Kiera is joined by Dr. Hunter Bennett of Bonita Endodontics to dive into the ins and outs of dentistry partnerships, including hiring for passion, splitting tasks, going DSO, and more.
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Transcript:
The Dental A Team (00:00)
Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am like beyond excited for this podcast. This is all of my worlds combining into one in such a beautiful, magical way. The guests that I have on today actually is a throwback to my Midwestern days. So I met Dr. Hunter Bennett at Midwestern when he was a pre-dentist ⁓ in the sim clinic of good old Midwestern University in Arizona. ⁓ That school is better known as the Harvard of the West and Hunter was a dental student there.
And then he went on for endo residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2017. Following his residency, he returned to Arizona and practice in the mountain town of Prescott for two years. In 2019, he moved his family across the country all the way over to Florida. He is married to his beautiful wife, Lacey. They have five kids from 12 to seven months old, 12 years old to seven months old. Hunter is busy. And the reason I wanted to Hunter on is because yes, I love a good throwback to Midwestern. Like it is truly the highlight of highlights, but Hunter has gone through
being an associate, being an owner, selling to a DSO. And I wanted him to come on and give perspectives of all of those, because I think so many dentists are questioning, what's my path? What's in front of me? And Hunter is kind of like, I feel like you're the buffet of dentistry. So like, which one was actually best for you? And I'm really excited for that. So Hunter, welcome. I'm so proud of who you are. I'm like, mama bear heart over here. Just so proud of you. Welcome to the show today. How are you?
Hunter Bennett (01:25)
this is so good. I'm so excited. I love the buffet of dentistry. That's like maybe the nicest name anybody's ever given me. I love it. It's so good.
The Dental A Team (01:31)
Hey, you're welcome.
You're welcome. And how fun is this? As we were like prepping, told you, was like, Hunter, it's just like you and me, Sim back in Sim clinic. Like we're over there. Like you're prepping your like class ones, classes. I still remember you walking up with loops, gloves on. You knew I'd smack you with a ruler. Like not really smack guys. I was nice in that. But if those gloves did not come up at Sim, like take those off. Kiera, come on. Do I really have to? Yeah, gross. I'm training you. Do not have cross contamination. So welcome back to Sim. It's so good to see you again.
Hunter Bennett (01:59)
I
haven't forgotten that I changed my gloves just literally all the time all the time so I appreciate it. It's how this has come full circle though truly I mean like and you haven't changed like you're still the same person just awesome and you're just always that bright personality that bright in the lab so and it's cool just to see how far you've come I'm really proud of you it's awesome.
The Dental A Team (02:19)
Thank you, thank you. I think it's serendipitous because the whole reason I built the company was for students like yourself. I think the love, I feel like emotions coming on and I don't wanna cry. Like I genuinely just love the Midwestern students so much. I like just so proud of you guys. I watched your journeys. mean, shoot, how long has it been since we graduated? Like I left Midwestern in shoot, like 2015, 2016 realm.
Hunter Bennett (02:44)
That's where
I was. I think you got hired like when we got there. I think that that was your first year was my first year in the sim. And then you, I think you left with us too. So yeah, we kind of went to dental. We basically went to dental school together essentially. So yeah, you're basically a classmate. Yeah. 100%.
The Dental A Team (02:47)
I did.
I think I did.
We did and helping you guys learn x-rays. Honestly, Dr. Smith
and Dr. Morrow did tell me that I care if you ever want to come to dental school, we don't even care. I didn't like confess this on like to the world. They didn't say all these words, but it basically was like, hey, we don't care what your death scores are. Like we'll accept you no matter what. I'll be that student. But then I decided I just love helping dentists. I love helping you guys. I love being that teammate to you. Like I was able to be in sim. I love seeing you succeed. I love being that support.
Hunter Bennett (03:06)
Yeah, they won't care. They won't care.
Just get in. ⁓
The Dental A Team (03:23)
that person that's there. Like when you're having those bad practicals or you need to chat shop or whatever it is. it's just real fun. And again, like mama bear proud of where you are and what you've done. and I ran into each other at the Dennis Money Summit together. And that was a throwback. You, Jeremy Mahoney, was like Midwestern crew was back together and just a fun time.
Hunter Bennett (03:28)
Yeah.
You don't even, you
don't realize how huge our little side conversations were to me. And I texted you a little bit about this, but like, we don't have to get into all of that, but like just those few conversations literally changed my life. And I'm not exaggerating. I'm not exaggerating. So we can talk about that later, but ⁓ yeah, I so appreciate you and some of your insights and watching your journey and your presentation was just so off the charts.
The Dental A Team (04:03)
Yeah. ⁓
Hunter Bennett (04:10)
Everything about it was so good. Your stage presence, the delivery, ⁓ the message. I still can remember a lot of the stuff you said. So, ⁓ yeah, good job. It's just, I'm not surprised you are where you are. And like I said, it's been fun to watch and I'm just grateful for the opportunity to connect again. So, but yeah, you literally was life-changing for me. I'm not exaggerating.
The Dental A Team (04:18)
Thank you. Thank you.
Well, that makes me really happy. And thank you. And we'll say that that's the dessert of the dentistry buffet here. So we'll save that conversation for our dessert. ⁓ But I think what you just said is what Dental A Team's purpose is like my purpose is life is my passion dentistry is my platform. And so I feel so blessed and lucky that dentistry brought all of us together and but able to help you have your dream life to be able to give conversations about that.
