The Reality of a Portfolio Career in Dentistry

What does it really take to build a portfolio career in dentistry — and what are the financial realities behind it?

In this episode of Just4Dentists, host Dr Ruth Baidoo speaks with London-based aesthetic and restorative dentist Dr Shiraz Khan about building a modern portfolio career in dentistry.

Shiraz graduated from University of Birmingham in 2013 and now works at the London Centre for Implant and Aesthetic Dentistry. Alongside clinical practice, he has developed a diverse career including postgraduate education, international lecturing, mentoring dentists, and co-founding Apex Dental Club.

In this conversation, Ruth and Shiraz explore the real financial and career decisions behind diversifying as a dentist, including:

• The true cost and return on investment of postgraduate dental education
 • Why multiple income streams don’t always mean “extra” income
 • How dentists can build a portfolio career without burning out
 • The reality of balancing clinical dentistry with speaking, teaching and personal branding

Following the interview, financial experts Andrew Brown and Martin Febery break down the financial planning considerations for dentists with portfolio careers, including:

• Managing irregular or multiple income streams
 • Pension planning and tax strategy for dentists
 • Key-person risk for dentists with strong personal brands
 • Why passion projects should be structured like real businesses

This episode is ideal for:

• Dentists considering postgraduate training
 • Dentists exploring a portfolio career in dentistry
 • Dentists building a personal brand, side business or education platform

Music Credits:

InPlusMusic: ‘Funk Funky Beat Music’

Raspberry Music: ‘Feel Good’

Cold_Fire: ‘Base and Claps’

Have a question or want tailored expert advice?
📩 Email info@j4d.co.uk

💬 Join the Just4Dentists Facebook community to continue the conversation.

Presented by Dr Ruth Baidoo

Produced by Your Podcast Producer Ltd for Just4Dentists

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

[OPENING CREDITS]

00:00:00 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Hi, I'm Dr Ruth Baidoo, a dentist who spent years figuring out not just how dentistry works, but how life as a dentist works. This series is all about the human stories behind the profession, the financial decisions, the identity shifts, the pressures, and the moments that define your career. We're going to dive into money, mindset, career growth, and the practical realities of building a life in dentistry. And with the help of industry experts, we'll be breaking down what all of this means for your financial future. So whether you're just starting out, you're deep into your career, or simply trying to make smarter decisions for your future, this podcast is for you. 

Welcome to Just for Dentists. 

[INTRODUCTION]

00:00:42 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Just for Dentists. I hope you've all had a fantastic week. If we haven't met before, welcome. You're very, very welcome to join us all. 

I'm Dr. Ruth Baidoo and I cannot wait to get into this week's topic with you and the conversation with Dr. Shiraz Khan. How was your week? I want to know. Let me know how your week was. My week has been busy as per usual, but it's been very, very productive. It just makes me realise, wow, how much I love what it is that I do. 

So I want to talk about Shiraz, because Shiraz is someone I actually met very early on in my career and it was really great to catch up with him. Hadn't seen him in a very, very long time. And just kind of discuss a bit more about his journey, what he's done and what he's currently doing now. So there's lots to unpack. 

Shiraz is a cosmetic and restorative dentist based in London. He graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2013 and then went on to do complete advanced restorative training. He now works at the London Centre for Implant and Aesthetic Dentistry on Wimpole Street, a clinic that combines high inpatient care with postgraduate education for dentists. 

Beyond his clinical work, Shiraz has built a national and international profile as a lecturer and mentor. He's a director of the Young Dentist Academy, which is where I actually met Shiraz, and also Sculp Education Limited, which is a home composite training platform. 

In addition to all of that, he's the co-founder of the Apex Dental Club and regularly delivers masterclasses to dentists across the UK and internationally. 

Today, we're diving into Shiraz's journey of building a high-performing multifaceted career from postgraduate training and private practice, teaching, mentoring and managing the financial realities of what that actually looks like. 

We're going to explore what it really takes to shape your career internationally and the lessons that he's learned along the way. 

