Banking Insights for Dentists: A Discussion with Provide Bank’s Johnette Green
Episode Description
Join us as we explore dental-specific lending with Johnette Green, Regional Director of Provide Bank. Learn why choosing the right financial partner is crucial for practice success, understand the benefits of working with specialty lenders, and discover key strategies for preparing yourself for practice ownership.
Episode Navigation
- 00:01 – Introduction and welcome
- 01:18 – Overview of Provide Bank’s services
- 02:08 – Benefits of specialty lending for dentists
- 08:45 – How to become an appealing loan candidate
- 10:28 – Managing student debt while pursuing practice ownership
- 13:10 – Timeline for planning practice acquisition
- 15:48 – What distinguishes Provide Bank
- 19:55 – Additional services including home loans
- 23:01 – Future trends in dental lending
Key Takeaways
Financial Planning for Practice Ownership
- Focus on building liquidity while maintaining low monthly payments
- Student loan debt isn’t a barrier with specialty lenders
- Start planning at least one year before intended purchase
- Work with dental-specific advisors for optimal outcomes
Lending Advantages
- 100% financing available for practice acquisition
- Real estate and construction financing options
- Understanding of dental business models
- Ability to scale with practice growth
Meet Our Guest
Johnette Green: Regional Director at Provide Bank with 19 years of banking experience and 13 years specifically in practice finance. Specializes in helping healthcare professionals become business owners through strategic lending solutions.
Featured Discussion Topics
- Specialty lending vs. traditional banking
- Practice acquisition financing
- Student debt management
- Real estate financing
- Practice scaling strategies
- Financial preparation for ownership
Connect With Simplify Dentistry
- Website: simplifydds.com
- Facebook Group: Simplify Dentistry Community
Topics: dental practice finance, practice acquisition, dental business, specialty lending, practice ownership, dental real estate, student debt, practice scaling, dental banking, practice management
Transcript
00:00:01:24 – 00:00:14:14
Intro
Welcome to the Simplify Dentistry Podcast. Join us as we discuss clinical, operational and financial aspects of your practice. Hope you enjoy life and dare to simplify dentistry.
00:00:14:16 – 00:00:28:10
Dr. Richard Offutt
Welcome to the Simplify Dentistry Podcast. My name is Richard Offutt. My co-host is Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan. Today we have Johnette Green, regional director of Provide Bank, a dental specific lender. Welcome, Johnette. How are you doing?
00:00:28:10 – 00:00:31:02
Johnette Green
I’m doing great. Thank you so much for having me.
00:00:31:03 – 00:00:32:05
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Thank you for being with us.
00:00:32:08 – 00:00:49:02
Dr. Richard Offutt
Well, we hope for you to unlock all of the the mystery in banking today. Just a small task. You’ve got 15 minutes. That’s right. You know, you have as long. As long as you want. But. So. So what are you doing today? What are your clients? How are you interacting with your clients?
00:00:49:05 – 00:01:09:29
Johnette Green
Well, we are, busy. Time of year. End of year seems to be, the busiest. The end of the year and beginning of the year. So a lot of clients buying practices and buying real estate, becoming business owners or expanding their practices, that’s what that’s what we do. And that’s my every day. So it’s, crunch time right now for us.
00:01:10:01 – 00:01:18:07
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
So, so tell me a little bit to provide, obviously does practice acquisition financing. What’s the what’s the scope of what you guys do for dentists?
00:01:18:09 – 00:01:48:25
Johnette Green
So we’re, practice finance lender. So we’re a specialty lender. We only loan to, health care professionals, doctors, dentists, and, we help them become business owners and give them the money to do so, to buy practices and build buildings and purchase buildings and really just build their career from the beginning when they first become an owner all the way until when they decide that they’re ready to hanging up and retire.
00:01:48:27 – 00:02:02:07
Dr. Richard Offutt
Is it important is it important to to the dentist? Is it important to Doctor Shah-Khan and I that we that we would use a specialty lender that caters to our industry? What’s what’s the edge there versus just a yeah.
00:02:02:07 – 00:02:03:23
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Versus any banker? Yeah. We’re in.
00:02:03:23 – 00:02:08:14
Dr. Richard Offutt
Charlotte. Truist Bank of America Lillian Banks a lot of them are headquartered here. What’s the difference?
