Side businesses / investments?

[Jlm50]

Hello SDN!
I'm still in dental school but was having a conversation with my husband about our long term goals. One of mine is that I want to find a side business or investment that will add to our income over time.

Does anyone on here have experience with doing this? Is it feasible?

I was considering buying a franchise of the restaurant my husband is a general manager of if he is still with the company in some capacity. Or flipping houses? Although interior design is not my forte.

TIA

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[TanMan]

The biggest ROI is starting your own office first. There is no bigger return than your own office. Once you have your own office, then you'll have all the capital you need to open a bunch of side businesses and investments. Businesses and investments depend a lot on geographical location, market conditions, local economy, and other factors. When you get there, would probably be the more appropriate time to find what side businesses/investments to pursue. If you have the capital already, your first business should be your own office. An office can provide you with 1M+ pretax income per year.

A side business should not take so much of your time, because your time is money and if you had your own office, your time is most likely worth more working in your office than anything else on the side. Now, if your husband has employable skills/training, you may want to seek a business that he has can use his training/skills.

Also, you need to look at your long term goals, what you are looking for with the side business (additional income, boredom, passive income, growth, etc...)? It's feasible, but it all depends on your long term goals. I am in extremely high risk, high return type of businesses, and I did a shotgun method of multiple high risk investments and so far one is paying off enough to compensate for mediocre performance of other businesses (and still come out ahead). The reason I took massive risk is because I want to retire early. Different approaches for different goals.

 

[Cold Front]

Which franchise does your husband work for? Some franchises are doing well, some are not.

I have some side businesses, some with long term dividends (commercial properties) and some short term (a truck/semis parking lot, a dental assistant program, and a power wash business with a friend).

I would not invest in residential homes/flipping houses at this current economy. It’s too costly to renovate - both labor and material. Those are best done when the economy is climbing out of a recession. Maybe AirBnB properties? But cities have started to crack down on them with new “bed taxes” like hotels.

There are tons of ways to make a passive income. You just have to research them and choose something that fits the city you live in, your risk level and needs.

 

[321931]

Tanman speaks the truth

 

[ElCubanito]

Investing your time and energy on something other than your own office is a waste of time and a potential time bomb for your marriage.

90% of my income is now "passive". Ally CDs (2.75%), Prasac Microfinance CDs (8%).

If you have to deal with employees, payroll and bad shrimp.....then its not really passive. You seem to be the bread winner in the relationship maybe the best investment would be teaching your husband how to do dental billing, case presentation and managing your practice effectively.

 

[TanMan]

TanMan, what is your thought on low overhead hygiene heavy FFS practice? Basically only doing prophy/exams and fills/crowns with everything else referred out in one dentist and one staff in one or two ops setting. Do you think it would be feasible (ie profitable) in an urban setting? In other words, the owner dentist does all the prophy.

Developing the hygiene recalls and depending on that is like a snowball rolling down the hill. You need chairs to handle an accumulation of recall patients. 1-2 chairs will not be sufficient and you need relatively cheaper hygiene labor (or if the markets are against dentists, cheaper dentist labor) to take care of those while you do your ops. The owner dentist's time is the most valuable, and if he's filled with ops, why would they do hygiene? It's definitely lower overhead, but you will hit your saturation point too quickly in that your growth is limited and your profitability is limited.

I think it could work, but in urban settings, rent is your killer. Every square foot needs to produce and pay for itself at a minimum. FFS hygiene may not be sufficient unless you SRP everyone with a bunch of upsells or the other way to look at it is to do cheap prophy cup cleanings. Regardless, it's not necessarily the most ethical, but it's a business model that some dentists choose to pursue.

With offices giving away prophies, competing in the low-end segment can be difficult. Targeting a higher end segment requires the illusion of a high end office. If your "high end" office doesn't look like they provide everything, then why would high end ffs come to you? I don't think it can work to the levels of profitability that I seek, but it could work if you can tolerate slow growth and the aforementioned market/customer challenges

 

[setdoc7]

Tan Man is correct. I have a small office, but it has always been FFS. Could not handle big growth in small space, but I am not looking for that anymore. Young docs need space to build. Also, your high end offices must look the part. No amount of clinical ability trumps a nice waiting area.

