Articles

"A lot of my friends were selling at the time, some because of bad health - I thought it would be good to do some serious exploring of the rest of the world while I still have my health. I thought about how long I had worked and how long I had left to enjoy my life."

"No matter how much you plan and think through the outcome of decisions, there is always the chance of the unexpected coming along and changing everything – and you have to be adaptable to the change if this occurs."

"The business of dentistry has proven to be extremely resilient in the face of maximum uncertainty, a place the public sees as worthy of their discretionary money. For that reason, practitioners are recognising that a dental clinic is a fantastic business to own."

"I wanted to structure my business so that I had some free time and could get away. Somehow, I convinced myself that the way to get this free time was to grow the practice, but every time I grew the practice, I had bigger overheads that needed to be covered and the business of dentistry relied on me more than before."

As a child, I remember my paediatrician worked till his mid-80s; he had a walking stick, he was half asleep during consultations, no mother wanted to bring her child there. I knew I didn’t want to stay too long like him, but my partner in the practice was 9 years older than me and I always thought I would stay on longer than him. Life had other plans for me though.

We are standing at the frontier of one of the greatest changes in the ability for hygienists and oral health therapists to generate wealth in the history of the profession in Australia - and somehow, very few people are talking about it. In mid-2020 the dental board finally agreed to increase hygienists and OHT scope of practice so that they could practice independently to dentists. This was a huge step towards independence as a profession and recognition of value. Only one administrative impediment remains for independence to be complete. Currently, lobbying is underway to grant hygienists and OHTs the ability to have their own provider number - when this happens, so too should the historical reluctance of banks and financiers to lend to hygienists and OHTs wanting to buy a practice. Practice ownership – once a pipe dream for many - is now finally going to be a very real possibility.

I had enough of being the boss, stressed and worrying about paying bills and staff. The whole idea was to sell the practice, work less and travel more …My partner and I teach dancing and have a dance studio; we also teach dance at nursing homes and on cruise ships.

Great interview with one of our vendors, Michael Levitt, who sold his Sydney CBD practice through PSS in 2019. He's found the perfect work-life balance, where he's still loving practicing dentistry, but without the responsibility of ownership.

"We wanted to concentrate more on what we like most, to mentor and pass our combined 35-year experience and knowledge on to the younger generations. The practice is our baby and, although we have handed it over, we are still nurturing it."

Thanks to Bite Magazine for interviewing Simon for their article about how to avoid the common pitfalls when buying a dental practice.