Is it time to start my own lab? What kind of advice can u give?

[Heidi]

I've dreamed for years of starting my own lab, I have been in the business for over 10 years, I have done it all (except casting). I specialized in ceramics and implants over the years. I have found that I am very picky and usually more critical of my work than anyone. I have the money to start, the drive to never give up, I have lots of sales and marketing experience and I have a building to do so, I have accounts that have followed me in the past, I just am a little frightened about taking the final "jump" is there anyone who could maybe give me some advice, things they wish they had done when starting their lab? Mistakes they made? How many accounts would someone need to start? Or gross $? Thanks

 

[Affinity]

You will find all that information and more on several threads here.. i will make a short list of what i think is important to me, after owning a lab for 10 years.
-do you have the time? Unless you get a scanner you will be spending 14-16 hrs a day in the lab.. almost everyday to start.. significant others and children seem to have a problem with that. .
-do you know anything about running a business..? not a dental lab. Two different things. The e-myth is a must read.
-if you want to know if youre any good, (even if you dont care what others think) post some of your work here, everyone plays nice. This is critical when you're on your own.. which brings me to my next..
-find a mentor. (Or lab guilds are all the rage these days) Business or lab related. Preferably both. .but a one man lab is a lonely road save for the techs you know and can learn from. The learning curve rises much steeper when youre on your own. Ask me how i know..
-are you a problem solver? Because equipment breaks and problems arise almost daily that need a solution and your livelihood depends on a quick solution.
-start small and keep your overhead to a minimum. Meaning as little debt as possible.
-i wouldnt start a lab today without a scanner, unless youre as good and quick as Al..which most are not. That means a minimum investment of 10-12k for just a used scanner.
-make a business plan. If you dont know what it will cost you to start or be in business then you definitely should not be starting a lab.
- take the leap! Its cliche, but true. . If you never try you will never succeed. Dont believe the hype that small labs cant make it. This forum has probably hundreds of small lab owners.

The number of accounts you will need depends on so many things that you NEED to know.. ie What will you charge? This is determined by your overhead, cost of doing business, your draw.. What are they willing to pay? Dont undercut yourself or other local labs to get accounts.. this works but you will kill yourself doing it. How many units on average does each account do? Take 10% off of what they tell you. Its simple math. X units per month times your fee minus expenses, taxes.. what is left is yours. And theres no better money to be made then signing your own checks. But dont do it for the money and dont expect to see much for several years. This is the reality unless youve got a wealthy family to support you.
Ill save my best advice for last: find a dr who wants you in-house, start small then rule the world!
My beer is finished and ive gotta get up at 5 am.. so if you like sleep, the answer is NO, DONT DO IT!
Welcome to DLN.

 

[Labwa]

Go for it. Don't look back. Push against the tough times. There will be some! be prepared to sacrifice. I didn't get much sleep when i started my business. It is tough to say no to new clients when you are building so you will get gluts that you have to work through. The first thing i did when i started was buy a 3shape and not long after a small 3d printer. I was able to offer something different, and with cad/cam you always can. just find a competitive advantage and go hard.

 

[rkm rdt]

I agree with labwa, check out the competition and do something completely different.

 

[Heidi]

You will find all that information and more on several threads here.. i will make a short list of what i think is important to me, after owning a lab for 10 years.
-do you have the time? Unless you get a scanner you will be spending 14-16 hrs a day in the lab.. almost everyday to start.. significant others and children seem to have a problem with that. .
-do you know anything about running a business..? not a dental lab. Two different things. The e-myth is a must read.
-if you want to know if youre any good, (even if you dont care what others think) post some of your work here, everyone plays nice. This is critical when you're on your own.. which brings me to my next..
-find a mentor. (Or lab guilds are all the rage these days) Business or lab related. Preferably both. .but a one man lab is a lonely road save for the techs you know and can learn from. The learning curve rises much steeper when youre on your own. Ask me how i know..
-are you a problem solver? Because equipment breaks and problems arise almost daily that need a solution and your livelihood depends on a quick solution.
-start small and keep your overhead to a minimum. Meaning as little debt as possible.
-i wouldnt start a lab today without a scanner, unless youre as good and quick as Al..which most are not. That means a minimum investment of 10-12k for just a used scanner.
-make a business plan. If you dont know what it will cost you to start or be in business then you definitely should not be starting a lab.
- take the leap! Its cliche, but true. . If you never try you will never succeed. Dont believe the hype that small labs cant make it. This forum has probably hundreds of small lab owners.

The number of accounts you will need depends on so many things that you NEED to know.. ie What will you charge? This is determined by your overhead, cost of doing business, your draw.. What are they willing to pay? Dont undercut yourself or other local labs to get accounts.. this works but you will kill yourself doing it. How many units on average does each account do? Take 10% off of what they tell you. Its simple math. X units per month times your fee minus expenses, taxes.. what is left is yours. And theres no better money to be made then signing your own checks. But dont do it for the money and dont expect to see much for several years. This is the reality unless youve got a wealthy family to support you.
Ill save my best advice for last: find a dr who wants you in-house, start small then rule the world!
My beer is finished and ive gotta get up at 5 am.. so if you like sleep, the answer is NO, DONT DO IT!
Welcome to DLN.

Thank you for the advice, it's much appreciated! I wouldn't start without a scanner, I'm definitely not afraid to work long hours, my family (husband and kids) are completely behind me if I choose to go forward. I have several family members who are business owners to help me on the biz end. Just still only contemplating options at this point

 

[Heidi]

Go for it. Don't look back. Push against the tough times. There will be some! be prepared to sacrifice. I didn't get much sleep when i started my business. It is tough to say no to new clients when you are building so you will get gluts that you have to work through. The first thing i did when i started was buy a 3shape and not long after a small 3d printer. I was able to offer something different, and with cad/cam you always can. just find a competitive advantage and go hard.

