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21. Death of a Lifestyle Business – published 10.06.2013

This published in June 2013 and it’s bizarre to think that 4 years later we were discussing exactly this concept with the first group of our Year Long Business Course having invented a thing called a legacy business to stand and direct opposition to the lifestyle business model of dentistry. It’s a classic example of how writing the blog gave me the opportunity to think about a concept in my own life and work and then try to figure out a alternative solution for that in the best way for me and my team. Later I wrote about legacy businesses and on the year Business Course we talk about legacy business all the time and try to encourage people to consider their business as a legacy project instead of a lifestyle business because it seems a much more satisfying and sustainable way to work.

Forever dentistry has been a lifestyle business. You do the job, you pay the bills and whatever is left is yours.

I don’t think this is sustainable anymore. It is too complicated, regulation is overbearing, new technologies are emerging almost daily, dental teams are growing into intelligent, vibrant, motivated groups of people who need training and pastoral care. The problem is running a business like that as a lifestyle business is that once you have paid the bills there is nothing left and eventually the lifestyle business that funds the purchases of Porsches and things will extinguish and die.

To budget your business properly explain that to your staff and show them what you are trying to do in a reasonable and non greedy way to show them the fundamental basis of developing a good business and practice in the long term.

Blog post number: 1519