Buying a dental lab

[CatamountRob]

I think at this point that your prospects for turning the business around are the relevant question. If they aren't good, I wouldn't even consider investing in it.
If you can get the work, having trained employees is a huge asset.

 

[paulg100]

like others $20k a month is easily doable for 1 person with a 50% profit to turnover margin, even without working weekends if you have the right type of work.

is everyone there sitting on facebook or DLN all day ?

can you market and sell? thats more important for owning a lab (or any business) with employees than pretty much anything else

 

[Car 54]

Granted I'm really slow, and in knowing and comparing what others are capable of doing,
so for me 11,000 -13,000 is a good and busy month.
20,000 for months on end would put me 6' under.

 

[TheLabGuy]

Granted I'm really slow, and in knowing and comparing what others are capable of doing,
so for me 11,000 -13,000 is a good and busy month.
20,000 for months on end would put me 6' under.

Tighten up buttercup 20K isn't out of your realm. I thought it was for me too, but late hours and a weekend here and there and you'd be surprised. Heck, most of my work gets done before/after business hours anyways...seems that the only way you can be undisturbed to get your mojo going these days.

 

[Car 54]

Tighten up buttercup 20K isn't out of your realm. I thought it was for me too, but late hours and a weekend here and there and you'd be surprised. Heck, most of my work gets done before/after business hours anyways...seems that the only way you can be undisturbed to get your mojo going these days.

lol...buttercup I agree after hours, and in my case early in the morning is the most productive.
Now comes buttercups whining, as I know Bob is totally alone, but I do all invoicing, all ordering,
all statements bills etc. Also, my main account has Cerec in office and use it frequently, then they also bought
an Ominscam (sarcasm intended) and are sending those out to a Sirona lab. They
did not inquire of me what I thought as far as a I/O scanner, just went and did it. So I only get the hardest
more labor intensive work from them, a lot of layered emax, layered pfms, layered zi, and
implant (opaqued UCLA for emax) cases, bridge cases, Denar articulations etc..
The bread and butter scan, mill and sinter is the exception rather than the norm.

I do have another account who just sends me his FCZ, so that helps. My friend next to me
suggest to get some other work and phase the labor intensive office out, but then if I get into
more of the FCZ market, isn't that where the price becomes an issue for the new Drs as far
as those labs charging 95. - 125. a unit. At least I have the work coming in from that practice,
even though it is the higher labor stuff, they really appreciate the work I do for them. So it can
be a hard call, get different accounts and hopefully be more productive and profitable,
or keep doing what I'm doing, knowing that I have job security with them?

 

[Affinity]

20k is redlining by myself, easily possible but not sustainable. The one thing money cant buy is time. I wouldnt say 'RUN' .. this may be your best bargaining chip, it depends on what your vision is for YOUR lab, which it would be. Does that mean firing 4 people? Maybe.. no time to worry about your stomach lining.

Another question for you, would you even be in dental technology if your uncle wasnt?

 

[user name]

A plan and a wish aren't the same thing.

People are the only animal that will fall in the same hole twice.

 

[Affinity]

The bread and butter scan, mill and sinter is the exception rather than the norm.

I do have another account who just sends me his FCZ, so that helps. My friend next to me
suggest to get some other work and phase the labor intensive office out, but then if I get into
more of the FCZ market, isn't that where the price becomes an issue for the new Drs as far
as those labs charging 95. - 125. a unit. At least I have the work coming in from that practice,
even though it is the higher labor stuff, they really appreciate the work I do for them. So it can
be a hard call, get different accounts and hopefully be more productive and profitable,
or keep doing what I'm doing, knowing that I have job security with them?



View attachment 27553

If youre not cranking production FCZ even at 95-125, youre really missing out IMO. What other products that you sell take less than an hour of labor? Start punching your easy button.

 

[TheLabGuy]

lol...buttercup I agree after hours, and in my case early in the morning is the most productive.
Now comes buttercups whining, as I know Bob is totally alone, but I do all invoicing, all ordering,
all statements bills etc. Also, my main account has Cerec in office and use it frequently, then they also bought
an Ominscam (sarcasm intended) and are sending those out to a Sirona lab. They
did not inquire of me what I thought as far as a I/O scanner, just went and did it. So I only get the hardest
more labor intensive work from them, a lot of layered emax, layered pfms, layered zi, and
implant (opaqued UCLA for emax) cases, bridge cases, Denar articulations etc..
The bread and butter scan, mill and sinter is the exception rather than the norm.

I do have another account who just sends me his FCZ, so that helps. My friend next to me
suggest to get some other work and phase the labor intensive office out, but then if I get into
more of the FCZ market, isn't that where the price becomes an issue for the new Drs as far
as those labs charging 95. - 125. a unit. At least I have the work coming in from that practice,
even though it is the higher labor stuff, they really appreciate the work I do for them. So it can
be a hard call, get different accounts and hopefully be more productive and profitable,
or keep doing what I'm doing, knowing that I have job security with them?