After my conversation with Shiraz, we'll be joined by our financial experts to provide guidance and dig a little bit more into the financial realities that dentists need to consider if they're considering following a very similar pathway. 

One thing just to add is that Shiraz is a very busy guy. We actually caught up with him at the start of the working day when he was in a coffee shop. So if you hear any noises in the background, it's probably just the barista. Let's get into it. 

[FINANCIAL DISCLAIMER]

00:02:48 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. 

The views expressed by myself and my guests are our own and are provided as general expert guidance and industry insight. 

Because every dentist's circumstances are unique, you should always seek independent advice tailored to your specific situation before making any major financial decisions. 

[DR SHIRAZ KHAN INTERVIEW]

00:03:06 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

So Shiraz, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. How are you doing? 

00:03:10 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

I'm very well. It's great to see you again. 

00:03:12 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

It's good to see you again too. 

00:03:14 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Thank you for the invitation

00:03:15 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

No worries. It's been a really long time. 

00:03:17 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

It's interesting from like just knowing a little bit about you and watching you on social media. It's seen like from graduation point, you seem to move quite quickly into like being quite intentional about your career and then doing a master's. So tell me more, a little bit more about that journey and what made you decide to actually do that. Because that's a big commitment, especially financially. 

00:03:35 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Yeah, You know, when we qualify in dentistry, and this I think applies to everyone, that's listening, you, anyone that enters dentistry, you plan for this aspiration of your career and then you really have no idea what you're getting yourself into until you're actually in the clinic and you're like, oh my God, I don't know anything. Oh my God, learn how to communicate properly. My hands aren't doing what they need to. You know, I always, even in undergraduate training, I had this aspiration for trying to do the artistic side of it, trying to make every tooth look like a tooth, whether it was carving an amalgam or prepping a tooth or doing a composite, whatever it was. I was also like, I want to try and make it look as tooth-like as possible. And I really started then pushing into doing courses as in being a participant on courses to really start furthering my understanding in education portfolio and so on. 

As financially, it's a massive commitment. I don't mind saying my wife was hugely supportive because at the time, we all talk about our circumstances quite openly, but that was a big chunk of house deposit that I had to move on to do my own career. So things like that are tricky, are challenging. You need a good supporting ecosystem. Shout out to her because she's always been wonderful to me. 

00:04:50 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

100%. I think I'm glad that you're transparent and honest about that, because a lot of people wouldn't be, for example, just kind of like coast. I think that's one thing dentists don't do very well. We're not very open about talking about money. 

Money's still very taboo. And I get it can be a tricky subject, but I think when you're making this big commitment, like you're about to do a master's, which is not cheap, like dentistry in general is not cheap, like all the training and all the other equipment and materials that you need, but then to then go and do a master's and commit to that financially, it's not cheap. Thank you for being transparent because there's probably someone listening to this who's considering it. 

00:05:22 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

But always. 

00:05:23 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

When we first met years ago, like you were also doing international speaking and things like that. So tell me how that came about. Was it just an opportunity that was given to you and it was just snowballed into other things? 

00:05:33 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Sort of, sort of. I mean, so essentially when I was in my FD year, my TPD training programme director asked me to come back and speak to the future FDs about what my experience was like. So I did that. And then at that, there was another training programme director who asked me to come to their scheme. And then at that, there was Stephen, Professor Stephen Lamble, MBE. He asked me to speak at the National Conference for all the KSS, Ken Surrey Sussex. And then from that, it was like, oh, we saw you at that. Would you like to speak at the British Dental Conference, which was run by the BDA at the time? If you remember, that was our fun weekend away in Manchester. 

00:06:10 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Yeah, I remember that. 

00:06:12 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Good times, good times. 

