#919: Debriefing 2024

Dental A Team Podcast

Kiera and Britt outline how to go about assessing 2024 for your practice. They give three metric areas and discuss questions for evaluating each:

1. Profitability and business

2. Clinician and dentistry skill

3. Personal and team fulfillment

Included in all that is the recognition of accomplishments. Don’t forget to celebrate!

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:00.812)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is a special day. I have the one and only Brittany Stone, no BS Britt. What else do you have? What other names Britt? think bad.

Britt (00:11.616)

mean, you got my full name today. So like that's always, Tiff did that the other day on a podcast too. And I'm like, I always get worried when it's my full name that comes up.

Kiera Dent (00:15.127)

You

Kiera Dent (00:21.158)

Brittany's still back on the podcast. Don't worry. No fear there. It's just a good name. I mean you go by Britt. I only usually call you Britt every so often it comes through as Brittany

Britt (00:23.542)

you

Britt (00:31.786)

My mom did a good job. I'm happy with it.

Kiera Dent (00:34.22)

Yeah, and then BS. What's crazy is there's an office that I consult and their office manager is killer. She's incredible. And her initials are BS. And I was like, you and my BS are two good BSs.

Britt (00:47.03)

huh, it's true. They are fun initials to sign on anything when it's like a legal thing that you initial and you sign BS. I'll just say it makes me Google anyways.

Kiera Dent (00:56.458)

I mean, someone that I know, I won't say who they are. They have an account called BS Investments. So it's like they're just like nonsense investments. And we were transferring some money and the bank stopped us and they were like, are you sure you want to send it to this? Yes. So agreed. The legal, all the things. There's some good initials. But I thought they were very clever to have BS investments. Like those are just the ones that are like shot in the dark. You don't know what's going to happen. So with that,

Britt and I are back on the podcast. thought it'd be fun to podcast today about like, let's just go through kind of what we do internally. Britt and I work, believe it or not, we're not just consultants in Denali team. Britt does all operations within our company and her and I really do yin and yang. And so I thought it'd be a fun podcast for us today of kind of like, how do we assess how our 2024 was for you guys to really like, let's go through how was 2024 for you? What things should you be looking at? How do you assess if it was a good year?

if it wasn't a great year, because honestly, I think it's fair to say that 2024 was actually our hardest year as Dental A Team, like all the way around. And I think a lot of practices had a hard year. I think there were some who had like best years ever. But I think it's important to note that like ebbs and flows in business are normal. And that's okay. It's just how do we assess was it a good year or not? But shoot, I mean, we hired consultants this year, we hired recruiters this year, like we went all in this year.

because there were a lot of things we were struggling with as a company and I think like struggling and also on the high ends, we also hire coaches then too, but it's like making sure you're really getting the need and the support you have. And like those were pivotal decisions you and I made throughout this year, yin and yanging off of what we both had and our different perspectives.

Britt (02:41.949)

Yeah, for sure. I think when it comes to looking at years, like even your tough years, right? Everyone's going to have them. That's welcome to business. Welcome to life. That's what happens sometimes. And even just looking back and making sure that we always look at the things that went well. I think sometimes when we get to end of year, you're like, my gosh, what are all the things? What do we need to fix? What do we do? And making sure to take a look back at what went well and the things that went well.

What do we need to keep doing and not lose track of as we start to focus on maybe some areas or some other areas?

Kiera Dent (03:13.248)

I agree and I'm glad you brought it up because I think sometimes you and I are actually cynical and like it's like yeah, yeah, yeah, that was something good. So my question is, I mean, this is a real question. haven't, you guys, we don't script any of this. This is just me and Britt rifting in real life here. How do you not just like get complacent and be like, yeah, that was great, but we need to fix all these things. Like how do you really celebrate the good things going on and not lose sight of those? I don't know. Like I said, this is a rift. You and I have never really talked about this in real life.

Britt (03:20.721)

huh.

