Dentaltown February 2013 - (Page 16)

howard speaks column » The SWOT Analysis by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, Publisher, Dentaltown Magazine Former Chairman and CEO of General Electric Jack Welch always used to say a company should either be number-one or number-two in a particular industry, or else leave it completely. How does your dental practice stack up in your area? How do you know if you’re in the top two dental practices in your zip code? How do you compare your practice to the competition? When I earned my MBA at Arizona State University, one of the first things I learned when it comes to evaluating your competitors and your own business was the SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is a way of looking at businesses and determining its most impactful factors. I’ve always recommended that dental practices do a SWOT analysis on the top competitors in their area. Just like in cross-country running or competitive swimming, there will always be someone faster and slower than you in your business competition. What are their strengths? Do they have more knowledgeable workers? Do they offer their services at a lower price? Do they advertise more efficiently? Are there any affiliations that are helping them? And what are their weaknesses? What opportunities does their business present you? What threats do they pose? Doing a SWOT analysis with your management team to answer these questions is a perfect team exercise. We start off with a box (see page 18) and write down what we see are our competitors strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It’s a fantastic mental exercise and it really gives clarity to my team. I learned years ago that there was another dental practice in my area that was entirely focused on Medicare/Medicaid business. That practice had a much lower cost structure because it used very low-cost, entry-level employees. So, in doing a SWOT analysis on that practice with my team, I gave up that demographic. I could not compete in the Medicare/Medicaid business because I employ several long-term staff members who are extremely knowledgeable, extremely developed, and we were making more of the middle-of-the-road, Ford-Taurus-type of dentistry. There is another dentist in my area who is entirely focused on the cosmetic end of dentistry, doing fancy veneers, bleaching, etc. He is focused on this type of high-end dentistry 40 hours a week. Because cosmetic dentistry is a very small part of our business, we decided not to be a “cosmetic spa practice that just focuses on smile makeovers.” We knew how to make the expensive Mercedes-Benz-type of dentistry but we decided not to focus on that area of dentistry because I practice in Phoenix, not Beverly Hills. Just like I didn’t feel like I lived in the area to sell the MercedesBenz-type of dentistry, I didn’t feel like I lived in the area to have a Medicare practice. I zeroed in on my demographics – solid, middle-class Americans – and consequently we focus on the Ford Taurus, mid-range, quality, no-frills, family dentistry. As far as your core competency, like Jack Welch says, you have to be first or second in your market or you’re eventually going to get run over and die. So if you’re third, fourth, fifth or sixth place, you have to ask yourself if you can fix it. Maybe your competitors have a cost advantage. Maybe they employ minimum-wage employees, no frills, no thrills, and they have the lowest prices in town because continued on page 18 16 FEBRUARY 2013 » dentaltown.com http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown February 2013

Dentaltown.com Highlights
Howard Speaks: The SWOT Analysis
Professional Courtesy: Get Off the Hamster Wheel
Continuing Education Update
Second Opinion: Predicting the Future of Dental Amalgam Use and FDA Regulation
Nuts & Bolts Full Arch Case Dissected… Tips, Tricks & Stuff
Employee Embezzlement, Not Sure Which One
Corporate Profile: GC America
Sleep Dentistry Section
Product Profile: Sleep Optima
Breathe Easy: The Advent of CPAP
ACSDD Consortium
Sleep Apnea
Townie Meeting 2013 Last Call!
Do-it-Yourself Finance, Part III: Debt
The Most Effective Presentation Process Ever
“Patient Friendly Dentistry” to the Rescue
Does Kissing Affect Oral Health?
Can Groundhog Day Make a Difference?
Top 10 Tips to a Successful Practice Start-up
How to Build Up the Perfect Tooth
Why We See Problems with Teeth Whitening: The Science of Whitening Part IV – Whitening Sensitivity Solutions
Continuing Education: Full-Arch Appliance Use for Nighttime Parafunction Management
Ad Index
In This Issue: Implants Are Growing in Popularity
Perio Reports
Continuing Education: A.I.M. for Implant Success
Scaling on Patients with Implants
Dentally Incorrect

Dentaltown February 2013