Latest / Hey Docs! / Empowering Orthodontists in Real Estate with Brian Mills, ROAM Commercial Realty

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Empowering Orthodontists in Real Estate with Brian Mills, ROAM Commercial Realty · Hey Docs!

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Hey Docs podcast with your host, Jill Allen. Today,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: I am joined by Brian Mills, president and founder of
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Rome Commercial Realty. Brian works with doctors and healthcare professionals
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: as they navigate one of the biggest decisions they'll make
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: as practice owners, finding the right space and negotiating the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: right deal. With changes in the market, rising costs, and
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: plenty of conversation around compensation and saturation, it can be
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: difficult to know when and where to make that investment.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: In this episode, we're talking about what's happening in commercial
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: real estate right now, what doctors should look for and
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: practice location, and how to make a smart real estate
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: decision without waiting around for the perfect opportunity.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: So let's get started.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: And now a word from the sponsors who make this
• 0:55
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• 1:01
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• 1:06
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• 1:20
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• 1:27
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• 1:29
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• 1:34
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• 1:44
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• 1:48
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• 1:52
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• 1:56
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• 2:01
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• 2:05
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• 2:09
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• 2:13
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• 2:17
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• 2:20
  Speaker 1: more chairs as your cash flow grows.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: It's pretty smart.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: As an orthodontist, you care about getting all the little
• 2:28
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• 2:32
  Speaker 1: So if starting off with a big savings on ADEC
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: equipment sounds good to you, the ADEC Smart Start is
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: definitely worth a closer look. Just follow the link in
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: the show notes to learn more. Brian, thank you so
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: much for being on Hey Docs. So glad to have
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: you here today.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. I'm excited. Yes, me too.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: This has been a long time coming for this episode.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: So we're going to have a lot of fun today.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: One of the things that I love with my guests
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: when they are on is to just have them share
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: a little bit about themselves, about their background, and for you,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: especially what you are doing with Doctors Through Rome.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: So I am a lifer in this dental industry by accident.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: 25 years in. I can't believe it. I used to
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: be the young guy in the room. And now I
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: get up there and I'm like, I'm the old guy.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: But I started off just with dumb luck. I went
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: to school with an advertising and marketing degree and thought
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: I would be writing commercials or acting in commercials or
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: anything but what I'm doing now. And I just sort
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: of fell into it out of desperation for my first job.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: And I found, you know what, I really love this
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: sort of little secret industry. If I had to do
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: it all over again, if I were smarter, I probably
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: would have went to dental school. I can't tell you
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: how many of my great doctors, clients and friends were like,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: you know, 20 years ago, they're like, it's not too late.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: You should go to dental school. You can come join me.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: I just think it's a beautiful industry because as you
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: can probably tell, I love weird art and things behind me.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Dentistry is such like an amazing combination of medicine and
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: engineering and artistry. It's like you just bring all these amazing, quirky,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: interesting artistry people to this world and every day is
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: like a new day. So I started out just selling
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: technology as a young man. I had no idea what
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: I was doing. And then I did a couple years
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: there and I figured out, you know, there's really a
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: gap in this emerging industry. I mean, digital was really
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: just starting to hit. We were getting CAD, CAM, and
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: CBCT was right around the corner. And so I think
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: I was all of 24, 25, and I was like,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go start a consulting business. And I
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: looked like I was 12. And I was able to
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: grow that to a national company and I was very
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: fortunate with it and figured out that I'm an entrepreneur
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: at heart. So once I sold that, then I was like, okay,
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: I need a job. What's my next foray? And so
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: then I went into capital equipment sales. I took a
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: last place territory, not to be a bragger. Within four
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: and a half years, I took it from dead last
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: to first place. And then the next day I quit.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: I said, I am just not wired to be an
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: employee for somebody. And so then I started in real
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: estate about a decade ago. Yeah, I never looked back since.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: So I love that.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: And you are so right. Like our industry is such
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: a niche industry. And It's such a fun place, fun
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: place to be. And like you, having been in the
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: industry for so long now, it is really fun to
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: just see where things have started, where they've come to,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: and then where they're going.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: My goodness. Awesome. Yes.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Where you have landed and where you're putting all your
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: expertise now. And, you know, that is in the commercial
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: real estate space. And I really wanted to talk to
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: you about just the market in general, because you and
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: I've been doing this for a while and, you know,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: we've had our highs and we've had our lows and
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: we've had, this is the best thing you could ever
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: look at too. Oh my gosh, this is going to
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: cost you how much to get into this lease or,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: you know, to buy this property. So I want to
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: get the pulse. 2026, where are we at? What are
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: you seeing right now in commercial real estate? Especially, we
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: do a lot together with doctors who are doing startups.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: I know you do established as well who are looking
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: for second locations or all the different things.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: I love a startup, though. I really do.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah. They got my heart too.
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  Speaker 2: You know that. But let's just kind of.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: Talk about what should they be paying attention to? What's
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: going on right now? And I also want you to
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: maybe touch on this a little bit because I think
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: that there's so much misconception out there for doctors about
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: sometimes from their peers about what they experienced five years
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: ago or eight years ago and really where our market
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: is at right now and what we need to be
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: thinking about.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm sure you did an amazing intro before I
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: even jumped on, but I forgot to tell people what
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: the heck I do. So I own a commercial real
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: estate firm dedicated to representing healthcare clients. It's really easy.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: 95% of our business is dedicated to dentistry. It's funny.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Our second highest vertical industry is veterinarians, believe it or not.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Because vets and dentists almost run a very similar path
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: in terms of business, underwriting. They both have divisions at
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: all the lenders. So if you're working with a specific lender,
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: I guarantee you they also have a vet division that
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: runs side by side with them. And what I love
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: about dentists and vets is it's one of the sort
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: of last pieces of medicine where you can be a
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: private practice owner. We don't work with any general physicians
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: these days because they're all within a hospital network. Not
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: that they want to, but that's the way that that
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: industry has gone. Whereas a dentist, a veterinarian can still
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: easily go out and open up their own practice. When
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: we started in this industry, I think probably more doctors
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: went to school with the mindset that I'm going to
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: school to open a business. Yes, I'm a doctor, but
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: I also want to open up my own business. And
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: you see that kind of cycle change every once in
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: a while where you have certain generations go, I'm going
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: to school to be a doctor. And then the next
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: graduating class will say, I really, my dream is to
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: be an entrepreneur. And I'm also a doctor. So the
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: mindset is always different. But I think decades ago, a
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: lot of people said, oh, I want to be an
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: entrepreneur first. And yes, I'd also like to be a doctor.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: This seems like a safe bet. But at the end
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: of the day, what we do is we only represent
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: dentists in their real estate pursuits. We don't do restaurants, retail, industrial.
