talking about my velvety voice. Yeah, it was nice. Yeah, I was like please encourage me more. I appreciate that.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, well, it was nice of them. They were like, "Do you ever get stressed out about coming up with different topics?" I said, "Not really. It's conversations I have with practice owners or traveling and experiences within the dental industry, so they actually just kind of come to us."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I think the only thing I really stress about is you and I finding the time to sit down and do it. You know what I mean? You're a busy fella.

Casey Hiers:
We're busy titans of industry.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
Trying to help the dental community. But a couple of things that came from that, and I think we'll just run with it, it's two things. It's really not just dental. It's in life too. But what matters and what do you want? Sounds very basic, but when we think about practice owners and our experiences with them, when it comes to what matters, it's easy to just say money.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Sure.

Casey Hiers:
But that's not it sometimes.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
100%, especially once you start-

Casey Hiers:
More money.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
More money. That's right. Well, once you start having a family, that changes your entire perspective. At least it did for me.

Casey Hiers:
The conversations we have, yes, when you master the business side of dentistry and get that right, of course, making 25 to 65% more money every year, saving 5, 10 times more and having a plan, that's important.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
For sure.

Casey Hiers:
But for a lot of folks, it comes back to, well, my relationships, work-life balance, time with my kids, time with my spouse, time for hobbies. That matters sometimes, almost just as much as getting the money right.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It really does. This was a while ago, but you and I had some spouses on the podcast maybe two, three years ago, and that was a big topic of conversation was before they joined our firm and stuff, how much stress and how much time was spent not being at home and being with the family.

Casey Hiers:
I'm glad you brought that up. And I'll talk to a practice owner, just them, they'll have their challenges, and then when the spouse comes in, it changes things because the spouse feels the stress. Even if the practice owner comes home and in their mind think, I've compartmentalized it. I'm home, be present, the spouse still feels the stress and they're like, did you have a bad-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
You never hide it as well as you think you do.

Casey Hiers:
Did you have a bad patient? Like what's going on?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And oftentimes, if the spouse is not in the practice, involved in working there, the doc may not want to share that information. They don't want to stress their partner out and say, maybe cash flow is not great right now. I'm not doing as well as I thought I would because they don't want to let their family down.

Casey Hiers:
In war, if you can't name your enemy, what are you fighting? And so a lot of times with what matters with practice owners, they have to actually be real with themselves and identify not just what matters, but what is it? Is it my staff? Is it the fact that I'm so heavily laden with insurance? I'm on skates all day. There's typically something, but unfortunately, the root problem is not identified all the time. And instead, big decisions are made to try to fix it quick.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I like the idea of finding what is it you want? And then working backwards. So I wanted more family time and more vacation time. Okay, what do I need to do to get that? And start working back. And usually it is obviously money, but how do I make that happen? And it could be something as looking at your practice and how you handle things in terms of maybe you need to drop an insurance, maybe you need to increase production. Maybe you're not doing that well with that. There are so many factors, and that's where having an external team or someone to talk to about that can really, really help someone who knows what they're doing.

Casey Hiers:
That's a good point. Reverse engineering it, right? If you want to work three days a week and you want to make $600,000 a year and you want to be able to go on vacation, well, we see that frequently. That path is there, but there's a lot of work to get there. And then we see people who they're so stressed out with their practice and with some of these items that to keep their sanity, they travel a lot. And when you look at it from a cashflow perspective, it's crushing them. But they literally go, Casey, this keeps my sanity. Well, how about let's find those root problems and make it better. But the first question is, what is the most important to you? Is it the work-life balance? Is it the money?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Let me ask you, if you're stressed at work all the time and you're taking lots of vacations, are you actually taking a break on your vacation?

Casey Hiers:
No, that's a good point.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
You're just stressed about the time you're missing.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. You're in a different setting that costs a lot of money to then be stressed about the things that you've not been able to pinpoint or correct. But that first part is what matters, because there's seasons in life where people tell us, hey, I'm happy to work five days a week, and I love it. And then fast-forward six years, I'm missing too many things. I need to pull my schedule back to four days or three and a half days. But then you trade one set of problems for a new set of problems sometimes.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And then all of a sudden it's 20 years later and you're starting to think about, oh, retirement's around the corner.