00:02:08:17 – 00:02:33:06
Johnette Green
So specialty lending for the dental community. You’ll want to use a bank that understands the business. This is a different type of loan. So for instance, if you buy a car wash, you’re buying a business two. But for practice finance, you get so many perks. Banks love dentists and they love business out the dentist. Yeah, they love it.
00:02:33:08 – 00:02:54:11
Johnette Green
They want to loan money to them. But when you’re trying to leverage the bank as a dentist, you’ll want to be one that understands the business side of it. That has the most aggressive tools, for you to have a loan and you get the best rates and terms on the loan. So you definitely want to narrow your field.
00:02:54:13 – 00:03:07:27
Johnette Green
You’ll always have a local bank in town, you know, your local bank on the corner. And I’m sure they provide great service, but they’re really not a specialist, in the dental industry for that type of loan that they need to grow their business.
00:03:08:01 – 00:03:13:22
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
But when I came out and when, you know, doctor off it came out. I think Barney Rubble was his partner.
00:03:13:24 – 00:03:15:01
Dr. Richard Offutt
He kept your money in the mattress.
00:03:15:01 – 00:03:23:17
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
That’s right, that’s right. So when Doctor Harvey came out, you know, you could basically go to the bankers. I had this, what I’m doing, and they just kind of gave it to you. You think that’s appropriate?
00:03:23:19 – 00:03:27:24
Dr. Richard Offutt
Yeah. Yeah, to to your point, they they figured they just work us to death until we paid it back.
00:03:27:24 – 00:03:47:10
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Yeah. And then when I came out, it was obviously, a little, a little tighter, but it was a lot. I felt like it was easier to get practice financing, from the bankers at, you know, 100% financing, great terms and things like that, and very friendly. My brother’s dentist, when he came out, you know, the environment was even tighter.
00:03:47:12 – 00:03:55:12
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
So you always thought you had to be able to work with somebody you could get in front of, and it was around the corner. How was it working with a national provider like you guys?
00:03:55:15 – 00:04:13:20
Johnette Green
I think it’s different because you can always, you know, banks are usually standing in line to give a dentist a loan. But is it the right loan? And are you going to be able to scale the business? Some of the differences that I’m seeing today with new business owners is, you know, they’re not thinking they’re going to be to your side for their entire career.
00:04:13:23 – 00:04:38:03
Johnette Green
I have lots of clients that are buying practices from dentists, and they’ve always had maybe one practice, you know, new, new business owners today they’re looking at differently. They’re looking at, how can I scale this business? How can I really have more of a business approach versus a clinical approach to my to my business? And what’s my runway to retirement?
00:04:38:05 – 00:04:48:03
Johnette Green
So I feel like they really have more of a make sense approach to the way they want to do business. And choosing the lender in the front end of that is essential.
00:04:48:05 – 00:05:07:21
Dr. Richard Offutt
Yeah, it goes to something that you and I spoke about, and that is the that initial decision for the lender and how that affects the next time you want to do something, the next time you want to do something, the second and third times that you want to actually go, go to the lender to scale your business. Talk a little bit about that, if you would.
00:05:07:21 – 00:05:12:05
Dr. Richard Offutt
The critical nature of that first the first decision.
00:05:12:08 – 00:05:48:13
Johnette Green
Yeah. As I mentioned, you know, you may have 3 or 4 banks talking with, a new business owner saying, sure, well, we’ll be happy to give you the money. We’ll be happy to give you that first loan. But when you want to start scaling, I noticed, you know, maybe in 3 to 5 years ago, doctors that they were taking, you know, smaller practices and smaller square footage and they were leasing today, they’re looking at a larger footprint so that they can maximize the, the practice, to its full potential so they can have more patients and maybe they even have an associate.
00:05:48:13 – 00:06:07:07
Johnette Green
Come on. Maybe they have a business partner. So, they’re limiting, you know, their overhead so that they can be, you know, more financially set in that practice and be more profitable. That’s what it’s about. But you want to be with the right lender in the first, in the beginning so that you can get larger square footage.
