In this episode of the Less Insurance Dependence Podcast, co-host Michael Walker is joined by Dr. Brad Hughes, a seasoned dentist, visionary entrepreneur, and leadership advocate. Together, they explore what it takes to build a dental practice that thrives on purpose, culture, and community instead of being constrained by PPO plans.
Dr. Hughes shares his transformative journey of growing from a clinically-focused dentist to a purpose-driven entrepreneur and team builder. He reveals critical mindset shifts, including letting go of ego, creating brand value through authentic leadership, and empowering teams to own the patient experience. The episode also dives into practical frameworks for sustainable growth, mistakes to avoid when transitioning away from insurance dependency, and how dentists can align their business with their personal passions for long-term fulfillment. Whether you’re just beginning to reduce your PPO reliance or looking to scale a fee-for-service model, this episode delivers insights that will inspire and energize your next steps.
Key Takeaways- Mindset Before Metrics
Dentists must first shift from an ego-driven identity to team focused and experience-based leadership. Patients come back when they feel consistently cared for, not just treated. - Brand Is Who You Are
Success comes from showing up authentically in your community. Personal branding and visibility are critical to establishing a trusted, relationship-based practice. - Avoid Burnout with Alignment
Many dentists enjoy clinical work but struggle with business management. Aligning passion and operational roles can help reduce burnout and improve outcomes. - Clarity is Non-Negotiable
Practices often move too fast when cutting ties with PPOs without educating staff and patients. Clear vision, communication, and gradual strategy are essential. - Three Growth Levers
Grow your practice by increasing (1) new patient volume, (2) case acceptance size, and (3) visit frequency. Start with one, and optimize cash flow before drastic changes. - Plan for the Long Game
Dentists should plan their exit or scale strategy 5–10 years in advance, focusing on EBITDA, P&L clarity, and potentially partnering to increase enterprise value.
- 00:00:50 – Introducing Dr. Brad Hughes and the episode’s theme: intentional growth
- Michael Walker welcomes Dr. Brad Hughes, framing the episode around intentional leadership and practice growth.
- Emphasis is placed on moving away from PPO dependency and building a value-driven dental brand.
: This is the Less Insurance Dependence podcast show with my good friend Gary Takacs and myself, Naren Arulrajah.
: We appreciate your listenership, your time, and most of all, we appreciate your intention to reduce insurance dependence in your practice. Our goal is to provide information that will help you successfully reduce insurance dependence and convert your practice into a thriving and profitable dental practice that provides you with personal, professional, and financial satisfaction.
Michael Walker: Well, hello everyone. Welcome to the Less Insurance Dependence podcast, your trusted source for insights, strategies, and expert advice to elevate your dental practice and career. I’m Michael Walker, your co-host, and I’m thrilled to bring you another empowering episode with an inspiring dental entrepreneur and leader, Dr. Brad Hughes. This podcast is all about helping dental professionals take control of their future, whether that means building a fee-for-service model, strengthening your leadership, or finding new ways to grow without relying on PPOs.
Before we dive into today’s conversation, though, I wanna share with you an incredible opportunity that’s being made available to you by our sponsor, Ekwa Marketing. Ekwa Marketing is offering you a complimentary marketing strategy meeting valued at about $900 to ensure your practice attracts better-fit patients and reduces your reliance on insurance. This marketing strategy meeting will help you rank number one on Google in your area, attract high-value new patients, and increase new patient calls month over month.
Michael Walker: Now, who would want that? Now, I can also tell you that this isn’t just a one-hour meeting. I know that they invest about five or six hours into doing due diligence on what your online digital footprint looks like, and in breaking it down and coming back to you with high-quality, high-value information. So you can go ahead and visit to schedule your complimentary session. You’ll also be able to get that link wherever you picked up this podcast. It should be attached to that there as well, so you just click on that.
And as well, if you’re looking for guidance on building a thriving insurance-independent practice, you can also schedule a complimentary coaching meeting with Gary Takacs at and that link will also be located where you can click on it, where you picked up this podcast.
