NSU CDM Impressions Fall/Winter 2019

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 7 (continued on page 8) Before You Get Started BUDGET Total dental start-up costs can range from $350,000 to $500,000, with an average start-up cost of $475,000. Find a lender experienced in the industry who understands the needs of a dental practice, and not just one who is a generalist in small-business lending. LOCATION Research the market to see where there is the least amount of satura- tion of practitioners who offer the same services. Also, is the location accessible? STAFF I NG How many people can you employ? Think beyond salary, too, and consider health insurance, time off, and other benefits you’ll need to provide to staff members. LI CENS I NG AND LEGAL Don’t wait until the last minute to know about the licensing and legal aspects of opening a practice. Some credentials can take months, especially when it comes to accepting insurances. (Some information from Dental Economics magazine) saturated with dentists, so the location I found was in a newer area. The space was new, giving me the opportu- nity to build out the office the way I wanted.” He also found an area filled with families who would, most likely, seek a specialist. Challenges are part of owning your own business, he said. “The dentistry is the easiest part, because that’s where our expertise is. Probably 75 percent of the stress is from the business side. Having someone call in sick at 6:00 a.m., and then you are short staffed, or equip- ment breaks down,” said Roseff, who has a staff of nine and an associate who works one day a week. For Roseff, the upside to having his own practice is being able to decide how he wants his office to function. “When you work for some of the corporations, you can’t use certain materials, or you need to use a certain lab, or there isn’t the equipment you might want. When you work for yourself, you can make the decisions you want, and not just with staffing and hours, but with every- thing in dentistry.” KELLY CUNDY HART, D.M.D. (’16) AND TREVOR HART, D.M.D. (’16) Hart to Hart Dental | Oakland Park, Florida Trevor Hart and Kelly Cundy knew soon after they met on the first day of dental school that they would one day be married and open their own practice. After graduation, Trevor Hart worked at corporate offices, while Kelly Cundy worked as an associate in pediatrics in a private practice. They were married in 2018. Cundy Hart specializes in pediatrics, while Hart’s focus is general dentistry. “None of it, however, was an overnight decision,” he said. “Having gone through dental school together, the rigors of 40 credit hours our first year, and then living together, after going through all that, we knew we could run a practice together,” Cundy Hart said. After graduating, Hart worked in Estero, Florida, as an associate in a corporate dental group and then moved into his own practice. “It was probably three months into working there, and I was the only doctor at that office,” he said.