Two Reds are Better than One

We asked Claire Nightingale to return as a guest and share with us the pains and pleasure of both buying and selling an orthodontic practice.   This interview will help any dentist (specialist or general) who is interested in embarkation (or disembarkation) from Ownership.   Claire’s first attempt at Ownership was a painful failure and she explains why - and equally why it was another 9 years before she acquired her own business.   In part 1 we talk about that slow journey into Ownership.   In part 2 the challenges of growing a business from “pen and paper” to digital.   In part 3 the necessity to plan your exit a long way in advance.   In part 4 the story of her sale to Dentex - and the mountain climb that is due diligence.   In part 5 the journey into a happy corporate ownership.   Along the way we will hear about family challenges, leading by change, how and asset can turn into a liability in a split second, how to break the news to the team, mop buckets, leases, currency exchange and missing shareholders.   Strap yourself in and get ready for a tour de force.   Listen now via the player below or your favourite podcast streaming service.

Ashley and I have known and worked with Gareth and Amanda Small at Helens Bay Dental Practice for so many years that Eddie remembers us as part of their dinner conversation when he and his sister Emily came home from school.   Emily is now a dental therapist working in Dubai and Eddie is a dentist who commutes between London and Helens Bay (just outside Belfast) on a weekly basis.   In this conversation, we trace Eddie’s life so far (one of our youngest ever guests) from thinking about dentistry at the age of 6, becoming more interested in his parent’s work from age 11 and deciding on a dental qualification as soon as his GCSE’s were completed.   Then to the University of Manchester (great choice Eddie) and happy years during which he was expertly mentored by Professor Siobhan Barry and also met numerous people from whom and with whom he learned.   Eddie became Co-President of the Undergraduate Society and helped to chair their annual conference post-Covid.   From this time he also recalls a training course attended with his father over in the Czech Republic with Dr. Josef Kunkela - a course at which he met the presenter’s son and others of his own age group - all attending with parents - a fraternity that inspired him to do more.   Key words for Eddie are “passion”, “learning”, “innovation”.   After graduation he worked as a Foundation Dentist in Sunningdale, Berkshire and has many happy memories of that time to share.   As stated, he now splits his time between England and Northern Ireland and frequently introduces digital workflow ideas to his parents, who remain totally open-minded to every suggestion promoted.   This is a success story - about dentistry, family and dedication.   We think you should share the podcast with others who either have children or parents who may be inspired.   Eddie also kindly offers to answer direct questions confidentially - you can reach him at [email protected]

Have you ever considered what a new patient enquiry is worth to your practice?   If a patient is interested in some cosmetic treatments, for example short term orthodontics, bonding, teeth whitening, or implants, each telephone call could be potentially worth thousands of pounds. If a patient is enquiring about just becoming a patient and they join your membership plan, over a ten-year relationship, then they could easily spend several thousands of pounds with you. This is becoming increasingly important as patients are often shopping around, and some of them are enquiring about NHS services.   Therefore, it would be safe to say that the Reception Team are some of the most important members of your team, they are often dealing with thousands of pounds worth of opportunities every day and they could make, or break whether a patient visits your practice, or your competitors down the road.   In this episode Chris and Ashley along with Enrica Latter, Ashley's daughter, explore this topic in detail. Enrica who works in a top end Private Dental Practice in Manchester as a TCO, made a dozen mystery telephone calls to Practices throughout the UK and what she discovered was alarming.   In this podcast you will discover;   Why your Front of House Team/Receptionists are the most important team members within the Dental Practice; Why they should be called 'Managing Director of First Impressions'; The skills and traits of someone who is dynamic on the telephone and how employing from outside the industry can be advantageous; What Enrica discovered after making all these calls and the five big take-aways from the exercise; What not to do if a patient is enquiring about NHS, when you can only see the patient on a private basis; The incredible offer made by Ashley Latter for those who are serious about making progress in this area, including free training places on his courses.   AND MUCH MORE

