Simple Tips to Opening a New Dental Office

1. Location :

Typically it has been expressed that location was a guarantee for a successful dental practice, however with the advent on new marketing strategies, websites, direct mail, the physical visibility is now tempered with the cost of the space. Example : are you better to have a high visibility location with excessive rents or a modestly visible location that you can promote to success with a good solid marketing strategy. once the practice is operating you can adjust your marketing investments accordingly, even seasonally, however you can never adjust your rent.

2. Construction and Build Outs :

Construction and dealing with contractors and local building departments have created many nightmares for the start up dental office. You can eliminate many of these situations with proper choices and a clear understanding of the contractors limitations. Typically on medium size tenant Improvement projects you can expect 2-4 weeks for Building department Plan approval and 45 to 60 days for construction. The most serious area of conflict between the contractor and dentist is change Orders. Change Orders are areas that are not covered under the original construction contract either by dentists choice, contractor error in reading and understanding of plans and equipment or required by City Building Department regulations. Solution: Try not to make any changes during the construction phase, make sure your contractor has complete information, including the equipment list, prior to finalizing the contract and know that the contractor and yourself have no controls over the City Building Department regulations and timeliness of construction inspections.

3. Always Choose a Licensed Contractor:

Contractors should offer their contractor's license number to you for verification of authenticity through the State Contractors License for clean standing. Make sure they have appropriate Workers Compensation Insurance and general Contractors Liability Insurance in place before entering into a contract. Also when payment is tendered during the project make sure you receive the proper lien Release's from the Contractor, Subcontractor and Material Supply House. Consult your Attorney for specifics in your area regarding payments and releases from General Contractors, Sub-Contractors and Supply Houses.

4. Legal Consultation:

Legal counsel is always a good investment consultation to understand construction law, mechanics liens and the rights of the landlord and yourself when entering into any construction contract. It is not recommended to allow your legal counsel to negotiate the contractor. Attorney's typically can take many hours to finalize an agreement with the contractor and it can be very costly. However, do have them review the contract prior to signing and ask advice on the conditions and terms within the contract to have a full understanding of responsibilities of the contractor and yourself.