Casey Hiers:
Well, and ultimately, hey, what's more important, work-life balance or money? And there is a balance and there is a blend, but ultimately getting the root problem right.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I'm working on getting my kids to pay me to father them. That's my work-life balance.

Casey Hiers:
Sounds like a $10 idea. But let's do a basketball analogy. So if you're missing your jump shot, the ball's not going in the hole. I'm so frustrated. I'm not making it. It's like, oh, what do I do? What do I do? Well, if you don't have the proper shoes and socks and you're laced up, maybe you have a blister, maybe it's infected. And so literally as you're jumping, that pain is causing your shot to be off. Follow me here on this analogy. It's not just about that release of the basketball to go in the net, while you have a problem with equipment and being prepared the right way because something else is causing the basket not to go in.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Or maybe there's a deflate gate situation. Maybe your basketball's not pumped all the way.

Casey Hiers:
Deflate gate. Look at you.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Look at me.

Casey Hiers:
Now let's take it a step further. Determining and defining what matters and what your vision is and what you want. That's important. Take some time to get there. But then ultimately, then once you get that in line, then what do you want? And I've had conversations recently where somebody has a boutique practice that's fee for service, and they really, really like that, and they're humming. Others have a heavily insurance laden practice where they're working, they're on skates. They don't have any time. They're stressed.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Grinding.

Casey Hiers:
Others say, I want a partner. I want an associate. I want multiple locations. Again, you have to define what you want. I had a conversation recently with somebody who... Young dentists getting ready to potentially buy in, and the buy-in is not looking like a partnership. It's looking like a dictatorship. The older dentist is really enjoying the younger dentist production. And there's a lot of details I'll leave out.
But ultimately, when you get down a path sometimes you feel like the toothpaste is out of the tube. You're too far down the path, so I might as well just do this. And then you look up in five years and are you happy or not? But again, you have to determine what matters, what you want, what you want your practice to be, what you want your life to be. And there's so many areas that these conversations, when I have them with practice owners, I'm shocked. They go, "Oh, this is nice to talk about." I've not really talked about it. In my mind, I'm glad we are. But I'm also like, "How did you get to this point where you haven't had these basic conversations with yourself or your spouse to really understand what you want?"

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's what I was going to bring up was one other question I ask yourself is once you've decided what you want, have you asked yourself why? Why do you want that? I want two more practices. Okay, why?

Casey Hiers:
And here's a key word, trade-offs. There's trade-offs in everything. There's trade-offs in life. And so you have to determine what that is. And again, in dentistry too often people get down a path on emotion or one or two data points, and then they look back and go, huh, I don't know that I like to have three practices.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I mean, if you love owning a business and you love being more on the business side of it, I can see it. Personally for me, it'd be hell for me to try and run three different practices.

Casey Hiers:
Well, if we constantly hear what? Staff and team are the biggest stressor, and then those same folks have three practices and can't wait to get three more.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And now you got to fill those three practices, three times as many problems.

Casey Hiers:
And then what's the plan? Well, somebody's going to come and pay me a whole bunch of money. Well, is that in 5 years, in 10 years, in 15 years? Are you going to be burnt out? Is that sustainable? Asking these questions and thinking this through, it sounds like a common sense thing. So many practice owners they just don't do it.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
No. And there's a level of fear because of that. You're afraid to ask yourself those questions.

Casey Hiers:
And they don't know. They don't know what is the best strategy, and they're not sure about it.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Which is fine to not be sure.

Casey Hiers:
For a time. When I talk to somebody in their 30s, well, hey, that's great. You're having these conversations now. Let's get this righted for the next couple of decades. It's the folks that are in their 50s that look up and go, I might want to get this taken care of, but again-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, that ties into what we talked about last week, taking a calculated risk, jumping into that pool.

Casey Hiers:
It's a lot easier to take that leap of faith when you know what you want, why you want it, what's the path to get there, what's it going to take, what are the trade-offs, are you willing to take them? And so much of this can be answered again, if you have the right people in your life, and that can be personal, that can be professional, that can be people that you pay to help you.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
What about Uncle Rico?

Casey Hiers:
From?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That from Napoleon Dynamite.

Casey Hiers:
Napoleon Dynamite. How are you tying Uncle Rico into this? I can't wait to hear it.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, we talked about sports earlier, we talked about football.

