Going into business with a friend

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

When two relatively new graduates jumped into practice ownership, their way of doing business would be spectacularly successful. By Frank Leggett

“It’s often said that going into partnership with a close friend is the quickest way to destroy the business and the friendship,” says Dr Eli Burger. “Thankfully, after more than 10 years of working with my best friend, I’ve found just the opposite to be true.”

Drs Burger and Stephen Dudgeon are co-owners of Avenue Dental. Starting with one practice in Queensland’s coastal town of Caloundra, they have expanded to 10 practices across Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. 

“I started at Avenue Dental as a new graduate in 2005,” says Dr Dudgeon. “The owner, Dr Richard Bell, was a great mentor and helped me improve as a clinical dentist. I purchased the practice in 2011 and soon realised I needed a trusted partner to run the business. Eli and I had met while studying dentistry at University of Queensland and I knew we would work well together. We’re such good mates, we were groomsmen at each other’s weddings.”

Dr Burger was working in a practice in Brisbane that was dealing with numerous specialist referrals, focusing on single tooth dentistry and simple treatment planning. 

“At that time, many practices were selling to corporates so it was getting more difficult for a young dentist to own their business,” recalls Dr Burger. “When the offer came from Steve to go into partnership, it seemed too good to be true. I grabbed the opportunity.”

Setting up

In 2012, Avenue Dental in Caloundra was already a large practice. It had seven surgeries and six dentists including Drs Dudgeon and Burger. There were also many support staff and four part-time hygienists. Essentially, the business was at a size to which some practice owners aspire. 

“When we started, we knew how to perform dentistry but had no idea how to run a dental practice,” says Dr Dudgeon. “Nor did we have any idea how to lead a team or create a great workplace culture. There was some trial and error but reaching out to various management consultants was helpful.”

One of the big turning points for Dr Dudgeon was being exposed to business books. As he says, “We soon realised that whatever problem we were facing, someone else had been through it and written a book about it.” They spent many hours poring over books about management and business, using them to formulate an effective strategy for the business. They knew they needed staff members to believe and embrace the strategy to make it work. The goal was to become positive leaders to an engaged staff. 

“Our ‘aha!’ moment was when we realised the importance of workplace culture,” says Dr Burger. “We needed to inspire the people around us to want to achieve their goals. By aligning their goals with ours, work becomes an enjoyable and inspirational place to be, and results happen.”

Defining the culture 

One of the main underpinnings of the success of Avenue Dental is employing people whose vision aligns with the future of the business. They hire for culture, not for specific skills that can be obtained through training and mentorship. Core values are listed on the practice website: Growth, Excellence, Teamwork, Passion, Positive and Fun, and Wow. Wow is all about surpassing expectations, doing good for others and building long-term relationships that creates raving fans.

“Once you have the whole team on board, culture eats strategy for breakfast,” says Dr Dudgeon. “Eli and I love the positive energy from being around like-minded people. Our workplace culture has been so successful that Avenue Dental is Australia’s most awarded group of dental practices for team culture, business excellence and customer service. This includes being awarded the Best Place To Work in Australia with under 100 employees, three years in a row from Great Place To Work, an international workplace certification organisation.”

Dr Burger adds, “In any workplace, there are two parts to people’s success. There’s performance and there’s values. It works best when both are in alignment. We’ve put six values in place that we try to embody in everything we do. It starts during our hiring process and continues throughout the journey at Avenue. When talented people are all working towards a common goal with shared values, anything is possible.” 

Graduate help

Being relatively new graduates when starting Avenue Dental, Drs Dudgeon and Burger knew the difficulties faced by all graduates. At that time, there was a glut of dentists joining the profession while numerous dental practices were being sold to corporates.

“I clearly remember going to a friend’s graduation ceremony in 2013,” recalls Dr Burger. “He was graduating as a paediatric specialist from the University of Queensland and all the new grads were distraught about job prospects. Their HECS debts were weighing heavily, and the mood was sombre.”

Drs Dudgeon and Burger decided to address this problem by setting up their Australian Dental Graduate of the Year Award in 2014. Soon after that, they also set up the Avenue Dental Mini Residency in General Dentistry, offered to the top five to 10 graduates. 

“We take those graduates through a year’s worth of free training, showing them how we operate,” says Dr Burger. “We feel we’ve created something unique in terms of our workplace culture and want to share the experience.”

Initially, the Graduate of the Year Award was run through the University of Queensland. The inaugural winner was Dr Johan Weemaes. Prior to winning, he had applied unsuccessfully for more than 100 jobs. Today, he’s a partner at Avenue Dental, running Avenue Dental Maroochydore, as well as executing and training in advanced implant dentistry. 

“Both programs are still in operation,” says Dr Dudgeon. “They have helped us grow and continue to create more opportunities for more dentists.”

Growth and expansion

Growing from one location to 10 practices with over 50 dentists and more than 120 support staff in just over a decade, Avenue Dental’s business is thriving. Its workplace culture is positive, leading to happy staff and satisfied clients.

“We must never forget that we’re in the health profession,” says Dr Burger. “Our number-one driving factor has to be providing high-quality care to patients. I think some businesses go awry when they work out what’s profitable then try to make that good for patients. We want to be the best we can be for the community and make that work from a business perspective.”

Incorporated into that process is clinical mentoring. Every dentist at Avenue Dental undertakes weekly mentoring in order to grow as clinicians. This allows them to take on more complex cases. 

“We also have weekly check-ins with our support staff as they are a vital part of our business,” says Dr Dudgeon. “Basically, we’ve set up a system that is supportive right across the board.”

There is one final piece to the puzzle, according to Dr Burger. “Whenever possible—and it’s 95 per cent of the time—we promote from within. People within our organisation have a growth runway. Many of our assistants have been promoted to practice manager roles. Some are now handling our marketing campaigns, and associates have progressed to expert clinicians and business partners. If you want to keep great people, you have to give them great opportunities and this includes partnering with dentists in new locations.”

Future plans for Avenue Dental include continued expansion and growth. Having spread from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane, Drs Dudgeon and Burger are keeping an eye on other states and opportunities.

“We’re certainly passionate about growing the business but we’re not hell-bent on expansion at all costs,” says Dr Dudgeon. “The most important thing for us is to continue to nurture the character and culture we have now and enjoy the process.”