DEO's Growth Secrets Podcast for Dental Organizations

Ken Kaufman hosts Justin Miller, VP of Employee Benefits, USCI Insurance Services, to discuss the key issues and items DSO leaders should consider when setting up their employee benefit plans. They touch on strategies for making benefit plans competitive in the employee marketplace. Justin shares what benefits offer the biggest ROI for employee recruitment and retention. Together they address the complexities and rewards of all things benefits related to successfully scaling a DSO.

In this episode, Emmet hosts Tarek Aly, COO, CFO, and Co-Owner, OrthoDent Management LLC; and Co-Owner, Modern Smiles LLC. They assess the pros and cons for a smaller/ emerging dental group to partner with a larger dental group to scale. Tarek discusses what to evaluate when approaching this decision, breaking the process down into 4 parts: 1. strategic aspect to assess alignment; 2. the resulting change and evolution of leadership and team roles; 3. the finances, both business and ROI; and 4. the feeling/emotions behind the decision to partner. If you are considering partnering with a larger group, this is the episode for you!

In this episode, Ken Kaufman hosts Mike Montgomery, VP of Healthcare Middle Market Lending and Sponsor Finance, Live Oak Bank. They discuss raising debt financing including the dichotomy between debt and equity: when you're financing growth with debt, it means you get to keep your equity. Ken and Mike deliberate the limitations and restrictions of debt and when it's time for private equity. They discuss strategies to make your DSO look more favorable in the eyes of the bank so you have more opportunities for financing and much more.

In this episode, Ken hosts Mike Yates, CFO, Spring Dental. With his strong financial, operational, and technological background, Mike has an advanced and comprehensive understanding of the financial and operational aspects of group dentistry. Ken taps his knowledge about how to make the best use of available financial resources. They also discuss the lessons DSOs can learn from other areas of the healthcare industry.

Kevin Kaufman hosts Mike White, Healthcare Principal with CliftonLarsonAllen to discuss DSO financial/accounting trends, advice for emerging groups, and how much your dental organization should be paying for accounting. Plus they go deep into numbers and financials including how to optimize costs, P&Ls, budgeting, forecasting, the CFO role, and more. Take a listen for accounting and financial advice and strategies for your dental organization.

In this episode, Ken Kaufman hosts Mark Rudolph, CPA and Leader, and JJ Bettencourt Littrell, CPA, both of Elliott Davis, LLC. They discuss employee retention credits (ERCs) available to businesses and how to determine if you qualify. Mark and JJ detail what's available and how it can be used alongside these other government programs to maximize the COVID relief that's still available. Often dental organizations will qualify if their business was fully or partially suspended by government order. But there's a lot more to it. Take a listen to find out more plus hear their discussion about other important accounting and financial topics to DSOs.

In this episode, Emmet hosts John Sheldon, CMO, Smile Direct Club. Together, they consider the possibilities and power of marketing in the DSO industry, discussing best practices and innovative strategies in both the group dentistry industry and beyond. John also highlights Smile Direct Club's marketing strategy. Plus John and Emmet discuss the importance of creating "irrational brand love" and a transformational user experience; using testimonials; having a credible voice, both rational and emotional; why telling stories is imperative; "on-ramps" into products; messaging; and much, much more.

In this episode host Ken Kaufman, CFO of Community Dental Partners is joined by dental fraud expert David Harris, to discuss fraud vulnerabilities within the DSO industry. They dive into why DSOs have unique and different fraud vulnerabilities. David Harris is the author of "Dental Embezzlement Expert" and founder and CEO of the world's oldest and largest dental embezzlement investigation firm, Prosperident (founded 1989). He is a sought-after speaker and foremost expert on all things fraud in the dental space. David's qualifications include: Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified in Financial Forensics, Forensic CPA, Chartered Professional Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, and Licensed Private Investigator. Whether you've been thinking about fraud and how to keep your business safe, or if this is the first time it's crossed your mind — you don't want to miss this episode!

In this episode, Ken Kaufman, CFO of Community Dental Partners guest hosts and welcomes Nathan Chitty, CFO and Director of Business Development at Operation in Dental HQ in Orlando, FL. Ken and Nathan discuss all things unique about finance in dental organizations. Ken taps Nathan's expertise with raising debt and equity and they discuss the pros and cons of expanding with deNovos vs acquisitions; software options and integrations for practice management, finance and HR; and a variety of other finance topics: cashflow, EDIBTA, accounting, private equity and more. Listen to learn from Ken and Nathan's expertise with finance in group dentistry.

In this podcast, Emmet discusses the 4 location growth categories of DSOs that he's seeing in the group dentistry marketplace: #1 Innovators, #2 Consolidators, #3 Turnaround Masters, #4 Franchisers. He discusses the differences in their paths for location growth, solicits comments, and asks for listeners to chime on the DSO Secrets Facebook page: Which category do you fall into? And is there another category that Emmet missed?