00:06:13 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

So, what happened was there was this stepwise progression. And of course, with the Young Dentist Academy where we met, Martin Ansel was quite keen to have me on board with that. So all of these things sort of just, you know, started gearing me towards that. And when I first qualified, I didn't think speaking was an opportunity. I didn't think being able to travel with dentistry was any opportunity that we'd have. So the fact that came up was, I mean, a blessing to God ultimately, but like a real privilege. Do you know what I mean? And then, I started engaging when I was at the British Dental Conference, then one of the companies within dentistry came to my lecture, reached out and said, we saw you at the British Dental Conference, can we arrange a meeting with our European head of sales, et cetera. 

And then that started all of that process off. A word and shout out to my younger compatriots and colleagues that, you know, in the first, what, 15 speaking opportunities, obviously I didn't get paid. That's just not how it works. But if you invest that time, it pays back in the future. So it's a real privilege. 

00:07:19 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Amazing. So it's helped you kind of create, I guess, in essence, like a portfolio career outside of dentistry, still dentistry related, but you know, another link, another sort of route or pathway that you can walk down and get paid for it as well. 

00:07:31 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Yeah, And you know, like the, I'm going to be ultra transparent. Like there is no aspiration for me that wanted to speak to provide alternative source of income. For me, it was about spreading goodness and positivity within dentistry. And that's always been my mantra. You know, when we did the Young Dentist Academy courses, it was all about trying to create confidence, competency, younger practitioners. It's all about just spreading good knowledge in dentistry. Because if you do that, invariably, people will get better, you get better. The nation gets better health care, dot, dot, dot, dot. And all of that will provide multiple fold than just any sort of financial reimbursement. So yeah, is it, but it did create this alternative stream of earnings. So real privilege, man. 

00:08:20 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Amazing. And so from a financial perspective, how does diversifying your career income streams provide stability and help you plan for the future? I know it was accidental in a sense that you were given all these opportunities, but it is an additional source of income. So can we just unpack that a little bit more financially? 

00:08:37 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Yeah, I mean, you know, the additional source of income is a little bit of a red herring, if I'm being clear, because if you're thinking about what you're doing, you're taking time out of your clinical rota to then be able to speak. So all you're really trading off is what you'd be earning at the clinic versus what you'd be earning from lecturing, generally, generally. 

So the earning stream diversification doesn't strictly work out as, I don't use like using the word lucrative, it's not, it's really just replacing lost income per se, rather than necessarily, but that obviously changes when you're speaking on a weekend. Often when I travel abroad, it's not just a day in, day out. It's usually a couple of days. So you're trying to effectively work out that lost income. But in reality, spending that on its head 

The ability to, whilst not being, hands on deck as it is per se, is also a privilege, isn't it? I mean, we are quite lucky to be able to be, fairly well supported in dentistry in terms of earning potential, et cetera, to be able to do that and still be able to share. It all adds up. I think it's all just, we're just so lucky. 

00:09:54 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Yeah, very fortunate. I think dentistry is what you make it. It's a very, it can be a very fluid career in a sense. Like you don't have to work five days a week if you don't want to. You can reduce your hours if need be. You can branch into other things. 

00:10:05 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Yeah, for sure. 

00:10:06 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

So I want to find out more about this Apex Dental Club. Tell me. I'm very intrigued. Shiraz, the floor is yours. 

00:10:13 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Yeah, sure. So one of the big, big changes in 2023, I think it was, 22, was that I decided to embark into the world of motorsport. Mad. I mean, you know me for a while. This is probably the peak of madness in my career, right? And 2022, I decided to start racing. And the racing thing really took off. Like what the Apex Dental Club is 

Because I've got this passion for motorsport, there are lots of people in dentistry that enjoy motorsport, whether that's driving, whether that's observing, whether that's whatever it is, sim racing, karting, whatever. So the idea about the Air Base Center Club is to be able to marry a community of those that are passionate about automotive, motorsport, lifestyle, whatever, and continuous professional development. So this is just a collegiate inter-collective of people that love and are passionate about motor sport and cars. 

And it's a safe space, really. So for learning, education and fun. 

00:11:12 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

I like that. I like that. You know, we need to have a balance in all of this. You know, it can't all be work, work, work. There's got to be some play in there too. That's really important. And that kind of leads on nicely to my next question. So why was it important for you to link professional development to a lifestyle sort of brand? 