View attachment 27553

I would never give up your higher labor stuff...that's where this industry for folks like you and I are headed in my opinion. The 'mac and cheese' work is dwindling (offshoring, chairside mills, I/O scanners),and a lot of the very smart and intelligent folks in the lab trade have given up, moved on to other industries. Just because you are very smart and can do these very complicated cases doesn't mean you are business savvy at all, and some have gone out of business because of it. However, the folks that have enough wits to do the complicated cases and do a have some business savvy under the belt are in the perfect position for moving forward in this business. Laboratory Techs of the future will be looked upon even more for their expertise and those techs/owners will not just survive but really do well. Al has preached this for years, go figure, the crazy kentucky hillbilly was right. Back sixty years ago (and no I wasn't alive then...lol) lab techs wore suits, were very highly regarded and looked upon greatly for their expertise...crazy how history runs in cycles.

 

[Car 54]

If youre not cranking production FCZ even at 95-125, youre really missing out IMO. What other products that you sell take less than an hour of labor? Start punching your easy button.

Good point. I really do enjoy the CAD/CAM side of this business, so that isn't an issue.
Maybe time to pursue a couple of other accounts for FCZ before I burn myself out.

 

[paulg100]

aint most one man bands in the same boat (me included) its hard work!!

dont know if id trade it for dealing with staff again though!. that's why I'm investing in cad/cam again first.

 

[Affinity]

Or before everyone else stops doing layered zirconia and emax....

 

[Car 54]

I would never give up your higher labor stuff...that's where this industry for folks like you and I are headed in my opinion. The 'mac and cheese' work is dwindling (offshoring, chairside mills, I/O scanners),and a lot of the very smart and intelligent folks in the lab trade have given up, moved on to other industries. Just because you are very smart and can do these very complicated cases doesn't mean you are business savvy at all, and some have gone out of business because of it. However, the folks that have enough wits to do the complicated cases and do a have some business savvy under the belt are in the perfect position for moving forward in this business. Laboratory Techs of the future will be looked upon even more for their expertise and those techs/owners will not just survive but really do well. Al has preached this for years, go figure, the crazy kentucky hillbilly was right. Back sixty years ago (and no I wasn't alive then...lol) lab techs wore suits, were very highly regarded and looked upon greatly for their expertise...crazy how history runs in cycles.

So if I do keep doing this type of work, I need to increase my fees more, to gain more profit and reward for the time I spend
on this type of work. Thanks for considering that I'm smart to be able to do these cases, but you are absolutely right in that I'm not
business savvy. I really need to talk to my main account about what I do for them and what I'm charging.

 

[paulg100]

as a 1 man band you want the hard stuff that is your niche, you aint going to compete with commoditized production work.

The trouble as suggested about also pulling in cheaper FCZ etc as well is it dosent mix with the tougher work which needs proper time and focus.
I don't see that working when your on your own. focus on the cases your getting now and just make sure your charging properly for it!

 

[paulg100]

my worry if I go out and fcz etc is that you start to rely on it and loose focus on what your lab should be about... the tough challenging stuff that production labs cant do.

 

[Affinity]

The 'hard stuff' will eventually make you start hitting the 'hard stuff'

 

[Affinity]

I totally agree with you paul, but I think production labs cant do 'nice' FCZ either. So there still is a high end demand, until Al starts doing them!

 

[TheLabGuy]

So if I do keep doing this type of work, I need to increase my fees more, to gain more profit and reward for the time I spend
on this type of work. Thanks for considering that I'm smart to be able to do these cases, but you are absolutely right in that I'm not
business savvy. I really need to talk to my main account about what I do for them and what I'm charging.

We are all somewhat business savvy if we are still in business at this point. Look at the current stats...40% of all fixed and removable being placed in American mouths is manufactured overseas today. Then you add 10% of all crowns (mac and cheese) is being made chairside in-house. So technically, 50% of all our work is GONE!!! I'm sure @Al. will have some comments about how he steered his lab towards the more complicated lab cases, he really pounded that for years to anyone listening.

 

[Car 54]

The 'hard stuff' will eventually make you start hitting the 'hard stuff'

Funny and Agree, especially with how slow I am in doing that type of work.

 

[Car 54]

We are all somewhat business savvy if we are still in business at this point. Look at the current stats...40% of all fixed and removable being placed in American mouths is manufactured overseas today. Then you add 10% of all crowns (mac and cheese) is being made chairside in-house. So technically, 50% of all our work is GONE!!! I'm sure @Al. will have some comments about how he steered his lab towards the more higher lab cases, he really pounded that for years to anyone listening.

I didn't realize those numbers. So there is validity to my feeling of security in
continuing to do that type of work. What I'm hoping for, is that one day they actually
ask me what i would suggest for a sirona I/O scanner replacement, to get better
FCZ work. I did give them an in my lab presentation on zirconia and a bit on the pros
and cons of some of the scanners, including Trios, but nothing happened in that regard.
Maybe my bib overalls I wore and the chainsaw was a little off-putting to them?