Britt (03:41.378)

I think it takes effort. That's why I try to keep it top of mind because it's more a reminder for me than anyone and anyone else out there that's like me that we struggle to look for the things that did go well or the things that are going well. So it's making the conscious effort to find those things that went well and acknowledge them because yes, I agree.

Kiera Dent (03:47.982)

you

Britt (04:01.802)

very easily that I'm like, yeah, yeah, or like not take credit for like certain personality types, right? Like I'm like, yeah, it's like, sure, sure, And like move on to the next thing. But I think everyone can benefit, myself included, from practicing and becoming better at accepting the things that did go well and accepting the accomplishments.

Kiera Dent (04:18.67)

I actually love that perspective. makes me think back, like I started doing this little exercise where they say to do a celebration at the end of every week. So you literally look back on your week and you write an entire paragraph of the celebrations of the great things that happened for that week before you go in and start planning your next week. And I thought it was stupid. Like, I skipped it for quite some time. I was like, I know better than you. That's just a waste of time. And it's interesting because on the weeks when I will do the celebration box,

Britt (04:41.174)

you

Kiera Dent (04:49.31)

and you and I both attended this event so you know exactly what I'm talking about. That celebration piece literally flipped my brain into a more optimistic, positive, I could do more momentum than when I'm just like week to week, what did I not get? And I honestly wonder, and I have no backing and nothing other than just my own personal experience, I wonder if truly celebrating those wins and really building that momentum before we go into our build.

can actually help us see the positives. it's almost like those are the sunglasses we're putting on. So then when we do go and tackle where things didn't go well, maybe we have a better proactive mindset on it versus like, we suck, we need to figure this out. It's almost like down and beaten versus vibrant and finding the solutions rather than just problems.

Britt (05:27.914)

Thank

Britt (05:36.374)

Yeah, and I think it's the perspective, right? That I think when you start with what you've accomplished, it makes going into planning to accomplish more things like, all right, like, yeah, we can do these things. So like, it's not like, well, we keep working on the same thing, right? Like, are we keep doing this? Are we keep doing that? Or like, there's always something wrong. Like, no, it takes a minute to set some perspective on it first, and then move into the next things. And I think for us, right, working with clients, I become more aware of it because I think like,

care about them celebrating more than I care about me celebrating. So like when things happen, I'm like, no, no, no, can we stop for a second and just acknowledge like how far you come right now? Like I was on the phone with the client the other day. And I've been with them since like early on when they opened and they like expanded and added associates and I'm like, can we just acknowledge for a minute and just like, I've been with you for like four years almost now, but like how far you come and really a relatively short amount of time.

Kiera Dent (06:07.32)

same.

Kiera Dent (06:23.182)

you

Kiera Dent (06:33.086)

Which is ironic Britt because without us again scripting any of this I did the exact same thing for a client that I've had for almost the same amount of time I think I'm a year longer than you with that client and I said can we just celebrate the fact that you've built this practice You've had two babies you've cut down your hours You've expanded your practice like you've gone from these numbers to these numbers like that's a lot and I remember one of the doctors she's like Thank you for telling me that because I think I forget to to acknowledge where we've been and where we've come from

And there's a quote that I heard where it says, we overestimate what we can accomplish in a year and we underestimate what we can accomplish in a decade. And I think it's just that like, we really do get a lot done. It's just the day in, day out grind. It's often hard to see progress when you're in it consistently. So agreed. I think that that's a good way to start of like reviewing your 2024 of like, let's celebrate the things that did go well and like make a whole laundry list and like have it as the brag sheet.

Get your leadership team. And honestly, Britt, we should do this before we set our goals. We should probably have a nice brag sheet, because I think a lot more got accomplished. And it's also fun to look back and see, we did accomplish a lot. I think it helps you also set the stage for the next year of, we were able to do all this this year. Let's make sure that we're being realistic with what we can do next year as well.

Britt (07:49.504)

Yeah, and I think evaluating some of the benchmarks too, right? think everyone, most people can feel the strain of like staffing, right? And so it's like, all right, we still may not be like completely staffed, but how have we handled this scenario or got creative or taking care of things like, those also are wins even though it's maybe not our ideal scenario we'd like to be sitting in, but we've done a lot with the circumstances we've been in.