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  Speaker 2: Not that we haven't done that for clients in the past,
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: but our number one priority is representing our healthcare clients
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: in their commercial real estate endeavors. And our biggest competitor
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  Speaker 2: is not another real estate firm or anybody else. It's
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: the doctors themselves just not knowing any better that, oh,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: You know, I meet people and they're like, well, where
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: were you five years ago? I was like, I was here.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: We just don't really advertise. You know, we do most
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: of our business by great people like you or referrals
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: from past clients. So maybe I need to do a
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: better job of advertising. But what do I see in
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: the market? God, I don't know if you really want
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: the answer to this. I will say.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: We want the cold, hard truth. We got to put
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: it out there. Okay.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, COVID did two things to our world. It set
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: a barometer for what people were willing to pay for
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: golf green fees and construction. I'm not a huge golfer anymore.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: I love golf and I love pickleball even more. That's how,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: you know, I've been in this business for 25 years,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: a little bit of gray hair and my love for pickleball,
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: but you know, COVID really, when people were so desperate
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: to get out and do things, the place I used
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: to play golf at was $ 80 for a green fee.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Now it's $ 280. Nothing has changed, but they just set
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: a price and they figured out, oh, people are willing
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: to pay this exorbitant fee. And with all due respect
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: to my contractors out there, a lot of them had
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: set this number and they've kept it there. I think
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: some of that pricing is inflated, unfortunately, or not. So
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: it did set these high numbers that I don't always
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: think are realistic. But what I'm seeing in the real
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: estate market right now, which I love as somebody who
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: loves art and architecture, is now you're seeing developers understand
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: that the general population wants an experiential experience. I don't
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: know what that's called, a double entendre. But they want
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: an experience. And if you can't provide them this experience,
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: they want to at least feel like their dollar is
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: going towards something. So developers now are sort of pivoting
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: to what they did 30 years ago. And they're really
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: building some cool places out there. But those cool places
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: are also coming with a price tag. Yep. So... Prices
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: are high across the board, and that's why it's important
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: that you really surround yourself with a good team. Somebody
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: like you who can say, hey, that doesn't cash flow.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: I know you want this, but this is not like
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: buying a car or a house or a new purse
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: or a new set of golf clubs. You have to
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: remove that emotional tie to it. That's important. But you
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: also have to be a spreadsheet nerd and look at that.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: So developers are building really cool things that are getting
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: a great reaction from the general population and helping our
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: clients stand apart and matching what their brand is, especially
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: as a startup. But the prices are not coming down.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: Lease rates are not coming down because developers are now
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: building things because they want to stand apart from this
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: cookie cutter thing that's been going on for the last decade. Yeah.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: I think you and I run into this all the
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: time is, So many times I'm talking to my doctors
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: who are just getting going in that, all right, we're
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: getting out there and looking at spaces. And then they
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: get on and they get advice from somebody that did
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: a startup five years ago, 10 years ago.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: And they're like, what? You're going to pay how much
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: per square foot? That's my favorite. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: And I think that the reality of it is, to
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: your point, we are just in a different time where
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: gone are the days where you're going to get in
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: at pennies on the dollar and do a space. And
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: to your point, especially if it's a new build or
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: a newer property, even the way the developers are doing
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: it are so different in the past. And so I
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: guess I'm telling anybody who's listening right now that take
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: peer influence with a little bit of grain of salt
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: and don't think that you're making a horrible decision if
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: you're going to be paying more than what they might
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: have paid five years ago, eight years ago, 10 years
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: ago when they were getting started.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: You see a lot of people trying to, not just
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: real estate, but everything. They're trying to time a decision,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: a financial decision. And I get it. Sometimes that may
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: work in like the housing industry, et cetera. But, you know,
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: we hear a lot of, well, I'm just going to
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: wait until the election is over. I'm going to wait here.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: Those are people that are always on the sidelines. Unfortunately,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: they're always trying to time something. If you're always sitting
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: on the sidelines to bring back COVID again, people would say, oh,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: just wait. These deals are going to get crazy. They
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: never got crazy. They actually rebounded and got even way
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: worse than they were before that.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: You can't time an interest rate. You can't time a
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: market reaction. You have to strike whenever you feel in
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: your heart that it's ready. And our job is to
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: make sure that you get the best deal no matter what,
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: whether the market is high, neutral, low, etc., to make
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: sure that you're taking advantage of whatever the market is.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Because if you sit on the sideline, that time loss
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: is going to cost you even more. So yeah, I
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: would say, do yourself a favor, stay off the chat groups.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: The Facebook messages are not doing you any good. That's
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: not reality. Don't believe the hype that it's saturated out
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: there because we're both spreadsheet and demographic nerds. And I
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: always say, before you do anything, let's look at the
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: numbers and see what the best business opportunity is. I
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: totally agree. Although there are markets that are very coveted.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: We're in California. We're actually licensed across the country in
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: all 50 states. So we work from Texas and Tennessee
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: to Manhattan to you name it. And every market's a
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: little bit different. But I will say that 90% of
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: landlords are looking for something internet resistant. Right. And even
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: if they're scared of a startup, we're really good at
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: selling a startup client to a major landlord and say, hey,
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: the easiest thing is just go look at your portfolio
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: of 50 other properties. look and see who's been there
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: the longest. And they're like, dag nabbit, these dentists, they
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: just won't leave. They're there all the time. So you
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: need somebody to round out those centers. I just put
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: a great doctor in one of the most premier, super
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: sexy developments in all of Southern California. It's got every
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: famous chef in there. And I said, not everybody's going
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: to make it. I don't care how famous they are.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: You need somebody to round that out. So we put
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: a little slide deck, you know, a pitch for him
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: together on why it made sense. And, you know, it
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: was easy downhill swim from there, but yeah, the market
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: is getting really cool, but you're still a value to
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: the developers out there. You know, you can't, you only
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: have so many restaurants and retails. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about just that
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: transition that we're seeing and kind of that shift from,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: and you kind of alluded to this a little earlier,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: but that shift that we are definitely seeing from more
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: of that traditional medical style office more into the retail space.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: And I think that shift has been coming for a while.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: And I definitely think depending upon Which region of the
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: country we're working in, you're just naturally going to see
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: more of one than another, especially if there isn't a
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: lot of new builds or whatnot going on. But I'm
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: curious in the areas where we are seeing the new pop-ups,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: where we still have got buildings and new pieces coming
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: online that'll allow people to rent into them. What do
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: you think is driving that change? And maybe how should
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: doctors be looking at that pros or cons when they're
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: looking at those newer opportunities?
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: I love that question. You know, I always say there's
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: what we do is sort of a franchise approach. We
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: feel like there's a right way to do things at
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: the highest level. Now, your vision may dictate that you
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: shift a little bit and you stay fluid. And I
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: love that. That's great. You tell me what your vision
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: is at the highest, craziest level. And we're going to
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: help you complete that, bring it to fruition. I think
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: the hard part is, especially with most younger doctors, is
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: they're thinking about how they're practicing now. What's working in
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: my associate position now?