00:06:07:07 – 00:06:30:18
Johnette Green
Or you could buy real estate and not have a landlord be your own landlord. So I think that is something that doctors are thinking of today, of how do I maximize my profitability in one location and then expand, organically through that? Either through buying real estate or even a leasing a space. So I see that, you know, they’re really getting smarter.
00:06:30:20 – 00:06:48:24
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Yeah. So like there’s a, there’s a, there’s a big banking group out of, out of Wilmington, and doctor off and I talked to them previously on something else. They will only lend to a dentist if they have real estate. Is real estate a caveat for what you guys are doing. Does it is it more advantageous?
00:06:48:24 – 00:06:59:23
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
So if I come into it with, owner occupied real estate options versus doctor office coming into it with leased, are my rates different and my terms different? Or how do y’all look at that?
00:06:59:25 – 00:07:18:21
Johnette Green
Not at all. I mean, they’ll be the same. They’re two different loans. So we know that a DNS can be successful in a lease space, just as they can be successful. And, when they own the real estate. So when we’re looking at a loan for the practice side of it, it’s all about cash flow. How much money’s coming in the door and how much money has to go out.
00:07:18:24 – 00:07:37:12
Johnette Green
And we want you to also be able to increase your income and save some money at the same time. So it’s about risk. How we look at these loans. But, if you lease, you know, we have those type of loans, you’ll find that in the industry just as easy. Real estate, it gets a little more complicated.
00:07:37:13 – 00:07:58:10
Johnette Green
So when you’re choosing the lender, that’s, something you’ll want to be thinking of is how do they approach it? You have to have money down. Or are they willing to finance 100% financing on a, on a real estate acquisition as well, or ground up construction? So there are those products out in the industry. Those are some of the things that are changing I’ve seen in the last five years.
00:07:58:13 – 00:08:03:11
Johnette Green
And, you know, provide was part of that, that change in that innovation in the industry. Yeah.
00:08:03:11 – 00:08:24:12
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
And I know you can’t talk specific rates because everybody’s different in specific, specific terms. But, does provide do 100% on construction. Do they do 100% on practice acquisition and finance. And are you looking at seven years, ten years, five years? What what is the the term on kind of practice, financial aspects.
00:08:24:15 – 00:08:44:10
Johnette Green
Yes, we we do have products where it’s 100% financing across the board depends on the borrower. So what the doctor can do, especially if you’re not a business owner today, what you can do is make yourself the most appealing candidate to the banks, to us and any other bank that you may be working with.
00:08:44:12 – 00:08:45:14
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
And how do you do that?
00:08:45:17 – 00:09:04:13
Johnette Green
Liquidity is the name of the game. You want to save as much cash as possible right now. You want your payments overall to be the lowest so that you can afford the most loan. For instance, you want your mortgage, your car payment, your student loans. You want those payments as low as possible, even on student loans and income based.
00:09:04:20 – 00:09:32:00
Johnette Green
So you want to have the lowest overhead that you can afford, the biggest loan, and you want to have cash in the bank. We don’t want you to put your own money down. We just want to see that you can save it. So that really helps you leverage the banks, when you’re using that type of, strategy and really preparing yourself, you know, putting people around you, your advisors that understand the industry and they’re going to guide you as you’re preparing.
00:09:32:00 – 00:09:47:27
Johnette Green
I might I may talk to a doctor, you know, 1 to 3 years before they become an owner. So we’ve got runway. We’ve got time to make sure that they’re setting themself up the right way so they can leverage the bank and get the most financing from the bank. You don’t want to use your own money. You want to use the bank’s money.
00:09:48:00 – 00:10:17:08
Dr. Richard Offutt
In the risk mitigation part of what you were just talking about lots of times, we’ve had some, some folks on our, our podcast that they do, and they talk a little about what you just were saying. And, and a lot of doctors are very concerned, you know, they’ll come out of dental school. No, $400,000 into it in school loans and, and and so in terms of risk mitigation that as a provide you understand that that’s just part of the deal, right?
00:10:17:14 – 00:10:28:03
Dr. Richard Offutt
I mean, dentists are coming out of school with school debt and and so talk a little bit about that. That would be helpful, I think for, especially for folks that are just, just trying to get it.