Hunter Bennett (04:34)
Okay.
Sure.
The Dental A Team (04:56)
At the end of the day, if businesses aren't serving our lives, then what are we doing? And I'm really getting sticky on that. I'm really starting to hunker down on that harder because I think it's so easy to obsess about the profit, the numbers, like what route should I go? But at the end of the day, if it's not serving the bigger purpose of our life, of our family, of who we want to be, I really think it's a good time to question that and to ask to make sure the star we're headed towards is truly the North Star that we actually want to achieve.
Hunter Bennett (05:01)
percent.
The Dental A Team (05:23)
So I'm really grateful and yeah, I'm just excited for you to share with our audience of Hunter Bennett going through a associateship, residency, ownership, DSO, and then cherry on top of side conversation that we had. ⁓ and just know that all conversations, I think it's a good Testament. They're just, they're genuine. Like, I just want you guys to succeed in whatever path that looks like. And if I can be a guide in any of that rock on, that's what I'm here for. So just like I used to give you teeth.
help you learn to take your gloves off. I'm here to help you make life choices and better practice decisions too.
Hunter Bennett (05:58)
Absolutely. You're crushing it. Well, so yeah, yeah. Pros and cons. So I think, you know, before diving into that decision, I think it's really important. Like the big part of my journey was I've just learned so much along the way that my first job was in a place where in Prescott, like that's where I wanted to like, was like, okay, this is, I'm going to be in this town until I die. Like I'm so happy here.
The Dental A Team (06:00)
Okay, take it away. Walk me through. Walk me through the pros cons. Let's hear about it.
Hunter Bennett (06:24)
And I was in an amazing practice. Like he was such a good practice. the guy that I replaced, ⁓ Nate Duesnup, he, my coming there sort of sparked his leaving because that he had been trying to get in that practice as an owner for quite a while. He'd been there seven years. so my coming sparked a lot of those conversations and they didn't really come to an agreement per se. so ⁓ Nate went and bought a practice in Florida. I, you know, I kind of found that out along the way and I showed up and then me and Nate became friends.
But I knew within probably the first two months I wasn't going to stay at this practice like long, long, long term. Um, it was very clear to me that there wasn't going to be a pathway to partnership. I was a business major. I always planned on owning practice. Um, but this was a really good opportunity. I'm really, really grateful for, um, just that, that chance that I had, but I knew immediately, like I wasn't, um, I wasn't seen as a partner, you know, which is very like, wasn't, I was just an associate and I felt like I just had way more to offer.
The Dental A Team (06:59)
you
Hunter Bennett (07:22)
I was, I was probably as much of a gung ho person as, as you can be coming out of residency as far as trying to be an owner. ⁓ but I was willing to like sort of sweat my way in if that's what it took just to be where I, where I wanted to live. ⁓ so long story short, like I learned pretty quickly that wasn't going to happen. So started just taking a bunch of CE, ⁓ traveling and then became good friends with Nate. Nate's like, Hey, just come check out Florida, you know? And, ⁓ so yeah, I went out there and, and, ⁓
The Dental A Team (07:35)
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (07:52)
If I've ever had a prayer answered as clearly as that, that was it. I mean, was, was clear as day. That's where my family was supposed to be. I actually served a mission for my church in Florida. I never planned to go back. ⁓ And that's ⁓ Tampa. So they actually, yeah, it was inside my mission, but I live in Naples and so didn't spend a ton of time in Naples, but yeah. So anyways. ⁓
The Dental A Team (08:03)
No way. Same place?
Yeah?
I know Naples. I consulted a practice in Naples.
It's a beautiful place. Yeah, it's awesome.
Hunter Bennett (08:16)
Yeah, yeah.
It's a, it's an awesome place and, ⁓ coming here was, it was definitely not like what I envisioned, but the practice was and the partnership was, and we experienced just like when I got here, he had bought the practice and the old owner was staying on like 50 % of the time and Nate was just grinding, you know, expanded the office. He had already done a lot of the footwork to get us to seven ops and.
We grew so fast, like we tried to find associates, like within my first six months, I didn't even bought in yet. We were already interviewing for associates and we couldn't find anybody that we just really wanted to send offers to. But yet we were just like in the chair all day. And I'm sure you hear this all the time. Like, I'm sure you get this all the time, Cary. It's like just grinding and grinding and then like you get done and then you're dealing with, you know, assistance and days off and they want to raise and, and just drama.
The Dental A Team (09:01)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (09:12)
Taxes, know workers comp I mean you name it like all the things that come after work that are so stressful and Having a young family and and then just like like responsibilities outside of work like, know for us like there's a lot of stuff going on at church ⁓ At home. I was coaching my kids. So again, I think a lot of people that are listening can relate to this lifestyle and I think
The Dental A Team (09:14)
Yeah.
Hunter Bennett (09:36)
I as as I prepped for this conversation, we had a couple options. One option was to bring in a consultant, which we had thought about, and we already because we both came from the same practice in Arizona that had used a consultant, we felt like we sorta. We already knew how to be efficient. We already had a ton of systems in place. I think we struggled a little bit culturally. And I think frankly, this isn't a. You didn't put me up to this, but like had we hired someone like you like honestly, we may not have gone to DSO route. Frankly, like.