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: Especially coming from a lot of corporate. What is my
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: corporate job doing? Let me mimic that. Well, is that
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: really how you want to work? Again, when we first started,
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: retail dentistry was so taboo. I mean, you would have
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: been blackballed 25 years ago if you opened in a
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: retail space or God forbid, you sent out an advertisement. Yes. Yes.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Young doctors don't realize that like marketing would have got
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: you whispers in the darkest corners of the industry. Like
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: this sleazeball is doing their advertising. Oh my gosh. So
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: it wasn't until the nineties when the PDS Pacific dental
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: really opened up their first retail location. And I don't
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: think it was by intention. And so there's right or wrongs.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: And then there's being malleable to what your brand is.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: But what I try to get younger doctors to think
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: about is don't think that your location and a big
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: blinking sign is what is going to drive success for
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: your practice. It actually may work against you. If you're
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: in an affluent area, and I always tell the doctors,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: who's your target audience? If it looks like me, if
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: it looks like you, if they are educated, they have
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: disposable income, Being in a retail location when there's other
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: choices may work against you because somebody who is... educated
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: and seeking the highest quality care, if you're next to
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: Target or the Piggly Wiggly or Ralph's or Albertson's, that
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: may ring very corporate to them. And they're going to
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: put you in the same boat that they put their dermatologist,
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: their kid's pediatrician. And they're going to say, I'm not
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: going to go see my dermatologist next to Vons or
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Target or Ross or I'm not going to take my
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: kids to a pediatrician next to Kohl's. That seems very
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: weird to me. I'm going to go seek a professional
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: medical office setting. So I think corporate has been driving
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: that for the last two decades, but we work with
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: a lot of corporate clients. It's not always my favorite,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: but I do have a lot of major DSO clients.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: And I can tell you, it's not that they're always
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: looking for retail. They're just looking to be the first
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: into a market. So if that looks like retail, great.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: If that looks like a professional medical office building, great.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Because I just gave a talk to a bunch of
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: major DSO groups and I threw up a Depew study there. said,
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: who's the number one consumer of social media? It's middle
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: income women. So if you're in a middle income demographic
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: and you're trying to appeal to the moms who are
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: the decision makers, it doesn't really matter where you go
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: because they're looking here, right? They're looking on Instagram, Facebook.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: They're Googling everything. And all the social groups.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: And if you can open into a professional medical office
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: setting and you can be the only person in that
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: area or the deal that we can strike in that
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: professional medical setting. is 30% less than the retail setting,
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: or I can get you $ 200, 000 in tenant improvement money
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: from the landlord. Can you imagine what you could do
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: with an extra $ 200, 000 in your marketing? Marketing. Yeah. I'm
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: a real estate guy and I'm giving you permission and
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: telling you location is not everything. It's not location, location, location.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: Location is important when it comes to ease of finding
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: you parking, especially when we're talking about ortho and pediatrics.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: And then trying to have some sort of inherent exclusivity
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: in that market is great. So if you can find
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: an emerging market and you can be the only game
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: in town, it doesn't matter if it's retail or medical
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: office building. If it fits your brand and you can
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: be there before anybody else, jump on it. Yeah. Yeah.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: I totally, totally agree with you.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about, you know, a
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: doctor has followed your advice and they've found their, what
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: they think is going to be their forever spot, a
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: space that they really love. Let's talk about negotiations. You
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: threw out a word, TI, tenant improvement allowance. There are
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: different things that you and I both know we're We are,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: especially when we're doing a lease, that we really want
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: to get out of this lease. I mean, I think
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: unlike so many other businesses, we're usually doing a long-term lease,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: which means that we're doing a lease that's usually a
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: 10-year lease at minimum. So there are, I believe there
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: are levers that we can pull that are in our
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: favor because we are more of a long-term tenant. So
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: when we talk about negotiating, what does that mean? What
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: are we looking at? Kind of what are some of
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: those key points that you find is really important?
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah. You can be a great negotiator. There are doctors
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: who are just people who are born to negotiate. My
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: mom is probably the greatest salesperson you've ever met, but
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: she's never been in sales. But boy, she could go
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: into Dillard. She's in Oklahoma. They don't have a Nordstrom's.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: She could go into any major department store and she
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: could negotiate them down on price. And my poor dad's
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: just like, oh my gosh. She has the money to
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: buy whatever she wants there. But she's like, why should
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: I pay full price if I can go in... and
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: have them give me the hidden friends and family discount.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: There's attorneys that are phenomenal negotiators and salespeople, but they
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: don't know the market, right? And a great attorney would say, yes,
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: I can negotiate the heck out of this deal, but
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: I don't know a good deal from a bad deal.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: I have no idea if the tenant improvement allowance is
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: $ 50 or $ 200. If I can get you two months
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: worth of free rent after you open or a year's
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: worth of free rent, I have no barometer of judgment
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: for a good deal versus a bad deal. You know,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: we're doing probably 400 dental deals across the country. We
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: know exactly what you can get in every market. And
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: we're a little bit of sickos for negotiation. Sometimes we'll
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: go in and just throw out an absolutely laughable number
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: to see what the market is doing and how hard
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: you can push. Yeah. But you can get your dream
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: office that on the cover of a magazine, which I
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: think you have the right to ask for as a startup,
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: you can go get your forever dream office that you're
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: in love with, that you would wear back and say,
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: I never thought I could have this as a startup.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: But you can't get that on your own. You have
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: to know what levers to pull and how to manipulate
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: a deal for a startup in particular. The deal that
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: I would negotiate for one of my clients that has
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: 50 to 100 locations is vastly different than how I
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: would negotiate it for a startup. Now, that doesn't mean
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: that I'm not pushing as hard. I'm pushing equally as
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: hard if you have $ 10, 000 or $ 10 million. My team
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: and myself are negotiating for every single penny As if
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: it were, we're not going to leave any pizza left
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: in that box. We're going to max out that deal.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: But for a startup, you know, as an ortho, you're
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: going to get, if you're qualified, you're going to get $ 800, 000
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: to $ 900, 000 from almost any lender out there without much qualifications.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: But if you want to get a space that you're
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: not going to outgrow and you want to be able
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: to add technology, if you want to CVCT from the
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: very beginning and you want to have this beautiful dream
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: space and you want to be in 3,000 square feet
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: versus 1,200 square feet, there's a way that you manipulate
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: those numbers. Meaning once we negotiate all of those deals,
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: the TI allowance, that's money that we negotiate from the
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: landlord to help you build out the spot. If you're
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: going to spend... 200 to $ 350 a square foot and
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: building out somebody else's space, you damn sure better get
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: some TI allowance money from that landlord to help you
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: contribute to that, right? So we need those dollars. We
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: need a free rent period after you open, not just
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: nine months to 12 months of free build-out period. That's
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: the minimum. I have doctors coming to me all the
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: time and bragging and say, well, I got eight months
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: worth of free rent. I'm like, that's awesome. How much
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: did you get after you open? And they're like, well,
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: what do you mean? Yeah, that's it. so that you
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: can continue to associate and also spend time at your
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: practice and you don't have this overhead animal on your shoulder.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: We need a big bucket of TI allowance. And then
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: sometimes we look at, okay, what's the bank's underwriting? How
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: much are they allowing you for rent? There's ways to
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: take those dollars and manipulate them around for a startup
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: in particular. Somebody with 100 locations may say, hey, Brian,
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I don't care about any of that TI allowance or
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: anything else. This is what I want on this deal.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: And that's what passes mustard for us. But for a startup,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: there's things that are very important in the very beginning.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: After a year, two years, they may look back and
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: laugh at some of those things they were worried about.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: But in the very beginning, it's important that you have
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: the lowest overhead possible. So you kind of try to
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: marry what the bank is doing with their delayed payments
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: and everything else. And then you match that with what
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: we're doing in terms of delayed rent, TI allowance, etc. So.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I just want to echo everything that you just
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: said is all of the things that I coach clients
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: on when they're working with their commercial brokers as well.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: You think that, oh, it's a million.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Dollar loan and I've got X amount in working capital and, oh,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: it's not going to matter that I don't have TI.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: I will tell you that probably the doctors that struggle
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: the most are ones who do not get TI in
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: that deal. And then they're trying to grow their practice
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: off of their personal savings. And there are strategies in everything.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: And there are some deals that just don't have the
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: opportunity to have TI.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: And I'm just using.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: That as one example. But I think it's so important.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: There's something else that I want to just hit on
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: for just a minute. And I want you to kind
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: of walk us through this because I am starting to see...