00:10:28:03 – 00:10:51:29
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Going, I think it’s kind of like the I mean, what my thought is, is, is that student loan piece such a negative that you don’t want to touch this or, you know, I mean, docs want to come out and they have the student loan, but they also want to have a decent house, you know, so, I mean, you know, taking all those things into account, you know, I mean, it may not give a perfect balance sheet, but do you guys take that into account when you know what a dental practice does?
00:10:52:06 – 00:11:09:15
Johnette Green
You know, a practice finance lender, they’re going to understand that you’re going to have debt. A local bank, they’re not going to they’re not going to get that. They’re going to look at your balance sheet and say, okay, your debts to your assets, they’re way off. So it’s going to be more difficult. But for a practice finance lender, we understand that.
00:11:09:15 – 00:11:36:05
Johnette Green
We know you have debt. We don’t even mind that you have debt. We want you to really prepare yourself for a rainy day. And that’s why cash is so important today. We want you to we want to know that we’re going to have a practice for you or build a business for you, that you’re going to be able to make those minimum payments while you’re growing your wealth and you’re growing your business because the business is the only thing that’s ever going to pay down your debt.
00:11:36:11 – 00:11:37:01
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Sure.
00:11:37:04 – 00:11:57:29
Johnette Green
So we want you to have the lowest payments possible so we don’t mind that you have it. A lot of dentists will come out of school saying, all right, I want to be an associate so that I can pay off my debt right away because I do not like debt as no one does. But it doesn’t bother us because we understand you’re going to be able to generate the income to make those payments and more.
00:11:58:05 – 00:12:09:19
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Do you think it’s better for provide, for the doc to work with the dental specific CPA to kind of put all this, get everything prepared before they come to provide? Or do you think it doesn’t matter what type of CPA?
00:12:09:26 – 00:12:27:03
Johnette Green
I think it’s important for a dentist to use specialist all around us. They’re advisors, financial advisors, CPAs, banks, everybody that they’re really leaning on, in order to get their advice and make their decisions. I think it should always be dental specific.
00:12:27:05 – 00:12:46:24
Dr. Richard Offutt
In building that team. Janet, when the dentist builds, you know, comes out of school or residency or what have you, and then they decide they’re going to build, build this team around them. And that’s kind of what you’re saying is a team or network or whatever. And they do want to buy a practice and they know that that’s out there.
00:12:46:27 – 00:13:03:02
Dr. Richard Offutt
How far in advance should they start planning that? I mean, if, you know, when should they make contact with you? Should they build? They should. When should they have their their, dental specific CPA or, financial planning, organization in place?
00:13:03:02 – 00:13:03:27
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Would it be day one?
00:13:03:27 – 00:13:10:04
Dr. Richard Offutt
Yeah, yeah. I mean, but how far in advance, you know, how should they plan to, to to to interface with you?
00:13:10:09 – 00:13:36:06
Johnette Green
Well, I mean, I’m talking these days when they’re still in dental school. So that is setting the seeds then of, hey, let’s not let’s not make mistakes along the way. What steps should I be taken financially to put myself in the best position, to make myself the best candidate to either buy a practice or, you know, start a practice with a lot of, doctors, they find that they want to start their practice from, you know, the ground up, basically.
00:13:36:11 – 00:13:56:00
Johnette Green
So depending on what direction that they’re going were, their advice would be different and what their financial situation is today. They may be single person, or they may be a married person with kids. So we customize that approach for them to make sure that what is their what is their timeline look like? Do they want to do it in a year and three years?
00:13:56:06 – 00:14:13:25
Johnette Green
So we’ll customize that for them. But I always say it’s never too early to educate yourself. Put yourself in the best situation, but I’d say a year before you think you’re going to be an owner that’s at minimum, we want to be connecting. As far as a CPA and the front end, you don’t really need that.
00:14:14:03 – 00:14:37:22
Johnette Green
As long as you know you’re making the right steps. A CPA usually gets involved when you have a practice in mind and you want to look at the numbers, the bank’s going to do their own financial analysis. And trust me, if it doesn’t work, the bank’s not going to learn the money. Sure. Okay, so it’s to work. If we’re able to get the loan approved and provide the financing for you, the numbers are going to work.
