Dr. Shabnam Zai

DOES FEAR HOLD YOU BACK? When I look back, the thing that held me back the most over my career was fear. Over thinking all the things that could go wrong, catastrophising, worrying about what others will think and all the things I didn’t know. This week I went to with my kids. My son got on the trail and started, but then the girl in front panicked and asked to get off. All the kids had to come back to the start to let her off. By this time my son (who really wanted to do this) started to cry and said he was scared and didn’t want to get back on. In that moment both me and my daughter spoke to him, and gave him some words of encouragement. He was ready to give up but got back on….reluctantly. At the end I asked him ‘knowing what you know now, do you still wish you didn’t get back on or are you glad you finished the trail?’. I think we all know the answer! He was exhilarated and so proud of himself. He couldn’t stop talking about it, how cool it was and how much fun he had. Doing new things can be scary, it is easy to feel it is too hard and give up, but sometimes all you need is someone to give you some support or the right words of encouragement. When you are scared speak to others who have done it or just have your best interests at heart. I know if I didn’t own my own practice I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. Don’t let fear hold you back. That why I created a course on how to set up a squat dental practice and now coach dentists. I wish I had that person early on when I was thinking of setting up my own dental practice. I want to help as many dentists as I could to remove their fears and help them take the next step to see if it is truly right for them. So they could really enjoy their job, feel more confident and live their dreams with no regrets. If you ever need someone to talk to or ask for advice send me a DM. Have a great weekend 😊

WHERE WILL YOUR DREAM BEGIN? About 9-10 years ago, .nikita_mehta and I sat in this very Morrisons over a cup of tea and wrote out our dental surgery wish list. We wrote everything we wanted in our practice, the type of dentist we wanted to do, the patients we wanted to serve, the distance we wanted to commute, how many surgeries we wanted it to be… at that time we were looking to buy a practice. A squat wasn’t even a consideration! We also acknowledged our strengths and what our roles would be in the practice. Me: CQC, training and daily tasks, Niki: accounts, payroll and HR. We even considered who would do which clinical procedures. It’s lovely sitting here now reflecting that this week marks our 6th anniversary of opening . Oh how I wish I knew then what I knew now. I didn’t need to be so panicked and overwhelmed, there was so much I could have prepared in advance, if only someone had told me. If you are thinking of setting up your own practice be resourceful. Give me a call, speak to friends who have done the journey you are planning to do. They are likely to save you A LOT of time and a money. That day we wrote it all down, we had no idea what was going to happen next. I sit her today making another wish list, knowing that if I am resourceful it will definitely come true. Write it down. 📝 Dream it, Plan it, Do it!

RECRUITMENT: Over the five years of owning a practice the thing I have found most challenging is recruitment and managing staff. It’s something I knew very little about as an associate and is so unpredictable. How many staff do I need when I first open up? What should be in their job description? Where do I advertise? What questions should I ask in the interview? How do I document the processes? How much should I pay them? What should be in their contracts? How do I pick the right person? Last week my newly recruited full time nurse had a family emergency and had to suddenly leave after completing her training. Also another key member of the team informed us her family was relocating and had to hand in her notice. These were unexpected. For a moment I was shocked. You invest a lot of time and energy in staff and what you have to realise is at anytime they can leave. Now we have a process, we have reviewed our ads to get the right kind of candidates, we know what to ask in interviews and most importantly we go with our gut. Sometimes we have hired against it, and in the end it has always been right. I am grateful to everyone that has ever worked for me. For with every hire I grow and have learnt something new. Ever person that has worked for us has made a contribution and will always be remembered for that. This time, no panic, we managed the diaries, organised ourselves, .nikita_mehta and I turned on our recruitment process, made it our main focus, worked really hard and we have filled the roles. These people fit our values. We are confident in our choices. We manifest good people. We have a great team 🥰 This is the life of a business owner.

WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR OWN DENTAL PRACTICE? I knew I always did, but I never knew how. The lack of knowledge was great and the fear of taking such a financial risk meant for 15 years I took no action. The main thing I look back on is ‘I wish someone was there to help me’. Tell me what I needed to do, explained each step, broke it down to make it less scary and give me a checklist (I love a checklist). It didn’t exist, I did it the hard way and spent so many hours figuring out how to do everything and always worried about what I had forgotten or hadn’t done. It was exhausting but I did it. But I don’t want anyone to feel alone again. If you dream of owning your own practice, and want to speak to someone that did it from scratch, feel free to DM. Let me tell you the truth of life as a female practice owner. How I juggled the planning and build whilst working in 2 other practices and having two kids under 4. DM me and I promise to help you any way that I can.

TODAY I LAUNCHED MY COURSE: You have no idea how privileged I feel being able to share my journey of practice ownership, how I started and all the pitfalls I made. I share everything you need to know to start your own dental practice. A dream I very nearly didn’t embark on, because I was risk averse , didn’t like making financial risks, generally lacked in self belief. I always wish I had someone I could ask for advice, who had done it before. So I have created it for others. If you have any questions about practice ownership, feel free to DM. Always happy to help anyway I can

I WANTED TO BE A SCIENTIST: When people ask me why I wanted to be a dentist, I tell them I didn’t! For many years I was like most kids, unsure what to do, just doing whet I enjoyed. I actually applied to study chemistry at Imperial Univery and then the moment I was posting my UCAS form (yes I am that old) I suddenly had a feeling it wasn’t right for me. Fast forward 28 years and dentistry was definitely the vocation for me. Doesn’t mean I forgot chemistry. I love my mug from the and am still trying to memorise all the elements

SMALL THINGS: Often in life little things get overlooked. People rush and forget to enjoy the moment. I love being a dentist, but really could not do what I do without my amazing business partner .nikita_mehta and my wonderful team. Today Sana and Alisha surprised me with these flowers for my birthday. This simple gesture really touched me. I am so grateful for the people and love I have around me. Sometimes when life gets crazy it feels like everthing is against you, stop and take time to truly see. The love and help you need is always there.

FLOWERS: since a young age I have always loved flowers. They always lift my mood and make me smile. I love having fresh flowers in the practice. Lucky me, .nikita_mehta (my beautiful business partner dropped these off for me to enjoy. Simple pleasures 💕