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: in more and more of our practices where doctors are
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: doing startups and our leases, that we're not only just
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: paying attention to all the things that you just talked about,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: but I'm also seeing that we've seen a shift, maybe
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: a little bit more in our landlords and fees. So
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: not only are we paying attention to a base rent,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Now we're paying attention to triple net, which is pretty
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: much always been there. That's that common area maintenance fee
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: that's being passed along. But now I'm starting to see
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: things like management fees that are creeping in that we
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: hadn't really seen before. Or there's another one out there
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: that I've started to.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: There's construction management, there's admin fees, there's all this stuff
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: baked in. And if you're not, if you don't know
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: to ask for those things... those things pile up very quickly.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: So I think what we do that's unique is our
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: main goal is to focus on financials of the deal.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: But it's also very, very important that we're running side
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: by side with legal points because what we would never do,
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: and I learned this a long time ago when I
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: was a very young broker is, oh boy, I negotiated
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: a heck of a deal. God, I really stuck it
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: to that landlord. I'm so proud of myself. And then
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: we turn it over to an attorney and the attorney
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: is going to start charging immediately, right? There's no pro
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: bono attorney work. So it's going to, that hourly is ticking, ticking, ticking,
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: and we get this assignment language. And the landlord says,
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to approve that assignment language. We're not
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: even in the same ballpark with what you're asking for
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: versus what we're going to allow. And that client spent
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: thousands of dollars on that to figure out that there's
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: a deal that we couldn't do. Now, I paid for
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: the attorney's fees because I felt bad on the next
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: go around. We landed a space. The client was very nice.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: And they're like, I'm refusing this. I'm like, no, I'm forcing.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: I'm going to pay for this and I'm forcing it
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: on you.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah. But I learned my lesson very quickly. Like, I
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: always have to think about how I would want to
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: be treated. You cannot be cavalier with somebody else's money
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: and say, well, well, the attorney figures that out. The
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: architect figures that out. If you want to be an
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: expert in your arena, you have to know a little
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: bit or sometimes a lot of it of what everybody
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: else's role is. So before we would ever get a
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: client to spend a single dollar on legal fees, we
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: better know what the hell that landlord's position is on
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: their assignment language, their casualty language. There are triple net exposure.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: So triple nets, for those of you who don't know,
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: which is most everybody, triple nets are literally in, in, in,
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: and it stands for net of net of in real
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: estate means it does not include. So most leases these
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: days are triple net leases. You're going to have a
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: base rate of if you're in California or a couple
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: other States, it's going to say $ 3 a square foot.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: Every else is going to say $ 36 a square foot.
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: It's expressed in terms of monthly versus annual. And then
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: there'll be a separate charge of a triple net. Triple
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: net charges are mostly based on property taxes, but they
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: also include common area maintenance, property insurance. If you don't
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: know what to put a cap on, you basically just
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: gave the landlord a blank check to go paint that
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: building pink if they want to and say, hey, this
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: is part of my operating expenses and I'm going to
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: pass that along to you as the tenant. So you
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: have to be able to define what are the operating
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: expenses and how much are they allowed to spend every
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: year and what are they allowed to spend it on?
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: There's administration fees. Can you remove that? Can you cap it?
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: Can you get it discounted? There's construction management fees. We're
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: absolutely garbage. Sometimes they are applicable, right? Some people would say, well,
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: why do I have to pay a 5% oversight fee
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: to the landlord? Well, if you're in a 30-story medical building,
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: the landlord wants to make sure if you're going to
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: pick a Yahoo contractor that they're not going to drive
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: a bulldozer in the side of the building and they
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: just shut down everybody's operation. Yep. So some things are
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: reasonable also for your protection. You would want to know
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: as a tenant in that building that if somebody's doing
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: work next door and they clip the electrical line and
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: just shut down your practice for the next week, you're
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: going to be super ticked off. So you want to
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: make sure that there's an engineer overseeing everybody's work in
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: that building. So some things are for the landlord's protection,
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: but also for your protection. And some things are just
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: absolute garbage. And you have to know what to strike
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: right off the bat, what to push back on. And also,
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: our job is to always be honest. And you have
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: to be able to tell a client some of these things,
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: they are what they are. My least favorite saying in
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: the world, but if you don't like it, go buy
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: your own building because there's certain things you're just not
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: going to get around. Yeah. This person, this organization has
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: spent all the money. They have all the risk. They're
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: going to have to protect themselves somewhat. We're trying to
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: get it as close to neutral as possible, but you're
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: never going to get a win over somebody who's got
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: all the risk on the line.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah. That's great.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: And thank you for kind of expanding on that because
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: I think that's the thing I ran into so many
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: times with clients is, is they get out there and
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: start looking, they just, they focus on one thing, the
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: rent or the, you know, square footage and they forget
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: that there are, or they just are not educated enough
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: or maybe.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: It's a totality of the deal. So sometimes I'll say,
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: you know, the most important thing to a landlord is
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: their rent. And when you understand investments and how people
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: underwrite investments and how they spreadsheet it, then they go, oh,
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: I didn't know that. Right. A lot of this is
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: just education, which empowers people. But everyone would say, well,
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: that space has been on the market for two years. Well,
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: that's money lost. The landlord doesn't care if that space
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: has been on the market for two years. What they're
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: looking at is if I take a deal under market.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: So let's say the rate is $ 4 and we come
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: in and we do a deal at 350 a square foot.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: That may devalue that entire center by half a million
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: dollars or even more because the way that investment properties
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: work in real estate is whoever is looking to buy
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: that center in the future, they're going to say, I
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: don't care. 90 out of your 100 leases are at $ 4,
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: but you signed this last one at 350. You just
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: told me that every renewal coming in is now at 350.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: which devalues the entire cash flow for the future of
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: that property. So a landlord would much rather sit on
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: a vacant space than do a deal under market and
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: devalue their entire property. Most of them are not strapped
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: for cash. They're not looking to pay their mortgage payment tomorrow.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: They're looking for the right deal for their overall portfolio.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's great.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: That's great.
