Is It Time to Expand Your Orthodontic Practice?
When orthodontists offer WildSmiles braces, they’re able to increase profits, create better patient experiences, and maximize growth. WildSmiles helps to set orthodontic practices up for long-term success with the products patients want. If you’re thinking about expanding, timing, planning, and incorporating an exciting product like WildSmiles will set your practice on the right path for growth.
WildSmiles gives practices the advantage they need to optimize their success and cut through the static of a competitive market. Our unique brackets and marketing strategies have helped many orthodontic offices soar to new heights, and your practice can be next. But when is the right time to start thinking about expansion?
Know When to Grow
Here are five signs it might be time for your practice to expand:
1. You have a clear, achievable plan.
Why do you want to expand? Where do you want to go? What will your practice look like in two, five, or ten years? You have to know what success looks like for you in order to get there. Write out the goals you want to achieve before expanding to avoid aimlessly trying to dominate the market. Practices who expand without a detailed plan risk losing patients or stretching their staff too thin. Any move that could jeopardize your standard of patient care should be avoided, and these mistakes are easy to make if you don’t know how you plan to achieve your growth goals.
Unsure of your first steps? You can always reach out to our team at WildSmiles to learn about the value that designer brackets can bring and how to use our marketing materials to reach your audience in the right way.
2. You’re in a good place financially.
To hire a new associate, open another office, or move to a bigger location, you have to be able to afford it. Before considering any significant change, take a close look at the profitability of your practice. Examine your profit and loss statements, how much revenue your practice produces each month, your overhead expenses, and ROI. Expansion is a viable move if all of your financial vital signs look healthy. Before you make any changes, calculate as close as possible what the financial impact would be and when you do move forward with expansion, keep your numbers in line with your plan.
3. You’re consistently bringing in new patients and referrals.
The goal is to have a steady stream of patients—new, returning, and referred. If you meet this goal month after month, it’s safe to assume your patients and referrals will follow you if you expand. When you’ve established yourself as a trusted practice, they are also more likely to trust any new associates that you bring on board. Remember not to sacrifice your existing patients for new ones, despite how eager you are to grow. Give them the time and attention they deserve in a space that’s comfortable, and they will be more likely to remain loyal to your brand and refer other people to your office.
Revving up your referral flow is one way WildSmiles helps practices thrive. In a market where referral behavior changes rapidly, your ability to adapt will keep your brand on top. Offering a unique bracket system that patients want will grab the attention of potential referrals and turn more shoppers into starts.
4. You’ve outgrown your current space.
If you’re struggling to fit patients into your full-time schedule, your waiting room doesn’t comfortably fit everyone it needs to, or there’s not enough space in your treatment rooms for upgraded equipment, that’s a good sign you’ve “maxed out” your current space. You could purchase adjacent office space (if possible), add more staff or associates, purchase a new office in a different location, or expand your hours. Your decisions directly affect your staff, so if you’re going to expand their hours or space, be sure to provide the help they need to give them some breathing room and prevent them from feeling burned out.
5. You have a marketing strategy ready.
Having a grasp on your competitors and a solid marketing plan will avoid spreading yourself too thin and guide you on the right path.
Dr. Michael Ragan brought WildSmiles into his orthodontic practice and noticed a huge advantage to offering functional braces that gets kids excited about treatment. After working with WildSmiles, he says, “I would highly encourage somebody to do it, especially if you’re doing a lot of Phase One treatment. To offer something new and innovative like this has been a breath of fresh air for our practice.”
When you sign on with WildSmiles, we provide you with an EasyStart kit that has everything you need to get started, taking the guesswork out of your next steps. You’ll receive all the brackets for your chosen collections, promotional materials, and access to our digital library to make it super easy to add WildSmiles content to your website.
Ready to Expand?
Growth is exciting and when executed at the right time with the right steps in place, it can mean tremendous success for your practice. At any stage of your growth, incorporating WildSmiles can set your practice apart. When you’re ready to grow, WildSmiles is here to help.
