Of course not every practice needs an associate, but if your practice is growing there will come a time when this will need to be considered. Below are just a few things to consider regarding the cost of not have an associate.
Cost of your time – As a practicing Dentist your time is probably worth some where between $150 to $350 an hour. At an average of $225 an hour it would cost $18,000 if you personally invested 80 hours in a search. Considering your chances of success, most find this is neither time nor money well spent.Lost Opportunity Cost – Most successful practices are booked up for at least three or four months. Think how much new patient/referral revenue is lost everyday from not being able to readily accommodate new patients. What would it mean to you to bring on an associate six months sooner. (Example: $1000 Net collections per Associate per day – Less $350-$400 for Associate Pay = $625 x 104 days (4 days a week for 26 weeks) = $65,000.
Cost of Not Being Open Five or Six Days a Week – What would it mean to your practice if you could stay open one or two additional days a week? One would expect your net collections to increase any where from 10% to 40%. Most of this money would go directly to your bottom line since your fixed cost would remain relatively stable. (Example: Your Current Weekly Net Collections x (10% to 40%) = $???,???.
Cost of Your Vacation Time – What would it mean to your practice if you could keep it open when you take a vacation. One Dentist told us it costs him at least $30,000 for him to take a one-week vacation. How much does it cost you? ??,???.
Carl Guthrie is a Account Executive for ETS Dental. ETS Dental is an excutive recruiting firm specializing in finding and placing dentists, dental specialists, and dental staff across the United States. www.etsdental.com.
Connect with Carl Guthrie at:
cguthrie@etsdental.com
http://www.google.com/profiles/guthrie.carl
