Quit and open up a Burger King?

[mrlantern]

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I live and work in NYC as a dentist. Apparently NYC is practically an insurance-driven market for dentists. Many workers here are unionized and fall under low-cost health insurances. No patients want to pay anything out of pocket and there are dentists on almost each and every block in the city. It's difficult to not accept as many insurances you can, despite the decline in reimbursements from many dental plans. Add to that the costs of liability insurance ( highly pro-rated premiums in this area. ), unrealistic patient expectations, and a general lack of respect from the public.

The technical aspect of providing quality dentistry is difficult to do, amidst the high overhead from purchases and maintenance of dental supplies and equipment. Many dentists in the area can only afford to rely on low-cost laboratories for fixed prosthetics, which will fit and be easy to adjust only as much as you paid for them. And then there's the costs of maintaining active licensure and taking regular continuing dental education courses.

Apparently the difficulty of this job doesn't justify the earnings.

I want out of this profession. I still have student loans but I'm thinking of tacking on more debt for opening a Burger King franchise. In NYC, even in bad economic times, with the exception of upscale restaurants, people freely spend money on food. With menus from Burger King, the business speaks for itself. ( I honestly think it's less of a business to sell Whopper sandwiches than it is to sell dental services. It's far easier to deal with PITA customers than PITA patients. And the work seems easier than dentistry ) I've done my math. A BK shop that is near reliable foot traffic and regularly has customers appear to NET around a $1000 per day. ( show me an average NYC dentist or physician who NETs $1000/day ) So I'm now thinking, Burger King, here I come !

Any comments? Is this a rational idea?

 

[dragonfly99]

I don't know.
You'd better be darned sure that you REALLY know about the restaurant business before you dive in. For example, have you actually talked w/anyone who owns a restaurant franchise to see how much they are clearing?

A better solution might be to move out of NYC, unless you are unwilling to do so. There are plenty of smaller cities and towns, particularly in the Midwest or South, where you could do quite well as a competent dentist. Or you could move to a smaller city in New England, most likely.

 

[MBK2003]

Please, don't leave dentistry, just leave NYC. Here in Maine we're hurting for dentists in a big way and there's very little penetration from the dental insurance market - most places take some insurance, but make the patient pay the difference between insurance coverage price and dentist's charged price. We had a major dentist recruitment post-Katrina and still need dentists in the nice suburban areas!

 

[JCRail]

Please don't quit your carreer! You've invested so much (not only money but all those hours of study)

Besides, it's better for the world that you bring health instead of selling future heart attacks 😱

(future nutricionist here)

 

[edmadison]

Dentists can make great money in many parts of the county. Move somewhere else near a good airport and visit NYC once a month -- you'll have plenty of spare cash. I lived in the City for four years and I still can't understand why most people stay there.

Ed

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Are you entrepreneurial? Many "educated" people poo-poo the idea of running a restaurant franchise or a laundromat, but it's quite possible to clear some good $$$ doing so. One of my former co-workers, unbeknownst to me, franchised a Baskin Robbins, "on the side" and showed up there some nights to see how the teeny boppers were doing. I was surprised to see him behind the counter when I stopped in one day.

However, your major obstacle to opening up a fast food franchise is that it costs something like $750k to open a McDonalds in the worst location that they will permit. Prime locations can cost millions of dollars. If you have that sort of cash sitting around, then great. If you don't, you have to borrow, but now is not a good time to try to borrow money. I don't know about the other franchises (I assume that they are significantly cheaper.)

You need to do LOTS and LOTS of research before taking on a franchise. Read up on the policies of the company (Subway, for instance, is well-known for encroachment, that is, they are very aggressive at opening several franchises very close to each other -- good for them, bad for the franchise owners.) Another consideration is location. Some companies make a lot of $$$ from essentially being landlords -- they own the property where the franchises are located and rent it to the franchise owners. McDonalds is one of these companies. There are probably already McDonalds restaurants in the optimal locations already. if you could buy property in a prime location, you would have to find a company that would permit you to own the land on which your franchise is located.

If this all sounds good to you, then go for it!

 

[foil]

Having a dental practice will give you more flexibility in life......providing it's
in a decent location and competition allows a decent wage.

Things to consider in a food business: Longer hours, Seven days a week, working on all the holidays,
Workman's Comp issues, Osha regs, Sexual harassment issues, filling in when the high school employee flakes out,
Health dept visits, Mc Donalds moving next door and draining the income, nighttime theft.

As mentioned before, it's all about Location......that can make or break the business.

Wait a minute..........You must be in the wrong location for your dental practice!!!

 

[mrlantern]

Things to consider in a food business: Longer hours, Seven days a week, working on all the holidays,
Workman's Comp issues, Osha regs, Sexual harassment issues, filling in when the high school employee flakes out,
Health dept visits, Mc Donalds moving next door and draining the income, nighttime theft.

I concur with you that I'm in an awful location for any physician or dentist. At moment it is true that some rural areas are having shortages of dentists, where they are supposedly doing well financially. But still, these high-demand areas aren't doing well as they were ten years ago. If the nation's healthcare crisis is anything to go by, I can guarantee you that dental income potentials will continue to go down no matter you where go.