• 34:07
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• 34:58
  Speaker 1: So I know you guys are really good at educating
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: and making sure that your docs that you're working with
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: really understand, because for so many of them, you and
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: I both do this in startups, like this is their
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: first big deal. And this a lot of times is
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: significantly different than buying a house. You know, this is,
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: there's a lot that we're signing on for when we're
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: looking at this.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: But What do you see.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: As some of the biggest obstacles that you've run into
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: with clients and maybe wish that they understood a little
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: bit more? I know you've been giving us some good
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: examples already, but what are you seeing?
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: Fear. Fear is the number that's our biggest competitor. And
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: I get it. If anybody ever came to me and said,
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: I'm not afraid, I would say, you might need to
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: talk to somebody because I don't think I want to
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: work with you. If you have no anxiety, no fear whatsoever,
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure that you might be ready to do this.
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: There's always some anxiety and some fear and that's okay.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: I always tell people in Jess, but it's also true.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: You're going to have two moments that are going to
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: just pop you up in a cold sweat and make
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: you want to throw up. And that's right before you
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: sign a lease. And then right once you get into
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: the middle of this, you're going to go, Oh my God,
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: what did I do? Right? Just remember Brian or Jill said,
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: you're going to have two moments. freak out moment where
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: you're going to have a cold sweat. It's okay. Call me.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: Don't call me at two in the morning, but call
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: me when you wake up. And I'll say, remember, everyone's
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: going to have that nervous, that anxiety. That's part of
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: the process. Just know that this is really what you're
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: doing is fail proof. I mean, success rate for anything
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: in dentistry, especially for specialists. Pedo and ortho always outperform everybody.
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: It does take a little bit longer to get standalone
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: ortho going, but outside of implants, it's probably the most
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: profitable thing you can do. It does take a little
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: bit of ramp up time for standalone ortho, but it's
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: very profitable. And the success rate for everything in dentistry
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: For scratch startups in particular, this is not for acquisitions.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: Startups actually outperform acquisitions. And that's what people are like, wow,
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: I didn't know that. I'm like, look at the numbers
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: since the 1980s. These are publicized numbers. But it's a 99.6%
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: success rate, which is crazy. But people can struggle. If
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: they don't do it right, if they don't have a team,
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: if they don't invest in a coach, you can struggle.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: And for me and for you, we consider a struggle
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: a failure because there's no reason for you to struggle
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: that bad. But fear is the number one hurdle that's
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: really hard to get people over. And that's why we
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: always say, hey, I want you to trust me implicitly.
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: That's great. I feel very blessed that you would trust
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: me that much. But let me put you in front
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: of some peers who have done it before. So we're
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: really big on peer-to-peer. But have a mentor that's really
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: done it. Don't go to your corporate office manager and
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: tell them, hey, what you're about to do, because they're
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: going to say, oh... Stay in here with nice and warm.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: It's too competitive out there. It's not competitive. If you
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: look at the spreadsheet data, which most orthodontists love data,
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: look at the data and you'll see there's pockets everywhere
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: where you can be wildly successful, but not understanding the
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: process and then being fearful. So I think the first
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: step is understanding the process, getting yourself educated, and then
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: you need to get an injection of confidence somewhere. But
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: fear is our biggest hurdle. And I totally get it.
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: You're making a great living. Most clients come to us,
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: something has happened and they have an epiphany. They're like,
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: my job just asked me to do this and that's
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: borderline illegal. Or they wouldn't bring in something, a scanner
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: that I wanted to use that I know is better
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: and I'm over it. And then they want to open tomorrow.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, well, now's the time to start talking
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: about it because it's probably a year before you're going
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: to cut that ribbon. Yeah, exactly.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: And I have those same conversations all the time with
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: docs as well. And you're right, it is a scary thing.
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: I think for any of us, I'm an entrepreneur as well.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: And I think for any of us to think about
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: doing something and completely standing in that space and success
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: or failure is on you. But yet, to your point,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: there are so many people that if you surround yourself
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: with the right team and you get the right people,
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: like if I wanted to, I don't know, go join
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: a bodybuilding competition, I wouldn't try and do that on
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: my own, right? Like I would go get the right
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: people in place. And I think it's the same thing
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: in business, right? We just, you know, can you do it?
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: I say this all the time to my doctors. Can
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: you do it on your own?
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: Sure, sure.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: You're educated enough, you can. But are you going to
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: get to the place that you want to get to
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: as fast as you want to get to it without help? No,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: I don't believe you will.
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, every great athlete has a coach out there.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: I mean, the greatest golfer in the world has a coach,
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: no matter what. I know that sounds kind of cheesy
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: and cavalier, but it's true. Everybody has a great coach
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: behind them. So there's no reason to struggle. And we
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: also find... There's a lot of amazing clinicians and artists
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: out there who just, they're not a loud mouth like me.
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: I joke and I apologize. It sounds rude. They couldn't
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: talk to a wall, but they're great clinicians. And that's
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: what aches me in my heart is you have this
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: person who you know is just unbelievable and they care deeply.
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: And their work is beautiful. And clinically, they're just exceptional.
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: But they're just not great chairside always. But that shouldn't
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: stop you because you can learn. I can be very introverted, actually.
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: You can learn to turn it on when you go chairside.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: And if you can't, Be a great hirer. You can
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: hire a great team and surround yourself. So have your
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: team set you up for success. Who's the most valuable
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: person in any corporate dental organization? It's not the doctors.
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: They're like last on the totem pole, unfortunately. It's the
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: office manager, right? It's the treatment coordinator. They lose those
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: two people and boy, look out. They feel like, oh,
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: we can always replace a clinician, but we can't replace
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: the office manager and a treatment coordinator. Those are our
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: two most dynamic people. You can do the same thing.
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: Go find some amazing people. And a leader doesn't have
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: to be loud, right? You don't have to be loud
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: to be a leader. But if you have a desire,
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: don't think that your personality is not a good fit
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: to be an entrepreneur. There's a lot of quiet, reserved
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: people who are phenomenal business owners. Leadership works differently across
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: the board.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I totally, totally agree with you. I want to
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: take you back to something you said a little bit
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: earlier when you got started here. And The oversaturation part.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think we hear that all the time. And,
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: you know, when we're thinking about standing in our space
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: and not being afraid and embracing to move forward with
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: the space. I just want to unpack that just a
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: little bit more before we finish up here, because I
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: think that is part of the fear factor. You know,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: like not everybody's going to go into this like there's
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: no practices around for 20 miles. And it's just a wild,
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: wild west for all the patients that will only come
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: to my practice.
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: So.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Because I think especially in our bigger cities, you and
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: I do a lot in California. California is tough. It
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean that you can't be successful in California. But
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: to your point, we've got to understand where we're going
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: to drop in. Can you speak to that? Because I
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: think that is probably one of the second pieces in
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: the fear factor, besides owning your own space, is that
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: fear of oversaturation. There's too many doctors around. How can
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: I possibly make a mark for myself?
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah. In most major cities, whenever I give a talk,
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: I always say, don't let your eyes deceive you, right?