00:11:27 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Life's too short. Unfortunately, a lot of us probably in our youthful days, particularly, take life for granted. when I'm older or when I do this, when I achieve this, then I will... You know what? We need to live every day like it's our last. I'm really privileged and lucky to have had the support within Dentistry that I have. I'm really privileged to be able to do a life dream, which most people can't do. And I try and be able to share that with people. And we should enjoy it. We shouldn't be apologetic for having an aspiration or want to do something fun. We are in a invariably service industry. 

We are servants to other people's oral health. So that's quite taxing. We're dealing with lots of complex psychologies. If we can't let our own hair down, no pun intended, a little bit on our opportunity to grow and engage, because there's quite a lot, there's loads of pressures on us. You know, I don't want to get into all of that, but you know, we really drive ourselves down this rabbit hole, whether it's a financial pressure, whether it's an educational pressure, whether it's like an ability to provide the best care pressure, all of these things really put themselves on our shoulders. So for us, it's just about trying to be able to go and do the right thing, learn whilst enjoying your passions. 

00:12:45 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Point noted. How many years qualified now are you? 

00:12:48 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Ruth, man, you're showing my age, man! You're exposing me like that. How are you going to be doing that? I am qualified. I've been qualified for 13 years this year. 

00:12:57 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Okay, 13 years. Yes, you're a little bit seasoned in the game. 

00:13:00 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

A little bit seasoned. 

00:13:02 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Yeah, old man coming, man. Salt and pepper's coming through slowly, I'm telling you. 

00:13:07 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Then you've got a lot of experience, you've got a lot of experience. So what experience would you give to younger dentists who are ambitious but worried about burnout? Sometimes you might think, right, I've got to start doing this, and this. I've got to do this course and that course. And you could be taking on way too much too soon. So from someone who's 13 years qualified, give us some advice from the younger dentists. 

00:13:28 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

I think the most important thing is, dentistry is a long career. Like if I was talking to the me in 2013, right? I would be saying to yourself, listen, don't stress about rushing all this stuff. And I'd be like, yeah, I want to get there. You used the word burnout. I definitely was at the point where I was just pushing probably harder than I needed to for no necessary gain because we're still in this for another 30 years, 20 years, whatever it might be, right? So just explore everything. I think I said the same to you back in 2015, 16. Explore everything. 

Do the stuff that you don't like because you can't, like, you can't sit there and say, oh, I want to do this because it looks cool. You might not be good at it, one. Also, you might have a hidden skill in another part of the industry, right? But trends will come and go. And if you're able to just work on the base portfolio and then start creating that pyramid of performance, that's the key for me. 

Get yourself a great mentor, go on courses from people that you aspire to be like or learn from, you know, doing all of that learning and education while still remaining relatively current. Yeah, I mean, for me, I don't think you need to worry about running. I don't think you need to worry about earning. And again, I will say this very clearly. I have never, ever, and this will be contrary to a lot of performance coaches and so on, I have never set a target for what I need to earn in that year. Never. 

00:14:58 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Okay. 

00:14:58 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Never have. I never will. And not because I'm scared or worried or it's taboo, nothing to do with that. I know if I do the very best work that I can do, it will be recompense in the right way. And I know there will be loads of sales coaches that are listening and so on. They're like, no, you need to know that you need to get to X. I appreciate that having a target helps you break down smaller steps. But for me, I'm a bit more open-minded in that we've got a word in Arabic that's called risk, which is your sustenance and whatever. I think that's already permed anyway. 

So actually, what I do day-to-day, I just need to do the best that I can for every patient that comes through the door, for every person I educate, for every course I run. I need to just do the best that I can and the rest will take care of itself. 

00:15:43 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

That's sound, sound, sound words from a very, very... What's the word? How can I describe you, Shiraz, in the years that I've known you? 

00:15:52 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Mad. 

00:15:55 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

I wouldn't say mad. 