The Dental A Team (09:50)
Yeah.
Sure.
Hunter Bennett (10:05)
Cause all the things we were struggling with, think could have been dealt with in a different way. But we saw the DSO route as, as an option, you know, um, and there's, mean, we went back and forth and like, that's all we would talk about. We'd get done and then we talked about it for like an hour and then we'd go in cycles and circles. And this is the pro, this is the con. And ultimately we landed on, you know, um, this is just a really good way to sort of bring some balance in our lives. And I'll be honest with you. I, I hated, hated.
The Dental A Team (10:10)
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (10:35)
hated like the first six months, the transition period for us was particularly hard. We have a very unique practice. But I'm in almost four years now, and I will say like, I feel like it all happened for a reason. And it's really allowed me a ton of flexibility in my life, and my lifestyle has improved a ton. So kind of what you described as sort of your purpose and letting people
The Dental A Team (10:40)
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (11:03)
kind of see like what is your North Star? Like what is your real purpose? ⁓ I don't think that would have been, I don't think I would have been able to discover that had I continued on the path that I was on, honestly. So a DSO I think is good. First of all, when you talk about like a DSO, it's like a swear word, right? Because there's so many types of DSOs and there are some bad players out there for sure. And so like deservedly so, there's a lot of companies that should have a bad name, but there's also some really good ones.
The Dental A Team (11:14)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (11:33)
And that was one
thing, like we interviewed around and we met with a lot of different groups and talked to people from different groups. And I think there's a lot of good groups out there, but I'm actually quite happy with our group overall. And it's been four years and I will say like a lot of the turmoil I felt in that first six months was just the change, know, the change in trajectory, like giving up. I still run my practice. The thing is like, no one knows that I'm in a DSO. Like people know like my referring doctors now, but like they don't care.
The Dental A Team (11:44)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Hunter Bennett (11:59)
Because nothing changes like nothing I run the way I want to run it and that's very unique to my group. I would say we hire we fire we make days off like we do pretty much anything we want we bought you know, we can get equipment so I Feel like my day-to-day really hasn't changed and I know that's not true for every DSO I think DSOs can be compared to like like restaurants for example. It's like ⁓ don't go out to eat because it's not healthy It's like well, I mean generally speaking probably true, but there are some healthy options out there
The Dental A Team (12:00)
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Totally.
Right.
Hunter Bennett (12:29)
And
⁓ that's kind of how I see DSOs is like I do think there are some healthy options out there and it totally depends on personality. So. ⁓ I will say like the pros for me so far and you can ask me like maybe some more specifics, but yeah, yeah, so I'm so. Yeah, like that's that's just the general story, but I will say like you know this far in like that's kind of the general gist of my experience and if I could do it all over again, I I probably would. ⁓
The Dental A Team (12:37)
Mm-hmm.
I'm going to ask some questions. I'm like plunging behind. I've got a decent amount. I'm excited for it.
Hunter Bennett (13:00)
I say though, like I am very curious to see what it would have been like to have hired, you know, like to bring you in and just say like, all right, come in here. And a couple of my assistants were like, don't bring the consultant, don't hire a consultant. And I don't think that really influenced me as much as I felt like, honestly, I just felt like I didn't need one, but looking back now, I think that definitely would have been a really good option. So I think you either go the DSO route or you bring someone in. But again, I talked to dentists, I work with a bunch of different dentists. I talked to a bunch of guys all the time, every day.
The Dental A Team (13:08)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sure.
Hunter Bennett (13:30)
And they haven't had such good experiences with consultants either. So I'm sure you'd get the same thing, you know, but.
The Dental A Team (13:33)
I do. That's
one of my first questions when I walk into an office. Tell me what you think about consultants and it's a rip. And I want them to, because why not? Like let's get it on the table. And I think, I think the difference with us consulting versus others, because consultants are going to be there's good and bad, just like there are of DSOs, just like there are of marketing, which is like there is a people. I think the difference is one,
Hunter Bennett (13:39)
Yeah, yeah, totally.
The Dental A Team (13:58)
I come a team member first. So like my job is to help dentists and I'm a business owner and a multimillion dollar business owner second. And so when you combine those two perspectives together, I very much understand the business side of it. And it's not just theories and ideas. It's true, like hard knocks, ⁓ hundreds and thousands of offices and team members of what are the processes. But second, like I don't hire MBA students. I don't hire people that are just like,
you know, they, want to be a consultant. hire people that have a passion for it. They've been in the front and the back office. So I think teams, that's why I actually named it Dental A Team. want it to be dentists and teams because so many consulting companies either focus on the dentist or they focus on the team, but not both. I'm like, but you have to get both on the same page. And teams are freaked out by consultants. Consultants come in and fire. Consultants are stressful. Consultants are rigid. They make you do it this way. And my thoughts are no one, it's you with your vision.
Hunter Bennett (14:42)
Mm-hmm.
The Dental A Team (14:55)
it's what do the numbers tell us and the profitability and three based on those two pieces, what are the systems that we need to improve based on like the problems in the practice too. And when you go about it that way and my job is to make life easier, not harder. I think when you go about it that way, teams are not as scared. And that's also why we built the podcast. So teams could hear us. They could learn like, what do we talk about? Because I think a lot of it's just the unknown. And so I, that's going to be like my two cents for a consultant, but I'm going to like back up for you Hunter on, have questions for you.