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: You're going to drive around and you're going to see
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: a dentist on every street corner. If you go to
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: San Francisco in the Sutter building, you're going to see
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: 50 general dentists and 12 orthos and 17 pedos. And
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: they're all doing great. Some of the highest performing doctors
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: in that building. So don't let your eyes tell the
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: story that's not a reality. Because yes, with the advent
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: of retail dentistry, you're going to drive around and you're
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: going to see a DSO on every single market. What's
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: important to know is what does the data say? There
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: are certain metrics, keys that we're looking for to decide,
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: is this a good area for a startup or not?
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: So we always start with the analytics. And sometimes the
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: data will shock you. They'll say, wow. I had no idea.
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: I would have thought this was oversaturated. I see a
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: doctor everywhere. Well, yeah, but there's also 350,000 people within
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: a three mile radius. It's about the ratio of providers
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: to patient base.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: And also, it's important to do some homework and dig
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: through them and see, okay, who are my top providers?
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: Who's showing up? You can get a report called Market
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: by Market, and it'll show you who's actually showing up
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: in your area. A lot of my experienced doctors would say, hey,
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: put me right next to a DSO. Like literally, so
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: some of my full arch guys would say, put me
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: in the same building right next to Clear Choice. If
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: Clear Choice is here and they're in a medical building,
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: they say, put me right next to them because I
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: am going to benefit from all of their marketing. They're
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: not a competitor of mine. I'm providing a service on
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: a different level. So experienced providers and business owners and
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: practice owners would say, a corporate group is not my competitor.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: So a lot of them would say, I'm going to
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: remove them right off the top. If there's 10 competitors
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: and three are corporate, they'll say, I don't care about them.
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: Put me right next to them because I know that
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: they're advertising like crazy. There's a need. People are coming
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: in the front. They're going out the back and looking
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: for a second opinion. So corporate is not your competition.
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: What you're looking for is a private practice who's got
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: 500 five-star reviews. That's your competitor. Somebody who has no
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: presence online, who has not upgraded their website in 25
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: years as using stock photos, et cetera, or created their
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: own website, that's probably not your competitor. So you look
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: at the data and then we do a little deep
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: dive homework in the trenches and to decide, okay, this
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: is the ratio. Are these people really my competitor? Are
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: they marketing? Are they stagnant? Are they at the point
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: where they're at retirement age and things are good? Sometimes
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: I say, hey, have somebody call and say, are you
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: taking on any new patients? Some practitioners say, we're not
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: taking on any new patients. That tells me there's a
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: need for somebody else. I have a very well-known client.
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: They have a practice that does $ 5 million out of
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: a hidden medical building. People say, I can't go over there.
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: That's too dominant. Nobody should be doing $ 5 million out
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: of 1500 square feet in a hidden building in this market.
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: That tells me that there is enough room for somebody
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: else to come in. So it's kind of what lens
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: are you looking at it? Yeah, yeah. But it's funny.
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: I meet a lot of clients and say, okay, you've
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: had this itch for a long time. What have you
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: been doing? I've been driving around. You've been driving around,
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: your hands are worth like $ 500 to $ 600 an hour,
• 46:17
  Speaker 2: and you're driving around looking at places? Yep. You know
• 46:21
  Speaker 2: what I mean? And there's no other, I say no
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: other business would drive around and look at places. They
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: would all stop and they would look at the data.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: So you need to operate just like Starbucks would do.
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: You're no difference in how you approach your business strategy
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: than a multi-billion dollar corporation. Look at the data, number one.
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: If the data says yes, or it's iffy, but you know,
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: there's room because nobody's doing what your vision is, then
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: let's look number two, what can we find that satisfies
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: your vision, but it always has to start with the data.
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: And you have to be empowered by that. So look
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: at the spreadsheet numbers. And let's nerd out on that first.
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: And that I think immediately makes a lot of people
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: feel comfortable like, oh, I didn't know this gives me
• 47:04
  Speaker 2: a big sigh of relief. Yeah. Yeah.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: Well, I can say that's exactly where I start with
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: my clients too. And it is so exciting to see
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: when a doctor does have that, like, you mean I
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: can go in the place that I've been wanting to go?
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: Like, I didn't think I could.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: And it's like, yeah, we just have to be smart
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: with what we're doing with our data. And, you know,
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: and then as we get out there and start looking
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: at our spaces, not get ourselves too far off track,
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: you know?
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I also don't understand. And this is because the
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: banks are just busy. They don't have time to sit down.
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: I love more than anything to say, Hey, meet me
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: at Starbucks at seven before you go in. And we're
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: going to go through this whole process from A to Z.
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: I'm going to show you exactly how it cash flows. Now,
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: the good thing is I have you in the ortho
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: space and you do all that stuff for me, which
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: I love. Otherwise I'd be at Starbucks like every day,
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: all day. This is the first time you'd agree. This
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: is the first time they've heard. how does this cashflow,
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: how do these banks underwrite this? Why is it so safe? Well,
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: the bank's not going to let you quit your associate position,
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: cold Turkey and go sit in an empty space and go, well,
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: where is everybody? Right. Nine o'clock I'm here. Where are they?
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: Nobody's coming in yet. So there's a way that they,
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: there's conditions on the loan that keep you very safe.
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: And basically, you associate a couple days a week, you
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: work in your practice a couple days a week until
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: you're full standing after nine months, a year, a year
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: and a half, however long that takes. But you don't
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: look at your $ 100, 000 in savings and be prepared to
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: liquidate all of that. You should never touch any of
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: that stuff. There's a whole process that keeps you safe.
• 48:35
  Speaker 2: And it's a very slow burn to get you to
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: where you're not associating anything. anymore. And that's the first
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: time they've ever heard that. And again, the banks just
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: don't have time to walk you through the process. They're
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: kind of assuming, I guess, somebody else is doing it. Yeah. Yeah,
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: for sure. For sure.
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: So as we start to wrap up here and what
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: you just said probably could satisfy what I'm going to
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: ask you, but what advice would you be giving docs
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: right now who are getting ready to get started on
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: this next step? And I bet you've, you've probably made
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: a lot of them already be like, I can't do that.
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: I feel empowered. I, you know, I, I'm going to
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: run with what Brian said, but If there is anything
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: else that you would say, especially pertaining to right now
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: and where the economy is at. and where things are at.
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: It's such a great time to be old school right now.
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, it really is. I went to Chili's with
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: my kids the other day because I'm a Midwest. I
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: grew up in Oklahoma and my wife's from Ohio. My
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: parents were such frugal cheapskates. I mean, if we went
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: out for a big night, it was Chili's. And I
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: was so stinking excited. I didn't think about ordering a
• 49:41
  Speaker 2: soda or I'd be grounded for a week. But every
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: once in a while, we'd hit up Chili's. And we
• 49:46
  Speaker 2: went to Chili's the other day because I was so nostalgic.
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: There's one open down the street from me. And it
• 49:52
  Speaker 2: was like a two-hour wait to get in. But I
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: don't know why I bring up Chili's. But what I'm
• 49:57
  Speaker 2: trying to say is people are yearning for interactions.
