0:00

Hello everyone , this

0:02

is Dr Shon , and

0:04

I am back with another episode

0:07

of the Hood to Hooded Podcast

0:09

. Today's title is

0:12

Key Performance Indicators for

0:14

Business Success Charging

0:16

your Worth Without Discount

0:19

. One thing that I have learned

0:21

in this first year of

0:24

the journey into entrepreneurship

0:27

is that you

0:29

must charge your

0:31

work and sometimes

0:34

it's OK to give discounts , but you must make

0:36

sure that your business is

0:39

doing well before

0:41

you join forces

0:43

to give discounts . You always

0:46

hear people say well , the price

0:48

is the price . It is

0:50

so serious nowadays

0:52

, in 2024 , not

0:55

only because of the economy , but this

0:57

is post COVID , and

0:59

things are , I

1:01

would say , at least five to 10 times

1:05

higher than they were before . I

1:07

don't know if that's really like an exaggeration , but that's

1:09

how it feels , just coming from a dental

1:12

standpoint . Before COVID

1:14

, a lot of people were really invested

1:16

into masks and gloves and

1:18

PPE personal protection equipment

1:21

. Now this is something

1:23

that people had to get

1:25

to stay safe during the

1:27

pandemic , and the prices for these items

1:30

have literally skyrocketed

1:33

. All right , in

1:36

today's podcast , I just want to make sure

1:38

that we are giving our business a chance

1:40

to succeed in knowing

1:42

what you're worth and charging what you're worth

1:45

. I came from a background of doing

1:47

hair as a teenager

1:49

and I would do some bomb

1:52

hairstyles for 10 , 20

1:54

that they would normally charge

1:56

100 to 200 dollars in the shop

1:58

. But I was a kid , I didn't know my worth , I

2:00

was just really talented and to me at the time this was like

2:02

, oh , this money is good . I was just really talented and to me at the time this was