Hunter Bennett (15:24)
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (15:25)
I have question marks all the way around. One, think actually excellent point on the associateship and doctors listening, Hunter, you said you were a very equipped, very eager associate. You have a degree in business. I mean, you've got like the little gold star around you, a prime, ⁓ an associate prime for partnership that I think so many doctors are afraid and they don't know how to build partners in that they actually miss a lot of golden opportunities. And so
I like that was one of the nuggets I picked up from your story of like, I don't know who the doctor was and I'm not here to judge. They have their own story, their own reasons. But I think when doctors have great associates like yourself, you're destined to like, I know you're going to own a practice. When you come in with that type of acumen behind you, you're going to own a business. So either I can be smart and snag you and partner in with you and have you help me build and create it. Or I can let you go and you're either going to become my competitor or you're going to go somewhere else. And so there's no right or wrong.
but I think so many owner doctors, do see this. They're afraid bringing on a partner, you do like take home less pay. Like with air quotes, you get paid upfront, but you're like day in, day out is less. ⁓ But I really wanted to highlight that because I think like, well, it all worked out perfectly for you, Hunter. I think doctors listening to this could definitely learn from that. And it's okay if you don't want a partner. Some people are adamant of no partners. They don't want to give any of that up. They don't want to give away the control. That's okay. Don't hire someone like Hunter.
Or be okay that he's gonna probably leave you in about one to two years. And like any thoughts around that? They do.
Hunter Bennett (16:50)
Yeah. I think everybody goes through that. Yeah. No, a
hundred. Like I have a ton of thoughts about that because it's, it's, I do, because I mean, I hear it all the time, like every week where Dennis is like, well, I'm just going to plug in an associate and then I'll just take some time off. it's like, that's not really how it works because you have to decide in like Jeremy Mooney, for example, like I talked to Jeremy all the time. He's one of my best friends and you sort of, I know it, I feel like every time I talk to him,
The Dental A Team (16:57)
Talents.
Hunter Bennett (17:19)
And he wouldn't mind me saying this, like just inevitably what happens is when someone doesn't buy in all the way or they just treat it like a job, like they come and go, you know, and that's, that's the price you pay. And so as a specialist, like we have to maintain relationships and referring offices. if associates are coming and going, that is such a, it's it's a rough look. And then for a dental practice, it's the same thing where patients, know, patients come to me they're like, I went to this practice and I saw the third doctor in my third visit, you know, and it's, they don't like that turnover.
And so what you make in money you pay for in stress and headache, I think on an associate, like when you're making money on your associate, not to mention all the headaches that come with training, reviews, stuff like that. ⁓ And so, yeah, I think ⁓ I totally see both sides of it. And the doctor that Nate and I both work for, he's got like four associates now and he's crushing it. So like, good for him. know, like that's, he's doing really, really well.
The Dental A Team (18:14)
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (18:16)
⁓ Me and eight are like best friends and we have this relationship that like will be friends for life like he's like he doesn't have any brothers like I'm like his brother he's like my third brother, you know, it's just We just have this amazing relationship that I wouldn't trade for anything, you know, and not all partnerships are that way I think we've been super super blessed and super lucky that way but when both partners are both givers and you both want to just work hard and you have their back no matter what like you can find that man like
The Dental A Team (18:21)
Mm-hmm.
Agreed.
Hunter Bennett (18:44)
whatever money you give up by being a partner, you'll get back in like that, just sitting down at the end of the day and having someone to talk to that you're equal in business plan with, to take risks with, to, you know, even just to have like that comfort of talking to someone, you know, like you you get done with a tough day and just having that person there is, is priceless. I don't think you can put a price tag on that. So I wouldn't give up my partnership with Nate for anything, you know, and, and,
The Dental A Team (19:00)
Yeah.
Hunter Bennett (19:09)
Yeah, and and I think that's quite unique like in our DSO like no one really knows like we have like 400 partners I think now and Like when they think of Nate they think a Hunter or when they think a Hunter they think about Nate like we're just known like you usually don't see one without the other so to the doctors out there that own if you can find someone like that or someone even remotely close like man and someone that's gonna stay long-term like you eliminate so much stress and so many headaches by being open to having a partner and then if you have associates that might come and go
The Dental A Team (19:20)
Awesome.
Hunter Bennett (19:38)
And you want, you have the space and the availability and you want to do that, that's an option. But if you feel like you're drowning and you can find someone that's a really good business partner, I definitely see the value. Cause Nate and I, spent the better part of two years looking for associates to work for us. And again, it's that whole thing of like, well, man, I don't think they're going to be, I don't think they're going to have the personality that we need. But you know, then you hire, then you interview the really good ones. You're like, well, they're going to want to be a partner so we can't hire them. So you're just always playing that game of like.
There is no perfect answer. You know, you don't, you don't have like a unicorn associate that's just, and maybe there are a few where they just are just a total 10 out of 10, but then they just don't want to own. just want to show up. So it's pretty rare. They will. Yeah.
The Dental A Team (20:17)
Totally. And some will. It is.
But okay, that actually led me to my next point I wanted to dig into because partnerships, some are magical like you guys have and others sink ships. So I want to hear how did you get into the partnership? Like what, what does that look like? How much did you both bring? Like as much as you want to get into the nitty gritty with me, because I think partnerships are so challenging to do well and to hear that you and Nate have a great thing. So I'm almost like, okay,
Hunter Bennett (20:24)
Yeah.
