Accountants will be pleased to see that they get the call far more often than other types of advisors, at 88% compared with 39% for the next in rank, lawyers. These numbers were not surprising, because most small businesses, including dental offices, need to be sure the financial and legal aspects of their operations are properly handled.
More interesting—and I believe a reflection of the market challenges many dentists now face—are the numbers in some of the other categories. A substantial number of survey respondents (38%) said they use a financial planner. Given that a high level of income no longer comes automatically, as it did a decade ago, doctors need to begin thinking strategically about their personal wealth. They’re discovering that financial planners can help them enormously.
The reliance on management consultants (35%) or business consultants (13%) leads me to believe that more and more dentists recognize that they must begin running their practices as real-world businesses. What they didn’t learn in dental school, they now seek from experts who offer their services on a consulting basis.
To learn more about applying proven, real-world business principles in your practice, download Dr. Levin’s free whitepaper on Practice Performance AnalysisTM.
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