Straightened times

For the first 15 years of my practising life, changes in regulations and practice culture arrived infrequently and, in hindsight, were usually for the better. During the last 15 years, the amount of change in the practice (especially for those who are keeping up) has increased dramatically and there is a lot more ⇔waiting in the wings. In this article I want to look at the effects of these changes and in particular, the pressure such changes will exert on increasing your fixed costs decreasing your profits and what you should do about it.

The expression, 'a perfect storm' describes an event when a rare combination of circumstances aggravates a situation drastically. I wonder whether dental practice owners are about to face such a combination of circumstances, precipitating a perfect storm. The result might even be that some practice owners see their costs rise so significantly they reach the point where most or all of their profits have gone and their practices are no longer viable.