Kiera Dent (08:12.347)

For sure. And I also think like you and I just in our last meeting hiring consultants. If you know any consultants, I'm not doing a shameless plug. This is a legit plug. I'm just going to ask for it. If you know anyone who'd love to be a consultant, we do not poach from offices. So don't even think about it. But if you know anyone who wants to be a consultant, send them our way. But like you and I literally in our last meeting, that's my little commercial. Thank you for listening. But like we literally came down to it we're like, Hey, this has been a problem for us for so long.

Britt (08:34.326)

No.

Kiera Dent (08:40.492)

What can we actually do to get out of this pickle? And we forced us to innovate and think outside the box, which I thought was really beautiful that we did. And I think for offices, like you said, assess the metrics and like don't harp on it. It's not like Britt freaking hire somebody, even though I sometimes wanna say that to you. Sometimes I'm like, just go find somebody. But the reality is like, let's innovate, let's think about it. Let's come up with different solutions that we can all do together. So on that agreed, celebrate.

look to see where we may be missed and why. I think us doing a deep dive of like, why, what things can we change? Instead of being like, well, we just tried to hire whomever we could. It's like, well, let's get creative. If we can't find hygienists, I know I just did this with an office, like, we can't find hygienists. So we literally talked about like, let's do a CE for hygienists, like once or twice a year. So all the hygienists come and if they're not happy, like amazing, it's a networking opportunity or when they're ready to move positions, they think about us.

We're literally going and we're gonna schmooze. Like I kid you not, we're gonna be schmoozing at that hygiene college constantly. Then I thought like, why are we going through administrators? Dental colleges, like the best way to get to the students is through the students. So how can we get like the students to get together in the hygiene schools? Like we came up with so many ideas when it's like, we can't hire anybody. We started offering part-time hours. This office has not wanted to offer part-time hours and we decided.

Let's actually look to see how could we hire part-time people. and I, did a similar thing. We're like, all right, this is tricky. Who's our ideal consultant? What did they do? Where are they at? Let's start figuring out a different solution for it. And I think that that's a fun thing of business, at least for me. That's the puzzle of how do we figure out these scenarios? Do we need to hire someone? Do we need to find somebody? Do we need to think outside the box? We need to get more creative. Or did we just set two lofty of goals that were unrealistic and we need to pare that down for next year?

Britt (10:23.648)

What's this?

Kiera Dent (10:28.288)

So on that, are you guys ready to review 2024? I think easy. think, and again, Britt and I have no script for this, so we're just going to riff for you. But as I'm assessing and what we do in Denali team when we're looking at 2024 is one, I think it's very easy. Did we hit our production numbers? Yes or no? Like, did we hit that? Two, how's our overhead? What's our profitability on the business? Did we hit that or did we not? Why or why not? After you do all this, after you've celebrated. So don't forget, celebrate first, then go into this.

Britt (10:28.501)

Thank you.

Britt (10:36.778)

Hehehe.

Britt (10:53.984)

which is

Kiera Dent (10:57.166)

I think I'm also looking at providers. Like how many providers do we need more providers? Do we not? Like how do we do well on that? We're looking at our goals that we set at the beginning of the year to the end of the year. How did we do on that? Why did we hit them? Why did we not? Were they the right goals to set? Were they not? And then what we start to do, and this is coming up for us, is we start to set the projections for the next year. Like what are all the raises? What are all the different pieces? How's our marketing? How's our bookkeeping? How's our legal? Like all those things we assess and what are we going to have coming in for next year to then set our new goals for next year? like

Really, think, Britt, when we look at it, I don't think if you hit production or you hit all your goals that that was necessarily a win of a year. I think you and I might have also shifted our definition of winning, but I'll let you speak to that first before I share. Do you agree with that? Disagree with kind of your thoughts because I think it's very easy to like it's only production, but I don't think that necessarily equates to the win.