Now, onto today’s episode. As I mentioned, I’m excited to welcome Dr. Brad Hughes, respected dentist, entrepreneur, and advocate for international practice growth. I just said international practice growth, Dr. Hughes, and it says intentional here, but I kinda like the international. Just gives you a whole new vibe, man.
- 00:03:13 – The importance of mindset: ego, team experience, and patient retention
- Dr. Hughes underscores the need to let go of ego and focus on the team’s role in shaping consistent patient experiences.
- Patient retention thrives when practices prioritize emotional connection and exceptional service at every visit.
Dr. Brad Hughes: I was like, wow. Over the weekend, I got a lot bigger than I thought I was.
Michael Walker: Who knew? Like, you know, there’s world—there’s world matters that you need to attend to. We can’t spend too long here. So, intentional practice growth. Dr. Hughes brings a unique perspective on what it means to lead a dental practice, not just through systems and strategy, but through mindset. I love this—mindset, culture, and purpose. In today’s episode, we’ll explore how leadership and entrepreneurship can help you break free from PPO-driven constraints, why mindset is just as important as metrics in growing your practice, common mistakes to avoid when scaling or shifting your business model, and actionable strategies to create a more independent, profitable practice.
Dr. Hughes, it is an honor to have you here, and let’s start with your journey. You’ve worn many hats as a dentist, an entrepreneur, and a leader. What mind shifts are essential for dentists looking to grow beyond the limitations of insurance-driven practice models?
Dr. Brad Hughes: Uh, you know, it’s, uh—first of all, Michael, it’s great to be here. I’m—I’m looking forward to this. I think this will be really good, uh, just really, really good content to dive into. I think we’ll bring a lot of value today.
So, uh, you know, I—I could go back to—you know, this is—I’ve been in practice for 18 years. So I’ve—I’ve made—I’ve done some things well, I’ve done some things really poorly. And I think, um, you know, the first—the first mindset shift—there’s really, I think, two.
Number one, you know, I got asked this really good question last week: if I could go back 15 years ago, 16 years ago, what would I do differently than—than what I did? And I think the first thing, you know, if—if you wanna move past sort of just being a—an incredible commodity, which is what being PPO-driven means, right?
You’re just like everybody else. You think you’re doing things differently because you have a certain laser or CBCT, but you’re not. You’re just a—an incredible commodity.
Number one: you need to get over ego quickly and, um, understand that the things that will separate you from everybody else is—well, is your team. The experience that your team’s going to create, the way you’re making patients feel every single time—not one time—they walk through the door. Every single time they walk through the door. And, um, and that’s what’s gonna keep people coming back, stay, pay, and refer.
Number two: there needs to be a mindset shift around brand creation. Um, obviously Google is important. You need to—you need to do what it takes to rank high on Google. I mean, no different than your intro today. Like, do those things. Go get your—go get out there, because sometimes patients do get on there and Google "dentist near me" or "Hey, I broke a tooth, where do I go?"
But—but you need to be in the mindset of building brand. You need to be—you, as a dentist, if you want to dominate in your community, need to be the number one dentist that comes to mind when patients think about dentistry. And they’re going to do that through personal brand—who you are authentically, the things you do in the community.
It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about having the latest and greatest of everything. It’s just going out and showing other human beings who you are as a human, and then finding those patients that want to come see you because they have commonality and similarity with you. And those are the patients that you’re gonna build your practice on.
And I think really being in those two mindsets—get over the ego of thinking it’s about you, because it’s really about your team, number one. And then number two, you need to go show your community who you are.
- 00:07:03 – Brand as relational capital: becoming the top-of-mind dentist through authenticity
- Branding is less about perfection and more about showing up authentically and connecting with the community.
- Dentists who cultivate trust through shared values and visibility rise above commodity status in saturated markets.
