Episode 811: The Blueprint Your Business Needs

 Roadmaps for all the different aspects of businesses are really difficult to create. There’s a lot of room for error along the way. It’d sure be nice to have a ready-made business success cycle, plus the experts to help you over any hurdles that appear. Kiera talks in this episode about Dental A-Team’s Practice Momentum, and how signing up will get you on the right path forward to make your practice the best it can be.

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:00.874)

Hello, Denly Team listeners, this is Kira. And oh, I hope you're having an amazing day today. I hope life is just treating you so well. And I hope that you know that you are just truly loved beyond measure. I think you really are. I adore you. I'm here supporting you. I'm here cheering you on. I'm here to tell you that guess what? Everything and more in life can be yours. It really can. I don't believe that we are limited. I don't believe that we only get certain things. I don't believe that there's a scoreboard. And like, once we tap out, we tapped.

I believe that guess what? Everything and more that you've ever wanted, ever desired, ever dreamed of can be yours. So welcome to today's podcast. Today I wanted to just dive into something that I feel like I've been noticing a lot and that is why does it feel so hard to get organized in business? Like, I don't know, I listen to all these podcasts, I hear all these things and maybe it's because we're scaling up against a measuring stick that we don't even realize, but really truly

why does it feel so hard to get organized in business? I mean, let's be real, it does feel tricky. It feels like there's so much out there and what I've come to realize is I think it's just, there's no like school for business. I mean, you can go get an MBA, you guys went to dental school, you can, we have the online Dental A Team Office Manager course. Like there's a lot of things that you can have, but how do we actually get organized in business? And so I wanted to give you guys some things, like,

I believe that you should have a blueprint for your business. I think that, so for me, I really love, I love tasks, I love checklists, I love things being automated on a cadence. So like every week or every month or every quarter, because I feel like that just makes business simple. And what I found with getting organized is sometimes it can feel hard to get organized just due to the fact that we don't have a plan, we don't have a roadmap. Like let's think about the operations manual. Until I built that,

750 page operations manual, it felt daunting for so many people to build it. Now there's job descriptions, there's a model, there's a layout, all of that's already built for you. And guess what? Now it doesn't feel as daunting because there's a plan. We even have a three month course for you guys to go through so you can get your operations manual done in three months. Like talk about making that huge impossible task feel so hard, now it's become easy. And so I found like with business, we just need to find a way to make this easy for you guys.

Kiera Dent (02:25.826)

to get organized, to have a blueprint. So for me, I would say like, think about building a house. Well, for you and me to go build a house unless you've got prior experience would feel probably daunting. But when they have a blueprint, they have a plan. They know this is step one, step two, step three, step four. And my question is, why doesn't it feel like there's anything like that? It's like, hey, good luck. You graduate dental school, go run this practice and we hope you make it.

And so something I've been super passionate about this last year is helping you guys get that blueprint, helping you figure out what is step one. And so I believe that step one is like your vision. Step two is getting that org chart in place. Right person, right seat. Step three is figuring out your numbers. Where are we at with our overhead? Where do we need to be with our profitability? What's my take home pay? What's my cash flow? What are the KPIs I need to be tracking to get my me and my team there? Step three is going to be making sure my practice is systematized.

But like, as I say that, I don't know if any of you like for me, I'm like, let's just sit back. Like, let me just slither on down. That just feels too hard. But what if I had a way to make it easy? What if there was a step-by-step plan where every single month, we actually helped you and your team do it. What if every single month I walked you through how to build your vision, how to get your org chart in place?

how to go through your numbers and I explain it to you. But then not just watching it online, but actually having a resource where you could come and ask questions kind of like office hours back in school, or come and ask literally, it doesn't even have to be about that, it could be anything in your practice. And you had access to that, you had access to a community at your fingertips. That's what I'm building. And I want you to be a part of it, because I feel like that's why we don't get organized. We don't have a freaking plan, we don't have a way to do it, we don't have a way to get the momentum that we deserve. And so it just feels like we do one thing and we either take like one step forward and five steps back.

or we take three steps forward, but then we fall backwards and then there's no one to even hold us accountable. So what we created was we actually created a really cool thing called practice momentum where we are helping you guys get a business success cycle. So every single month there's a topic and a theme. And then we also have the team success cycle that takes them through it. So doctors and teams, you guys learn different things. You have different pieces and I think that that's where it's hard. As owners, we're working on making sure our businesses

