After graduating from The Ohio State University College of Dentistry in 1983, I decided to start out with my own practice in Aurora, Colorado. Starting out from scratch, I kept busy and made ends meet by associating part-time. I had always heard that a new practice takes about five years to establish, so while things were difficult in the beginning, I figured they would turn around eventually.
A little more than ten years later, I was at my wits end. I loved being a dentist. I hated running a business. All of my stress was business related. I had trouble getting through to patients, who seemed more concerned about their insurance than restoring their dental health. My bills were mounting and I found myself tapping my credit to keep things going. I tried some marketing to bring the numbers up, but nothing changed. I knew I needed to do something, but was confused about what that “something” was! At the time, I was seeing about seven new patients per month.
In the middle of 1994, I heard about MGE: Management Experts, Inc. They were offering a New Patient Workshop with a money back guarantee—so I figured I had nothing to lose. I’ll tell you— it worked! We saw an immediate jump in the new patient numbers and to make a long story short, I was on the MGE Power Program before the end of the year.
Since becoming an MGE client, things have improved just about every year, and with both my wife Laura and I completing the MGE Executive Training Program, we’ve been able to build a stable, successful and profitable practice.
The most important thing I got out of my MGE Training is certainty. No matter what is happening, I know what to do. I was certain as a clinician before. Now, I am certain in all aspects of my business whether it’s sales, marketing, hiring, organization or financial planning. I’m not stressed by the day-to-day operation of the office, I’m active in the community and work normal hours with plenty of spare time.
Overall, we’ve expanded considerably: We have gone from a 1200 sq. foot, three operatory office, to a 3000 square foot, eight operatory office with collections up by 520%. Now, instead of seven new patients per month, we see over 70 with no HMOs.
The MGE program has made it possible for me to achieve everything I’ve wanted, both clinically and in my business. For anyone wondering if they should give MGE a call, here are a few words of advice: It’s life changing, you’ll never go back to the way things were before the MGE program and you’ll never WANT to go back! It’s worth every penny. It’s an investment in your future that will pay dividends for the rest of your life!
