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You have a dental practice you've built from the ground up. It's going well, and you're ready to add on to your operation, but how do you get there?
Dr. Mark Costes owns ten practices, is the founder of an extensive network of dental assistant schools across the U.S., and travels the world to educate dentists on how to reach their full potential.
He created his coaching company, Dental Success Institute to help dentists increase their revenue while working in their passion. He's also a fellow podcaster over at Dentalpreneur.
Whether you're ready to take your business to a multi-operation, or just want to hear what it takes from someone who's currently doing it, you'll want to listen very closely to today's episode because you're in for at least three major eye-openers.
Time-Stamped Show Notes
- 4:13 Introduction. Mark gives us his background of his first business as a lunch truck caterer and how it took him three years and 21 attempts to get into dental school. He also talks about his practices, the Dental Success Institute, and his Dentalpreneur podcast.
- 7:16 Mark talks about how he had to overcome learning disabilities and restructure how he absorbs information to push through to success.
- 9:45 How his lunch catering truck experience far outweighed an MBA school program in terms of learning business knowledge.
- 10:35 How his first business taught him tenacity, grit, and how to stick to it.
- 12:07 Finding Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich at the age of 16 was a turning point that sent him on a journey of personal development, finance, and entrepreneurship.
- 13:57 Why reaching his goal of a million dollars profit did not make him happy and why he sold the majority of his practices.
- 16:42 How he created the Dental Assisting School Company to earn passive income.
- 17:28 The idea caught on with other dentists and now has 186 school locations in 40 states.
- 17:50 Having systems in place makes life less chaotic, even though he has much more happening today than in the past.
- 18:19 Talks about systemization and gives valuable 8-Point Patient Experience system.
- 19:28 Mark talks about being very intentional with finances.
- 20:22 Why the E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber is like Mark's bible.
- 22:46 Discusses staff-dependence vs. system-dependence and which one you want to have.
- 24:20 The one thing Mark would never do again: Duplicate a location without systems in place and without getting overhead down to 50% or less.
- 27:57 Why some people are successful at having multiple practices, and some are not.
- 29:00 How to find good employees and how to determine whether you have a staff problem or a leadership issue.
- 31:23 Why you should limit negative people and surround yourself with positivity.
- 32:40 Mark talks morning routines and mentions Hal Elrod's The Miracle Morning, and Hal's guest appearance on Mark's 6-Figure Side Gig Podcast.
- 36:32 Closing
- 37:06 Afterthoughts: Mark's morning routines are very intriguing. What is your morning routine? Do you wake up and rush to work or do you practice things like meditation in the morning? I want to hear.
3 Main Ideas
- Having Tenacity and Pure Grit. Mark's talking about having applied to dental school 21 times really hit home. It was interesting to hear him talk about his learning disability and how he just needed to restructure the way he learned information.
Had Mark given up on school or being a dentist, he wouldn't have helped thousands of patients, dental assistants, and dentists through his practice, schools, and coaching programs. It was his perseverance and hard work that drove his accomplishments.
Too many times, we give up on our goals because of minor or major setbacks. Mark's message is a good reminder to go after what we want and never to give up.
- Systems, Systems, Systems. It's the reason why Ray Kroc was successful with McDonald's and what all prosperous companies are built on. When you have good systems in place, you don't need the most brilliant people on the planet to run them. Having systems means you can sleep better at night knowing that if a key employee leaves your operation, it won't be detrimental.
Everything in your practice should run on a system: The front office, the back office, how you serve patients, the financials, and everything else.
Mark recommends making an operations manual of your entire practice. Having the operations manual plus keeping the overhead at less than 50% is the key to opening a second practice.
- Staying Positive and Having a Good Morning Routine. If you're in practice or you are getting ready to build one, you probably already know the importance of staying positive. Mindset makes a big difference to whether you can enjoy your dental business at the end of the day.
Limiting negative people and adopting a positive mindset is one of the most crucial steps to reaching your goals.
Mark said he starts the morning with a large tumbler cup of water, meditation, and a green smoothie drink. Then he marinates himself in positivity by keeping a gratitude journal and doing something creative, like writing.
Do you have a morning routine you like to do? How do you start each day with positivity? Message me on Instagram and let me know.
A very special thanks goes to Dr. Mark Costes. Thank you so much for joining me on the show!
Mark Costes Contact Information:
Website: True Dental Success
Email at info@truedentalsuccess.com
iTunes at Dentalpreneur podcast
Mentioned Books:
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
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