Alexander Larsen, DDS
Alex Larsen had transition on his mind when he came across an ad for Become the DSO, the educational arm of Freedom Dental Partners.
Find guidance for creating a transition plan that didn’t leave him without control over his career and his future.
He didn’t have an exit strategy and he knew he was in the stage of life where he needed to get one in place fast. Originally, he thought he might contact a broker in order to do a private sale. He knew selling to a DSO was an option, but he steered away from it because of horror stories he’d heard in the past from other dentists.
“I was concerned about being in a position where I’d have to give up a lot of control and freedom. In my mind, the image I had of becoming a part of a DSO is one where I’d be locked into giving many more years in my practice without having any control over the decisions which are made or which policies the office would adopt. I was leery about doing any of that.”
Dr. Larsen attended a Become the DSO summit where he had a chance to learn more about the vision and mission of Freedom Dental Partners directly from its founders Brady Frank and Avi Weisfogel. He was won over by the promise that he would be the one to fully benefit from the sale of his practice. Career autonomy is as important to Dr. Larsen as having financial stability, and knowing he could have both made joining Freedom Dental Partners a no brainer.
“My eyes were opened to the fact that selling my practice isn’t just a matter of turning it over to someone else. It’s about positioning it in a way that increases the value. Before that moment, I didn’t appreciate that I was sitting on a goldmine.”
One of the greatest advantages of belonging to Freedom Dental Partners is the focus on supporting dentists with customized, actionable advice to optimize their practices so they get the most out of the sale. Dr. Larsen has really appreciated the side by side guidance he has received from his personal Business Operations Specialist. “She has been invaluable at doing that. I like that she holds our feet to the fire, but it’s done in a very tolerable and easy way to take.”
In other words, paying close attention to the numbers and making decisions informed by that hard data. This is a challenge for many dentists, who are experts in the clinical side of dentistry, but who often aren’t taught the importance of learning the business side of dentistry. But members of Freedom Dental Partners are provided with mentorship so they can adopt the mindset necessary to make the changes that will awaken the entrepreneurial spirit within and take their practice to the next level.
“I think the biggest surprise that I’ve had since joining Freedom Dental Partners has been just by changing a few little things here and there, we’ve dramatically improved the production and performance in our practice. By making those changes, it’s been much more fun and much more enjoyable. And those changes weren’t that hard to make.”
