248: How Burnout Led One Dentist to Build a Successful and Profitable Dental Practice

I have three locations and no system, three busy locations, no systems. I felt I'm overwhelmed. I couldn't do it, looked for solution, heard about the do and I joined the do. And through that, things start changing. We start to implementing systems and this is where the big transformation happened for me.

Hi, I'm Emmett Scott, and just like you, I've had my ups and downs in the dental industry, but times are changing. The DEO has built a map of how to succeed in one of the most challenging indust to navigate. On this show, we talk to dental industry leaders, solve problems, and get you the answers you need to face these challenging times and thrive. Welcome to DEO's Growth Secrets podcast for dental organizations. Now let's get started. Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of DEO Grow Secrets. I'm your fearless host, Emmett Scott, and today I'm excited to have Dr. Geith Kallas with us. Longtime DEO member, incredible leader and and business owner in the dental field. He's a visionary. He's founder, owner, CEO and clinical director of Smilemaker's Dental Center. Welcome, Dr. Geith Kalas. It's great to have you here and I'm excited to get into all of the things that you did. But instead of reading it through your bio, I'd love to just chat it through with you because, you know, I'd love to just kind of take our listeners back to where you started, because you really started as a very boutique and now you've really started to grow out a dental empire here, a boutique empire. So tell us a little bit about your story.

Okay. Thank you, Amit, for hosting me. I am honored and excited. So, you know, through our meetings, through the deo, we learned a lot from you and I'm really happy to be your guest. So the way that I started as any dentist, as an associate, and then I wanted to be better, so I went and I took extensive courses at lvi, that Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies where I learned the cosmetic, then the full mouth rehabilitation, and then the bite. And I really did transform my practice where I did this high end dentistry. I enjoyed it. And I was just having big cases, smile makeovers, full mouth rehab. And it's been going really nice. Small office, four rooms, four team members. And I was like the first one in D.C. area to be in the smile makeover business. I remember when I advertised in the Washingtonian magazine, I was the first one. And that brought me really good steady business. Things were going well.

What did the procedure set look like? What was kind of the typical patient coming in at that. At that time.

So they want to look better. So they just want to look better. Smile makeover, upper 10, lower 10 or full mouth, 28 teeth. Used to change the bite and get all those beautiful looking white smile. And then great recession happened. And then what it happened. Then I had to switch into bread and butter of dentistry. Same time during my relationship with the gulf embassies in D.C. area with my connection brought me a lot of patients that needed a lot of dental work. So I became the dentist for the Gulf patients and I had all like prince princes come from overseas to do their smile makeover and same time doing the general dentistry groom fast. And then I maybe overgrow myself. So I had to hire more doctors, more specialists. My coo Francesca joined me at that time she was just front desk person just answering the phone and she started helping. And then we got. I remember we got consultant from LVI to help us but could not because that was just a boutique style of practice. Then we brought another one where we start putting systems. And me I was really busy just working. I was working six days, sometimes seven days. Very busy, very busy.

And you had an associate at this point?

I had associate, couple of associates ended honestly implant specialist. So and I then also I start hiring general dentist. And I at that time also grew the office doubled the size of rooms. Actually we had nine rooms at that time in one location. We were working non stop till 8, 9pm Seven days a week.

You were a multi specialty.

So yes. Then we start to. Because the patient did not want to go somewhere else. They wanted to have everything in my location. So we started hiring all specialists. At one point. I think in 2012 we had every specialty, pediatric dentistry, ortho or surgery, all the above. We were really busy and then so we got.

Were you able to offload some of the procedures you were doing to other dentists at that point or were they doing the ancillary stuff around you?

No, they start. They start doing what they are good at. And this is here where start the hiccup starts. Because patients wanted me personally.

Yeah. That's where I was going to get to is how do you.

Yes, right.

When you're that much of a stable staple of the D.C. area and you know we have dentists all the time. They're the staple of their community. They're doing these very high end work and you know, everybody wants them and they're like I'm stuck. It's like a golden handcuff to their chair. Literally. You know.

So that was a big problem. But I could not see enough. I couldn't have enough time to see those patients. So I had really to pull myself back to fewer patients and I had other dentists helping me with that. When it comes to specialist was no problem with general dentist. This is the issue I, that I had. But I was there, I was really there. So I mean what I did at that time, I just created bigger business. But I was not having any systems, so I was running between rooms, do this, do that, checking this treatment plan, checking what's happening. If something did not go well, I had to go in and fix it myself.

But you did a step that so many miss, which is you turned yourself from being the dentist to being the brand. Right. And so even though you didn't have the systems, you were still the brand that was running from room to room and you started making smile makers. Right. The bigger thing that they were coming to rather than just Dr. Kalas. Right?