Britt (11:45.236)

No, mean, numbers for sure need to be reviewed, right? That's our objective. How did we do? What were we shooting for? It's necessary. We need to look at them. And especially knowing we have hard, fast costs and expenses, right? Things that need to be covered. So those for sure. And then I think the rest of it is a lot more.

systems team soft skill kind of things almost of like, all right, take a look at what are all of our departments? How are all of our departments doing? What's going well in those departments? What's not going well in those departments? And looking at business-wise big picture things, but numbers are part of it. I agree. A lot of the other things have to do with our experience for our patients and our experience for our team, honestly, right? Because that's what systems build. It builds experiences for everybody.

Kiera Dent (12:15.318)

you

Kiera Dent (12:37.559)

And I'm so glad you said that because I agree. I think there's the data, the metrics, so the numbers, how do we do, then how are our systems, how's our team, how are all the different departments, how's our marketing ROI? Looking at that P &L, C is all the amount of money we're outputting actually getting the ROI that we're needing. But I think you and I asked each other really, I think telling questions throughout the year of are we happy doing what we're doing?

And like for me, I got to a spot of like, love my clients, but I am not happy day in and day out. remember, gosh, but this is a few months ago. I don't know if you remember it. You're like, I'm not happy and you're not happy. that's why you're no BS Britt. You will never like let me off the hook. Do you remember that conversation?

Britt (13:21.91)

I I remember that and cause it's like, that's not the way it has to be. think like that was the cut, like right, we're not. So like, it doesn't have to be that way. So what do we need to do to make it not that way?

Kiera Dent (13:33.676)

which I probably should have finished the statement. Like agreed. You came to it of like, you're not happy. I'm not happy. Like we're pulling all the weight of this. And if we're not happy, what's causing this unhappiness and what do we need to do to change it? And what was interesting is when we had that conversation, we realized that the vision we had set a few years ago of our company was actually the wrong vision that we had. and it was, don't know, Britt, I remember the day that we decided to give up our current vision or like our prior vision.

that we had been striving for and driving. I don't know how you felt, but it was like this, like, I didn't feel like I had lost the game or I was giving up. It literally felt like a sigh of relief of like, yeah, that's actually like the wrong vision and we don't even want to go for that anymore. And we need to create something that we actually are all excited about. That's doable. That gives us the lifestyles that we want to have. I don't know how you felt, but it was one of like, like I said, one of the hardest years to say like, well, shoot our North star. We don't even want to go after anymore. We need to find a new North star.

but also it was so liberating to have those honest conversations with each other as well.

Britt (14:34.426)

And I think that's end of year, right? And going through and reviewing some of these things and even in some of the soft stuff, I'm like, there's definitely a personal check in too, I think, and especially for leadership, right? Because leadership shapes everybody else. So I have no doubt. I know it, right? The rest of our team feels it too. If we're being impacted, they're 100 % being impacted by it. And that's not what any of us want. So what do we need to shift, change, work on, maybe reassess or reset on what we're shooting after and

focus on to make things better, right? And that's like you said, it's not necessarily like money, dollar better. That always has to be there. Don't get me wrong. Profitability always has to be there. But are there other things that we can do that we're not having to push for something that we're not really behind?

Kiera Dent (15:18.282)

Exactly. And I think that that's where end of year is such a good check-in. It's like, how did our number shake? How are our metrics? How are all of our KPIs? How did our quarters go? Were we on track? Were we off track? But then also, like, are we still super happy and fulfilled doing this? And if not, what do we need to do to shift and change that? Like for us, I remember when we realized like we need to hire a coach to come in and help us like set our vision because we're all in the weeds of this. When we decided we were going to hire recruiters to bring in different people for us that are better at this than we are.

we decided to bring, like, we brought in quite a few different people to our team. We've, shifted the vision. We worked on a different vision for the company and then we started setting like more realistic goals up until this year. I've been in founder mindset founders are like meant to double their production every single year. And like, that was fun until it wasn't fun anymore. And I was like, I'm tired. You're tired. We're all tired. Is this something that's necessary to achieve the vision of helping and serving more dentists?