I can't comment on medicine since I am not a physician. My gut feeling is that they may have it better overall because there are always hospitals that recruit physicians and offer fixed salaries with all benefits. Dentists are rarely employed anywhere on fixed salaries. Dentists are typically paid 25 - 40% of whatever gross income they bring in. Hopefully you can imagine how low of an income a dentist can take home if he has capitation patients for whom he spends a thorough time with.

Meanwhile, people don't penny-pinch on fast-food. Last time I checked, the price of a Big Mac hasn't gone down. The price of MgNuggets, however, in units of 20, have actually gone up. Go to your local strip mall or the airport, and you will see people walking in and out of Mickey D's. It's a self-explanatory business; people are more likely to spend if the products or services can satisfy their senses.

It's not just the fast food business I have my eyes on. I'm also
looking at other profitable career paths. I'm trying to stay away from dentistry as much as I can. Unfortunately my prospects on other careers are very dim. Aside from dentistry, I don't have any other work experience or skills. What should I do?

 

[UserNameNeeded]

What about teaching for a dental school?

 

[foil]

http://personline.lacity.org/job_list/index.cfm?FuseAction=Showspec&CC=3878

Base rate,
Overtime will put you into 200k

Travel anywhere in the usa and be able to get a job tomorrow.........this field is very hard up.

😉

 

[sumstorm]

When I lived in NYC my dentist was nearly impossible to get appointments at, accepted only one insurance, and he was looking for associates. Of course, he specialized in waterlase and dentistry for the anxious/fearful.

 

[EvilNewbie]

I live and work in NYC as a dentist. Apparently NYC is practically an insurance-driven market for dentists. Many workers here are unionized and fall under low-cost health insurances. No patients want to pay anything out of pocket and there are dentists on almost each and every block in the city. It's difficult to not accept as many insurances you can, despite the decline in reimbursements from many dental plans. Add to that the costs of liability insurance ( highly pro-rated premiums in this area. ), unrealistic patient expectations, and a general lack of respect from the public.

The technical aspect of providing quality dentistry is difficult to do, amidst the high overhead from purchases and maintenance of dental supplies and equipment. Many dentists in the area can only afford to rely on low-cost laboratories for fixed prosthetics, which will fit and be easy to adjust only as much as you paid for them. And then there's the costs of maintaining active licensure and taking regular continuing dental education courses.

Apparently the difficulty of this job doesn't justify the earnings.

I want out of this profession. I still have student loans but I'm thinking of tacking on more debt for opening a Burger King franchise. In NYC, even in bad economic times, with the exception of upscale restaurants, people freely spend money on food. With menus from Burger King, the business speaks for itself. ( I honestly think it's less of a business to sell Whopper sandwiches than it is to sell dental services. It's far easier to deal with PITA customers than PITA patients. And the work seems easier than dentistry ) I've done my math. A BK shop that is near reliable foot traffic and regularly has customers appear to NET around a $1000 per day. ( show me an average NYC dentist or physician who NETs $1000/day ) So I'm now thinking, Burger King, here I come !

Any comments? Is this a rational idea?

Depends... if you HAVE to live in NYC then no... if you can stand to live somewhere else and enjoy dentistry then yes... i know people who practice in other places and go to NYC for "vacation"... But to be honest, why not do both? Hire a daytime manager to manage BK... albeit it will be a lot more work but at least you can decide if maintaining that BK is worth it or go 100% BK... by the way, I love BK... whopper!

 

[foil]

That's it,

Serve em food that break their teeth - then say , "Step into my office - right nextdoor"

😀

 

[2pac Fan]

I think you should research the assets required and what the possible incomes are of an owner of a fast food restaurant, forgetting that its a risk, a much much better risk than any restaurant which has a nearly 70% failure rate, but...

Also the $1000 a day is a joke, yes some franchises make that and more, just like some dentists make that and more. The top of the top make that, that is not the average. Also just like New York has competition as a dentist, so does a fast food franchise.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=29644&seenIt=1

You can thank me later, just next time you think about this, don't think of it as a what if I... I was trying to find the article of the New York Burger King franchise owners suing burger king because they were losing so much money while being forced to offer the $1 menu, no luck.

Never consider a subway either.

 

[mrlantern]

I think you should research the assets required and what the possible incomes are of an owner of a fast food restaurant, forgetting that its a risk, a much much better risk than any restaurant which has a nearly 70% failure rate, but...

You can thank me later, just next time you think about this, don't think of it as a what if I... I was trying to find the article of the New York Burger King franchise owners suing burger king because they were losing so much money while being forced to offer the $1 menu, no luck.

Never consider a subway either.

Yes I know that fast-food franchise isn't a slam-dunk success especially in competitive urban areas. But still, I find that many eateries have lots of customer demands ( people don't skimp on food and entertainment like they do with healthcare ) and almost no customer liabilities that healthcare providers have. And do you really think the Burger King owners who are losing money because of the $1 menu are worse off than healthcare providers who see mostly HMO patients that can become serious liabilities?

 

[schrizto]

Dude, I would open up a Dunkin Donuts instead! Coffee sells like crazy! People consume it like mad! There is always a huge line at Dunkin Donuts in the morning of people who want to get their breakfast, and customers are loyal.

As for the dentistry thing, have you considered practicing in a more rural area? Sounds crazy, but practicing in a metropolis has lots of competition, while in rural areas there is a lot of demand as there will be fewer dentists, and you'd make more money.