Yes. But it was so much pressure on me. Yeah, I really like go back home really tired at night. So it puts so much pressure. And I did not have time for myself, for my family, so. But I enjoyed it. I loved it. I loved it. So Emmett, I remember I used to.

Was there a, was there a break point though? Do you remember a time when you're like, this is not gonna work anymore? Because I feel like change happen when the change isn't as painful as the change of the present. Right. So. Or the, the, the present issue. Was there a moment where you're like, this isn't going to work anymore, I gotta do something different?

Yes, that it happened. And also I, I got an advice that I needed to pull out of the chair to be focusing on the, on the business instead of the ill in the business, which is I tried to do, but I couldn't, I couldn't. I didn't have systems I didn't have at that time. I remember I just bring associate dentists and just put them in place and just assume they're going to do what I do and they're going to perform the same procedure that I do or they have the same philosophy that I do. And then it did not happen. So but most of it, it was like on right and wrong and pain. I need to just address or issues. I think I lost some patience also because of that. But I always felt this is growth pain and I need to figure it out. And this is when I noticed that whatever that consulting company gave me is not going to be a solution. And I know that solution is the principle that I need to look after as a founder and as a now CEO of that company, if you want to call it that, that I need to have a solution. How can I avoid any hiccups? And then this problem really maybe doubled and maybe way more when I open other location for De Novo location. And then I they also a year after doubled that location. Then the year after opened another location. So now I have three locations and no systems. Three busy locations, no systems. I felt I'm overwhelmed. I couldn't do it. Looked for solution, heard about the deal, went to my first deal in 2014. I went there and I was just overwhelmed. It was so much for me, so many informations, talking about systems. I did not really. I couldn't connect. So went back, kept doing the same over and over, kept looking for solutions. Meantime, adso where in D.C. i met Darren and he told me again how DDO can help me. Went to a couple of meetings, I didn't take actions. Then in 19 I said that is it. And I joined the do. And through that things start changing. We start looking for systems, start to implementing systems. And this is where the big transformation happened for me.

Tell me a little bit about that transformation which that's an interesting time that you joined 19 just before 2020 hits. Yes, we all are in the thick of it, but it sounds like you started to really appreciate that without some kind of platform in place, without some kind of system, that you just weren't going to get to the next level, that you as an entrepreneur, as smart as you were, as much as you could do, obviously you worked your tail off, but there's only so many hours in a day, right? Like eventually you run out of time and can feel, and staff can feel and turnover starts to happen, right? People can feel that there's just not a foundation in place. So after joining deo and it sounds like Francesca too has become your right hand woman here. What was the changing point? What were the systems that you took on first?

So the pandemic happened and this is also towards a setback. We cruised through it, just hang in there. And then in 21 maybe was in one of the meetings at that end, the pandemic, we lost some dentists and team members and we had the new ones, but those were really not good, really not good. And I couldn't lead them because I was leading by example. So I cut like this, my crowns goes beautifully like this. They had different system, different way of doing dentistry. So in one of the meetings I noticed That I need a system, I need a system now for the associates to take them and build them and make them the best that they can. And this is where we started. We had some other systems how not

that long ago, that's not that long ago for progress that you've made, but

some other system really Francesca was the one who's doing those systems, which is from the patient's flow to new patients to recall to treatment plan. So we had all of those set but were not perfected. But then we came, we did this associate mentorship program and this is we really start changing things dramatically. And this is, I mean it's very simple. Which is I want those associates to be the best version of themselves. So which is based on having the best clinical excellence they can do with leadership effectiveness and the financial prosperity, getting those three for any associate that what's going to make them really great dentist. We figured out the system. We are so proud of it. So we came up then with the pyramid of success for dentist which is starting from a clinical to the leadership to the financial which is part in it. Also the numbers and the business of dentistry. And this is where we now we have the associate that they follow those systems and we work hard with them to achieve the highest level of success that they can do. And then also we took that and we did it for other team members from the hygienist to the assistants to the admins. And so. And now so we are growing also with that. So we're having now all the culture that you join me. I want to make you the best in your field. I want you to make the best, feel the best, do the best and also compensated the most.

So tell us how the story ends. Where are you at right now? What are you managing and you know, whatever numbers you want to share.

So now what? So we have six locations at this point and those six locations. So I'm the founder, I'm a solo owner and those locations are vertically growing. So we want to grow those locations to the the the most. So me now how many, how many

associates now are you leading?

