Hi. This is Dr. David Ahearn. Many of you know that Tim Gagnon and I recently wrote a book for start-ups. We did that to make sure you don't spend a mountain of money that you don't have to on consultants telling you the same stuff that we'll tell you for $39.95. We wanted just to give out the book… but Amazon won't cooperate. So we're giving away all the proceeds to local charities. Dentistry's been good to me. I don't need the money.
But that's not why I'm writing this. I'm making this to try and get you NOT to do a start-up… Which is a bit weird given that my company Design Ergonomics, designs, equips, and trains, the most productive start-ups all across North America. So please hear me out…
I built my own start-up three decades ago. I had no choice... or so I thought. Unemployment was 17% in my area. Interest rates were sky high. The federal government had seized almost all of the crooked local banks that did most of the real estate lending at that time. My wife was in the hospital, and I actually lost my associateship in a fancy high-end practice that was struggling.
Turns out that is actually NOT a good reason to do a dental start-up! The right thing to do in that situation is to move to a good area of the country and find a great associateship, make some money, and actually save it - as you carefully plan your start-up. You need to have time to plan it out. You need the right community. You need the right site. You need the right building. The right bank. The right contractor. The right equipment and far most important, the right coworkers! You shouldn't be doing that under duress! Get another job and THEN start planning.
Oh, so what about me and my startup? That's a story that probably should be told on another day. It is true though that it does involve mob loan sharks and buying used dental equipment off the back of a truck. It would probably make a good Hallmark movie.
Construction at Dr. Ahearn's first office - Perfect Smiles Dentistry in Westport, MA was completed in 30 days.
We actually created the first Lean start-up. We wound up being asked to design the first offices for a couple of the people you might know who wound up being the people who charge a bunch of money for the information on how to do start-ups. You know, the information that we're finally getting around to giving away. That's funny...and not funny.
Stay in touch with us, read the book. We probably know great contractors in your area, and we definitely know how to find the best location. If you have a spot already, we'd love to design it with you. We're not free, but we will get you more rooms and less space at a lower cost with much higher performance than anyone else.
Here's to your great success! Thank you.
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