Michael Walker: Wow, I love that. Well, you—you threw a lot of little nuggets there, just tossing them out really quick. Like, I love that—stay, pay, and refer. That is—that, you know, just simple little thoughts. But as you—as our listeners are here—this is—it’s so important that you’re going to get a lot of—I can tell just from this initial answer to this question that Dr. Hughes is gonna throw a lot of really good tangible things you can do.
Remember to capture things. Don’t just try and capture everything. Capture a couple of nuggets that make sense to you, that—where you could be a starting point. I think the hardest thing I—I see, or the greatest challenge, is people get paralyzed to start. And they just—and so I think just break this down.
And I think, you know, uh, you said something—we—I—my background was heavily in the hospitality business. And one of my—one—one of my passions was—was putting this to all of the team.
Michael Walker: Of course, it’s very much a team culture. Was it, how today are we going to unexpectedly delight a customer in a way they can’t wait to come back and tell 30 of their friends? And that was really the bottom line.
Anyone can meet a customer’s needs. You know, you—I want—I need a tooth filled or whatever. And that’s great. You can do that. You can do what you do and how you do it—the transactional part. But when you move to the relational space—beyond that transactional—but who you are and why you matter, not you as the—as the leader of the practice, but you as a team, as you were saying, Doctor—that emphasis—it’s a game changer.
And that—that’s where brand lives. And brand is a relationship. And it’s—and so often, it seems—I see in the medical fields that I focus in, from dental to aesthetics to veterinary—there’s just way too much what we do and how we do it focus and not enough who we are or why we matter focus. And I totally hear that paradigm shift that you’re focusing on.
Dr. Brad Hughes: I—I just think that’s how you win. I—and you hit the nail on the head. It’s—when—when somebody pays you for the exact same amount that you created in value, it’s transactional. Or sometimes you don’t even give ‘em as much value as they paid you for. And that’s transactional.
How do you overdeliver every single day to every single patient that you see? Meaning, you’re creating more in service value than they’re paying you in monetary value. And now become—and then you take that one step further. And—and you also just mentioned this—like, get paid for who you are, not what you do.
I don’t care if you’re a vet—you know, a veterinarian—I don’t care what—what hospitality group you’re working for. I don’t care if you’re a dentist. I don’t care if you’re an M.D. I don’t care if you’re—I really don’t give a rat’s… what you’re doing.
When you get paid for who you are and not what you do, you’re going to be in that—that top 1% of the people doing what you do. And, uh, brand is everything. Everybody else is just a complete commodity.
- 00:09:48 – From accidental entrepreneur to intentional leader: shaping a culture of growth
- Many dentists fall into entrepreneurship without business training, leading to tension and burnout.
- Dr. Hughes shares his experience building a team culture that fosters opportunity and upward mobility.
Michael Walker: Beautiful. Yeah, thank you. I totally agree. And obviously, we—I think we’re—you and I are cut from the same cloth in that respect. And I think as we, um, move forward, I wanna kind of think about, um, your journey specifically in—in leadership and entrepreneurship.
I think that’s really what’s interesting here, is that I think often medical professionals, medical practices—uh, doctors, um, dentists, vets—they’re all mostly accidental entrepreneurs. And so they don’t really—and it’s not their fault. It’s the way that the whole educational system—the way you guys train—I mean, years and years and years. You know, if you took a business course, it was either by mistake, because you had to fill a hole or something, but it wasn’t by design.
Yeah, except—there’s exceptions—and you probably are one of them. But I can—I think—you’ve worn, you know, you’ve worn so many hats. But when you—how has your own journey in leadership and entrepreneurship shaped your approach to building a practice that prioritizes profitability and purpose over production—and obviously with a high emphasis on the relational capital?
Dr. Brad Hughes: Yeah, I mean, I think that just goes back to—now it just becomes a people game. Like, business is just people. And so for us, that means team and patients.
So, um, you know, now you’ve gotta figure out—okay, let’s go back to one thing you said: like dentists sort of become accidental entrepreneurs. I actually—while most dentists, or a lot of dentists statistically still own their business—I don’t consider them to be entrepreneurs, right? Like, just because you own a business is—I mean, you’re an entrepreneur, I think—but I think that’s what leads to so much burnout.
