Is it a good idea to bring family and business together under one roof? We get the lowdown from four different family practices. By Frank Leggett
You might not be able to choose your relatives but you can decide whether to go into business with them. Whether you want to open a family dentistry, or an orthodontist, getting the family involved is a difficult decision. While some people would consider it madness to work with family, a high proportion of dental practices are family partnerships.
The benefits of a successful partnership make it a very attractive business model. Profits and work flow increase while work load can be shared and reduced. Less time is needed for administration and a greater flexibility of working hours is possible.
So, why not turn to a business partner who knows your style, knows your beliefs, knows your annoying traits… in other words, a family member, be it a parent, sibling or cousin.
Generational practices also offer the opportunity for exceptional mentorship. Even the president of the Australian Dental Association, Karin Alexander, started her career working in her mother’s practice.
So, here is an insight into the benefits and stresses of working in a family practice…
Drs Byron and Jodie Dobson
Relationship: Father and daughter
Practice: Dobson Dental, Ferntree Gully, Victoria
It takes a certain amount of drive and determination to make a family practice successful. Dr Byron Dobson never had any doubts his daughter Jodie had the right stuff—after all, she had represented Australia at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 for women’s-four rowing.
Jodie had watched her father work in the practice as a child, so dentistry was always in the back of her mind. However, it wasn’t until the last year of high school that she made the decision to pursue it as a career. Byron wasn’t really expecting it. “I was quite surprised but she’s a woman of a lot of surprises. Olympians are rare, very driven people. Jodie takes after her mother a great deal.”
After graduation, Jodie worked in Dandenong for two years—at another father-and-daughter practice. “They were terrific and very helpful,” says Jodie. “I simply realised I needed to work full time in the practice where I had my future.”
And, of course, being father and daughter, the arguments were non-existent. “I can’t think of a single thing we fought about,” says Jodie. “We know and trust each other implicitly.”
Byron is just as happy with their working relationship. “I’m immensely proud of Jodie. She’s a highly skilled operator who knows as much about dentistry as I do—maybe even a bit more.”
Jodie is especially thankful of the mentorship provided by her father. “I used to stand and look over his shoulder. I learned so much and he would patiently guide me through things. I truly believe I’ve learned a lot more than many other dentists my age.”
Byron, who graduated in 1968, is just about to hang up his boots and Jodie will take over the practice.
And Jodie sees the practice as an on-going concern. “I would absolutely encourage my sons to go into dentistry. I would love it if one of them followed in my footsteps. It’s a terrific profession.”
Drs Stanley and Scott Evans
Relationship: Father and son
Practice: Evans Dental, Mermaid Beach, Queensland
Dr Stanley Evans will log 50 years as a dentist next January. Dr Scott Evans, his son, has worked with Stanley for the past 25 years, joining the practice straight after graduation. Another son, Troy, is also a dentist working on the Gold Coast.
Scott was an employee at Evans Dental for the first 10 years of his career. Stanley recalls, “One day he said, ‘You’re not getting any younger, Dad, and I know nothing about running this business’.” Scott immediately bought half the practice and they became equal partners. About four years ago he bought out his father completely and now Stanley is an employee of Scott.
Stanley had no trepidation about working with his son. “I embraced it,” he says. “Mind you, when Scott first started, he had a lot of ideas and radical new plans. At that stage, however, I had been a dentist for 25 years, so my ideas were the ones that were going to stick.”
Their partnership has been an undoubted success. “It helps when there’s an established pecking order,” says Scott with a laugh. “There’s a cohesion when working with a family member.”
According to Scott, one of the major benefits of a father/son practice is the mentorship. “Dad really had his head around full mouth rehabs which we weren’t taught in university. I learned so much from him, took some extra courses, and gravitated towards the procedure.”
Sadly, neither sees the future of dentistry in a positive light. “My optimism for my profession is at an all-time low,” says Scott. “Between the private health funds, the government and the number of graduates being turned out, I find it to be a very depressing landscape.”
Stanley agrees. “I’ve seen big dental practices with no plates out the front, a shifting roll of dentists and no degrees on the walls. They are advertising at rates with which we can’t compete.”
As Stanley fast approaches retirement, Scott is still optimistic about dentistry. “We’ve had a great relationship throughout our working career. There’s only ever been upsides to it. I still love what I do. It’s just the politics that are frustrating.”
Drs Miriam and Danielle Matthews
Relationship: Sisters
Practice: Mordialloc Dental, Mordialloc, Victoria
There was quite a bit of trepidation when Drs Danielle and Miriam Matthews decided to buy a practice together. Not that the sisters had any concerns—all the apprehension was coming from their husbands.
After 10 years working for various practices in different states, they started Mordialloc Dental in 2001. “We could immediately see the benefits of working together and how it would make life easier,” says Miriam. “We had a similar idea of the sort of practice we wanted.”
Still, there was a bit of a learning curve to be climbed. “We get along very well but you relate differently as sisters than you do as professionals,” says Danielle. “We had to learn not to roll our eyes at each other and to deal with work issues separately.We began to have meetings and treat it as a business rather than the way we would talk outside the practice.”
They soon found that time management was much easier when working with a sister. Both have children and can schedule time off as required. This was especially helpful when the children were young. “Soon after starting the business, I started my family,” Miriam says. “My sister was happy to do more hours and allow me to take the time I needed. We try to give each other that all the time.”
So, what are the major benefits of working with your sister? “There’s unspoken trust between us. Everything is split down the middle,” says Danielle.
“Making things work for both of us is more important than the bottom line,” says Miriam. “In fact, we didn’t formalise a contract of business with each other until 18 months ago. It was all informal because we trust each other.”
Ultimately, their husbands’ concerns were completely unfounded. “We are really happy with the way the practice runs,” says Danielle. “It’s a good size and we like to focus as much on our life outside of work as we do on the dentistry.”
Drs Thomas Vo and David Le
Relationship: Cousins
Practice: Churchill Dental, Winston Hills, NSW
Dr David Le has spotted one clear advantage to running a practice with his cousin, Dr Thomas Vo. If ever there are any major arguments, David can generally get his way by complaining to Thomas’s mum!
Thomas and David have always been close. They grew up in the same area, went to the same school, did their HSC together and attended the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Dentistry at the same time.
After working in various practices, Thomas found a job in Belmont, NSW. It was a large surgery and Thomas encouraged David to apply for a vacant position, so they both ended up working in the same practice.
Being so close meant it was almost a given that they would open a practice together. “I always knew I wanted to open up in Sydney,” says Thomas. “After work we would have a couple of beers and talk about it, examining all the options.”
Once again, trust is a major benefit in their business relationship. “We approach things in a very clear, agreed manner,” says David. “We won’t go ahead with anything important unless we both agree. We have never had any trust issues.”
In 2008, the cousins took the big plunge and opened Churchill Dental. “You don’t really have time to think when you first open,” says Thomas. “We were insanely busy, doing anything and everything. It was all or nothing. We had borrowed a lot of money.”
The business has gone from strength to strength, validating the cousins’ belief in themselves and each other. “Soon we are opening a third and fourth surgery that will be connected onto our existing one,” says Thomas. “The business is moving in the right direction but along the way, there’s still a lot of things that we have to learn.”
David is also upbeat about the practice and the future. “It’s going well so far. We’ve had our ups and downs and that normally coincides with business ups and downs. But there’s been nothing that would make us file for divorce.”