One of the biggest challenges Owners and Practice Managers face is creating a highly motivated team that performs at a top level all of the time. A culture in which everyone loves coming to work to do their best, and in which they know they can reach their full potential.  A culture that very few practices manage to achieve.  Marina and Michael Chan have succeeded within their stunning Dental Practice, Iconic Dentistry & Medispa in Perth in Western Australia.  Not only is the interior of the Practice beautiful, including a self-playing piano in the reception area, creating a surreal atmosphere, that patients love to come to and often travel long distances to visit. Ashley recently delivered an In House Two Day Ethical Sales & Communication Programme for their whole Practice and over lunch, one of their team members commented about the culture and said "It does not get any greener than here" and that is how this interview came about. In this interview, Ashley and Chris grill both Marina and Michael, to understand what they do every day to create such a wonderful culture.  You will discover, Where the Chan's got their inspiration for the decor of their Practice How thinking about their team is a daily obsession  What is the moist important asset in their office The importance of the 'Morning Huddle' and a precise description of what happens at 07:45 every morning The four days of training and retreats that take place every year for the whole team, what goes on and why  The whole teams obsession with constantly improving and reaching their full potential How the Chans have created an environment where every voice is heard and new ideas are created How they recruit and what are the most important things they look for in new people The one attribute each team member must bring into work every day, absolutely no compromise here. And much more. This is one of the longest interviews the 'Two Reds"' have facilitated, ensure you have a pen and paper to write down the many ideas you will get from listening.

On this month’s podcast we welcome the former owner of Queen's Gate Orthodontics (South Kensington), Dr. Claire Nightingale - now a part of the Dentex family of practices.   We begin by reminiscing that Chris first heard Claire speak at the 2019 BOS annual conference and, thus inspired, he asked for an interview for his own clients in January 2020.   Claire shared her commitment to digital workflow and virtual consultation, little realising that, just a few weeks later, we would be plunged into lockdown and that, on the return to work, her new business practices would accelerate the growth of her business.   Best Practice UK, Dentistry Awards, 2020. Most Transformed Practice, UK and I Invisalign Awards, 2022 Best Digital Practice, London, Highly Commended, Private Dentistry Awards, 2022 Best Principal, London and South East, Private Dentistry Awards, 2022   As well as being inspired by Claire’s enthusiasm and energy, you will learn:   Why Claire became an orthodontist; Why it is important to start any business venture with your exit strategy in mind; Top tips for selling your business, both before, during and after the sales process; The massive benefits of digitisation and of Dental Monitoring; How working smarter and not harder creates The Nirvana Graph The Four Pillars of Claire’s success Turning negatives into positives; Being resilient; Offering world class customer care; Building your business through word of mouth.   Claire is a power-house of passion, determination and focus - and if 1% of it rubs off on you, your time will have been well spent.

In this month’s podcast we interview Chris Ball - Co-Founder of a super-successful private squat in Preston, Lancashire - Dentistry by Cure Clinics.   For anyone considering future practice ownership, anyone who has purchased or opened a clinic in the last few years - and for anybody who may have “lost their mojo” - this conversation is a must.   Chris shares with us his personal life story and also a detailed account of the planning and execution of the squat opening in May 2022.   By the way - the business has been a huge success story with record sales, full surgeries and they have had to close down the recruitment page on their website BECAUSE THEY WERE GETTING TOO MANY JOB APPLICANTS.   You’ll learn that Chris is a local lad to Preston, grew up in a family that instilled his work ethic, discovered dentistry as a trauma patient and managed to get into dental school on his third attempt.   We will discover why the phrase “luck is the meeting place of opportunity and preparation” is to relevant to the circumstances in which the concept was born - a conversation with his Pharmacist brother at Christmas 2021, that led to the plans for and creation of the clinic.   In this podcast you will also hear:   The communication rules for a successful family business; How the clinic manages to stay open for business 7 days a week; The story of the pre-registration campaign that had thousands of potential new patients asking for information before the doors opened; The marketing campaign that had a film crew arriving to create a news-piece for The lancashire Evening Post; The chance encounter in a Cornwall restaurant that resulted in the appointment of their Patient-Experience Coordinator; How best to avoid burn out; What next for Cure Clinics?   Chris Ball will inspire you and remind you that with a combination of careful preparation, collaboration, core values and future-thinking, anything is possible.