You know, this massive term that gets thrown around like—like, you know, cake at a fat camp. It’s—it is—it’s become across the board: you don’t like what you’re doing, you’re burned out; you’re tired, you’re burned out. Like, I think it gets thrown around a little too much.
Dr. Brad Hughes: I just think there’s people just in—in discourse with what they’re doing. Like, most dentists that I talk to, they really don’t like the business side of things. But they really enjoy the clinical side of things. So they’re going to a hundred hours of CE every year. They’re learning how to do more—you know, better root canals and place implants and quicker extractions and yada yada yada.
But then over here on the business side of things, they’re just so out of alignment that they just—it just makes ‘em hate their entire existence. And I just don’t think that’s—I think that’s why the group and the DSO space just continues to grow so much. Because you’ve got a lot of dentists that don’t really enjoy one side or the other.
I like the clinical side of dentistry. I’ve done it for 18 years. I’ve done it at a pretty high level for 18 years. But I love the entrepreneur side of dentistry. But I think the reason I like it so much is ‘cause I love the opportunities that we’re able to create.
Dr. Brad Hughes: So now we kind of go back to the people side—the human capital side of things. You know, for instance, I’ve got, um, a team member of ours, Jenna, who—who’s been with us for a little over three years. She started out working front desk. She moved to become a practice manager. She was just promoted last week into a regional manager position.
I love the growth opportunities that—we’re able to build and create so that, you know, our team members are not just constantly hitting their head on the ceiling. And, um, you know, to me that’s kind of been the—the most enjoyable part of all this—is watching the growth, creating the opportunities.
I—you know, I just—I love the—I love the operations game. I love, how do we continue to make this better?
How do we—you know, graduating from dental school—I mean, it was probably three weeks in, in 2007, and I’m like, “I think we could double this practice.” You know, my dad’s like, “What are you talking about?” You know, I’m like, “I got you, dude. Like, just let me—let me do my thing.” You know? He’s like, “All right, here you go.”
So, um, I think it was just—just a bit of a—it’s just a people game. Like, the entrepreneur side—I really enjoy. Again, it goes back to the relationships, but it’s giving opportunities to—creating opportunities for team members to plug themselves into and just, like, keep going and keep kicking ass. And, um, you know, that’s—that’s been the most enjoyable and—and the really fun part for me.
- 00:14:13 – Building leadership capacity: how emotional intelligence changes the game
- True leadership begins when emotional intelligence replaces simple process management.
- Self-awareness and team influence are key to evolving from manager to inspiring leader.
Michael Walker: Yeah, I can hear that. Yeah, you clearly—you are that exception for sure. You know, I think there’s a big difference between running a business and inspiring and leading a team. And, you know, that paradigm shift—they don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand.
I think, you know, we think of—uh—anybody can arguably manage a process if you have the manual and the skill sets to execute. To actually, uh—to lead—a process is not a—
It only becomes a problem when people get involved.
Dr. Brad Hughes: Yeah.
Michael Walker: Yeah. And now you have to learn a little bit of self-awareness, other-awareness, and all the—the things that come with emotional wisdom and intelligence.
But then really, it’s what you’re saying is influential leadership in my mind, which is: giving somebody something they don’t even know they need or want—but once they have it, they can’t imagine living without it, and then they can’t wait to give it away. That’s what—and that’s both an internal journey with your team and an external journey with your clients.
Obviously, you have figured out that formula and that science in a way that it’s worked for you, but it’s brought a lot of joy to you on both sides. You’re clearly the clinical—and that’s not—you know, we all—we hire experts in areas that we don’t really want to be focused on. So you—we have lawyers if we need legal matters, we have accountants—they handle accounting, we should have a marketing expert to take care of that. We should have a—arguably a practice manager—if we’re not gonna do business.
