Are You Gambling With Your Most Valuable Asset? DSO PARTNERSHIP AS A STRATEGY TO REDUCE RISK
Let me share a bit of my own story. I’m not a dentist, but there’s a lesson here for every practice owner. A little over a decade ago, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. At the time, I was a senior executive at a large DSO and traveling constantly. I had been healthy and active my entire life, so the diagnosis came out of nowhere. Almost overnight, my ability to continue in that role disappeared. It was abrupt, unexpected, and deeply unsettling.
in an associate or partner and put agreements in place to handle a buyout if something happens. And some choose to partner with a DSO, effectively taking some chips off the table while they’re still healthy and active. None of these approaches is inherently right or wrong. Each has advantages and trade-offs. What matters is that you’ve thought through how your practice, your family, and your future would be affected if circumstances changed suddenly. Life is unpredictable. That’s reality. And when your practice represents a large portion of your net worth, ignoring that uncertainty is an unnecessary gamble. If you ever consider a DSO partnership as part of your strategy, the quality of the partner matters enormously. There are good DSOs and those to avoid. Knowing the difference takes experience and careful evaluation. Most dentists have poured years of effort into building their practices. Protecting that work is about respecting what you’ve built enough to prepare.
Now, imagine that same situation from your side of the chair.
Imagine waking up one day unable to practice because something outside your control forced the issue. Most dentists know a colleague this has happened to. An illness. An injury. A health event that instantly changes everything. When that happens, the value of the practice often changes just as quickly. Without a continuity plan, a lifetime of work can be worth far less than it should be because the owner had no margin for surprises.
Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Planning while you still have options is always better than reacting when you don’t.
That’s a risk many dentists don’t like to think about, but it’s a real one. There are a few ways practice owners typically manage this uncertainty. Some rely on disability insurance. Others bring
WHY EXIT PLANNING IS REALLY GROWTH PLANNING IN DISGUISE
Most dentists think of exit planning as something you do at the end of your career. A future problem. Something that only matters once you’re ready to slow down, sell, or step away. That assumption is one of the most expensive mistakes I see. When exit planning is done right, it sharpens your focus and forces you to grow in smarter, more durable ways. The confusion comes from how people define “exit planning.” Many dentists picture spreadsheets, valuations, contracts, and deal structures. That’s part of it, but it misses the point. At its core, exit planning is about building a practice that performs well without relying on heroic effort from the owner. And that happens to be the same definition of a well-run, profitable, growing practice. When you look at your practice through an exit lens, the questions change. You stop asking how
busy you are and start asking how predictable the business really is. You stop asking whether you can make things work and start asking whether someone else could step in and succeed. Exit planning pushes you to strengthen systems, clarify roles, and delegate more deliberately. The immediate result is often less daily pressure. The longer-term result is a practice that can grow without burning you out. Financial clarity follows the same pattern. Practices that grow without an exit mindset often chase top-line revenue while losing sight of how that revenue behaves underneath. Exit planning forces you to pay closer attention to margins, overhead, and profitability trends. That discipline leads to better decisions. Smarter staffing. Better use of hygiene. A more intentional case mix. Exit planning also brings focus. Most dentists are pulled in too many directions at once. New technology. New services. New marketing ideas.
Looking at decisions through an exit lens helps filter out growth that adds complexity without adding value. There’s also a mindset shift that happens when you stop treating exit planning as a finish line. Dentists who delay planning often tell themselves they’ll get serious once things settle down. Exit-minded practices don’t wait for perfect conditions. They improve conditions by design. Ironically, the dentists who benefit most from exit planning are often the ones who have no immediate plans to exit. They’re focused on building something durable, profitable, and enjoyable to own. Exit planning simply gives them a framework to do that well.
Stan Kinder - (703) 298-1690 · 5
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