Yeah, totally.
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (20:46)
There were some tips about associateships and bring us and I agree like, welcome down, like have these people with you. They're going to grow your business. I could not do a Dental A Team does without incredible consultants. And while none of them are partners per se, a lot of them, I've given them opportunities to do different pieces, tip from the get-go. We talked about, offered her to be a partner. She's like, heck no, I want nothing to do with that, but give me my time and give me my life with my child and girl I'm with you forever. So get read, there are different things, but I mean,
Did I give up money when I first brought in all these other consultants to help out? The answer is yes. But I look at it now and it actually like makes me so giddy to see there are so many practices we're impacting that me as a solo person could not serve at that level. So that's, think the beauty of like, yes, there's a dip, but there's also growth in and serving that you can do at a higher level. So with that said on associates, now we're moving into partnerships. Walk me through Hunter. I want to know the like ins, outs, good, bad, like partnerships. I'm sure you guys have had.
some knockout drag outs. I'm sure you guys have had highs and lows in partnerships. I'm sure you like, but I'm curious, like, how did you guys structure it to make it great for both of you? And then I'm to go into DSO. So I want to know partnership though, because like, it's my buffet. I'm choosing an associate now buying and being partners in DSO.
Hunter Bennett (21:57)
Yeah.
Yeah,
yeah, for sure. think the key was ⁓ for me and Nate, like we're both givers. And so, you know, we never have fought over money. you know, there's just never, we've just been lucky to not have that. We're very similar because we kind of cut our teeth in the same practice. We had the same philosophy too. Like just we're very, very efficient. both work super, super hard.
The Dental A Team (22:25)
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (22:26)
So we're both hard drivers that way. We're both very perfectionistic Like we we both do the same type of root canals like we we kind of have the same treatment philosophy, you know, ⁓ And granted he's seven years older than me So like Nate you I have to give him a ton of credit because he's just been super helpful clinically and like I felt like after years like I was actually I wasn't at my prime prime for sure But like I was I was I was cooking I was doing pretty good and he helped bring me up to where I am
The Dental A Team (22:50)
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (22:53)
Now, you know, I've been here like seven years now, but like that first year, like he still just helped me, you know, deal with some of the tougher cases. Naples is just a place that tough cases. But the thing that, thing, yeah, it's old people, retired, calcified, whatever stuff from Europe. That's like totally, totally crazy. But ⁓ he was just so patient. And so just, man, he was just so happy to have me here. Cause he was like, he was burning out. Like he was so tired. And so he was just grateful I was here. He always told me that.
The Dental A Team (23:01)
Right? is. It's a good place for business.
Hunter Bennett (23:20)
The way we structured it. I worked for him for a year and I was supposed to buy in after the first year, but COVID had hit. so banks weren't like, they were like, hold on, chill out. Like it was literally like March I was supposed to buy in. And so like, you know, we were like, me and him were like alternating days and like, you know, like sharing N95s cause that's all we had. And I mean, that's a whole nother thing. So that delayed the buy-in like six months. And during that time, like, yeah. Yeah.
The Dental A Team (23:27)
⁓ huh.
Yeah.
And hold on, before you go to that, when you moved out there, was it part of
your contract and agreement that you were going to buy in in a year? Was it 50-50? Were those things like in place? Were those like in your contract? Okay.
Hunter Bennett (23:51)
Yeah, one year. Yeah, yeah, it was all agreed to.
And you know, I actually don't know if it was in, so the thing was like, when I was in Prescott, I went to the same church that Nate had gone to, like I went to the same congregation. So everybody that knew him just absolutely loved him. Like he was like the cream of the crop. Everybody was just like, you know, like I felt like I was partnering with like, you know, just this.
The Dental A Team (24:10)
Mm.
Hunter Bennett (24:18)
Completely amazing person which he is so I had no doubts. Yeah, it's like the Michael Jordan like not even I don't even know like analogy would be like Muhammad Gandhi like he was like just such this Just a good dude, you know and so I didn't have a lot of reservations as far as our agreements go and then just again, maybe not the smartest thing but like I don't know it may have been in the writing but I don't really remember and I wasn't that worried about it because I guess naively I trusted him and just felt like it would work out but this was all verbally agreed to
The Dental A Team (24:18)
Michael Jordan of dentists.
Wow.
Because I do know for some people
like some people have it's the verbal agreement. I'm sure
Hunter Bennett (24:47)
I would, mean, he would have been willing to, he would have been willing
to, and maybe it was, like it might have been in our first contract. I had David Cohen write it up, I had to go back and look, but he did our partnership agreement too. He's awesome for anybody that needs an attorney, but yeah, I've sent him a ton of people. But that was the thing, like we had all that agreed to, then the other conversation that I know a lot of people don't have, and a lot of people hold resentment about is how you're gonna
The Dental A Team (25:00)
We do love David Cohen. We refer to him quite a lot.
Hunter Bennett (25:17)
split profits. And so we decided early on, it's like, eat what you kill. Like if you do, so the way I did it, I, we, sort of calculated a rough guesstimation of what our overhead was. And then we gave ourselves like, we would do, okay, you get this percentage. We each get this percentage of our production. And then let's say it was like 45, 55, then we split the profits that same way. Whatever's leftover, we're going to split by that same amount. And frankly, like, I don't think we were ever correct.