00:14:37:24 – 00:15:01:00
Johnette Green
So it is is there enough opportunity in that practice for you? What is it today? Does it really scale with your future and that your long term goals? So that’s the kind of advice that, you know, you should be receiving when you’re thinking of buying, you’ll also use a lawyer to help you with the documents. Once again, it’s typically after you find the practice.
00:15:01:02 – 00:15:13:00
Johnette Green
Yeah. So usually the bank you’re using a bank to lean on of. Am I making the right decisions? And have I found the right opportunity? Is there a right opportunity? Growth in this practice of what I want it to be?
00:15:13:02 – 00:15:31:02
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
You know, so for for our listeners, you know, obviously we try to present, very objective information. Yeah. You know, everybody should take a look at our website. Simplify. Does, you know, where we’re housing our podcast so they’ll be yours. There’ll be down specific CPA so they can kind of get the information to do that on our Facebook group.
00:15:31:02 – 00:15:48:03
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
We’re also having information from guys some people like you from US bank, from other people. If you had to look at it, what’s the difference between I see the big ones out there being provide US Bank, Huntington Bank, doing a lot of practice finance. What distinguishes provide.
00:15:48:06 – 00:16:09:27
Johnette Green
Yeah. Thanks for asking. So what you’ll find with us is that we were, we started about ten years ago, and we were recently purchased by Fifth Third Bank. So we were a mom and pop, right? We were a small business owned, business. It’s not different from the other stories. You know, Bank of America, Wells Fargo.
00:16:09:27 – 00:16:30:10
Johnette Green
They were all mom and pops two before they were purchased by a bank. So it’s kind of, But I think what made us different is that we really focused on technology and really the mindset of the new dentist owners and what they’re looking for. They want to have efficiency. They want to have, you know, professionals in the industry that really know what they’re doing.
00:16:30:17 – 00:16:53:14
Johnette Green
They’re not, you know, coming in the door and out the door like a revolving door, right, of bankers you’ll find in the in some of the banks that really it’s a stepped stone to another, to another, role in the bank. Once you get to practice finance, you’ll find that, especially with provide really leaders in the industry.
00:16:53:14 – 00:17:13:21
Johnette Green
We care about our doctors. We want to make sure they’re making good financial decisions because we want them to be our clients for their entire career. Possibly. So I think that with us that you’re going to find that we have a more make sense approach to financing, and we’re able to offer loans that you can’t get anywhere else.
00:17:13:24 – 00:17:22:02
Johnette Green
So it’s less about interest rate and more about expertise. And are you really setting yourself up for financial your financial goals?
00:17:22:02 – 00:17:44:18
Dr. Richard Offutt
You went right. Segue right into what I was going to. My next question is, many times you are talking with, with, folks and there’s and they’re comparing quarter point differences, you know, basis point differences between one loan and another. And what you just said seems to be that to me is always to me, it was always the deals more important than the rate.
00:17:44:21 – 00:17:56:14
Dr. Richard Offutt
And maybe that’s folding myself right into what the banker loves. But, but I always felt making the deal was more important than a quarter of a point difference between between one lender and another.
00:17:56:16 – 00:18:17:01
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
But like when I, when I was going through, some of this stuff, you know, we, we’re doing Bank of America, practice solutions and a lot of it was, you know, their, their dental, their doctor division. And I remember my CPA at one point was like, I hear what they’re saying on the front end, but the person that is analyzing this thing has no concept of what it is, he said.
00:18:17:01 – 00:18:30:03
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Basically, we just need to show them that we have all of the cash to pay for it. With cash if the loan goes awry, and that just didn’t make any sense to him. He’s like, why would we work with somebody like that? And it sounds like provide it’s different than that.
00:18:30:05 – 00:18:42:21
Johnette Green
Yeah, we’re we’re different. We’re really looking at the businesses you’re buying as the machine. The machine is what is producing income. Is it a great opportunity for you? Are you a good fit for that practice?
00:18:42:28 – 00:18:45:11
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
You’re financing a job basically. You know.
00:18:45:13 – 00:19:06:18
Johnette Green
Yeah, I’m we’re financing an engine. And engine creates money for you as a new owner. And, what is it today? What has it been in the past and what’s it going to be in the future? So we’re really have a more long term look, of your success versus the other banks that you mentioned. It’s one and done for them.