2:05

like , oh , this money is good , it was better than no

2:07

money . But at the same time I didn't

2:09

know . But if I would

2:11

have kept going in that direction

2:13

, eventually I would have to

2:16

charge what I'm worth , because you

2:18

have to make a living and the people who

2:20

will want to invest in your business

2:22

, they will understand that and

2:25

they will want you to do well and

2:27

they will want to pour into

2:29

your business . All right that

2:32

it is being invested

2:34

in your business and finding

2:36

others customers , patients

2:39

, supporters , subscribers

2:42

who will also see your vision

2:44

, see what you're trying

2:46

to convey , see the value

2:49

that you provide and also

2:51

invest in your business

2:54

. Okay , today

2:56

we're diving into a topic

2:58

that's essential for any

3:00

entrepreneur knowing

3:03

your worth and charging accordingly

3:05

. I'm Dr Shon and I'm here to share

3:08

my journey of dental entrepreneurship

3:11

, highlighting the

3:13

importance of setting prices

3:15

, understanding your value and

3:17

sticking to it . Now , this is partly

3:19

economics , because economics

3:21

is about supply and demand

3:24

. Business has a lot

3:26

to do with that . In this

3:28

episode , I want to talk

3:30

about something I learned

3:32

during my first year as

3:34

a dental preneur the

3:36

price is the price and you

3:38

must know your worth . When operating

3:41

a business , you must know

3:43

the bottom line , what

3:45

is your overhead , what

3:48

are you in the red for every month

3:50

, and make sure that you

3:52

are doing and charging the prices that will

3:54

help you not only cover

3:57

your overhead but also make a profit

4:00

so that you can take care of your team

4:02

and also yourself , because

4:04

you have to eat . So

4:06

this realization of the

4:08

price is the price , knowing your worth

4:11

. It did not come easy

4:13

. In fact , it took me a whole year to fully

4:15

grasp the significance

4:17

of this concept , and

4:20

this is why it's so crucial

4:22

, because , number one

4:25

, this is the reality

4:27

of business . Okay , business

4:29

isn't personal , and it took

4:32

me a whole year to fully understand that

4:34

Setting your price , knowing your worth

4:36

, are fundamental to

4:38

your success . Okay

4:41

, many customers will receive heavy discounts

4:43

and sometimes often fail

4:46

to recognize the true value of the

4:48

work that you provide , in my case , dental

4:50

work that you provide because they look at it as something

4:52

that's cheap . They don't value it

4:55

, they don't appreciate it Right . So

4:57

the discounts can undermine your services

5:00

and make patients or

5:02

customers undervalue

5:04

the effort and the expertise

5:07

that is involved . Now

5:09

listen , when you go to school 12 , 14

5:11

, 15 , 16 years

5:13

you have to put some respect

5:15

on that expertise and know

5:18

that the price is the price . Now

5:21

there are so many

5:23

and especially in my industry

5:25

of dentistry dentists that

5:27

are getting out of network with insurances

5:29

because they don't value the expertise

5:31

and the effort and they don't value

5:34

the overhead that's involved . When

5:36

they want to pay fees

5:39

, fee is $400 , they'll

5:42

give themselves 80% discount

5:44

and say

5:46

, okay , your fee is $400 , but we're

5:48

only going to pay you $90

5:51

something dollars , because

5:53

later on down the line this is when

5:55

you can give back , you

5:57

can get the charity , but you can't go

5:59

and not pay yourself . That is so

6:01

crucial and not

6:04

pay yourself , that is so crucial , okay . So for me , having

6:06

to go a whole

6:08

year and a half just

6:16

not being able to really pay myself is very difficult . But I had to realize something that the

6:18

price is the price and you got to charge

6:20

what you're worth . Okay , it can't

6:22

be all about . You

6:26

got to charge what you're worth . Okay , it can't be

6:28

all about business . You have to really make it worth your

6:30

time . All right , and going into a contract

6:33

especially for new dentists

6:36

or dentists who are part of a

6:38

corporation insurance is

6:40

like their standard . But sometimes

6:42

you have to be a unicorn and

6:44

say you know what . I really believe in

6:46

my skill . I believe that I can do

6:48

this and step into something

6:50

greater where I can feel like I value my

6:53

time . I know my worth and

6:55

I set my prices and I know the

6:57

people who need me and when

7:00

to do things for charity

7:02

. But at the same time , I also have to know

7:04

the people who appreciate what I provide and

7:07

don't take it personal . You know what I'm saying

7:09

. Just know what you're doing

7:12

in your company and know that you're not

7:14

cheating yourself . Like me when I was

7:16

a teenager , doing the $10 hair styles

7:18

, feeling like I don't want to do hair anymore

7:20

because this isn't

7:22

worth my time with

7:27

hair anymore , because this isn't worth my time . All right

7:29

. Now the second thing that we are going to discuss to help us understand why knowing

7:31

your worth and charging accordingly , and

7:34

knowing the key performance indicators

7:37

for your business success and

7:39

how they can help you do . That is

7:42

the discount trap . It's

7:45

so easy to fall into the habit of

7:48

trying to help everyone by offering

7:50

discounts , especially

7:59

when people move or , in my case , patients move from one clinic to another

8:01

looking for the best deal . But this approach

8:03

is unsustaining , is

8:08

unsustainable . You must remember that patients are not just paying for the procedure , but for the