The Dental A Team (25:18)
Totally.
Mm-hmm.
by the amount that you produced? Is that correct? So,
okay.
Hunter Bennett (25:45)
collected. we're
fever like our collection is same as product like we're yeah, so it's the same number but Yeah
The Dental A Team (25:50)
Right. So sorry, let me back this up. So you guys go produce
and let's just use numbers. Usually in GP, it's 30 % of what you produce. Usually in specialty, you're like 40, 45 % of what you produce. Like let's just use some like loose numbers, hypothetical.
Hunter Bennett (26:03)
Sure.
The Dental A Team (26:04)
Nate, you produce, you're welcome. We've got this. So let's just say you produce 100 grand in a month. Nate produces 100 grand in a month. Let's say you guys are both taking 30 % your specialist. So giggle at me because I know you're not 30%. You both would be taking 30 grand of that leaving. We've got 70 from each of you, but we have overhead in that as well. So we've got to take our overhead out of there. So we've got 70, 70 hypothetical we're going to take. Let's just do let's leave at the end there's 60,000.
Hunter Bennett (26:21)
Yep. Yep.
Yep. Yep.
Say 50.
The Dental A Team (26:33)
60,000 of profit
Hunter Bennett (26:34)
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (26:34)
at the end of it after you guys have produced 200,000, collected 200,000, you both have been paid your 30,000 each. Of that 60,000, how was that split? Was that a 50-50 split or was it based on like, let's say you produced 100 grand, but Nate produced 200 grand. Did the 60,000 at the end get split based on production amounts or was that like, how was the profit split?
Hunter Bennett (26:54)
Correct.
Yeah, so we would just split the profit exactly like you described in the latter example where it's based on what you produced that month or collected that month, then we would split the profits that month. And I just had a spreadsheet, I did all the math. And so we would just work it out between the two of us. And we never had an issue. I would just plug it and just plug and chug and it was never an issue. And truly like...
The Dental A Team (27:09)
Nice.
Hunter Bennett (27:19)
We were never more than like 52 48, you know, that might've been like, ⁓ you know, I don't remember a month ever being off by more than 2 % or 4%. So it really wasn't a big battle. And one thing too, that I told Nate going into this, and this was for me, I had to just like, was president of like my business school, like my junior year president of the whole business school, like the vice president of all business school, my senior year, like
The Dental A Team (27:23)
Thank you.
interesting.
Hunter Bennett (27:45)
I was used to being leadership positions. I was used to sort of being in charge. But I knew coming here, he was there first. And I told him, was like, I know you're going to be the alpha. All the referrals know you. I'm just going to have to take that backseat role. And I think me just acknowledging that and accepting that was so important because I had no ego. I didn't have to prove that there was no competition between me and Nate. We were 100 % on the same team.
The Dental A Team (27:56)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (28:12)
⁓ Again, and maybe that's unique to a specialty practice because you're kind of working together maybe more than you would in a GP office. I don't know. ⁓ Or maybe you're competing for patients a little more. I'm not sure. I've never worked in a GP office. But the dynamics for us is like, we're just, there's like all the referrals. It doesn't matter which doctor you want. Like you're getting your next available doctor unless there's a few exceptions. So we were very good about having no egos. And that was really important to our partnership too. But
financially it was quite easy for us and convenient just because our numbers were pretty similar. Or if he took a couple weeks off, then obviously he'll still get his collections from that month, but then I would get a little bit bigger chunk of the profit. But then when I took my time off the next month, they would just work itself out. so, ⁓ and he was always, like I said, he was always at the end of the year, Nate always produces just a little more than me. And I was just okay with it. You know, I was like, whatever, hang on.
The Dental A Team (28:46)
Mm-hmm.
Sure.
Sure.
Hunter Bennett (29:06)
And this I think is the desert that we can talk about later because how do we
The Dental A Team (29:07)
Fascinating. Yeah.
Hunter Bennett (29:10)
measure success? How do we measure fulfillment? And when we tie it to profits and numbers and income, it's just not super healthy. And I've had to learn that. Like that's probably been one of my biggest paradigm shifts over the last year, year and a half and sparked by your presentation and the conversations that we had. So.
The Dental A Team (29:27)
Well, that's fascinating to me and thank you. That's a huge compliment. ⁓ I'm fascinated by that partnership split and the fact that you both were eat what you kill. I actually love that because then you got two very motivated partners. Also, you don't accidentally get one partner who's not pulling their weight. I know a lot of times ⁓ and I think the difference that I sometimes see in GP versus specialty is sometimes I have a super producer in GP.
So one who's doing hybrid and implants and all these different cases. And then I've got another doctor who's doing bread and butter. Well, obviously the super producer is going to produce more, but you need the bread and butter dentist to be taking care of all those profie patients and all the day in day out. So you can super produce. So those ones, often will see that it's more going to be a 50 50 split, but I do oftentimes see the super producer gets a little annoyed because they're like, if they're not both givers.