So, um, I think in that—when we kind of think about—and you just hit it on—you’ve mentioned with the doubling the practice you’re in and stuff—I think a question I’ve gotta throw out is:
So, growth is always—
We’re always looking for growth. We’re always looking for growth on the numbers side, and—and it’s driven by the patient count, obviously.
But what are some of the most common growth mistakes you see dentists making?
And let’s talk a bit about how—uh—when they’re trying to reduce their reliance on PPOs.
- 00:16:04 – Common growth mistakes when dropping PPOs and miscalculating patient flow
- Dentists often exit PPOs too hastily without proper communication or clarity.
- Understanding the three growth levers—new patients, frequency, and purchase size—is critical before making major shifts.
Dr. Brad Hughes: They move too quickly, or they don’t—I think there’s a lack of clarity around what they’re really trying to do.
You know, I’ve—I’ve seen dentists—and we have nine practices, and that’s not to say—in my group—and that’s not to say that we don’t have—you know, we’re not completely fee-for-service in all of our offices. Some of them are, some of them are not.
But I’ve—I’ve seen some dentists, especially in my area down here in South Carolina, especially recently, that have just pulled the Band-Aid off—all completely out of insurance—all as of like February 1st. And it’s like, whoa. You know, I think the patients don’t always quite understand the why behind that. I just don’t think there’s a lot of clarity. I think sometimes team doesn’t always understand. I think patients don’t always understand.
So I think—just moving a little bit too quick.
You know, there’s really three—three ways to grow a business.
You can increase the amount of patients or clients that you see.
Increase the frequency of the purchase of those clients.
Increase the size of the purchase from those clients.
And, you know, just getting out of the PPO to increase the size of the purchase—uh, you better be doing the math around new patients.
Like, if you’re just—if you’re bringing in 85 new patients a month, and you’re like, “Hey, I’m good if I only bring in 48 now, ’cause maybe we’re a little less insurance driven,” and you’ve got good systems around making sure that the frequency and the purchase size are gonna continue to increase, then great.
I—I think do it.
But—understand the math.
It’s not always just rip the Band-Aid off. Like, that doesn’t always solve all the problems. Like—you just really need to have a lot of clarity around why you are doing it.
And I think—I think, you know, it’s—it’s, uh—it’s something that more dentists should be doing—getting out of the PPOs.
- 00:18:02 – Reverse-engineering your practice vision and defining a clear path forward
- Dentists are encouraged to define where they want their story to be in five years and work backward.
- A clear, intentional vision allows for smart timing and strategy without unnecessary disruption.
Michael Walker: Yeah. Thank you, Doctor. And I think that’s—you know, you hit the nail on the head. I see a lot of times that we just—we’re, you know, you mentioned—we buy a new piece of equipment ’cause it’s gonna do this, or we think—it’s been told it’s gonna do that. Or—and we’re active and really very… but we—if we really go back to what—that core—what is the vision?
What is your who? The vision you have for who you are and why you matter? And, you know, what do you want?
And if I say to you right now, Doctor, I said to you:
What do you want your story to be in five years from now?
I know you can answer that question. The challenge will be—uh—how about our listeners?
And I don’t mean to make that a negative comment. I just—it’s more of an insightful comment. Because that’s what Dr. Hughes is saying.
If we—if we know this is—this is kind of where we want our story to be in five years, then what he just described—what I heard him say—was that:
Let’s figure out how to reverse engineer that, with the right timing—like a good song—that gets us where we wanna go, and we just don’t blow the whole thing up.
Does that make sense?
Dr. Brad Hughes: Yeah, 100%. You need to be 100% clear around the why and the intentions behind what you’re doing—no matter what you’re doing in a practice or any business. There should be clarity around that.
I think—I think too often, especially in the dental side—because I’m completely ignorant when it comes to anything outside of dentistry and sports. I don’t know anything about anything. But it’s like—um, you just like—there’s just so much—there’s such a lack of clarity oftentimes.
Because again, like—you go back to the business side of—you know, there’s a lot of dentists out there running businesses.
What—what was it all about?