We have between full time and part times, we have 18. So me the way I do it now. So I play visionary. So and I developed really great leadership team members, Francesca one of them. And we just hired a new, we call her culture manager. So and so the one before took us here could not take us to a different level. So I will say okay, so all what we need to do, we have our systems all based on patients experience everything around patient Experience and also a team member experience. So we get those together, get steady operations and measure it. We measure daily, so many aspects. So we have a team of analysts that they go, they give us daily and we check also the weekly. We check the monthly. We do meetings. We figure out where problems happening. And then my job is to have the vision and the team member. Now I don't need to be there to solve an issue so they can do it also at the same time. So we look for six sigma to solve any issues that we have. And then we have the systems that we have, the continuous measures and we don't let things go wrong for a while till we fix it.

There's a common theme in anybody who is successful and driving profitability. And you named the two things, which is they are systems oriented. Right? They're thinking about project prioritization. They're not trying to boil the Ocean and do 10 different things. They're thinking about one thing at a time. And number two is they are numbers oriented. They do understand how those numbers drive their business. I'm curious, if you could go back to yourself in those times when you were feeling overwhelmed, what would be the biggest thing you would counsel? Because we have plenty of DEO members and others who will just be listening to this podcast, who will have questions and, you know, they're going to think, okay, I'm at two locations, you know, three locations, et cetera. What do I need to do to be like Dr. Kalisp? You know,

the way I did it, I did it really solo. So. And that takes time. So it takes time, it takes effort. But all of this because I worked hard for long time and I built very sound, strong financial company. So before you go anywhere, you need to be solid financially. This is the most important thing.

Yeah, some people that is number one, too much on number of locations when they just need to be measuring on solid profitability per location.

So if you have in one location, you are grossing a million, two, three. I don't think you're ready to go for a second location. You need a certain amount of growth and certain amount of production and profit. Then you'll be good and strong enough to move. Because when you move, you're going to have some hiccups. And when you move to add a second location and second location before you go, you need to have systems. So you need to have the systems you need to. Or you're going to be jumping between the two. What's going to happen is going to be the first location is going to cover the Cost of the second location. So before you do that, so you need to figure the systems and you need to put your own systems. So I mean my system could be great. Any of those big dso, they could have a great system. But when you take it and you try to apply it on certain founders, certain solo owners that want to grow, it's going to be so, so complicated. They need to find their own and it's going to. In the end you have to have the systems and the plans. That's for sure.

You had to navigate this too when deo we were just a fabulous community. You were leveraging off of other people putting it. You could probably go a little faster had you had Michael as your coach back then. And now you get that regular.

Absolutely. So now we're developing a new model for acquisition and I'm talking to Mike and giving me great help and advices. So you need. So if you ask me what you need to do. So it's number one, you need to belong to an organization that you can learn from. And me, I'm always, I always been great student. I sit down, I listen and I learn and then I go work on myself. So being in organization like the do, I think the deal is really, it's one of a kind. So I go there. So I have multiple different dentist did it before me or owners or executives or even vendors. You learn from them, you learn what they've been doing, what they failed at, what I can avoid not to go through that. So this is number one. And then what you need, you need team, strong team. You need and you need that team to believe in you, to, to really have your ideas. And to do that you need to also make them growing. And like, like Francesca today, now Francesca is writing articles in nationwide dental organization. She gave talks. I mean that makes me so happy. So I support, I push my team to be their best. And the other thing that technology. During the do, we got really great technologies. One of it is the AI diagnostic. Through that AI today we got the treatment plan protocol to be the same in any location with any dentist. And we can monitor it. So you.

It's a game changer. We never have that.

That's, that, that, that's. That's upside down. Everything really. So I feel now my patients, if they go to location A or to B, C, wherever they go into, have the same outcome because we monitor the treatment plan and that treatment plan really based on technology. So we have the AI and that gets the X rays and also we have the CBCT AI diagnostic And we do also the digital scanning for every single patient so we can audit that and just go in and see if every condition addressed treatment plan.

That's the other thing I notice about anyone who's scaled well is they understand that the operational components cannot outrun the clinical vision. And by creating a clinical standard of care and driving that first, you really build a strong foundation for marketing to know what they're supposed to do, operations to know what the patient experience is supposed to be. All of those different components. And that's what you've done so. Well, I'm curious, in today's world, and every model's a little bit different, but for you, what would you say is good, better, best as far as revenue per practice, where do you like to be? How do you think of like if my practice is at this level, you know, then we're good and if it's at this level, we're really good. And then there's great and it's time to open up another one. How do you think about that?