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 50:03
  Speaker 2: Right? For somebody to listen to them. So what is
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: happening with the market? You asked me about the real
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: estate part of it with the industry. I am so
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: tired of these AI talks all the time. People are
• 50:15
  Speaker 2: yearning for human interaction. Yes, AI is great in some instances.
• 50:20
  Speaker 2: But how many times are we screaming at the phone
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: on a phone tree going live person? I want to
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: talk to a live person. We want to be heard
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: more than anything. So these people who are pushing this
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: sexy AI driven and you don't need a front office
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: anymore and this and that. No way, baby. I think
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: that you spin that around and you go 180 degrees
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: the opposite direction and you're going to see people go, wow,
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: what a great experience that I was able to talk
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: to somebody, somebody listened to me. So AI is great
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: for clinical experiences. It's great for making things easy and timely.
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: If somebody wants to schedule after dark, awesome. You know,
• 50:58
  Speaker 2: I saw the coolest thing the other day from one
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: of my clients. I walked by their space because I
• 51:03
  Speaker 2: was having a restaurant and it was on a weekend.
• 51:05
  Speaker 2: They were closed and they had a big giant like
• 51:07
  Speaker 2: phone tablet It was seamless into the glass on their space,
• 51:12
  Speaker 2: but it was on the exterior. And you were able
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: to touch it and see the educational piece. And you
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: were able to schedule right there on this giant phone application.
• 51:22
  Speaker 2: But it was super cool. It wasn't cheesy. That's what
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: people want with that kind of ease and speed to
• 51:30
  Speaker 2: engage with you and schedule online. Yeah. but they want
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: to be heard. They want to talk to somebody. They
• 51:35
  Speaker 2: want to be followed up with somebody. They want to
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: hear a live person's voice. So God, how easy is
• 51:40
  Speaker 2: that right now? My daughter made a comment at a
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: restaurant the other day that was not geared towards the waiter.
• 51:46
  Speaker 2: That waiter came over with a little dessert thing and
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: a handwritten note and said, congratulations on your cheer competition.
• 51:53
  Speaker 2: 25 years ago, that would have happened a lot, actually.
• 51:57
  Speaker 2: That was part of the service industry. Today, we are
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: blown away by what became staples of the human experience
• 52:05
  Speaker 2: decades ago. If you can get back to that, and
• 52:08
  Speaker 2: maybe young doctors need to go ask their parents or
• 52:11
  Speaker 2: their grandparents, like, hey, what were the things that you
• 52:13
  Speaker 2: did back in the day? If you do that today,
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: you're going to knock people's socks off. So use AI,
• 52:19
  Speaker 2: but don't buy into this sleek version of everything because...
• 52:23
  Speaker 2: People want to have a real human experience and they
• 52:27
  Speaker 2: want to be followed up with it. That's so touching
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: these days. So right now is a great time to
• 52:33
  Speaker 2: open up a practice and be different by being old school.
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that.
• 52:38
  Speaker 2: I love that. Find a mentor who's actually done it.
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: I can tell you all the super awesome clients that
• 52:45
  Speaker 2: you show and you've probably had on your podcast. All
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: my clients that I have some real influencers that have
• 52:51
  Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands of followers. And I can tell you
• 52:54
  Speaker 2: and they'll tell you two years ago, I was in
• 52:57
  Speaker 2: your same position. I was scared to death. Don't let
• 53:01
  Speaker 2: what you see online fool you. And they'll be the
• 53:03
  Speaker 2: first to tell you. I was so nervous when I
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: opened my practice. If I can do it, don't believe
• 53:09
  Speaker 2: what you see online. I'm an introvert at heart. If
• 53:12
  Speaker 2: I can do it, you can do it. I trained
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: myself to be this way. So find a mentor who's
• 53:18
  Speaker 2: actually done it. Don't lean on your professor who's always
• 53:21
  Speaker 2: been in academia. Don't ask your office manager at your
• 53:24
  Speaker 2: corporate gig. Find somebody that you admire that you're like, God,
• 53:28
  Speaker 2: that's the kind of practice I want and call them.
• 53:30
  Speaker 2: I guarantee you they would spend as much time as
• 53:33
  Speaker 2: you want over the phone or in person because they're
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: going to be pro business.
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: Oh, such great advice. I love that. Well, Brian, I
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: know you and I could just keep on chatting and
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: we'll definitely have to do this again. But if somebody
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: wants to learn more about you, learn more about Rome
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: and wants to connect with you, what's going to be
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: the best way that they can reach out and get
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: in touch?
• 53:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it may be foolish. I'm going to give you
• 53:57
  Speaker 2: my cell phone number. It's 949-529-4777. If somebody calls me
• 54:03
  Speaker 2: and they're breathing heavy on the other line, I did
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: it to myself. But if you want to reach me,
• 54:08
  Speaker 2: reach out, text me, call me. If you want to
• 54:10
  Speaker 2: reach us via email, it goes directly to me and
• 54:13
  Speaker 2: my team. It's info at Rome. Rome is spelled R-O-A-M,
• 54:17
  Speaker 2: not R-O-M-E. It's info at Rome commercial realty.com. if you
• 54:24
  Speaker 2: have a crazy dream, a want, a desire, we are
• 54:28
  Speaker 2: always here as a free resource. And I really mean that.
• 54:31
  Speaker 2: People have been so good to me throughout my career.
• 54:33
  Speaker 2: I love to give back. I love to try to
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: be a mentor from at least my business career. I
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: love to connect people with... with other people who have
• 54:41
  Speaker 2: done it before and say, hey, don't listen to me.
• 54:42
  Speaker 2: Go talk to this person. But reach out. Even if
• 54:46
  Speaker 2: you're already engaged in something, I can't tell you how
• 54:49
  Speaker 2: many deals we've done pro bono where somebody is already
• 54:52
  Speaker 2: down the line with a broker who's maybe not well-versed
• 54:55
  Speaker 2: in this or their brother-in-law who's residential. I'm like, I'm
• 54:58
  Speaker 2: not trying to step on anybody's toes, but send me
• 55:01
  Speaker 2: the deal. Let me look at it. If it's good,
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you if it's great. If it's bad, I'll
• 55:05
  Speaker 2: tell you it's bad. And I'll tell you, hey, go
• 55:07
  Speaker 2: back to your broker and tell them these things. you
• 55:10
  Speaker 2: need to focus on. And here's what I would ask for.
• 55:12
  Speaker 2: I remember one time I even stepped in to a
• 55:15
  Speaker 2: deal and I called the broker and I said, Hey,
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: I'm not trying to step on your toes or take
• 55:19
  Speaker 2: any money from you, but would you just allow me
• 55:21
  Speaker 2: to step in and take over? I know that's a
• 55:23
  Speaker 2: weird conversation. And they were like, Oh, could you, I
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: have no idea what I'm doing. I'm like, you take
• 55:28
  Speaker 2: all the money. Just let me step in. This is
• 55:31
  Speaker 2: not your area of expertise. You go sell your luxury homes.