00:15:56 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

No, you're a person who goes for it. You're a person who goes for it. And it shows. It shows in what you've done. It shows in what you've been able to achieve in the last 13 years as well. So I know that the future is only going to go even further for you. So thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. 

00:16:11 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

It's been a pleasure, Ruth. Keep doing your great work. I am tuning in on social, seeing you about, and it's good to see you. 

00:16:16 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Thank you so much. 

00:16:17 DR SHIRAZ KHAN 

Keep on it. 

00:16:17 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Thank you. Appreciate it. 

[RUTH REFLECTIONS]

00:16:21 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

It was so nice to catch up with Shiraz. And as I've mentioned in the conversation, Shiraz and I met when I was a newbie dentist. I think at that point I was probably two years out of dental school. It was really, really great to also hear about how he was very intentional after school to actually progress and want to sort of push his education further by doing a master's and the benefits that he got from that as well. 

I also really, really love the fact that he was honest about how juggling a career as a public speaker as well as clinical can sometimes be very tricky and can bring its complexities as well. How would you manage that if you're an associate in a practice where you've got to take time off because you've been asked to lecture internationally? 

That's fantastic. But then you have patients back home that need your care and attention as well. So there are many things to think about, particularly as a dentist who might be working clinically, but have other interests outside of that, also require a bit of time and communication as well. 

[ASK THE EXPERTS]

00:17:18 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Right, we've just heard from Shiraz talk about his journey of building a career that is truly multifaceted, from advanced restorative training to international lecturing and even co-founding a lifestyle networking brand. His portfolio really is multifaceted. But shifting from a traditional clinical role to a blend of teaching, mentoring and branding sometimes brings its own set of financial complexities. 

So to help us unpack the strategy behind scaling a career like this, I'm joined by our regular financial experts, Andrew Brown, director and mortgage broker at Mortgages for Dentists and Martin Febery, who's the principal advisor at Money4Dentists. 

00:17:51 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

How are you guys both doing today? 

00:17:53 MARTIN FEBERY

Yeah, really good, thank you. 

00:17:54 ANDREW BROWN 

Very, very well. Yeah, good to hear from Shiraz, very inspirational man. 

00:17:58 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Yes, I totally agree, totally agree. So one of the questions I wanted to start off with is this. Shiraz balances clinical work at the London Centre for Implant and Aesthetic Dentistry with income from lecturing and mentoring and also very busy guy, the Apex Dental Club as well. So for a dentist looking to diversify their income and just general life as well, how does having multiple streams or regular and irregular income streams affect long-term financial planning specifically around things like pensions and tax efficiency. 

00:18:30 MARTIN FEBERY 

Really good point. Looks quite exciting on the surface, doesn't it? 

00:18:34 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Yeah. 

00:18:34 MARTIN FEBERY 

Multiple projects and different streams of income, but can actually be a bit of financial juggling act underneath. When you're an associate, you have a nice predictable income. Financial planning is pretty straightforward or can be. The moment you're earning from three or four different sources, it just gets a a bit more coordination is required. And you've also obviously got to be careful that there's not too much distraction as well, because you can lose focus. So pensions, I'm going to say it time and again, sorry, that's my job. They really are a big one. Irregular income, it really can make it tricky to be consistent with your contributions, because especially when you're self-employed, where income's going up and down, it's quite easy to kind of put it off. 

But having that consistent strategy is actually really important. And this is where you need to kind of separate your business and shorter term planning from your strategy, your overall, what are we going to get to? Obviously, don't forget that some of your income from a limited company and some is personal. 

You have to think about how those contributions are coming and how they're going to be structured. Tax wise, it's really easy to end up overpaying, triggering unnecessary rates and liabilities if you go past a tipping point, past a tax trap point. So it's going to be all around again, having a plan and making sure the plan keeps up to date with your career and the way your career is structured. The more pots you've got, the more important it is to have a clear goal of where the income goes and how to make the most of all of the allowances each year. 