Casey Hiers:
How about this? I would throw this football over that mountain.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
How many practice owners are like, I'm going to have three practices and there's nothing to back it up. You can have three practices. You can have multiple associates. It's a beautiful business model and path. There's a lot of planning that it takes to happen. And again, if you don't ask the basic question, what matters and what do you want?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Or you'll find yourself old and regretful.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, there's some-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
You're just angry at all the other younger doctors doing better than you.

Casey Hiers:
I mean, there's certainly some dental events where you see that. And a lot of times I'll talk to the younger dentist who maybe has asked themselves these questions and has their vision and has their path. They might not know how to get there, but at least they know what they want. And they even say, "I'm kind of quiet in my study club or dental societies," because a lot of the older people just say, "It can't be done in dentistry anymore. It can't be done. The current landscape, it's too hard. It's too hard." And the younger dentists goes-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Being in groups like that, that can be so negative, can really hurt your overall psyche in terms of your profession, if that's all you're hearing from the older folks.

Casey Hiers:
Well, the people I talk to, they basically just say, "Well, I'm not having these problems. I'm doing okay, so I'm going to be quiet about it because I don't really want to make people think-"

Jarrod Bridgeman:
20 years ago when I was in my 20s, that's the kind of stuff I would do on Facebook is stir up conversations. And now I'm just like ah.

Casey Hiers:
Hold on, 20 years ago, so you're in your 40s now.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I turned 41 last week, bro.

Casey Hiers:
Wow.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, I know I don't look it. I moisturize.

Casey Hiers:
Great moisturizer.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
Your fitness regimen just must be off the charts.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It's ice cream.

Casey Hiers:
Hey, you know what you want.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
You like ice cream.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And the trade-off is I'm lactose intolerant, so it's a whole thing.

Casey Hiers:
Trade-offs in life, but know what you want. Have a path. Don't settle. My gosh. I mean, all these things sound so basic, but too many practice owners find themselves in a position. They're like, "How did I get here? Should I just sell my practice and go be an associate somewhere? Dentistry is not what I thought it would be." And again, it's not all circumstantial. It's not just because dentistry is this or insurance is this. You have to take some accountability and understand it starts with you, and then you have to work your way out. And then once you actually know what you want, like you said, reverse engineer it and then get some help. Don't just talk to your best friend in dental school who has a completely different situation and practice and think that their tip is going to help your practice get to the next level. Most of our listeners, and most people I talk to again, have achieved a level of success. They have no clue how to get to the next level.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
Or a very little clue. Their idea is, I'm going to do this thing. I'm going to go $600,000 in debt and open another location.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And that'll solve it.

Casey Hiers:
All your problem... What's the movie? Neighbors. It's with Zac Efron and Seth Rogen.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Seth Rogen.

Casey Hiers:
But the idea is that one of the characters, they're having marital problems and at the end of the movie, they're like, "I love you. I love you. Let's have a baby, that'll solve everything." Literally the quote, and it's so funny, but let's take that into dentistry or business. Let's do this thing. It's an emotional high and they think that's going to solve it. Let's have a baby that'll solve everything. Let's get an associate and open a second location. That'll solve everything. It could be very successful, but man, don't just go on a whim. So many do.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, especially with the whole baby thing. That's a downer.

Casey Hiers:
Children are a blessing, Jarrod.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
They are. Oh yeah. That's right. Listen, folks, we're going to be touring again. We're going to be in Huntington Beach in Calabasas end of this week. After that, we're going to be in South San Francisco and Lafayette California, followed by Grand Rapids and Detroit Michigan. We're going to be in a lot of places. I'm really excited to see our team go out there and really spread the good word and reach out there and talk to other dentists out there. If you are interested in going to one of our events, go to fourquadrantsadvisory.com/events, or if you know someone that wants to go or might need some business help-

Casey Hiers:
Well, some of these things we're talking about, it will shake people to their core a lot of times, and they realize, oh, okay. There's a lot of headwinds in dentistry. That's what we're there to talk about. How do you overcome them? But I'm going back to Mode Stomping Grounds at one of these events out in Southern California. I'm going to get some kick-ass sushi and I can't wait.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Send me pictures. Thanks, Casey.

Announcer:
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Millionaire Dentist podcast, brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. On this podcast, we break down the world of dentistry finances and business practices to help you become the millionaire dentist you deserve to be. Please be advised, we do speak with an honest tongue and may not be safe for work.