Kiera Dent (04:41.814)

put together, we're making sure our business has the overhead, the profitability, the systems in play. And as a team, we're stressed about how do we get our cases done? How do we get our schedules full? How do we hire the right people? How do we get our operations manual done? There's different needs there. And so I thought, let's make this freaking easy. Let's give you a blueprint. Let's build the org chart. Let's build the vision. Let's figure out why we're doing this. Let's build the KPIs and the scorecard. Let's build the systems. Let's find out where we are and what our baseline is.

and then let's every single month actually go through a system together. Let's go through and let's build systems and not just talk about it in theory, but have hands-on tactical. So really like taking everything from the podcast and compiling it into easy step because I feel like we are inundated with knowledge, but lack execution. Is that fair? Because we're busy, right? The whirlwind of the practice is busy and we get so sucked into that day in and day out.

And I just wanted to make it easy for you guys. So if you wanna join us, practice momentum is where it is. And of course, I'm gonna give you guys some tacticals today of getting that blueprint over the next year where literally it's a physical piece of paper, I kid you not, where you print it out or you can type on it. Where at the end of like the first three months are all of your foundations. And then over the course of the year, you have all of your systems actually implemented, tracked.

KPI is there, but it's for a doctor and for a team. And we have two different trainings. So that way it's for doctors and for teams. And so it becomes super easy. So for example, what I did, like let's just go to the vision, okay? I'm gonna help you guys actually get your vision in place. Like why not? The vision is like, you know, if you have a vision that everybody knows and you're all headed in the same direction, guess what? We're actually gonna get there. And so on a vision, I'm really pro that in order to be successful in business,

First step first is you gotta know where you're going and why you're going there. What is that for me personally and where is that for me professionally? What do I want my legacy to be and what's my ultimate fulfillment? Because I believe that a business is spiritual and it should be leading you and guiding you in that path. So for you guys, like what is the vision? What is your strategic plan and map for you personally? And does the team also know that? So for you, what does that look like? And where are maybe your gaps?

Kiera Dent (07:01.054)

Are we having gaps? Like maybe we're super successful financially, but we're not successful in our relationships. Maybe we're super successful in, you know, our relationships, but our money might be lacking. Maybe we're really good at systems, but we're not good at execution. Maybe we're really, really good at systems, but we're not good at leading. How can we help you get there? So helping you go through like, why? Why did you open your practice? What was the purpose behind opening your practice? What were the reasons? Like I think back to dental A team, and I had a few reasons. One,

Divorce was on the line for me and my husband and I was really concerned and I felt like, oh, all right, I need to create a company. Well, I need to get a job that's going to be able to pay for my life. I had no desire to go back to being an office manager. I had to save my personal intimate details. I had a really, really tragic experience happen to me and being an office manager was really hard for me to go back to.

and I had to go through a lot of therapy, my marriage was on the line, and I truly did not know how I was going to be able to do this. I thought, oh my gosh, like, I'm about to get divorced, I'm gonna have to move back in with my parents, I don't have a job, my skills that I know are not going to be able to be utilized. I went and applied for some jobs, I remember getting offered a job to be an office manager working three days a week. I was offered to be paid 200,000 a year and only working three days a week, and I turned it down.

It just didn't feel like what I wanted to do. And I felt like I was called to something more. I had been wanting to build a business. You guys, I mean, I made a business called the Russia Brush Club kind of similar to the like Dollar Shave Company. And what I did on it, like I made an entire business plan of how to do this toothbrush subscription model. I still might do it if anyone wants to do it with me, let me know. But I wanted to have, like that's why I did it. And then I also thought back.

because I knew all these Midwestern students. When I worked at Midwestern University of Dental College, there were so many students that I just loved. I mean, a few shout outs to some people like Cameron Stroyen, Lindsay Danaher, Kalten Erichs. I just have so many people, Caleb Stott, Richard Lowe, so many people that I genuinely loved as students. Tyler Ficks, oh my gosh, you guys, I could list every single one of these people. Oh my gosh.