• 55:34
  Speaker 2: Let me step in and take over because we're getting
• 55:36
  Speaker 2: ourself in a bad way. And I really mean that
• 55:39
  Speaker 2: whether you're thinking about it you're not sure you need
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: a sounding board or you're way off with somebody else
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: and you don't have any idea if you're getting in
• 55:47
  Speaker 2: a bad situation just reach out to us we would
• 55:49
  Speaker 2: love to help you.
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah that's great i know you have always done that
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: through the years so thanks for having that spirit and
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: and going through this because i know it does mean
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: a lot to a lot of the clients that we've
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: worked with yeah.
• 56:01
  Speaker 2: The world gives back if you if you try your
• 56:04
  Speaker 2: best without having any agenda i really believe that that
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: the world pays you back in spades like that I
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: totally agree.
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: And now a word from the sponsors who make this
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: podcast possible. Hey docs, let's talk about SmileSuite because it's
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: not just another scheduling system. It's a game changer in
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: the world of new patient management. And as a proud
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: SmileSuite partner, I've witnessed the incredible impact it has on
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: practices of all sizes. SmileSuite means your new patient calls
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: and web leads are expertly handled seven days a week,
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: even during nights and weekends. And they offer top-notch customizable
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: presentation software and seamless post-consultation follow-up. It's like having a
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: secret weapon for your practice's success.
• 56:52
  Speaker 2: Curious?
• 56:53
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• 56:58
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• 57:03
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• 57:09
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: Well, the way I like to finish up Hey Docs
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: is with a little speed round.
• 57:13
  Speaker 2: I'm sure you know this.
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: So are you ready for the speed round challenge?
• 57:17
  Speaker 2: No. I never prepare for podcasts and it's either great
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: or horrible. So lay on me. I have no idea
• 57:25
  Speaker 2: there's a speed round, honestly.
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: That's all right. We'll make it nice and easy on you.
• 57:29
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: So let's start with this one. What is the most
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: unexpected lesson you have learned in your career?
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: Do not take people for granted. I don't know if
• 57:41
  Speaker 2: granted is the right word. I had a doctor who
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: I just absolutely love. And we got along just like
• 57:48
  Speaker 2: you and I, like we were like kindred spirits from
• 57:51
  Speaker 2: the beginning. And she was so cool and so easy
• 57:53
  Speaker 2: to work with. And I was busting my butt for her,
• 57:56
  Speaker 2: but I wasn't doing everything that I normally would by
• 57:58
  Speaker 2: sending all of the spreadsheets and very detailed emails. It
• 58:02
  Speaker 2: was a lot of, hey, texting and calling on the weekends,
• 58:05
  Speaker 2: et cetera. And I think she came to me with
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: tears in her eyes and she tried to fire me.
• 58:09
  Speaker 2: And I was like, what are you doing? We're best friends.
• 58:14
  Speaker 2: We got over that. And I quickly realized that inside
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: is also a clinician and she wants the details. It
• 58:21
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter how cool and how casual somebody is. They
• 58:25
  Speaker 2: also have this doctor analytical brain, which makes our clients
• 58:28
  Speaker 2: in this industry so great is you have these people
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: that are so talented. type A and artistry, but also
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: type B and a mix. And I'm like, oh, I
• 58:37
  Speaker 2: forgot that you're still a doctor on the inside. You
• 58:39
  Speaker 2: should have reminded me. And I said, let me back up.
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: I'll wow your side. If you want this nerdy stuff,
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: here it comes. And so we founded her dream space.
• 58:47
  Speaker 2: She is one of my biggest success stories. I actually
• 58:50
  Speaker 2: take my kids to her, not because I feel obligated,
• 58:53
  Speaker 2: but because she's just an absolute dream. She told me, hey,
• 58:57
  Speaker 2: I only want to have one pediatric practice and that's it.
• 58:59
  Speaker 2: And within a year, she called me and she was like,
• 59:01
  Speaker 2: am I crazy? I think I want to open up
• 59:04
  Speaker 2: a second one. Like, this is amazing. I had no
• 59:06
  Speaker 2: idea I could do this. She opened up an ortho
• 59:09
  Speaker 2: practice with an ortho partner. Now that's going gangbusters. And,
• 59:12
  Speaker 2: but yeah, don't take people, I don't know if for
• 59:14
  Speaker 2: granted is the right word, but that exterior, you have
• 59:18
  Speaker 2: to treat people at the highest level. So yeah, that
• 59:21
  Speaker 2: was an eye opening for me. Like, oh, that was tricky.
• 59:23
  Speaker 2: I didn't, I didn't see that coming. Yeah, that's great.
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: So if you had unlimited resources, what's one big idea
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: you'd want to bring to life?
• 59:33
  Speaker 2: Oh God, this is a nerdy one, but a mentorship program, honestly,
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: that came to me really easy, but a mentorship program,
• 59:41
  Speaker 2: I think that's such an easy thing to say, but
• 59:43
  Speaker 2: such a hard thing to put together. You know, I
• 59:45
  Speaker 2: would love to have some sort of speed dating mentor
• 59:48
  Speaker 2: program where we could really align people that, you know, like,
• 59:52
  Speaker 2: If you could just get this person with that person, boy,
• 59:54
  Speaker 2: they could really take off and talk about AI. Maybe
• 59:57
  Speaker 2: there's some sort of AI qualifying system to say, these
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 2: are your strong points. These are your strong points. Let's
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 2: merge these two people together and just connect them. I
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 2: know that sounds kind of nerdy. There's probably a zillion
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 2: other ways I could spend money to do things, but
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 2: I think people are just longing for mentorship. I remember
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 2: when I was a young guy, I was such a mimic.
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 2: I literally would try to copy people because I had
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 2: great mentors and I didn't come from any kind of background.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 2: My parents were into engineering and something else and So
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 2: I would find these people and I'm like, oh, that
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: was amazing how you said that. And I would try
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 2: to say it just like they said it. And it
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 2: came off as artificial and phony. And one of my
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 2: later mentors slapped me upside the head and they said, Brian,
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 2: this isn't you. You gotta be who you are. There's
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 2: a really cool, genuine person in there. Be who you are.
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 2: It's okay to take things from people, but you gotta
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 2: be genuine. Yeah, some sort of awesome mentorship program where
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 2: we could really put people together and not have it
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 2: feel forced would be my dream. Yeah, I love it.
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: All right. Well, it has been just such a pleasure
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: having you on Hey Docs. It's been a long time
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: coming and I'm so glad we got to do this.
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 2: So thank you so much.
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: And I look forward to having you on again and
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: picking your brain about some other really great, important things.
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 2: An hour felt like five minutes, right? Thank you for
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 2: having me.
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 2: All right. Thanks.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: Are you ready to start a practice of your own?
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: Need a new fresh set of eyes or some advice
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: on your existing practice? If so, reach out to me,
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: Jill Allen, at www.practiceresults.com. If you like what we're doing
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: here on Hey Docs and want to hear more of
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: this awesome content, be sure and give us a five-star
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: rating on your preferred listening platform and subscribe to our
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: show so you never miss an episode. Remember, new episodes
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: drop every Thursday.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 2: See you next week.