If you’re a dentist, an MD, a veterinarian—anybody, at least in the healthcare space—in undergrad, it was all about you getting good grades, figuring out how to get into your professional school.
And then you get in, and then it’s all about you just studying, trying to stay afloat, just trying to graduate.
So for—I mean, in dentistry—for eight years, it’s all about you.
But then—oh, by the way—you’re supposed to get out and now communicate and lead and do all of these other things that we’re just not really that good at to start out.
And it takes some longer than others. And some never get that good at it.
I just think there’s a lot—there’s just a very large lack of clarity and transparency when it comes to—um—most dental practices.
- 00:20:25 – Communication gaps, empathy decline in training, and the need for self-awareness
- Medical training often reduces empathy and neglects communication skill development.
- Dentists need to develop self-awareness and structured conflict-resolution tools to lead effectively.
Michael Walker: Yeah. It’s, uh, something I’m—uh—I’m a professional mediator, and I work with various colleges, particularly in the veterinary medicine side where I’m dealing with the pet parent and the veterinarian conflicts.
And, uh, 99.999% of it is because of communication. And that is driven by a lack of any really well-developed self or other awareness.
And it’s not—again, it’s not your fault. You—you said eight years of studying. But, uh, Columbia did some research on medical doctors that—by the time they finished residency—they actually studied their empathy levels, and it was actually reduced by 38% when they got out.
Dr. Brad Hughes: Mmm-hmm.
Michael Walker: And that’s—they weren’t trying to. It’s just that the focus is everything.
And so my—my—my goal is—every organization has a conflict management system, whether you know it or not. Every person does too. But how well you know it or not will tell me whether it’s taking you hostage or not.
And it’s so much driven just by this self-awareness and communication.
And again, what do you—what do you want to be your—your expertise?
And I think the million-dollar question that—if I, again, if I asked you:
What are you passionate about?
I know you can answer that.
There’d be a lot of folks that would be saying, “I’m not sure.” And I—it’s—we gotta just peel back the onion and find out what that passion is. And—and then kind of refocus.
It’s not that you spend all those years learning and studying and the joy’s being stripped away by things that are outside of your control, whether it be—uh—with the insurance issues, whether it be, uh, just…
My slogan is:
Helping leaders lead themselves well, so they can lead others well—so they get to go home at night and feel good about how they handled themselves and others.
Yeah. That’s my business. And it’s just kind of like—that’s what you said.
But how do you—how can you do that in—from what you’ve done in your experience and practice?
Just kind of going off-script here, Dr. Hughes—
What do you see? How can dentists best position themselves to be the best version of themselves in something that they love doing?
- 00:22:32 – How dentists can give themselves permission to pivot and chase passion
- It’s okay to admit you don’t love dentistry and explore other interests or adjust your work-life balance.
- Embracing flexibility and redefining identity helps avoid mid-career disillusionment.
Dr. Brad Hughes: We gotta—I mean, you just said it. You’ve gotta—you better know what you love doing.
And I think so often, um, in the dental space, you get a lot of dentists that just want to really identify as a dentist. That is who they are, what they do, it’s the people they want to be around. And—and that’s fine if you really love it.
But if you don’t, like—that’s okay too.
But what do you really love, then?
And you’re allowed to go do those things on Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays and from five o’clock at night to nine o’clock at night.
And if—if you don’t love dentistry, maybe you only need to do dentistry three days a week. And maybe you need to go do something else four days a week. Like—you don’t have to—just because you’ve put all this time and energy into it—you just have to identify as this one stinking thing.
That if you aren’t absolutely in love with it, then what?
Because I can tell you—like, I’m 44—I can tell you, most dentists after doing this for about 14 years, they get to about 40 and they’re like,
“Yeah, I like it…”
That’s sad.
Because—shit—you got 25 more years. Like—like…
So, um, I just think it’s okay to—like—not judge yourself.
And, you know, there was a—there was a guy on LinkedIn the other day who’s—I don’t know, I don’t remember how long he’d been in practice—but he’s like, “I’m out of it. I never thought I would say that, but I just don’t love it.”