Kiera Dent (09:22.542)

Christine Andy who ended up getting married and Danielle and Austin and they got married. And I mean, so many people, like all the like little faces are flashing through my mind. All of those students I just thought, I loved them at Midwestern and I wanted to be able to have a platform to serve them, to help them. It's funny, Kelton actually called me the other day and we were talking about his practice and how I can help him. And I ran into Scott Johnson actually randomly when I was in Utah and-

I said, Scott, like, that's why I built this company is to help you guys, to help you be the, like, to be successful business owners. Like, I helped you through school. Let me help you now be a successful business owners. And so thinking of all of them, that's why I built the business. I needed to do it for my personal, but I really wanted to have a platform to serve all these doctors. And that's honestly why I built that LA team. I wanted to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And that's why I built that LA team. That was it.

Honestly, I needed to have a way to pay for money when I needed and I wanted to have a great, but the greater why was to serve, was to help people. I remember in my interview at Midwestern, I went from clinical dentistry to working at a college and they asked me, Kira, why do you want to leave? Why do you wanna leave? And I said, because I feel like working in a dental practice, I can only serve so many people. At a college, if I can inspire these people to love dentistry like I do, the world of dentistry is going to be a changed place.

All of these students are then going to go build practices. All of these students are going to go be better people in this world. And that's a greater impact. That is why I built the consulting company. Because do you know how many offices I've met? Like I just think of all of my doctors, the love I have, my Indiana office, my Washington office, my Florida offices, my Texas offices, my Ohio offices, New York, like across the nation, all of these practices. I love them so much and giving them that resource.

And then it's like, why do we build the podcast? Cause we want to serve more people. And now why are we building practice momentum is to serve and to love more people and to give you the resources to be successful in life and in business. And so for you, why did you build your practice? Again, I want you to know that nothing's off limits. Me telling you that I needed a job and that I needed to create money and I wanted to have a bigger impact than just myself and to have a legacy, isn't me being a do-gooder over here. That's truly my why. If you say I wanted to build a practice because I didn't want to have to work for someone else,

Kiera Dent (11:44.686)

Fan friggin' Tastic, write that down. There's nothing wrong with that. I just want you to remember your why because it's gonna impact your vision of your practice. So then the next thing is when I look at what do I want, like what's gonna be my fulfillment? What's my ultimate legacy? What's my personal and professional successes? Then why did I start the business? Now where am I headed? Where am I headed? What, like how fulfilled do I wanna be?

where do I want to be in 10 years? Where do I want to be in three years? Where do I want to be in one year to make that happen? And helping you guys figure out these goals. Cause I felt like this was so hard for me. This is definitely based off of Gina Wickman's traction. And then dental A team spin on it as well, because I think that there was so much wisdom there, but I wanted it to connect to dentistry. I've coached dentists for years on this and now helping them really bring it and sink it and tie it home. And then after that, once you get that done,

What are your core values that are actually gonna drive your team and your culture to help you get that? And building those core values as the guide to your culture and figuring that out and then building an org chart that's actually gonna be the structure and the stamina to get you in your practice to the dreams you ultimately want, do you see? So it goes vision and then your why, like that's your why, that's your vision, that's where you're going, where we're headed in the next one, three, 10 years.

then what are the core values of the culture we need, and then who are the people, and what does that organizational chart look like? And helping you figure out who should be in each role. Do you know how hard an org chart is to build? It has taken me years to figure it out, and I constantly have to refine it, rebuild it, figure out who's the right person in the right seat, who's the wrong person in the wrong seat, how do I shift them around, are they the right culture fit, but the wrong seat? This is tricky. And building an org chart, not for your people, but for the organization can actually be really tricky because we...

have this loyalty to our team and we want to give people these opportunities. And I'll say a mad shout out to Shelby and Britt. Shelby and Britt, Shelby and Britt were in a very similar role and we had to realize who's truly the best person for the role and mad kudos to both of them for the humility they had and we had to shift seats, move people into different positions and yet now the company is flowing so much easier, but that was a hard shift that was a...

Kiera Dent (13:55.862)

That was a lot of honest conversations, but massive kudos to my team for being able to do that. But I wasn't willing to just have it be nonchalant and building an org chart with a KPI and a number tracking and figuring it out. But we build that first and then we add people's names there. When I built the pieces in the org chart, I realized who do I actually need to get me there? Where am I at today? I've actually built multiples where it's, where's my org chart today? And where does it need to be to get my company to where it needs to be in 10 years? Those org charts are radically different.

and they keep evolving and moving. And then after that, you get to do an assessment of your current team members. How is each team member doing? And are they the right people on the bus to get you where you need to go? That's an awkward conversation to have, but one that if you really want to get organized in your business, this is going to help you get there. And then being able to go through that and build that blueprint. So having your vision, your why, where we're headed in one, three, 10 year goals, what are our core values and the culture of our company.

then assessing all the 12 systems of the business success cycle, then being able to have my three systems that knowing where my goals are, what three systems do I need to focus on to get me there? And then after that, what are my numbers? What's my overhead? What's my take home pay? What do I want it to be? Because now I know my vision. I know where I want to go. Now I know what my take home pay and my overhead needs to be and what I need to do there. And then from there, I also get to figure out what my commitment to myself is and why am I going to do this and why do I deserve to have this kind of a practice.

