The short answer
It is worth it when you have a specific constraint you have not been able to move on your own, and when the person you engage has run a business like yours. It is rarely worth it when you are buying general motivation, a curriculum built for the average practice, or accountability you could get from a peer. The return comes from changing a small number of decisions, not from the sessions themselves.
The question behind the question is usually: will this change anything, or am I buying a feeling of progress? Both outcomes are common, and the difference is predictable before you start.
When it is worth it
- You can name a constraint you have already tried to fix and have not moved.
- The person has owned and run a business with the same pressures, not only studied them.
- The work reaches your decisions and your people, not only your calendar.
- You are willing to hand over decisions you currently make yourself.
When it is not
- You want motivation. Established owners are rarely short of drive.
- The offer is a fixed curriculum. If everyone gets the same modules, the diagnosis was skipped.
- Nobody will speak to your team. Most constraints in a mature practice sit in how people work together.
- You want somebody to run the practice for you. That is management, and it is a different purchase.
How to judge the return
Pick the two or three measures the work is meant to move — profit per clinical day, treatment acceptance, owner hours, staff turnover, days you are needed on site — and record them before you start. If they have not moved in two quarters, the engagement is not working, and a good adviser will say so before you do.
The cheapest way to find out
Have one honest conversation about the actual problem before any money changes hands. If that conversation is already useful, the engagement probably will be. If it is a sales presentation, you have your answer.
Where this gets solved
Coaching for established owners →Written by
Rhea Jain, founder of Swift Transformations Pty Ltd and owner-operator of a multimillion-dollar Australian dental practice, with a BSc in Psychology and a Master of Human Resource Management.
Last reviewed .