 

[Saddleshoes]

Hello SDN!
I'm still in dental school but was having a conversation with my husband about our long term goals. One of mine is that I want to find a side business or investment that will add to our income over time.

Does anyone on here have experience with doing this? Is it feasible?

I was considering buying a franchise of the restaurant my husband is a general manager of if he is still with the company in some capacity. Or flipping houses? Although interior design is not my forte.

TIA

An important question in any investment is this:
How much money can you afford to lose?

At this point, in your lives, I'm guessing the answer is zero! You guys do not need to be investing. You need to be working and working smart with somebody else's investment.

 

[Jlm50]

An important question in any investment is this:
How much money can you afford to lose?

At this point, in your lives, I'm guessing the answer is zero! You guys do not need to be investing. You need to be working and working smart with somebody else's investment.

This certainly was a question for the future, not while I'm finishing school. Thank you for looking out, though.

 

[Cold Front]

Investing your time and energy on something other than your own office is a waste of time and a potential time bomb for your marriage.

Yes and No. The highest ROI for a dentist is his or her practice, and that’s defined as an “active income” - which has a ceiling; you can only see a finite amount of patients and do finite amount of cases per hour or day. You can hire more associate dentists and open more practices (which I have) and the ROI for each additional office and associate dentists is lower than the primary/owner dentist’s ROI form doing dentistry (owners typically work harder than their own associates).

Finally, “passive income” is best done when you have peaked or plateaued the ROI from the dental practices. You can use the hard earned money to make more money without you in the picture - Real Estate, Stocks, Other businesses, etc. Passive income has a much lower ROI than what a dentist can do in a patient’s mouth - but the beauty is, you don’t have to get out of bed for it. If done well, it can help you work less as a dentist, retire early, and live a more purposeful life by things you enjoy more - because you now have the TIME (the most valuable asset in life) for it.

 

[pubhealthdent]

Hello SDN!
I'm still in dental school but was having a conversation with my husband about our long term goals. One of mine is that I want to find a side business or investment that will add to our income over time.

Does anyone on here have experience with doing this? Is it feasible?

I was considering buying a franchise of the restaurant my husband is a general manager of if he is still with the company in some capacity. Or flipping houses? Although interior design is not my forte.

TIA

Put your money in an aggressive portfolio of stocks and bonds. I've got a 17% return rate on my investment right now. But this is certainly not for short term gains, especially with the looming recession.

Restaurant franchises always seem risky to me, although if your husband has managerial experience with the company already it could work out for you.

Flipping homes also seems risky right now with a possible recession. Less people are able to buy homes during recessions so you risk holding onto these properties for longer than you anticipate.

 

[321931]

If you want passive income, then build your practice with lots of strong hygiene recalls and buy the building you have. Become the landlord. Pay off the notes and you will more then enough equity to retire happily.

It’s really that simple. Dentistry as a business will get you to the finish line safely into retirement. It’s not that hard.

 

[percyeye]

No offense to OP but what I've seen is 90% of those who are like "I want a side hustle or make millions doing real estate" never really do anything. The ones that are successful are the ones that are silent and just grind it out without having to blab it to people.

Like in undergrad when you are at a party and the loud mouth girl in the corner says "Yeah I'm Pre-med. Gonna be a Doctor." Those almost never become Doctors. But it is the grinders in the library with their head down that make it.

I personally can't wait for this "side hustle" flavor of the month attitude to end.

 

[Jlm50]

No offense to OP but what I've seen is 90% of those who are like "I want a side hustle or make millions doing real estate" never really do anything. The ones that are successful are the ones that are silent and just grind it out without having to blab it to people.

Like in undergrad when you are at a party and the loud mouth girl in the corner says "Yeah I'm Pre-med. Gonna be a Doctor." Those almost never become Doctors. But it is the grinders in the library with their head down that make it.

I personally can't wait for this "side hustle" flavor of the month attitude to end.