This is why organization in a business is hard. Because no one walks you through step by step by step. And truthfully, as business owners, we're freaking busy. You are busy. And to think through all of these steps and to take the knowledge from all the podcasts and all the books and to compile it, that's why there's coaches out there. But to me, I don't believe in just a coach. I want the freaking best coach. Like I worked hard to find a physical trainer and I love my personal trainer. She's done fitness.

competitions galore, she's also had eating disorders, which I have equally had. She also knows the struggle of like pregnancy and IVF and all of that. Plus she knows what it's like to have like really massive body image issues. That's my personal trainer. Because guess what? When we talk about food, she knows don't push too hard on food because she already has a weird relationship with food. I needed a personal trainer who'd been there, done that and done it successfully that could show me the path. I didn't know how to start working out.

Kiera Dent (16:16.746)

I didn't know how to track my macros and eat my food correctly. I didn't know how to see food as fuel instead of a tool to hurt myself with. I had no clue. I was just winging it. And I think like, it's hard to get organized in working out because we don't know it. It's hard to get organized in business because we've never built a business before. And so I would love for you guys to join us to get this blueprint, to have the systems, to be able to check off at the end of the year, like, hey, guess what? In one year.

I was able to get my whole blueprint. I know where I'm headed. I know the systems. I've got my team bought into it. I've got my leadership team in place and I have a community that supports me that's driving in the same direction I'm going. If that freaking resonates with you, I'd love for you to be a part of Practice Momentum. It is something that is so freaking cost effective. It pays for itself. It has a community and I don't let you just do it on your own. You have access to a consultant every single week and I would love for you at the end of this year to get your blueprint in place, to get your business in place.

to get your systems in place, to stop saying I'm going to do this, but actually do it. Make 2024 your year. Make this the time where you actually get organized. I gave you the whole first half. Get your vision, get your core values, get your why. And if you don't know how to do it, join us. Hello at thedenlyteam.com. I would love to have you join us. Write this down. If nothing else, get your vision. Remember why you're doing this and figure out what you want personally, professionally, fulfillment wise, and what you want your life to look like.

because so often we don't spend the time planning and preparing and creating a compelling vision and therefore we just take what comes our way. That's when we get sucked into the whirlwind. That's when we get sucked into the chaos. That's when we feel like we're not making any movement. And then because we don't have that, we have no clue where to start. And so it feels like whatever people send my way on TikTok or on social media or on Facebook groups, I'm just gonna pick that up and go implement that versus why am I doing it? And strategically do I have a plan as to why I'm putting this into place today? Because if not,

It's just busy work and busy work doesn't stand to stick. Do you have a plan to consistently review your systems every single year and make sure that you're actually up to par? Do you have a way to ensure that all of the pieces in your business that you need to be checking off have a plan? I don't. So that's why I had to create one because I felt like there's no where out there. I can't find anything. There's not a checklist, like where is this? And so that's why we created this. So join us. I would love for you to be a part of it. I'd love for you at the end of this year.

Kiera Dent (18:35.918)

to like have it be really, really simple for you, to have this be something where you can walk out of here at the end of this year and say like, oh my gosh, in one year, my life looks different. Just like me with my trainer, in one year, even in three months, I don't have to wait that long, in three months, I know how to track my food better. I know how to actually do physical workouts and exercises. I have someone who keeps me accountable, someone who knows how to do it and has done it and is showing me and empowering me and encourage me to do it.

Like why not get a coach for your business? Why not get your business organized? It's hard because there's not a plan and we've never done it before. So stop making it hard. There's an easy path and I'd love to help you. Guys, this is your year. This is your time. Do not let your business be disorganized because I feel like disorganization leads to stress, leads to chaos and leads to headaches. None of which have to happen. They're a choice. So let's choose not to have that.

Reach out if we can help you in any way, get those visions, remember your why, and as always, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.