Britt (16:10.454)

you

Kiera Dent (16:17.792)

And so like our vision of having massive impact in this world and positively impacting the world, that hasn't shifted, but how we do it is where we shifted. And so I think really like as you're assessing your year this year, look at it, look to see where did we hit, where did we strike? And maybe you're in the flow of like, I love everything and I just wanna go to the next level. That's also a zone of like, what is the next level? Like I have offices that are just like humming along, but even sometimes like.

Sometimes I even create chaos when we're just humming along and I think you want to tell me to like quit the chaos. But like you either will have chaos for real or we will create chaos because I think as human nature is like the secret to fulfillment is growth. Like we're looking for that growth piece but doing it in a way I think that's sustainable, realistic and attainable as well was maybe a good lesson I think we learned this year as well.

Britt (16:47.22)

Hahaha

Britt (17:06.016)

Yeah, I would agree with that. And I think with offices too, right? It's fun because we get to work with offices at a variety of stages. And I've even got some clients where they've got multiple locations and those locations are all in different stages. And we have to have the conversation of like, yes, like when we look at numbers across the board, right? We take a look back at months.

We've got to acknowledge there are standards, you're like, we have like a baby face and like a teenage phase and an adult phase. And the issues or struggles are going to be very different. And the successes are going to look a little bit different in all of those stages. And that's okay. And so in those different stages and depending on where you're at, right. Listening to this or where clients are at, what is it you want to go after? And what are the things we want to do? And like you get to a more mature stage in some locations that it's like, great.

What else can we do? There's always stuff to advance or that's the time that if you're really looking for that growth and like it might be time to start exploring what that could look like if it is another location or expanding or something.

Kiera Dent (18:05.678)

Absolutely. And I think a setting like even a three year target too helps us make better decisions for where we want to be this year as well. So like, what is that three year focus and where do we want to be in three years? But agreed with you, Britt. It's like, I think that it's a it's a balance as you set goals and you review your year of how am I profitability wise and business wise? How am I as a clinician and our dentistry? And then how am I on my personal fulfillment and team fulfillment? Where are we at? And I think when you look at those three different metrics,

But I also think it's important and I don't know, but I'm super curious on your intake or insights on this. Like what happens when you see you've got a gap and we're like, all right, I look at it and I know our numbers are not where they want to be. I know my clinical dentistry is incredible. I would love to learn like another CE and like fulfillment wise, I'm good, but I'd like to take a few more vacations for the year. Like I think sometimes we see the gap, but we don't actually know like how do we get to the other side of that gap? So do you have any like tactical

practical ideas for offices when they're in that boat of how to get to the other side of that gap.

Britt (19:10.396)

say I think that's where like community you're looking outside. Sometimes it's really hard to see how to jump that gap when one I've never seen it done before right I'm just sitting so silent that I'm doing everything that I know how to do and I just genuinely don't know a different way to do it. And so getting that insight from other people connecting with the group seeing what can be done I think is probably one of the best ways of like reaching outside of yourself or asking for some help to be able to see like how can we get through that gap.

and what aligns with you on the way to make up that gap.

Kiera Dent (19:42.218)

Mm-hmm. And I think like I'll piggyback on that of agreed like someone's done it success leaves clues So let's find some who's done it and done it successfully and like have them help us So whether that's a coach whether that's a mentor whether that's books But I also think but there's something to be said and you and I really had I wouldn't say a tug of war because I think we were both on the same Same side of the rope. It was just like where do we put the spend because we were looking at costs and we're like Okay, does it make sense to spend this? for X result

Britt (20:00.63)

Thank you.

Kiera Dent (20:12.192)

or does it make sense for us to DIY it? And so how do you, this is her real question, I'm curious, I'll tell you how I do it, but like how do you decide when it's worth it to spend the money versus when it's like worth it to DIY and invest it on your team and on the resources that you already have?