00:19:06:26 – 00:19:24:07
Johnette Green
So we’re about scalability. Are you choosing the lender that’s going to grow with you as you evolve and grow as a business owner? So, I think that’s the major difference is we really get in the mindset of the genesis of what is important to them and what’s going to make them successful. You don’t hear this at other banks.
00:19:24:07 – 00:19:38:03
Johnette Green
You don’t hear this kind of talk. So, you’ll hear, like I said, they’re going to be willing to give you the first loan, but it’s all those other loans after that that’s really going to escalate your success. That makes that I my opinion makes us different.
00:19:38:05 – 00:19:55:18
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
So now let’s talk about the relationship and all the additional loans. So yeah, I know you’re talking about practice finance and expansion and real estate and things like that. You know, obviously you have a mortgage to you know, at some point in time I may want a second house and things like that. Are you guys involved in that aspect or are you just specifically on the commercial side?
00:19:55:24 – 00:20:15:12
Johnette Green
We we do offer home loans for our doctors, from day one of ownership, which is very unique, and it’s 100% financed as well. Right. Bring money to the table. As if you went to, you know, another home mortgage, because, remember, we’re doing the loan on your business. So we know we know what your income is going to be.
00:20:15:14 – 00:20:18:29
Johnette Green
So we’re able to provide a loan for you as well on your home.
00:20:19:01 – 00:20:32:13
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
And with this third acquisition, hindrance help. You know what I mean? Now that I guess the third is publicly traded company. So so now there’s publicly traded aspects that you have to deal with. How does that impact, what you’re doing to provide?
00:20:32:15 – 00:20:57:17
Johnette Green
Well, we were so excited about the acquisition because it brought, so much more availability and loans and leverage to our dentist, meaning that we had loans that we could offer for real estate, 100% financing for longer term, lower rate. All of the things that the dentist they’re looking for, they could get home mortgage loans. Right. And so we we love that.
00:20:57:17 – 00:21:04:12
Johnette Green
And plus we also have our banking team too. So you don’t have to call one 800 number.
00:21:04:15 – 00:21:05:15
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Sure.
00:21:05:18 – 00:21:25:07
Johnette Green
I mean, we’re we’re the 10th largest bank in the US, but we were a big bank, but we still have that small bank feel. So it was really, like, wonderful. They were already one of our business partners, so we knew them very well. And we were very excited about the acquisition. And it is just really help us grow immensely.
00:21:25:09 – 00:21:36:16
Dr. Richard Offutt
That’s super, I guess just more, more a bigger credit facility, more access to capital and, and lets you do your job more easily. I guess that is the takeaway on that.
00:21:36:18 – 00:21:55:00
Johnette Green
Exactly. I mean, we all know practice finance. I’ve been in, the industry, I’ve been a banker for 19 years and doing practice finance for 13 of those. So, I mean, we see lots of deals. So I think, you know, being an expert means also that you have a lot of tenure in the industry and you focus just on that.
00:21:55:03 – 00:22:04:12
Johnette Green
So, we’re just really blessed to be in the industry and serve dentists and, and doctors and, and we love it. We bend over backwards to help them.
00:22:04:14 – 00:22:16:20
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
You know, and I think the simplest thing for, for docs to understand, you know, we’re simple creatures. Yeah. If I do crowns and I do crowns all day, every day, I’m better at it than doctor off at doing a crown.
00:22:16:20 – 00:22:21:18
Dr. Richard Offutt
Yeah. You don’t want me, do you? Don’t want me. I was a gum guy. You don’t want me, doing teeth. Plus, you.
00:22:21:18 – 00:22:37:23
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Don’t want me doing surgery. So I have it works out. Having specificity, I think, really helps. And I think dentists should be able to understand that, you know? I mean, you can be a jack of all trades, and you’re okay at all of them, but you can specialize, and you’re really good at that. And I think that’s kind of what you’re saying that provide does.
00:22:37:23 – 00:22:38:15
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Yeah.
00:22:38:18 – 00:22:59:20
Dr. Richard Offutt
Well, let’s, let’s shift a little bit. Tell me what you see in the future. You know, you know, you hold the card up to your head, you know, tell me what you see when you, out there coming your way, coming down the highway for for the dental profession in terms of, lending. And and I know this is one of the topics you and I talked about in our, one of our phone calls, but.