And it’s like—high five, man. Good for you.
Like, if you love it—go kill it.
If you don’t—there are other things out there to go do.
And like—it’s—it’s great to really be in something that you’re wildly passionate about.
And I think at that point, I don’t think you really burn out. I think you just—you’re gonna put everything you have into it.
It doesn’t mean there aren’t gonna be times where you need to slow down and recharge and do those things. But I think if you’re doing things that you love, I just—I don’t think you’re gonna get to a point where you’re just gonna absolutely hate it at any point.
- 00:24:30 – Emotional well-being: having agenda-free conversations and support systems
- Dentists need a safe, non-judgmental space to process challenges—outside of spouse or staff dynamics.
- Coaches, mentors, or neutral third parties can offer clarity and support through difficult transitions.
Michael Walker: Yeah, no, it’s—and—and this thing is, it’s a journey. It’s progressive. It’s like—it’s like almost like a callus. It just builds up over time, and you start to focus on the callus, not on what the symptoms were that were underlying the callus. But that’s a whole other story.
But, you know, I hear three things in the medical world that—uh—that make things tough:
I have to be perfect.
I have to know everything.
It’s not okay not to be okay.
And I said—I think—no. All those three things are okay.
But if—if you don’t have an agenda-free space to have a conversation with somebody about that, then you’re going to struggle.
Dr. Brad Hughes: Mm-hmm.
Michael Walker: And it may not be your spouse—that’s usually not really agenda-free.
But—it’s where there’s a—a—a coach. It’s someone—like I was just mentioning Gary Takacs—or someone like that. Somebody that you can reach out to, that you have a connection with.
I think that’s what I—you need help. I always remember “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”—you had to phone a friend or whatever you could do. You know, it’s like:
You need somebody.
Everybody needs an agenda-free space in life to be able to process the journey.
And, um, it’s—it’s challenging.
Hey, let’s—let’s go to—just watching our time—and I want to—we have a question here I think that’s really important for the—for the practice owners who are kinda looking to take the next step.
Yeah.
So, um, with—with them looking at taking that next step:
What are a few actionable strategies that they could implement today to create more financial freedom and long-term stability?
- 00:25:57 – Practical growth strategies: leverage points, cash flow, and clarity on goals
- Focus on growing by increasing patient volume, frequency of visits, or treatment value.
- Understanding cash flow and P&L metrics is essential to sustainable business health.
Dr. Brad Hughes: Two things.
First, those three levers I talked about earlier. You know, understanding—at a very simple level—what grows a practice:
Increase your new patients.
Increase the size of the purchase.
Increase the frequency of the purchase.
Start just pulling on one of those levers now—just the easiest one to pull. Start doing that.
Second, be really clear about what your goals are.
Do you want to work 10 more years?
And if you do, then let’s start—you know, everybody wants to talk about EBITDA and all this stuff.
Like, everybody wants to grow their EBITDA to maximize their enterprise value over time, and that’s great.
But I think really start focusing on pulling the three levers to grow a practice and really start producing cash flow.
It’s harder than it’s ever been.
Staff salaries are higher than they’ve been in my 18 years—probably higher than they ever have been in dentistry.
Really start understanding your P&L and cash flow, because that’s going to—no matter what your EBITDA is—you need cash flow to maximize your value.
So:
Start growing.
Understand your P&L.
Focus on cash flow.
And over time, get really clear on how long you want to work.
If you want to put in another five to ten years, then I think you’re at a point where you need to start really considering partnering with a group.
Because at that point, you’re now going to have infrastructure.
You’re going to have a team to really help you grow.
You can take some equity off the table, grow that practice by 50% to 100%, and that’s going to make that long-term value significantly more.
You know, a small piece of a big number—you on camera—a small piece of a big number is worth a lot more than a big piece of a little number.
And I think too many dentists are waiting too long.
They’re waiting and they say:
“Hey, I want to be out completely in 12 months.”
There’s not a lot of value in that anymore, unfortunately.