Britt (20:31.082)

I mean, I think it might be, it depends on how fast you wanna go, right? I really do genuinely think that, cause it's like, sure, we can try it. And if it doesn't work, then of course, like we need to go get some outside help. If I want it to get done faster, then all right, like maybe I just go for the help now right away and it's gonna, I'm gonna get there a little faster than maybe potentially failing, failing forward, learning from it, but still taking that time to fail. So I think that's.

My honest answer is I think it depends on how fast you want to go and what makes sense. What can you afford?

Kiera Dent (21:03.714)

Yeah, I would agree with you. And I think also investing in things that are going to generate you money, like a decision we have is on a recruiter to hire us this like amazing customer success sales and biz dev. Like it's a very unicorn position. And we have been trying for what a year to hire this position. And so when we look at that, I know for us, I also look at like, how long have I been in this pickle of an issue? And how long am I willing to continue? Like when we had the, like the realization of it's been a year.

We're like, all right, we clearly run the experiment. We're not great at this. We need help. And also, when we invest in things, like when I invest in consulting and we hired somebody to help us do our vision and build out the pieces, I knew that, yes, that cost was going to be high, but my ROI on the other side of it was going to be exponential. So I like to invest in things that are going to help me, like hiring a recruiter that's going to hire a key player for us. Yes, it's an initial upfront cost, but that key player

Britt (21:37.462)

We'll you

Kiera Dent (22:01.344)

should generate exponential revenue for us long-term as well. And so I think when you look at the dials like that too, how fast do you want to go? How long has this been a pain point for you? And then also like, is it a passion for you too? Cause I think like Britt, you and I will sometimes DIY when I'm like, do you want to do this? Cause I don't want to do this. Like, and maybe we do it for two months, three months. But I think like knowing that also, think putting the deadline on yourself, we had the deadline for us with this person, like

Britt (22:19.072)

True.

Kiera Dent (22:28.172)

We said, we're going to give it a month. We're going to try our best. We're going to do all these different pieces. We've got all these pieces in play. And if it doesn't work, then we're going to execute on this decision. But I don't know. I feel, Britt, so many people stayed too long in the DIY phase when if they would just hire the help or bring on the different pieces, it feels scary to spend the money. But I think the more you can realize, I guess it's just ROI. And I don't know how to even help people get more comfortable with that. But I think I've learned over the years, like,

I sometimes actually waste so much money DIYing where if I would just take, like just have the gumption and the like kahunas to do it, like we'd be so much better off for it. And so I think that that's also a skill as you go through. But then there's other people like, I think you and I would look at our clients, our clients execute, they take the risks. And I think because they take the risks and they execute consistently, that's why they have insane growth. Like our clients numbers are like doubling and like,

One of my favorite offices in three years, we've gone from 2 million to almost 6 million, like huge ROI on that. But then we have other clients that just don't want to execute and implement, like even if they have the help to do it. So how do you assess yourself on that? I think would be a good question I would ask you,

Britt (23:41.984)

think it's cost and I think assessing yourself because I'll own it right on some of those things is ego because I'm like, no, I can do it right like I should be able to fix this I should be able to do it. I can do it. So it's feels like failure even though it's not that's my my story. I'm telling myself it's failure but there's no nothing out there that says I can't get some help. And I do like in the end genuinely believe right I I want to surround my people

myself with people who are ultimately better at everything than me because that means I'm only going to grow and get better. kind of letting go of that assessing yourself like am I ready to let go of that ego be ready to accept the hell you ready to like not see it as failure but see it as growth and if so then like take the jump and make the move.