Karl Walker Finch is our latest guest on the 'Two Reds are Better than One Podcast'. Karl graduated in 2010 in Liverpool and then spent the next 5 years working as an associate on the Wirral before joining Lindley Dental in Huddersfield as an associate who announced on his first day that someday he wanted his own place. Very early on in his career, Karl discovered two passions. His first was for Implants and in 2014 took a Masters in Implantology and the other was that he had an Entrepreneurial streak in him, and that he wanted to be a Practice Owner one day. In 2022, he became a Practice Owner along with his wife Marisa, when he purchased a Practice and changed the name to 'Smiles in Tandem’ (https://www.smilesintandem.com/) which is based in Huddersfield. Karl concentrates on all things dentistry and Marisa's speciality is Counselling and Psychotherapy. This is a fascinating interview and Karl really opens up and shares some of his own mental health issues and what he did to overcome them and still does every day. There are so many take-aways for everyone. As well as running his own busy Practice, he is a family man and yet he has still found time to write a book called 'In the Loupe' - The Secrets to Finding a Passion in Dentistry' and he talks about this book on the podcast. You can purchase the book NOW at this link. In this interview you will discover; One of the most important principles that you need to adopt when buying an existing Dental Practice Karls biggest single mistake when he purchased the Practice The importance of Communication with the team and how to get your team to buy into the changes you want to make The three techniques Karl adopted to deal with his own mental health issues and how he maintains a happy work and home life The importance of every day writing The importance of pace, not race and living in the moment Goal setting is not the be all and end all and how it can have impact on quality The impact that belonging to a Mastermind group can have in your career AND MUCH MORE.

This month we meet with Lisa Catto, founder of www.thebusinesscatlayst.co.uk And creator of:   https://idealpatientjourney.com/   who talks to us about the three critical results of the work she does for dental practices: Saving time; Getting organised and Growing sales. Nothing to not like there.   Lisa has run her own businesses since the age of 19 and has a bewildering CV that includes: Turning a roller-skating rink into a rave venue; Running an animation art gallery in central London; Pioneering computer games and digital marketing before the internet “was a thing” and we were using floppy disks and dial up modems!   After a sabbatical in the South of France, she returned to the UK and started working in small business automation before most of us even knew what that meant.   Chris first met Lisa during lockdown, when she was automating an ortho group and he has since witnessed the transformative work she has done with a number of his clients in general practice.   For Ashley, meeting Lisa for this podcast recording was the second blind date of his life - and the first that has turned up!   Lisa explains to us in very clear and direct terms the three phases of her work with dental clients, automating: Phase 1 - what happens before someone becomes a patient (including her unique SmileViewer systemhttp://www.smile-viewer.com/); Phase 2 - how they are converted into fee-paying patients and Phase 3 - how they are looked after as patients.   She also explains how the work she does integrates with Practice Management Software and the thorough onboarding that is done with the dental team when her systems are put in place.   Ultimately, she says, “automation is about creating the extra time and space to build relationships” and that “incremental is exponential” - if you can save just 5 minutes a day, that’s almost 3 full days a year of team activity.   Dentists leave too much money on the table in treatment plans never sold or not taken up - Lisa shows us how to automate improvement.   It’s a great interview, never too technical or geeky and we think you will love it.

On todays 'Two Reds are Better than One Podcast' Ashley and Chris discuss their highs and lows of 2022 and share their goals and aspirations for 2023. Like never before, Ashley and Chris open their hearts and share some very personal stories and as usual, there is no holding back. As usual, there are many lessons and takeaways for your own personal and business life. In this podcast you will discover; How a Hotel seriously messed up one of Ashley's Courses and how shabbily they dealt with the issue, losing a £200,000 client overnight. This is how not to deal with complaints. How a One Star google review caused a few sleepless nights for Ashley and how he managed to move on How to develop resistance in your life and how to bounce back after serious set backs How at the age of 69, Chris Barrow has finally given into the PACE not RACE philosophy The impact climbing the highest mountain in Italy has had on Chris Chris scores himself 3/10 as a new grandfather and he shares what he is going to do to improve his score. Why everyone needs a Coach or some one to cry on How Chris and Ashley have survived several recessions and their final message to all their listeners to make 2023 a good one. AND MUCH MORE

With mental health at the top of the agenda for leaders, managers and in our own lives, we welcomed Dr. Mahrukh Khwaja to this month’s podcast to discover how she has used her own experiences with burnout and depression to help others in dentistry.