Your dental practice has been growing steadily, you and your staff are seeing more patients weekly, and although still manageable, you are beginning to wish you had more dental office space for both you, your staff and clientele.

That brings us to the question of, when is the right time to expand your dental office space? While no one can make that decision except you, here are some things to consider before you take the plunge and make the investment.

Revenue

Of course, revenue is the bottom line here, and well it should be. If you don’t have the cash, you can’t make the splash, so revenue must be taken into consideration. But as important as revenue is, there is actually something even more so.

Clients

Perhaps a more important reason to expand your office space is your clients. If your client base is expanding but your space isn’t, overcrowding is a very real possibility. Ideally, you want clients to be comfortable while they wait for service, instead of standing around and feeling rushed. That’s one of the surest ways to lose business, so if you have more clients than comfortable office space, it may be time to expand.

Technology

In general, the saying “keeping up with the Joneses” generally means keeping on par with your neighbors and their material goods for purely social status reasons. In the dental world, that saying means keeping up with the latest technology. Although a dental office can still remain effective with obsolescent equipment, the latest dental machinery can go a long way to grow your business. Gaining more clients usually means having state of the art furnishings, and if you don’t have the office space for this, clients may very well go somewhere else.

Staff

More clients mean more staff, from actual dentists to dental assistants to secretaries and bookkeepers. The entire office performance depends on having enough room for everyone to be efficient and effective while giving clients the time they need with adequate room. Staff that is bumping into each other or getting in each others way, does not a professional atmosphere make. A crowded space that limits your staff from keeping customers first, may be the difference between keeping clients or losing them.

Two or More

Each of the above scenarios may warrant expansion of your dental office space, but if you can say “yes” to at least two listed above, it is time to expand, with no ands ifs or buts. Of course, it is totally up to you to decide, but while you are, you may be losing clients and revenue to the dentist down the block, all because it’s the right time to expand your dental office space, but you just don’t know it yet.

If you have any questions about what expanding your office can do for your dental business, please contact HJT Design. From dirt to dental office, you deserve a firm that listens, understands and makes it work, and we will.