00:20:14 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

So Andy, Shiraz has built a massive personal brand and from a lender's perspective, is there any risk in being too successful as an individual? So say for example, if he wanted to buy a practice, how do lenders view a key person risk where the value of the business is entirely tied to one superstar clinician rather than a scalable system. 

00:20:34 ANDREW BROWN 

Yeah. Okay. So I think I have to confess, I do know Shiraz and he has had his hands in my mouth. So he is my dentist. So we go back around five, six years now. And Shiraz works in a practice where there's a lot of talented dentists. So at the moment, there wouldn't be, I think, a danger of it being built around one person. But ultimately, I think if a practice is doing really well and someone is nowhere near retirement, there won't be any issues with regards to borrowing money. The banks are actually reasonably straightforward in terms of their policy. They're going to be looking at the profitability of your business, particularly the last couple of years. 

They're going to be looking if you've got any debts. If so, how do you service that? They'll be looking at the business will effectively have a credit rating that we do as individuals. So I think it's unlikely having one person being a specialist or focusing on one area or multifaceted and maybe supporting multiple practices, it shouldn't have too much detriment on your borrowing if you wanted to buy a practice or if you wanted to get your own residential mortgage. I think there'd be a very slim chance of that. 

00:21:48 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Okay, so Martin, one of the most interesting parts of Shiraz's story is about his networking club, the Apex Dental Club. So what we're finding nowadays is that dentists are not just solely dentists nowadays. From your opinion, what are some of the biggest tax pitfalls that we need to look out for in these situations, especially around things like VAT on lecturing and the management and the lifestyle of the brand and things of that nature. 

00:22:11 MARTIN FEBERY 

Yeah, so it's really easy to think, I'm just giving a few talks or it's just a side project. But yeah, the tax man doesn't see it that way. So once you start charging for things, charging for lectures and running events and selling products, whether it's courses or merch or CPD subscriptions, you're in business territory. Nobody really wants to talk about VAT. It's not that much fun, but it is one of the bigger tripwires. So if your turnover, outside turnover crosses the threshold, which is currently 90,000 pounds, you're legally obliged to register for VAT. Suddenly, 20% of what you're charging is going to HMRC unless you've priced it properly. 

And it can really catch people out, especially if you're caught after the fact and have to pay back. So this is again, as always, about planning and understanding where you're going. Then there's a question of what goes through a limited company and what stays personal and whether you're using the right structure even. So you see people unintentionally mix personal and business income or miss out on tax efficiency just because they're not claiming legitimate expenses. So again, down to making sure you're really conscious about what you're actually doing and have a plan. So if you are building a brand, even a small one, you need to treat it like a real business from day one. Whether self-employed or limited company, get advice early, make sure you're not accidentally walking into a tax mess just because you wanted to share your knowledge online, because undoing that mess can be much more difficult. 

00:23:44 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

I think that's quite pertinent because, I mean, the way that things are in life, not just within dentistry, like everybody's sharing something on social media. Not to say that everybody has a brand, but I think branding is a big, big part of dentistry because a lot of our patients and the general public will be online. They will come across dentists and things like that. And that might be how somebody finds you and discovers you as a dentist and then maybe buys into you as well. So it's very important to know that if you are somebody who is sharing information online or you are intentionally building the brands, be aware of the tax implications and the business implications that surround that as well before you get yourself into any trouble. 

00:24:21 MARTIN FEBERY 

Yeah, absolutely. Because there's so many people just kind of walk into it almost blindly because it becomes almost part of your social life. And then you realise that actually that's turning into income or future income and you're growing capital value and you haven't prepared for it. 

00:24:39 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Shiraz dropped a bit of a bombshell for financial planners. He said that he's never set an income target for a year and believes that if he does his best work, the sustenance will kind of follow. So as a planner, does that make you guys feel nervous or is this approach actually the most financially robust decision a dentist can actually have? 