Wow, I'm sorry my post triggered you. I came to a resource where I knew I could pick the brains of people who are actually in the thick of it and not just ponder about things I don't really know about fully. I wouldn't call asking those in the business for advice yelling on a roof top that I'm going to be a dentist and want to make millions.


On another note, I'm super thankful for all of the honest responses I've gotten. It looks like I have some research to do. I have the NHSC scholarship so I imagine I'll need to wait until after my 4 year repayment period is over before I consider purchasing but that'd give us time to save money.

 

[ElCubanito]

Yes and No. The highest ROI for a dentist is his or her practice, and that’s defined as an “active income” - which has a ceiling; you can only see a finite amount of patients and do finite amount of cases per hour or day. You can hire more associate dentists and open more practices (which I have) and the ROI for each additional office and associate dentists is lower than the primary/owner dentist’s ROI form doing dentistry (owners typically work harder than their own associates).

Finally, “passive income” is best done when you have peaked or plateaued the ROI from the dental practices. You can use the hard earned money to make more money without you in the picture - Real Estate, Stocks, Other businesses, etc. Passive income has a much lower ROI than what a dentist can do in a patient’s mouth - but the beauty is, you don’t have to get out of bed for it. If done well, it can help you work less as a dentist, retire early, and live a more purposeful life by things you enjoy more - because you now have the TIME (the most valuable asset in life) for it.

I think she was talking about a "Shrimp and Prime Rib" kind of operation .... not really "Passive". Im all for investing wisely.

 

[Jlm50]

I think she was talking about a "Shrimp and Prime Rib" kind of operation .... not really "Passive". Im all for investing wisely.

My husband has zero interest in working in my future office, but maybe that will change depending on what the capacity is. So I wasn't envisioning something that would take up my free time that I have with him or the office, but something we could invest in- and he possibly oversee it and be something we can work on together.

But I'm definitely interested in investing for long term passive income. For those who invested- did you go through someone or did you find where you wanted to invest by yourself?

I'm not really stuck on a single idea or track. I really didn't know what ideas were feasible or the best but these responses have been helpful. I think I take one business class in dental school but it's not until the 3rd or 4th year. I'm jumping ahead LOL.

 

[pubhealthdent]

My husband has zero interest in working in my future office, but maybe that will change depending on what the capacity is. So I wasn't envisioning something that would take up my free time that I have with him or the office, but something we could invest in- and he possibly oversee it and be something we can work on together.

But I'm definitely interested in investing for long term passive income. For those who invested- did you go through someone or did you find where you wanted to invest by yourself?

I'm not really stuck on a single idea or track. I really didn't know what ideas were feasible or the best but these responses have been helpful. I think I take one business class in dental school but it's not until the 3rd or 4th year. I'm jumping ahead LOL.

I invest on my own. Did a lot of research on investing in my time between graduating dental school and starting work. I also spend a fair amount of time reading business journals/articles. Has worked out for me thus far

 

[2TH MVR]

Most of us are dentists .... not experts in investing. Invest in your future practice 1st. Obtain the services of a trusted financial planner and dentist/MD specific acct. These people are experts in what they do. With the planner ..... start an investment portfolio of stocks and bonds. Since you're young and have time on your side ..... your mix will be more aggressive stocks. Start YOUNG. I can't say this enough. I have the SAME financial planner since I graduated from dental school. He actually owns his own brokerage. As for the acct ..... people forget that a large part of investing is TAX AVOIDANCE. A trusted tax acct is invaluable. I paid this person a monthly retainer. We met every quarter to discuss the practice financials and tax strategy. Again ... I have the SAME acct as when I graduated.
As a side note .... consider these internet banks to park your emergency funds like Ally. They offer better saving's rates than typical banks.

Do you have kids or are you planning to have a family? Most do. You will have to factor that into the equation. I know a few female dentists and other professionals that are the main breadwinners in their families. Fathers are stay at home dads with PT jobs.

As for your husband working in your office. Not sure that is healthy for your marriage or the dynamics in the office.