8:10

12 to 15 years of education and the experience that have brought

8:12

you to this point to

8:14

be who you are . Given

8:16

the current economic climate and

8:19

rising overhead costs , this

8:21

is more important than ever

8:23

. You want somebody who has experiences

8:25

. Okay , you must remember why

8:28

customers are coming to

8:30

you for services . This

8:32

can apply to any business . You

8:34

want to really know what you're worth , charge

8:37

what you're worth and stand on business

8:39

. This can be the thing

8:41

that separates people who are going

8:43

to make it past the one to five

8:45

years and the people who may not make it . You

8:48

have to just really

8:50

do the numbers

8:52

, crunch the numbers and make sure

8:54

that it is literally worth your time and

8:56

not going to make you go homeless

9:00

or in the red

9:02

or not being able

9:04

to survive . Sometimes

9:06

, discounting things is

9:09

a good way to bring in customers . For

9:15

example , we have a Smile

9:18

Club membership . You

9:22

get a discount that we control versus the insurance controlling

9:24

it . That will bring in new patients but also get us out

9:26

of that insurance web

9:29

of deceit . Okay

9:32

, number three lessons

9:35

from the change

9:37

healthcare cyber attack . Now

9:40

, if you don't know , in February

9:43

there was a cyber

9:45

attack on the

9:48

health care industry and

9:50

it was with Change Health

9:52

Care . It was a wake up

9:54

call . They processed payments

9:56

for about 50 percent

9:58

of providers , including dentists

10:01

, pharmacies , hospitals , mds

10:04

including dentists

10:06

, pharmacies , hospitals , mds and

10:10

it helped me realize that we need to slow down the rapid pace of this first year of business and