00:24:58 ANDREW BROWN 

Yeah, so when I heard Shiraz say that quote, part of me was, can you run a business where I have an income target? And I thought when I unpacked it a bit, I think what he meant is for his personal earnings, maybe at the start of the year, he's not necessarily aiming for a certain level. But I don't think that means that they won't have financial discipline within his company looking at income and expenditure. I didn't take that from the conversation. So I still think that there'll be some financial discipline there. There'll be some minimum targets, I'm sure, that you need to live off and for the practice to run. 

But what I think he's really saying though is he's not necessarily going to have a particular target to work to. He's going to do his best if he continues to do his best every day. And each interaction he has with every patient in how his company or practice that he works for, how they market, advertise, then he's got a belief that the business will do well. So that's how I took the statement rather than there is no targets in place at all. 

00:26:01 MARTIN FEBERY 

Yeah, so I'd say an income plan is not the same as a business or a financial plan. Yeah, absolutely. You're going to do your best. And we all do in business. We try and get in as much as we can. I don't think any of us would say, I think I've done enough now, but it's what you do from then onwards. So you may not be planning the income, but you do have to have a plan for how you're going to use that income, what your expenses are anyway, and they do need some planning. And ultimately, what we're really interested in is what's your tax bill going to be? So you can miss out the income plan part. You'll still have a pretty good idea of the kind of things you're going for. And yes, absolutely, as Andy says, you'll have minimums. 

But the rest of the planning is outside the income part. It's around making sure that everything comes together and you're in the right place by the time you hit that end of tax year, for example. 

00:26:57 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Fantastic. Thanks guys for that input and regarding Shiraz and our conversation. Really interesting to sort of unpack that. 

00:27:03 ANDREW BROWN 

Awesome. Thanks for having us. Yeah, he's a really inspirational dentist and racing drive as well, which I learned today, which I didn't know about that. So I did some Googling and yeah, there's quite an interesting Instagram account showing some of his racing skills that I'm going to have a look at later. 

00:27:21 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Thanks guys. Really appreciate it. 

DR RUTH BAIDOO 

So if today's conversation with Andy and Martin has sparked questions about your own career roadmap, or you're looking to diversify your income without the burnout, please do reach out to us. You can get specialist advice tailored to your situation by emailing the team at info at j4d.co.uk. 

[EPISODE RECAP]

Okay, so before we close, here are a few key financial takeaways from today's episode. 

Takeaway #1, postgraduate education can be an investment, but you've got to be very intentional about making sure that we implement what we learn that helps us advance our career and advance our clinical skills as well. 

Takeaway #2, more streams of income usually mean more opportunities and sometimes that might mean a little bit more complexity. If there are elements of your life where you are able to earn money outside of your clinical role, is that going to bring complexities with it if you commit to it? 

Takeaway #3, passion projects can quickly become taxable expenses. If you're charging for a service or anything of that nature, you have to be careful because HMRC is watching. So it's best to talk to a financial advisor or somebody that you trust who can actually help you plan so there's no nasty surprises down the line. 

00:28:32 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

Thanks again to Dr. Shiraz Khan for sharing such an honest and open insight into what it takes to really shape a career in dentistry. I also want to say a massive thank you to financial experts Andrew Brown and Martin Febery for their input. Now, if today's episode has made you think differently about your own career pathway, whether it's investing in further education, exploring private practice, or just planning financially for your future, you don't have to figure this all out alone. You can email me directly with your questions or ideas for future episodes at ruth@j4d.com. 

And you can also find show notes and extra resources from today's conversation on the Just for Dentist website. And if you're enjoying the podcast, make sure you're following or subscribed. And if you can, please leave a quick review or rating to help other dentists find the show as well. I'll see you in the next episode. 

[OUTRO CREDITS]

00:29:27 DR RUTH BAIDOO 

You've been listening to Just4Dentists presented by me, Dr. Ruth Baidoo. 

Just for Dentists is brought to you by the Just4Dentists team, experts who are proud to provide dental professionals with the right insights to navigate the financial and business decisions dental school didn't teach us. For more resources, insights, and tools to help you get the most out of your career, head over to www.j4d.co.uk.