00:22:59:26 – 00:23:01:23
Dr. Richard Offutt
So, so what do you see out there?
00:23:01:25 – 00:23:26:16
Johnette Green
Well, really, seeing as I mentioned that doctors are wanting to scale and have more than just the one, you know, 2000 square foot practice, right? They’re looking for other opportunities and they’re looking to educate themselves on how do I really grow my practice and make it the most efficient. So how do I make it the most profitable business possible?
00:23:26:19 – 00:23:44:09
Johnette Green
In the meantime, and, you know, maintaining a high level of, of, you know, clinical dentistry as well, so that the taking care of the patients, they really want to do a great job and have a great place for their employees to work and a great place for their patients to come. So I think that that is kind of turning.
00:23:44:12 – 00:24:08:09
Johnette Green
It’s more I’m saying there’s more of an emotional aspect in the in the business. Where is it the place that I want to work, am I going to be happy? Do I have the life work balance? So all of that’s coming into play, I think that, you know, lending is still there, right? Rates change, terms change. You know, the markets change.
00:24:08:15 – 00:24:30:06
Johnette Green
But you know, my I guess my goal would be is if you’re going to wait to become an owner, why what are you waiting for? And, you know, time is time is money, people. So definitely don’t let anything stand in your way of what you want. Let’s figure out a way to to get it done. And if I can help with that.
00:24:30:09 – 00:24:30:29
Johnette Green
Love to do it.
00:24:31:06 – 00:24:49:25
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Doctor. Off. Now, we’re talking this morning. Actually, one other quick thing. Let’s say you have three practices, and they, they want to come together. They don’t necessarily want to sell to a DSO to create the infrastructure and the scale. But let’s say three of us want to come together. Kind of level shares whether he has $1 million practice.
00:24:49:25 – 00:25:07:00
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
I have a million a half dollar practice. The other guy has a $2 million practice. So we want to level our, interest in it and become an entity and then grow that. What do you guys look at as far as, financing needs for groups like that? Is that attractive to you or not?
00:25:07:02 – 00:25:27:12
Johnette Green
Yeah. We have so what we call small groups, that we help finance just depends. I’ve got, you know, several clients that they may have 6 or 8 locations. But it’s really not about how many locations you can get today. I feel like they’re looking at how efficient can I make it? How profitable can I make this business?
00:25:27:14 – 00:25:52:14
Johnette Green
And in this location. So five years ago, it was all about okay, I want to one practice, two practices, three practice. They’re all going to be to novos and startups. Right? We’re going to grow them. Then we’re going to have 20 and then we’re going to sell it. That’s really not the approach today I find that they’re looking more for how can I make it the biggest, most efficient, most profitable practice available and then grow organically?
00:25:52:16 – 00:26:15:07
Johnette Green
Or if I have more than one doctor, then maybe they’re acquiring practices along the way versus starting them, to grow to that big model. But we do have an appetite, for those type of groups. Either they’re a group today or they’re going to be a group in the future. So more doctors means more dentistry to us.
00:26:15:09 – 00:26:36:02
Dr. Richard Offutt
You know, it’s interesting that you said that. And and this will be my last one as well, is that it’s it’s in a lot of a lot of dentists don’t understand this. It’s not a matter of stacking EBITDA on top of each other. It’s a matter of having a business that you can actually grow and, and, and so I think that point is, is, is often missed.
00:26:36:02 – 00:26:54:27
Dr. Richard Offutt
And I, I appreciate very much your, your speaking to that Johnette I what I’d like to do is thank you for being on simplify dentistry podcast with us that second I myself we always enjoy doing this and and you tolerated both of us very well and and people do that. Yeah. Yeah. And and I think we were polite.
00:26:54:27 – 00:27:01:26
Dr. Richard Offutt
I hope so, but Johnette, thank you very much for, for being on our podcast and it’s Johnette Green at Provide Bank. Thank you so much.
00:27:01:28 – 00:27:04:21
Johnette Green
Thank you guys. It was it was a pleasure. Y’all take care.
00:27:04:24 – 00:27:06:03
Dr. Mustafa Shah-Khan
Thank you. We appreciate it.