⁓ I've seen this wax hard on partnerships just in the fact of you look at the numbers and what are you putting up on the board? But I think those partners really have to look at this. It's the ultimate whole. And if the ultimate whole of the business is doing well, both parties are winning. And they have to just see that they bring different strengths to the table, just like in a marriage. And we're not looking at dollars on the board. We're looking at collective as a practice. But that is one where I do watch. And so I do think in specialty, that might be something I had not thought of.
but I love to hear how you guys broke it down, how you picked it apart. And also the fact that there was no ego on taking a patient. Cause I do sometimes see that in partnerships where, if I'm going to get what I kill, I want more of these patients. I want to take them on because that's going to impact my production. But at the end of the day, you guys are still doing well on the profit side. So fascinating to me to hear how it was set up, how you guys got into it, how the buy-in was, ⁓ and then moving forward. And I'm guessing Hunter, I don't know Nate.
Hunter Bennett (31:01)
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (31:18)
But I'm excited. I mean, I have a quote over here by Gandhi. So when you said that I was like, well, perfect. ⁓ But my hunch is typically in a partnership, I see someone who's like yourself, who's really big into business, like they know the numbers, they have the business acumen. And usually the other partner tends to be more of the people side or this is like, you usually have a separation. So I again, I don't know Nate, but my guess would be not to say that you're not great with team members to
but I'm guessing you're very business savvy, you're very system savvy, and he's gonna be more people savvy and relationship savvy. Again, I don't know, maybe both of you had that, but I'm curious, did you see that dynamic in your partnership that maybe blended you guys really well coming together?
Hunter Bennett (31:54)
Yeah, no, that's a really good point and we do compliment it. You're pretty much spot on. would say Nate definitely like is a lot more of a calming, know, I'm kind of like people tell me I'm just fiery, you know, like we've had different.
The Dental A Team (32:07)
You
I do remember you walking
up. You wouldn't even shut your light off on me. Like you were busy. You were down to business. Like, here, I need these things in the most respectful way. ⁓
Hunter Bennett (32:14)
Yeah, I'm
Pretty pretty focused. Yeah, pretty focused I would say and so I would say there is that little bit of balance But Nate's not a dummy like he was harvard number two in his class at harvard like he's super smart and so He would always lean into me for the business stuff just because I had a degree and I could speak the language and accounting and depreciation and all you know, like that stuff I think sort of intimidated him more than it needed to because once you explain it, know, you know But because he hadn't trained that way like he would sort of lean into me and that stuff
The Dental A Team (32:33)
or.
Right.
Hunter Bennett (32:43)
But even having someone to talk about because he'd already dealt with the accountant. He already dealt with workers comp. So I'd be like, hey, how does this work? Cause I'd never done it. So he'd explain it to me. And then as a team, we would work it out. You know, as a team, we would make big decisions. So yeah, I mean, you'll both bring different things to the table. And it's actually good that you can be different. I had another opportunity to partner somewhere else before Nate. I was way too much like that guy. I was like.
The Dental A Team (32:49)
Thank
Yes.
Hunter Bennett (33:10)
This isn't gonna work. I knew right away like I said, you know I went and visited the practice did the whole thing sent like a follow-up email and I think we both knew it's just like yes, isn't gonna work and The negotiations didn't go very far and it was fun. It was like we're still friends and we keep in touch So I think it's important to like you think ⁓ we're so alike man That's not always like the best thing. And so our differences are actually probably what what bring us together and make us strong ⁓
The Dental A Team (33:19)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
No.
Hunter Bennett (33:37)
Yeah. And so that's, that's like a, that's a super fair point about that. And again, a lot of it's just been serendipitous. Like that just happened to fall into place. It just, it's just worked out that way, but it's, it's like a marriage. That's the perfect thing. It's like, it's like a marriage without all the benefits per se. Like you just, you're just like, you're just, you just get the hard part of them. Yeah. You just get the hard, you get the hard part of the marriage where you have tough conversations, but again, you just take them head on. And when you have no ego and, or a limited ego, and when you just want your partner to succeed, like
The Dental A Team (33:38)
Yeah.
You get the profits benefit.
Hunter Bennett (34:08)
You can't really fail in my opinion. ⁓ even when it came to like negotiate, like I had six months of partnership income that I was missing out on, but then there's the COVID thing. And, at the end of the day, said, Nate, like what number, like what, what, what do want me to do the whole valuation? I didn't really care. I was willing to pay whatever I didn't. To me, the relationship was way more important than any number. And so we just came to a number that we both felt good about based on the valuation, but I was flexible and frankly, I didn't care because it was so important to me. And, ⁓
The Dental A Team (34:09)
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Hunter Bennett (34:37)
And we came to what we thought both was fair and it's been, it's been a dream. you know, and those, we're like best friends and those conversations can still be a little awkward and a little hard, but they don't have to be. And they, they were always fine. You know, um, if there's a book I could recommend, talk about it all the time. It's Crucial Conversations. Um, one of my favorite books of all time. think everybody should read it before you get married. You should read it like in college. Like I think it should be required reading before you graduate college.
The Dental A Team (34:50)
Right.
Hunter Bennett (35:04)
But that's one book that's just helped me a ton. As a leader, business owner, as a partner, ⁓ husband, it's just helped me a ton.
The Dental A Team (35:05)
Definitely agree.
I love that. I also love that you guys just, I think when you said like it just works and it was serendipitous, I think that's something to look for in a partnership. I think if anybody's looking at partners, if it's hard and it's just not flowing, don't force it to work. ⁓ The best partnerships I really do see where they kind of fall into place this way, they're aligned, you hire people that are complimentary to you, not just like you, because you do need the two halves to a whole.
