After announcing the winner of the Dental Practice Accelerator, we follow Campbell Dental Practice’s first steps to becoming a £1 million+ turnover practice.
Dentistry is still in a state of boom with NHS dentistry experiencing a huge backlog and swaths of patients seeking private treatment.
Elective treatments are also still rising as more and more patients request straighter, whiter smiles.
With many practices investing and refurbishing, it’s all too easy to get caught in a state of FOMO – the fear of missing out.
Whilst some practices are taking advantage of the current situation, others don’t know where to turn and many feel left behind.
What is the Dental Practice Accelerator?
This year Dentistry launched a new competition called the Dental Practice Accelerator.
The idea behind it was for three coaches to come into one lucky practice and show them how to take their dental practice to the next level; they would help grow it to become a £1 million+ turnover practice.
‘We want to help those practices that are currently struggling,’ says Seb Evans, Dentistry editor.
‘The Dental Practice Accelerator aims to support practices with the help of business leaders who have been there and done it.
‘And we’ll follow the process, find out how things are going and what changes are making the biggest difference.’
After a day of judging and a huge amount of discussion and deliberating from the coaches, we announced the lucky winner was Jay Parekh from the Campbell Dental Practice.
Campbell Dental Practice background
Campbell Dental Practice is based in Stoke-on-Trent and has been running for over 100 years.
It includes three surgeries, reception room and staff area.
Run by married couple, Jay and Kin Parekh, the practice offers a range of treatments including dental implants, smile makeovers, whitening, gum treatments and Invisalign.
And it is powered by an enthusiastic team made up of 15 clinicians, nurses and backroom staff.
But it was their family ethos that really captured the attention of the judges as well as the involvement of all the staff in their entry.
It was clear that this was a team all pulling in the same direction – the practice just needed some guidance over which direction to pull in.
The journey begins…
Towards the end of July, Sameer, Sandeep and Justin travelled to Stoke on Trent in to meet with the Dental Practice Accelerator winners Jay and Kin and to introduce themselves to the wider team.
They discussed the exciting journey the practice has ahead as well as some of the actions to put in place.
‘The whole reason we enrolled in this competition was to grow,’ Kin Parekh told us.
‘Not just as a person, not just as a practice, but the whole team – which is the aim of this I feel.
‘By the end of it I don’t want to be just a business that has grown. I want to feel a proud member of my team where I can say it’s not just me that has grown, it’s the whole team that has grown.’
Jay and Kin explained to the mentors where the practice currently stood, the financials, the team and where they wanted to get to.
With the help of Justin, Sameer and Sandeep the practice came up with some key actions to complete along with a timeline so the practice can keep on track as it grows to hopefully become a £1 million+ turnover practice.
At the end of the day
Once the finer details were finalised, it was time for Sameer, Sandeep and Justin to meet the team and sell the dream.
If the practice is to be successful in its journey, it’s imperative the dental team agree and go with them on the journey.
Sameer, Sandeep and Justin explained what it will involve for each member of the team and didn’t pull any punches.
Sameer pointed out the transition will be uncomfortable at times, but in order to grow as a business and therefore offer the best treatment to their patients, change is essential.
And despite some initial reservations, after an explanation by the three mentors, the team agreed to get behind the process.
‘Today has been intense and eye opening in terms of understanding where we can take our practice,’ Jay Parekh said.
‘The mentors have been absolutely brilliant in holding our hand and taking us on this journey.
‘They’re helping us understand what we can achieve; what’s possible with the team that we have and how we can grow our team.
‘I’m really excited about the journey we’re going to embark on.’
What are the next steps?
But the journey doesn’t end here – this is just the beginning.
Over the next 12 months we’ll keep you completely up to date with what’s happening at Campbell Dental Practice.
We’ll speak to the staff about the difficulties they experience along the way and how they overcame them.
And we’ll ask Jay and Kin about the wins and the moments where they realised they were on the right path.
Finally, we’ll speak to Justin, Sandeep and Sameer to find out how they found the process, what they’ve learned along the way and how they found working with Campbell Dental Practice.
Keep checking Dentistry magazine where we will keep you completely up to date with all the progress.
Keep checking Dentistry to keep up with the progress and to watch all the latest videos either subscribe to Dentistry’s Youtube channel or visit www.Dentistry.co.uk.