Thank you! For the advice! I definitely have a few ideas that nobody else is doing. But we will see... Still contemplating.

 

[Heidi]

Go for it. Don't look back. Push against the tough times. There will be some! be prepared to sacrifice. I didn't get much sleep when i started my business. It is tough to say no to new clients when you are building so you will get gluts that you have to work through. The first thing i did when i started was buy a 3shape and not long after a small 3d printer. I was able to offer something different, and with cad/cam you always can. just find a competitive advantage and go hard.

Can u give me a reason that I might consider a printer?

 

[RJS8669]

Can u give me a reason that I might consider a printer?

Not a single good one.

 

[Labwa]

Not a single good one.

Haha, not a printer fan? I must be lucky. I bought an Asiga pico about 3 years ago for 9k. At the time it was the smallest accurate printer on the market. It took a few weeks to get dialed in but i was designing and printing all my pfm and e.max then burning out and pressing/casting. The numbers i could get through increased about 3-4 fold depending on the work.
The thing is still going hard today and has probably paid itself of 15 times. I think if i was to start again today i would buy the same thing.
but if you are not tech keen i wouldn't worry about it. I'm a geek.

 

[TomZ]

Never looked back over my 29 years as a owner, best advice, find your niche, design a business plan, set goals, reshuffle every year.
Remember that early compromises in policy will come back to bite you in the ass later.
And lastly, its all about the money...

 

[CoolHandLuke]

Can u give me a reason that I might consider a printer?

i could give you a lot of reasons. but the biggest reason currently is wow factor.

you get a good printer, dial in the settings (play with print settings and cad settings to acheive accuracy and speed) and when you talk to docs or walk people through the lab or talk to people about what you do, you can honestly say "i 3d print prosthetic teeth" and they look at you with big buggy eyes and are aghast at your superior-to-makerbot technology. your friends talk to friends and say things like "did you hear about Heidi, she's got the most awesome thing at her work a 3d printer for teeth" and they are all like ooooooooh....

 

[Doris A]

Go for it Heidi, our only regret is that we didn't take the leap sooner!

 

[Mrs.galfriday]

Get in now. You have the credentials, the money the backup. Even if you slow down during the first year, you will recover in the second.

 

[Affinity]

Ok Tom is right, it is all about the money.. its beats the hell out of slaving for pennies from someone else.. but my point was.. dont expect to make it right away.

 

[TomZ]

Its always easier to work hard for oneself than for someone else. However, ownership brings into play a whole new set of challenges and skill sets.

a saying that I have lived by..and can recommend...

"Don't let todays successes lull you into tomorrows complacency"

 

[RileyS]

My first year has been amazing...I lost some hair though. Most stressful and challenging thing I've ever done.

 

[Craig T]

Heidi, take a good honest evaluation of yourself and determine if your are:

1) A Do-er. There are plenty of people who procrastinate and/or take the path of least resistance. If you
are a Do-er your chances of success are much better.

2) Curious. Being a curious person is the key to learning, development and staying ahead of the competition.

3) Honest. Good accounts prefer honest labs that provide a good service/ product for a fair price.

4) Above average. If average is your goal, work for someone else. There is too much competition for average.

There are other social and financial factors, but I think these four are the most important.

 

[TheLabGuy]

Since I did this six years ago I would like to share my advice.

-get a good accountant (because if you're successful you will get audited, just finished a 3-year audit...and let me share, it wasn't any fun at all. The real reason for the audit was mostly because three other labs closed in our local area and mine is flourishing, so best to be prepared.)
-get a good lawyer or two - (I have a bad temper for stupidity, and you may develop this trait along the way as well, plus its good to have one for general business questions, especially if you have a good accountant).
-Biggest mistake right from the start was buying all my equipment/supplies from a well known supply company that starts with a "Z". I spent close to 40K on day one, and a few months later I found Nowak Dental, sent them an itemized list of what I already purchased on Day one and had a very sobering moment of my own stupidity. I pissed away over 10K on Day one...not something I'm proud to admit.
-A good contractor or someone in the family who is very mechanically inclined. (I mention this because moving a air line, or suction line can be a daunting task if you don't have this go to person)
-Be prepared to work your ass off...(I worked over 100 hours a week for over four years straight...no breaks, no vacations, no holidays, and surely no sick days. It sucked and I wouldn't do it again!!! Sure, I'm a Marine, therefore being a stubborn jerk assuming everything is a battle/war didn't help much either.)
-If you can financially swing it, and I truly hope you can because this could free up so much time for yourself...is get a digital workflow on day one. An Open Scanner is a must, the milling machine is something you have to consider and keep it on the horizon if you can't swing it on Day one. The scanner is a get out of jail free card, along with being able to offer many different products...if you get swamped, sick, or have to leave the lab even for a day or two...you can still scan/design and send all your work out to the milling centers to get it done.
-Take courses that Dentists go to and find a niche, join a dental study club, network with other good techs, DLN, join a guild, etc...
-Make a DSLR twin flash camera a must on Day one. There is no way better way to communicate/learn your skills without it.
-Make up a folder that contains your services, flyers, brochures, mailing labels, fee/time schedules and be prepared to go out and knock on those doors and be prepared to be humbled...those pitbulls at the front desk are tough.
-Lastly, and the most important, don't forget about your family...schedule them in if you have too but whatever you do, don't sacrifice all your family time for your business (this was truly my biggest mistake). Everything in your lab is replaceable, family isn't, tough lesson to learn the hard way!!! Good Luck, keep us posted.

 

[JohnWilson]

Good job Rob solid post and advice.

 

[Tom Moore]

There is something wonderful about owning the wall your back is up against. Go for it.