10:12

reassess our insurance policies and their fee schedules

10:14

. Some insurances were

10:16

setting fees that left us in the red before

10:18

we even saw the person . We had

10:20

some tough decisions to make , including

10:23

reducing the staff , going out of network

10:25

. After this

10:27

happened , deep

10:29

dive into our key performance indicators

10:32

KPIs revealed that we could

10:34

no longer afford to offer

10:37

discount . Ok , because

10:39

by offering those discounts , we had to have

10:41

more manpower just

10:44

to manage those discounts on

10:46

the front end and on

10:49

the back end , with the risk

10:51

of these other third party

10:53

companies being hacked

10:55

. That's a wake up call . Especially for

10:58

a first year business . This could

11:00

, like sink us . So you have to really

11:02

move smart , really decrease

11:04

your overhead and buckle

11:06

down Like you have

11:08

to buckle down and really pay attention to the key

11:10

performance indicators . For

11:12

example , I use dentistry as

11:14

the example because I am a dentist

11:17

, but you can apply this key

11:19

performance indicators to any business . How

11:21

many new patients are we getting ? What

11:23

marketing are we doing ? How is it converting

11:26

into the practice

11:28

? How many people are

11:30

we rescheduling ? So , especially

11:33

in our systems , we can see these

11:35

performance indicators that kind of help

11:37

us guide how we're performing

11:40

. Are we hitting our monetary

11:42

goals ? Are we scheduling

11:44

the proper procedures and

11:47

really doing what we need to do

11:49

to overcome this

11:52

big dent ? Ok

11:55

, so the fourth part

11:57

of this is understanding those

11:59

key performance indicators and

12:01

managing your overhead

12:04

. All right , so

12:06

key performance indicators , or KPIs

12:09

, are critical for any

12:11

business , and this is something

12:13

that you want to learn as an entrepreneur

12:15

. They help you track your

12:17

performance , manage your

12:19

overhead and understand your true

12:21

numbers . Many businesses

12:24

fail due to a lack of KPIs

12:27

and poor management of overhead . I

12:29

learned this the hard way . I went an entire

12:31

year without paying myself , investing

12:34

all my earnings back into the business . While

12:36

this wasn't the smartest financial decision

12:39

. It taught me a very valuable

12:41

lesson about sustainability and

12:43

business management , because I had to slow

12:45

down and say , hey , we're going

12:48

fast , we're seeing a

12:50

lot of people , but how is this

12:52

converting ? How is this

12:54

impacting our KPIs

12:56

and what are the KPIs

12:58

trying to show us about the

13:01

business plan that we went with ? So

13:04

for me , just being an associate saying

13:06

other people's business plans , I already have

13:09

a little idea

13:11

about how

13:13

this process should work . But what I

13:15

didn't realize is that every business

13:18

person , every entrepreneur , can

13:20

set up their business in

13:24

their own mindset . Now

13:27

, the fifth segment

13:29

is the importance of specialization

13:32

. Now , this is very important

13:35

. When you're an entrepreneur and

13:38

a business owner and you really want

13:40

to stand out , you have to specialize

13:43

. And there's something in dentistry

13:45

that I might say I

13:47

do regret is not going

13:49

forward to specialize . But

13:51

when you come from poverty and you're coming from

13:54

the hood , the most thing that you're

13:56

ready to do is to go to work to

13:58

make some money . Okay , because

14:01

you're like I'm sick of being homeless , I'm

14:03

tired of being tired , I'm tired of being broke , right

14:05

, but

14:08

you want to specialize . So

14:10

this year , for example , taught

14:13

me that I really don't enjoy all dental

14:15

procedures , especially dentures

14:17

and partials . This is something that I really

14:19

didn't enjoy making in dental school

14:22

. Didn't

14:28

enjoy making in dental school . I often had to get the assistance of the professor this class

14:30

makes to help me finish these procedures , because I just didn't like them . But

14:32

understanding what you like and what you're good

14:34

at is vital to your happiness

14:37

and to your time . It helps

14:39

you focus on areas where

14:41

you can excel and provide the best

14:43

service , which , in turn

14:46

, justifies your pricing , because

14:48

if you can specialize in something , you can

14:50

charge more because you have

14:52

more knowledge in this specific area

14:54

. So , for me , implants

14:57

is a way for me

14:59

, as a general dentist

15:01

, to specialize and

15:03

do something that I would really

15:05

love because I love oral surgery . I

15:07

love the idea of replacing

15:10

teeth and just giving patients

15:12

a different outcome that they could have

15:14

never expected . I

15:16

did just read a story on the internet

15:18

about how in I think I don't want

15:20

to get the place wrong but researching

15:23

growing teeth . So

15:26

that's something that they're planning on having available

15:28

by like 2030 , which is very close

15:30

. So to me as a dentist , that is bizarre

15:34

. I'm interested to see how that works

15:36

. Number six

15:38

teaching people to value

15:41

your expertise . Now

15:43

, this is going to be key because you could be a specialist

15:46

but people may not value it . Get them to

15:48

value it by allowing

15:51

them to know that this is

15:53

the price , because I'm a specialist

15:56

and because you're getting a

15:58

quality job . If

16:00

you're not putting quality

16:16

in it , then you got to charge

16:18

a real price . But if you're

16:21

going to school , getting your overhead

16:23

the education that you're getting and

16:32

also leave you a little bit happier on the pocket side , all

16:34

right . So that's how you teach people to value your expertise . You have to teach

