You've spent years learning to be a great dentist. Nobody spent any of that time teaching you how to hire and lead a team, or how to build the systems a practice runs on.
That's normal, and for most associates it doesn't feel urgent until construction is nearly done and opening day is on the calendar. For anyone opening a dental practice, the final 90 days are when the business behind the building has to come together fast. Stephen Trutter, CEO of Ideal Practices, describes it as the moment to shift from an associate mindset to a business mindset.
On a recent episode of The Startup Dentist Podcast, Stephen sat down with Stacey Peters, Director of the Startup MBA at Ideal Practices. Stephen calls her the Queen of Systems and Operations, and she brings over 30 years of experience. If you're an associate dentist thinking about a dental startup, what they covered is worth hearing long before you're 90 days out.
The tile can wait
Stephen didn't mince words about where a lot of doctors put their energy during construction. He regularly sees posts in online dentist groups asking whether the reception tile should carry through into the operatories.
His take was blunt: nobody really cares about the tile. The excitement of watching your office come together is real, and nobody is trying to take that away. As Stephen put it in the episode, "No, no, no, you're building a business."
From coworker to boss
Stacey explained that a couple of mindset shifts happen at once in this window. One is practical: moving from planning and dreaming to executing, taking your ideas and putting them on paper in a form that actually works in practice. The other is personal. In her words, "You're going from associate to practice owner, coworker to boss."
That personal shift is why the Startup MBA process at Ideal Practices starts with leadership before it ever gets to operations. Before you write a single standard operating procedure, you need a clear idea of who you want to be as a leader. Getting clear on your vision and mission is what starts to shape the culture of your practice.
Culture happens whether you plan it or not
This was one of the sharpest points in the conversation. Stacey noted that culture is going to happen in your practice, and so will your operations and procedures, whether you plan them or not.
That applies to details most associates never think about until they own, like how the phone gets answered and what makes a good new patient call, or who verifies insurance benefits and how your office collects payment. Each of these shapes how a patient feels when they leave. When you don't design them on purpose, your team fills in the blanks on their own.
Stephen added the consequence. Without clear expectations, the patient experience in your practice becomes your team's version of it, and their version may not line up with yours. Good dental practice systems are how you close that gap before the first patient walks in.
Hiring your first team takes about 8 weeks
You can't place an ad a week before opening and expect your ideal team to show up. Stacey described hiring as roughly an 8-week process from start to finish when it's done with intention. It starts before the job description is even written, by defining your culture and patient experience so candidates understand the behavior you expect along with the duties.
Then comes the ad itself. Stephen's rule is simple: "Don't have a boring ad." He wants a posting that could catch the eye of somebody who isn't looking for a job at all, or get passed along to them by someone who thinks it's a perfect fit.
When your vision is written into the ad, you attract people who want to work in that kind of office instead of people chasing a slightly higher rate somewhere else. From there, the process moves through a phone screen and then an in-person interview. Stacey also explained why a startup doesn't have the luxury of a working interview the way an established office does, and what that means for how carefully you screen.
Your first hires may not stay
Stephen was honest about something few doctors want to hear: "who you hire in the beginning may not be with you a month or two. That's a reality too." A startup is a different working environment than an established practice, and it isn't the right fit for every team member.
That's why the process includes questions designed to help candidates understand the difference up front. Stacey's standard throughout is hiring with intention. As she put it, "You're not just hiring a warm body."
You can't build this on leftover time
If you plan to keep working as an associate 5 days a week right up until opening, Stephen had a direct warning: "It won't. Ladies and gentlemen, it won't open successfully."
He shared that the greatest success stories Ideal Practices has seen came from doctors who set aside real time for this work, even if that meant a Saturday or Sunday. He compared this stretch to a rehearsal for a day in the life of your new practice, down to how you acquire patients and what that looks like on a daily basis. Your associate position is going to end eventually, and the practice you're building is your future.
Start thinking like an owner before you are one
The final 90 days before opening are when everything suddenly feels real. Associates who start thinking about leadership and hiring early walk into that window with a plan they've already rehearsed, and treating the build-out as the whole job is how a beautiful office opens without a business behind it.
Stephen and Stacey go deeper on the hiring process and the systems every dental startup needs in place before opening day.
