I’m tired.
Like, really tired.
And I’m tired of being tired.
Up at 5 in the morning? Doing it! Daily workouts? Yep. Meal-prepping? On it.
Build a business, record a podcast, dominate Facebook and DentalTown? Yeah, I’ve done all that too.
You know what I don’t understand? How come nobody ever talks about rest in the dental world?
You know, rest. As in, relaxing. Doing nothing. Getting a good night’s sleep. That stuff’s kind of important, too…
…
I know I’m not alone here. It happens to dentists a lot more than it happens to buyer’s accountants!
While I was working hard this week I helped 3 different dentists look at practices for sale by sellers in their 40’s who weren’t moving out of town. The sellers were just burned out. They’d had it with ownership and were willing to cut their pay in half to go back to being an associate.
I think that’s a mistake, but I understand how someone can get there mentally.
The last 10 years have felt like the #CrushIt decade. Every time you turn around somebody is on social media talking about how they’re crushing something. Opening their 4th location on the way to DSO world domination. Buying 4 rental properties a week on top of running their practice. Gary Vaynerchuk wrote the book on it, and according to him, people “need to work harder. And faster. There’s really nothing else to it. I’m exhausted every day, but I’m making all sorts of things happen in my 18 hours.”
Sorry, Gary. But I disagree. Being exhausted every day sounds like a stupid way to live.
I believe one of the primary reasons dentistry is such an attractive career choice is that you can make a really good living working 3-4 days a week. But somehow the message that’s out there in the dental world is that if you aren’t collecting $1.5M a year with a second side-hustle or multiple locations you’re a failure as a dentist.
…
Look, if this doesn’t speak to you, just toss this in the trash and forget you ever saw it. Crush on.
But if it does speak to you, if you’re nodding your exhausted head along knowingly and you haven’t even bought a practice yet, decide NOW what success means to you.
For the majority of buyers I work with, success looks a lot more like a practice collecting $950k/year with 60% overhead and 3-day weekends than it does one collecting $2.5M with 50% overhead open Mon-Sat but lots of staff turnover and partnership issues.
Decide what you want out of your career NOW without the noise of the rest of the dental world influencing your decision. What do you have to lose? Bragging rights at a CE course? A bit of income?
What you have to gain is a) peace, b) clarity, c) more time for your friends and family, d) not dying of a heart attack or going on disability at the age of 50.
Sound good?
Great.
Now… put the documentary down and go watch whichever Dwayne Johnson movie came out this weekend, and relax a little.
-Brian
Read More:
Should I buy a dental practice or begin a startup? | Evaluating a Dental Practice to Buy
4 Things NOT to Say in Your First Meeting | Evaluating a Dental Practice to Buy
Identifying Habits of Successful Dental Practices | Negotiating a Dental Practice Purchase
