Dr. William Burghardt has been a practicing dentist for thirteen years and founded his own practice eight years ago, but it took a lot of learning to achieve the level of success he has today. One of the most important decisions he made in his journey of entrepreneurship was finding a coach that could help him navigate new challenges as he worked to achieve growth and scale. Whether it is a podcast or a mastermind, Dr. Burghardt stresses that any form of mentorship goes a long way, but he found a partner in Dr. Mark Costes of the Dental Success Institute and hasn’t looked back since.

Get a Coach for Everything

As a matter of fact, Dr. Burghardt has a coach in almost every area of his life including business, dental, accounting, and health. Sometimes he brings in coaches circumstantially and uses their expertise for a limited time, while others maintain a consistent presence throughout his life. The key takeaway is that having a mentor allows Dr. Burghardt to constantly work towards becoming the best version of himself and that is the ultimate source of happiness.

Moving From Dentist to Entrepreneur

When Dr. Burghardt started his first practice, he already knew that he would eventually open another one. In 2019, his vision has finally started to materialize. Dr. Burghardt is dedicated to being the best dentist he can be, but he is also devoted to learning the ins and outs of entrepreneurship which is an entirely different animal. Luckily, with the help of his mentors, Dr. Burghardt not only opened a new practice, but he doubled the size of his current practice from five to ten chairs. With the proper guidance, it is not as daunting as it might seem, and Dr. Burghardt is still striving to accomplish more.

Managing Your Finances and Services

Everyone has different strengths so focusing on developing one of them can help you grow your practice like Dr. Burghardt. For him, people skills were his primary asset and by focusing on mastering them, Dr. Burghardt was able to improve his interactions with clients and patients at the office every day. Dr. Burghardt also found it very rewarding to add a new service every couple of years because by offering new procedures that would greatly benefit his patients, he continued to strengthen the customer experience and exceed their expectations.

There are a lot of mistakes that can be made in this kind of business endeavor and setting up questionable budgets is a major financial mistake that a lot of dentalpreneurs seem to make. By knowing your numbers and what your budget should be, you can keep your overhead reasonably low. Having a coach to hold you accountable for those numbers is key and depending on the circumstances, it may be your accountant or your accountant and another expert. Managing your numbers in the first five years is difficult, so having a coach can help you find stability while you get into a rhythm.