16:36

people to respect your skill , your knowledge

16:39

and your experience . If

16:41

you consistently offer discounts

16:43

, you risk devaluing

16:45

your services and , worse , your

16:48

happiness . Remember , discounts

16:50

can lead you down a path of

16:52

financial instability . So you have

16:54

to do this when your business

16:56

may be doing better or if you're

16:59

trying to actually target marketing

17:01

wise , like

17:03

holidays , but it has to be for

17:06

a specific reason , otherwise you

17:08

really need to know your word . Discounts

17:10

definitely shouldn't put you in the red . Having

17:13

been homeless three times , I

17:15

could tell you that's not a place you

17:17

want to visit or revisit

17:19

. There are certain steps to

17:22

success and I want

17:24

to ask you this question what are

17:26

the tangible steps to ensure success

17:28

in the first year of

17:31

business , all right

17:33

. So the first one is to

17:35

set clear prices . Determine your rates

17:37

based on your expertise , your

17:40

education and market

17:42

standards . You want to

17:44

do your market research , see what other people

17:46

charge in , compare

17:48

expertise , education and

17:51

then , just if you're different and

17:53

you give that quality , you

17:56

deserve to charge the price . That

17:58

is your price . You want to know

18:00

your worth , understand the value of

18:02

your services and communicate

18:04

it effectively to your

18:07

track . Your KPIs Regularly

18:09

monitor your key performance indicators

18:12

. This is the numbers behind

18:14

your business your overhead

18:17

, your profit , your loss . How

18:19

many new customers ? How

18:21

many are returning ? How much are

18:23

they spending ? What's the average that

18:26

they're spending ? How many people

18:28

cancel their order ? How is your

18:30

scheduling looking ? Your

18:32

productivity per hour ? It's a

18:34

lot of different KPIs that you

18:36

can find . Which ones help you the

18:38

most right ? So

18:41

KPIs when you monitor those

18:44

, they help you manage your overhead

18:46

and make informed decisions . And

18:49

another thing is avoid unnecessary

18:52

discounts . Stick to

18:54

your pricing and avoid the temptation

18:56

to offer discounts all the time

18:58

. Specialize , focus

19:01

on the procedures , the products or

19:03

the area that you excel

19:05

at and enjoy the

19:07

most . Educate

19:10

your patients or your

19:12

customers . Help them understand

19:14

the value of your work and

19:16

why it's worth the price

19:18

. By following these

19:21

steps , guys , you can build a successful

19:23

and sustainable business . Steps , guys you can build a successful and sustainable

19:25

business . Remember your time

19:27

, your expertise and happiness

19:29

are worth it . So

19:32

for me , going

19:35

through this first years , having

19:37

a history of just fighting

19:39

and fighting for my

19:41

dreams , I know that you have to charge

19:44

the price that you are worth

19:46

. Okay , you

19:58

can no longer get into network with companies , businesses , people who devalue

20:00

your price and will drive you to be out of business , and I know

20:02

for me as a dentist in this first

20:05

year , I had to really understand

20:07

that insurance might

20:09

have been good back in the day , but

20:12

nowadays it will almost

20:14

literally put you out of business when

20:16

you actually track the KPIs

20:19

. Some insurances

20:21

are quality and

20:24

they do pay a little bit more

20:26

to make it worth your time , but

20:28

a lot of them are like spit

20:30

in the face . Nowadays it's

20:33

literally like a spit in the face and

20:35

there is an insurance crisis . It's

20:38

harder to provide care , with

20:40

things being sky high when

20:43

it comes to overhead , and this

20:45

in turn creates higher prices

20:47

for patients and providers

20:49

such as myself . We have debt we have

20:52

to pay off . Once , a dental school

20:54

was over a half million dollars

20:56

and then when you come from poverty , you already

20:58

start behind the marker because you're not going

21:00

to be set up to apply for those scholarships

21:02

for college . I'm thinking in college

21:05

, I just got to get in . I'm

21:07

not thinking about scholarships , I'm already working

21:09

a job . The only thing in my head is

21:11

the work . So that's why financial

21:14

literacy , that's why learning

21:17

these things when you are younger , about

21:19

entrepreneurship , the reality of

21:21

it , the thing that you need to look out

21:24

for how to be successful

21:26

, are important to pass back to

21:28

the youth , because without it it's

21:30

a blind journey and that's

21:32

the only way to go from hood to hood is to give

21:35

back the knowledge , even if

21:37

it's just a little teensy

21:39

bit that can help someone . You

21:41

want to give it back , especially your networking

21:45

. In this space , in

21:47

the dental space , I have a unique point

21:50

of view because I'm coming from

21:52

such a specialized area and

21:55

not a lot of people who look like me are in this

21:57

space that have came from

21:59

poverty to something

22:02

of this magnitude

22:04

. Something

22:11

of this magnitude and just to be able to give back my input , my

22:13

advice as I grow through this , as I go through this journey , adversity

22:15

along the way , and just

22:17

to be able to say you know what

22:19

you can do . This too . My

22:21

journey , even to this day , this exact

22:24

moment , this exact day of me recording

22:26

this podcast , is so full

22:29

of adversity , so full

22:31

of difficulty , so

22:33

full of test , but

22:36

I keep a smile on my face because

22:38

it's business . I

22:42

had to realize that it's business and

22:44

you got to keep it moving . It's

22:48

just an experience that you can use . You can use the knowledge that you gain

22:50

to be better and

22:53

grow every day , and

22:55

know that you can always pick yourself

22:58

up and learn and start over if

23:00

you have to . Ok

23:02

, pay attention to those key performance

23:04

indicators for business success

23:08

charging your worth without

23:10

discounts . No-transcript

23:19

.