[Spotlight] How To Run a Profitable Dental Practice in a Deprived Area

Can a great dentist ever truly be a great business owner?

In this short episode of Just4Dentists, Dr Ruth Baidoo revisits a powerful moment from her conversation with Dr Khalid Master, co-owner of Bank View Smile Studios.

Every fortnight, Just4Dentists looks back at recent conversations and highlights moments that deserve a closer look — the insights that stop you in your tracks.

Here, Khalid reflects on the “clinician’s trap”: why outstanding clinical skill doesn’t automatically translate into business success, and how overlooking systems, planning, and financial reality can lead even the best dentists into difficulty.

If this clip resonates, listen to the full episode on the Just4Dentists feed — where Ruth is joined by financial experts to explore the money behind the story and turn experience into practical, real-world guidance.

Presenter: Dr Ruth Baidoo

Guest: Dr Khalid Master

Produced by Your Podcast Producer Limited for the Just4Dentists Team

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute formal financial or legal advice. Every dentist’s career pathway and financial situation is unique; therefore, you should not rely on this content as a substitute for professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Transcript

00:00:00 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Hi, I'm Dr Ruth Baidoo

Welcome to Just for Dentists. 

Every fortnight, I spotlight a moment from one of our recent conversations, something that really stood out for me and I think is worth spending a little bit more time with. 

In the latest episode of the podcast, I spoke with Dr Khaled about what it's really like running a dental practice when financial pressures are high and the economic climate is challenging. We talked about leadership, difficult business decisions, and the reality that being a great clinician doesn't automatically mean you're prepared for the business side of dentistry. 

Here's a short moment from that conversation: 

{Spotlight Moment} 

00:00:30 DR KHALID MASTER

Life as an associate, again, with the benefit of hindsight, is very easy. Trust me, running a practice is a very, very expensive business. 

You know, as an associate, you can just come into work, do your 9 to 5, pick up your stuff, patients just appear by magic, your equipment works, nothing happens by magic. All of this costs money, all of this takes planning. 

So when you become a principal, the financial pressures and the stress and the time is immense. So it's not for everyone being a principal. My forte is clinical dentistry. That's what I'm trained to do. That's what I'm hardwired. Running a small business is a completely different discipline. And for heaven's sake, please don't think because you're a good dentist, you'll be a good businessman. In fact, I would say that I would say it's the total opposite. The better you are as a clinician, the worse you will be as a businessman. 

And I know some of the so-called best dentists in the area before I came into the area had the biggest debt list in the whole area. Don't make that mistake, man. 

00:01:33 DR KHALID MASTER

When I bought the practice, and this is one of the reasons why I bought this one compared to any of the others, is that almost 1/4 each, there was four different systems that were operating within the practice. 

So 1/4 was NHS. So there was a NHS commitment still, a substantial one. Then one quarter was private fee per item. So people who weren't linked to the practice but would just come and have odd procedures done when they felt like it. Then one quarter was at the time, then plan essentials. So that will take care of the long-term care and maintenance. And then there was a one quarter on comprehensive care, almost. I mean, it was almost perfectly 25%, 25%, 25%, 25%. Now, my accountant was unbelievably happy at that because ultimately, we've not put all our eggs in one basket. And of course, the NHS contract had changed four years before that, 2006.I bought the practice in 2010. So this allowed me to then diversify according to where I felt the growth area was. 

And the growth area for me, out of those four systems that worked well for the patient and worked well for me, was the essentials package. And we now have a setup where more than 50% of our patients are on an essentials package. And then the other 50% is broken up. Our NHS commitment is the same as it was before, but it's now less than 10% because of the growth of the other areas in the business. 

So what I would say to any associate looking into going into becoming a principal, do think more than just the numbers. Look at how the practice is set up, look at what systems they have in place, and then ultimately for you to make it a success, you have to have a plan to take it to the next level. 

00:03:25 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

So I can tell that you're very much involved in the team and that you have a lot of insight with that as well. So what kind of advice would you give to anybody who's listening to this in regards to teamwork or just any final words that you want to say? 

00:03:37 DR KHALID MASTER

Yeah, so as I've said earlier, pick experts. So there's lots of accountants. I mean, on my road, we have 5 dentists and we have 6 accountants. So it's the main road in Blackburn where a lot of the professional services are. So on the one hand, there's lots of competition, but then on the other hand, it's all accessible. But very few of them are dental specialists. 

So try and find people who are specialists in your area, even though they're specialists in theirs, they need to be specialists in yours. 

So find specialist accountant and then the management accountant I work with exclusively works with dentists. So again, principles are principles and they are across all sectors. But when they have an idea of what your life is like day-to-day and the challenges you face, the advice they can give you is way better than someone giving you general advice. 

{Ends} 

00:04:28 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

To hear the full conversation with Khaled, head to the main Just for Dentists feed, where we go deeper into how he's built and sustained his practice. And after the interview, I'm joined by our panel of financial experts who use Khaled's story to explore how practice owners can protect income, manage costs, and plan for long-term stability. And if you'd like to connect with other dentists facing similar challenges, you can join us inside the Just for Dentists Facebook community. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you in the next episode of Just for Dentists.