Because at the end of the day, you are what’s being purchased.
The goodwill is the part—the brand is what’s being paid for.
So I think in that five to ten years before you want to be done, that’s the time to start making some moves—getting the ball moving.
Just don’t wait too long.
I see too many that come to us and they’re like:
“I want to be done in 12 months. I want a six-month transition. I want to be out.”
It’s just not where the game is anymore.
So if you want to maximize your values:
Really focus on cash flow
Understand your P&Ls
Start pulling some levers
And when you’re five to ten years out, start making some moves.
- 00:28:41 – Closing thoughts and free resources for coaching and marketing support
- Listeners are encouraged to take one small step forward with what resonated from the episode.
- Free Resources:
Michael Walker: Love it. Thank you, Dr. Hughes. And, uh, we are reaching the end of our time, so I wanna say thank you, uh, so much for joining us today and sharing your invaluable perspective on leadership, entrepreneurship, and building an insurance-light dental practice. I like that term. Your commitment to intentional growth and long-term sustainability is truly inspiring, and I know our listeners will take away a ton of value from this conversation.
I think Dr. Hughes has given us some very specific things so that if you were looking for an entry point to start to think about being intentional—which is not just about thinking or planning to do something—something that when you get off of this podcast, you’re gonna put a, a, a phrase or something on a piece of paper, paper, circle it, and that’s your starting point. What are you gonna do next?
Michael Walker: How are you gonna advance that circle and that statement today and move forward? Not solve the whole world’s problems in an hour or two, but just start moving forward. Make that commitment to move forward.
So, as always, this podcast is about taking action. And if you’re ready to move your practice forward, we do have two powerful complimentary resources that I mentioned earlier to support your journey.
First is, if you’re looking to grow your practice by attracting better-fit patients and reducing your dependence on PPOs, I mentioned you can go ahead and schedule your complimentary marketing strategy meeting with Ekwa Marketing, and their experts will really make a significant difference to help build your online presence. Now, if you’re already a marketing expert, this might not be the thing for you, but if this is not your thing, this is super valuable and super important. Uh, you can go ahead and visit .
Michael Walker: And again, that link that you can click on will be where you picked up this podcast as well. But I know that they, as I mentioned before, spend a lot of time just digging into your digital footprint and looking at what you’re doing—super valuable. And, uh, particularly when you’re trying to increase, uh, uh, uh, you—your, as Dr. Hughes was talking about—increase your customer base.
Second, if you’re looking for some personalized guidance on how to create a thriving insurance-independent practice, maybe even just having a conversation to talk about some of the things we’ve been talking about and getting more clarity about kind of who you are and why you matter and where you’re going with your practice or what that looks like, uh, go ahead and book a complimentary, uh, coaching meeting with Gary Takacs. Gary has helped thousands of dentists achieve greater profitability and, certainly, freedom from insurance constraints.
Michael Walker: You can reach him at thriving.com/csm. So, as I mentioned, both those resources are completely complementary and designed to help take you to the next step forward of creating the practice and the life you truly deserve.
If you found today’s episode helpful, please share it with a friend or a colleague. The more we spread these ideas, the more we can support dentists on their path to independence.
Thanks again for joining us on the Less Insurance Dependence Podcast and on behalf of Dr. Hughes. And until next time, keep leading, keep growing, and keep moving toward a thriving independent practice.
Thanks again, Dr. Hughes.
Dr. Brad Hughes: Yeah, my pleasure. Glad to be here.
Get paid for who you are, not just what you do. Brand is everything, everyone else is a commodity.
If you’re doing something you’re wildly passionate about, burnout becomes irrelevant.
Dr. Brad Hughes
Brand is a relationship, not a transaction. It’s who you are and why you matter, far beyond what you do.
Everybody needs an agenda-free space in life to process the journey. That’s where real growth begins.
Michael Walker
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Schedule a Coaching Strategy Meeting with GaryBased on Episode 350 of the Less Insurance Dependence Podcast. Listen to the original episode →