As practice owners we are very different from “large corporations.“ However we can learn a lot from what big companies do and not have to “skin our knees“ by experiencing the same problems.
Recently Microsoft has been closing many of their stores. For several years they’ve tried to copy the atmosphere and aura that you find in an Apple store. But they just couldn’t ever catch up.
“Our sales have grown online as our product portfolio has evolved to largely digital offerings, and our talented team has proven success serving customers beyond any physical location,” said Microsoft Corporate Vice President David Porter in a recent blog post.
At the same time Microsoft stock has been skyrocketing since the dip in the stock market several months ago. According to marketwatch.com, Microsoft has gained 22% over the past 3 months.
This is instructive for you as a practice owner. On the surface it may appear that Microsoft is closing stores due to the Coronavirus. However a deeper look tells that Microsoft is actually catering better to their ideal customer. Apple stores and Apple products cater to individuals, while Microsoft makes most of their revenue and targets large companies and small and medium size businesses with their products and services. As the trend continues with more people working from home, Microsoft is continually innovating and releasing new services to help businesses stay connected. This will be come more important while we will likely continue to see a more mobile workforce in the future, especially in software and technology.
When dentists were allowed to administer Botox to patients, many ran to it with excitement thinking that patients would come flocking from miles around to have their wrinkles and skin rejuvenated, and that their production would go sky high. Wrong! I’m not telling you whether you should or shouldn’t administer Botox in your practice, I’m just saying that you need to focus on two things when adding a new service to your mix:
- Who your ideal patients are and what they want.
- How profitable a new service (such as Botox) is for you.
When you drill down to the numbers, placing a composite filling probably has a far greater profit margin in it then does delivering a bunch of units of Botox in your practice. Especially if you are trying to compete with some of the low-cost, large medical spas around who deliver Botox with razor thin profit margins. Going down that path is a losing game especially for an individual practice.
I encourage you to look at the services you offer and how they align with your patients needs and desires. That should be how do you determine what your fees are, your current procedure mix, and how you can better serve your patients. Don’t go down the rabbit hole that will cause you to lose money on things that either don’t interest you or that provide very little value to your patients. What works in one practice doesn’t necessarily work in another. That’s what makes us all different and unique, and we should use that to our advantage, not try to be the same as everyone else. You should alway measure the profit in your practice (not including what you take home as pay as the practice owner), which is the ultimate measure of sustainability in any business, now more than ever.
We are fortunate to be in an industry that is an essential service and allows us to still practice and function somewhat normally during these turbulent times. I’d love to hear your thoughts or feedback.
All the best!