Why are dentists willing to spend $40,000 on clinical CE but terrified to invest in business advice?
Because the value systems built during dental training treat clinical credentials as legitimate spend and treat business investment as suspect, even though the business investment is the one that actually produces return. The pattern is striking. A dentist will write a check for a $50,000 implant continuum or a $40,000 cosmetic program without serious hesitation, expecting the clinical training itself to translate into practice success. The same dentist faced with a business advice fee structured to address their actual practice constraints, marketing, selling, team operations, balks at the spend, demands ironclad guarantees, and often refuses to make the investment at all. The asymmetry is irrational. The clinical investment, without the business investment to deploy it, sits unused. The business investment, without the clinical investment, has nothing to deploy. Both are necessary. The clinical one feels comfortable because it matches the training culture. The business one feels uncomfortable because nothing in dental training acknowledges it as legitimate. Doctors who recognize the trap and balance their investments produce dramatically better outcomes than peers who follow the cultural default.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.