Kiera Dent (24:28.11)

Absolutely. And I think you and I, there's always going to be more things that we want to spend money on than we necessarily have the funds for. I think something we did really well this year as we moved through our business was we assessed of all of our spend of has that person that we're going to spend on done what we're asking for and have they done it successfully before versus like a hope and a wish. Like, we heard like we really vetted a lot of companies this year and a lot of different people before we made the spend of can they do it? But I think something we also did well is like

we jumped in with both feet and we're like, we're going to make this work no matter what and we will get the ROI. And I think that's half of like, whatever you spend in life, a lot of it comes down to you too. And I think for us, the pain point or the way out was greater than sitting in it for longer. And maybe it's just the time we're in, but I think like as business owners and as teams, the more consistently you can get yourself out of the pickle, the quicker you can do it. Like more is lost through indecision than a wrong decision. So like just execute, cause you're going to learn faster than you

than sitting there waffling. But I think as I would be reflecting back on 2024, I would be looking at how are my numbers? Am I good with that? And do I know that? And can I do that? How's my clinical dentistry? And am I good? And do I need help there? And then how's like my happiness, life fulfillment? And then what are the gaps within all of them? And also like assessing our teams and our practice, what are the gaps? Who can get me to the solution the fastest? And then just make the decision and move forward with it because I think

I think so many practices could have so much help and have so much happier lives and less stress, but they just sit in it for so long, ourselves included. But yeah, I actually do think it's a muscle that you learn to develop. And I think the quicker you can learn to decide, make educated decisions and move forward, realizing you're going to figure it out. And if you commit to it, you're going to find the way. I think you have such better years and more success quicker. It probably goes to the book like who, not how.

let's execute on these things and be really good at what we do well and hire experts to do the other parts.

Britt (26:22.656)

you

Britt (26:29.95)

Yep, agreed.

Kiera Dent (26:31.726)

Cool. Well, there you guys go 2024. So I think I would look at it, would review and really take this time to assess, see how your practices, see how you're doing, see where you can raise the standard and I think have someone like Britt in your corner as an owner where you can have the uncomfortable conversations, you can have the growth conversations. You know that you're both working hard to get the business where it needs to go and then set deadlines and execute. But I don't think either of us regret our decisions to hire the people we hired this year.

to make the spend. I think there was one that we'd both agree was a bust this year. Like if I could go back in time, I think you know exactly who that bust was. But hey, guess what? We learned from it and we learned what we won't do next time. So I still don't think it was a bust because we would never have learned otherwise. We tried something and it didn't pan. And we're going to try something the next time. And I'd say all of you do it. And if we can help be a part of that journey.

Britt (27:05.046)

Thank

Kiera Dent (27:23.5)

We literally are experts who have been there, done that, done that successfully. We get practices to be profitable. We implement the systems. We help the leadership teams. We implement within your practices. We teach you the systems and foundations so that way you literally have someone who knows how to do it and you don't have to do it. And so if we can be a part of that, out. [e-mail]. and I have success story after success story, like offices and lives that have been changed. And I think we're living proof of that ourselves as well. So reach out anytime we're here to help you.

Let's make 2025 your best year. So when you're looking back next year, you're looking at your profitability and you're saying it's exactly what I wanted, if not better. My clinical dentistry is exactly where I want it to be, if not better. My practice is exactly where I want it to be, if not better. And my life and my happiness is where I want it to be and it's only getting better. And I think that that would be a beautiful goal to set for 2025. So Britt, any last thoughts you've got as we wrap up today?

Britt (28:15.518)

No, I think my only thing is always make sure to celebrate. Those of you who are doing awesome, rock on, keep it moving, keep going that direction. And those of you who look at this year and realize like, hey, maybe I could go quicker with some help. Like you said, that's what we're here for. So we're here to help support.

Kiera Dent (28:30.486)

Yeah, and we love it. Like we absolutely love it. We get so excited seeing our clients win. And it's so fun to celebrate them to show the longevity of what they've had and to also give them the guidance and set realistic goals so they're not having to try and figure it out themselves. And as an owner, I think that's the greatest gift we can give you is you don't have to do this alone anymore. You don't have to try and have all the answers. You literally have resources at your fingertips who know how to do it very successfully. So Britt, thanks as always for being on the podcast. I love a good podcast with you.

Britt (28:58.291)

Agreed, thanks for having me.

Kiera Dent (28:59.987)

Of course. And for all of you listening, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.