So you need to be profitable. That's number one. So whatever that, I mean the dollar amount sometimes is not. It's not going to give you idea. So like during the deal, one of the dentists was having almost 300,000 per month, but he's spending $300,000 per month. So that is not it. So you need. So the industry standards, you need the EBITDA to be at least 20%.

Yeah, at the practice level.

Yeah, practice level. So this is the 20%. And then you can build on it and then you give it for that 20%, not one month. It needs to be at least six to 12 months in the row so you can stable, consistent. So that is number one. And to do that. So I mean it depends also on that practice, on the debt level. So but you are now at least 1.5 million per practice. If less than that, I mean don't consider it. And then you can grow it. And then depends you have one associate dentist in that practice. 2. Do you do all the procedures or maybe some specialty procedures go to other location of your practices. So it's many, many issues. But the 20% is a must for at least six months. And then you can go and see if you can acquire another one. And then also to like in our organization say I'm the solo owner. So the exposure all on me. So now the new develop system and model we're doing wanna get acquisition with associate equity. So in this way you are holding this new acquisition to a more projected Success. And now we're going to get into a new issue now. Had that relationship with this like a new partner. So how this is going to go, this is going to another story.

So it's, yeah, every mountain you climb, everyone thinks like, I climb this mountain and then I'm going done. But then they realized business is a mountain range. Right, so you climbed that one. I kind of. Last question here. This has been amazing. I mean, what a transformation. I think your humility, your ability to learn and to incorporate. I think so many of us kind of get stubborn and like, well, I obviously have been successful and I have people, I have princes and others flying over to see me. My procedures, no one can do them like I can do them. You know, I've heard all that messaging before and it just gets you stuck, you know, and then you're just exhausted every day and your profitability is not great and you've been able to remake yourself, you know, over and over through your humility and your ambition. It's really incredible. As you look to the future, it sounds like one of the things is now you're looking towards, okay, what would a partnership with practices look like, which is interesting and will be a new level of challenge. You have the foundation clearly in place with your financials being clear, et cetera. Is there technologies or next level systems that you're also looking forward to in the future?

You think, oh yeah. So I mean in the last DO meeting, so you have new technologies now. New technologies can listen to the dentist while presenting that treatment plan and then you can see if that treatment plan was accepted, scheduled or not. And if not, why, why it did not go through. So I mean this is of course, I mean we're all looking at it and this is going to be a, this is going to be another step from like you have now the AI diagnostic and now you're going to have the treatment plan and the verbiage or the language or the way you presented it to the patient. That's going to be, I mean control the whole thing. And then you can just go back to that associate, hey, you should have said this, this and that.

Instead what you did, it's crazy. I mean it's so crazy awesome. It's been something that's been available for like call centers and sales teams and stuff. They've had that AI sitting there listening to the disposition of people on the call and prompting and all that stuff. But to have those microphones in the operatory and then to have it feed through AI and be able to now have basically the hard skills of the X ray, cbct, all that stuff, and the soft skills of what they said, how they said it, how the patient responded, all fed through that computer program. For us to be able to be better leaders is amazing. For those who are interested, we do have several of those innovation partners in the app, and we will have a couple at the treatment closing academy in January, which will be awesome to kind of tie it all together, but the way you've integrated things, Geith, this is going to be really fun to watch you do.

Yeah, really. I love what I'm doing and it gives me so much energy. I'm late 50s, but I see my friend who dads, my colleagues and my age, they are just so depressed in dentistry and they want to get out, they want to sell and they're tired and me and just keep going.

You're just getting started. That's what I'm feeling. You're just getting started. So fun. You're developing out systems and everything else. If you want to hear more, Geith and Francesca actually they gave a presentation in one of our breakout sessions. It's now in the app where they walk through their success pyramid that you guys have built, which is absolutely incredible, and we'll have that available in the app as well. Dr. K, thank you so much. Anything else you want to say here? In closing,

I think that dentistry is great and that's what I told my son. I want one of you to be dentist. So the youngest one is senior now and it's going to apply to dental school. I love it and it hurts me when I see other dentists. Oh, I advise. I advise my son not to go to dental school or my daughter not to dental school. I think it's great profession and we are living the golden age of it.

That's awesome. Thank you so much. I appreciate your energy. Thanks for coming on this podcast. And if you're interested in learning more about DEO, go to deodentalgroup.com and until next time, keep smiling. Thank you for listening to deo's Growth Secrets podcast for dental organizations. Continue the conversation on our Facebook group and meet other dental leaders, get questions answered and the strategies you need to succeed. Plus, we have some free resources for you right there on the Facebook page. Remember, you're not alone. Let's do this together. Join DEO's growth the secrets group on Facebook and until next time, keep smiling.