Hunter Bennett (35:29)
Hmm.
The Dental A Team (35:39)
to make it really great. And then I think you guys have done a good job of keeping egos in check. think you guys, what you said Hunter, that I hope all partners listening to this or potential partners, you want your partner to succeed and that's your ultimate goal and that's what you're driving for. when Jason and I learned that in our marriage, where like my greatest success is Jason's success, it went from a like, what are you giving for me? And what am I getting out of this relationship to a like,
I want Jason to give me five stars because he's a raving fan because like I am, I'm doing all that I possibly can to make sure he's succeeding and his life is incredible. And when both partners are in that, it goes away from you and it goes to them and to make sure that they're succeeding. And I really do see that that works great in marriages, partnerships. So I'm obsessed with that. Kudos to you guys on that. I love that also Hunter, I hope people buying in.
the partnership and having that, I say the way you start a partnership is how you're going to end the partnership. I love Hunter that you came in as the quote unquote junior partner, but you, leveled yourself up to be an equal partner to him. And I'm really proud of you because I think a lot of associates are stay very timid. They say very junior. They act like they don't know anything rather than being like an equal partner. And I'm like, no, no, no, if you're going to be a partner in this, you need to be a partner and bring your weight. So kudos to you on that.
Hunter Bennett (36:49)
Yeah.
Totally.
The Dental A Team (36:57)
And then I also just really love that you guys have just had multiple conversations that you just have blended it so beautifully and that you said you were willing to pay whatever he wanted. Like, of course, you're going to be fair. You knew the numbers, but the partnership and the success was more important to you. And I think when you go into it and that's how you start your partnership, I can tell why you guys are actually really great partners. So great job and thanks for highlighting that. And now I want to know about selling to a DSO because I do agree. ⁓ Having a consultant.
oftentimes makes it where you don't have to sell to a DSO. And we do that sometimes. Sometimes I'll grow the practices for you and it's like, well, why would you sell to a DSO when they're just gonna come in and grow your business anyway? Like, let's do this on your own. I had a doctor who we were chatting and he's like, yeah, Kiera, they're gonna give me five mil for it. And I said, cool. Next year, you're probably gonna do five million on your own or within two years. So you can pay them out and they're just gonna do what you were already going to do. And agreed, a lot of that stress comes.
Hunter Bennett (37:36)
Yeah.
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (37:55)
from that, but Hunter, you said something in the very beginning that struck me when you said you sold to the DSO. You said your life has exponentially gotten better. Your work life balance has gotten better since selling to the DSO, but you also said that you're doing pretty much all the same things you were doing as a business owner. So I'm super curious. How did your life get better while you're still doing, like you were like, I'm still hiring, I'm still firing. And I was like, so what was the perk of selling to a DSO and helped me understand how your life got better?
Hunter Bennett (38:19)
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (38:23)
And then I also want to know about your cell deal too, if you're open to that.
Hunter Bennett (38:27)
Yeah, for sure. don't, um, I probably should have illustrated the point that it's not like we didn't just get overwhelmed and all of sudden decide, okay, we're not, we're just going to throw up our hands and sell. Like we had hired a different office manager who was like, went through like Gary Katas's training. Like, like she was phenomenal. She was amazing. In fact, like she was a lot like you in a lot of ways, just really great personality, new dentistry. And I thought she was going to change our lives, you know, and she is awesome. Like she's an amazing person.
But it didn't end up working out. She left the practice that was being transitioned to a new doctor. So she came with us for a few weeks and it was going okay. And then they had a big crisis back there and she's like, is it okay if I just go back and help for like a week? And we're like, yeah, do what you need to do, you know? And then that doctor offered her equity in his practice. And so she ended up staying there, whatever. Yeah, whatever, it is what it is. And so my point is, like, I feel like we tried a different office manager. We tried restructuring and we tried.
The Dental A Team (39:15)
I mean, good deal.
Hunter Bennett (39:25)
The only thing we didn't hire a consultant, we definitely talked about it, but we didn't, I think in some ways I was probably just a weak leader in that way where I was maybe a little bit too proud to just get the help that we probably needed and instead just went a different route, you know? And so hindsight's always 20-20, but that just to create a little bit of the background to the story though. So it's not like we just, you know, all of sudden decided, you know, we're gonna,
The Dental A Team (39:47)
Of course.
Hunter Bennett (39:55)
just sell. So we had done all this other footwork. Sorry, what did you want to know about like the structure of the deal or what? Yeah. Okay. So when we, so when we, you know, after having done all this, we kind of, we had interviewed all these doctors, we had one kind of in the holster, maybe you can associate and we were just like, we were interviewing people, but we was just so, we were just tired. It's just like when you're doing root canal, it's like from like seven to five and you don't even have time to use like the bathroom.
The Dental A Team (40:03)
I do, I do want to know structure of the deal. Yeah, tell me it.
Yeah.
Hunter Bennett (40:25)
get a drink of water. It's just, we just burned ourselves out because we were chasing something and I don't even think we, we just wanted to change growth. Like we just wanted to, we just wanted to grow. We just always said all the time, were just grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow. And so we just kept the pedal to the metal. Excuse me. And I would say we just sort of outgrew ourselves and not that the wheels ever fell off, but like the culture in our practice was okay. Like we had good people, but we did have some of the wrong people on the bus. ⁓
The Dental A Team (40:27)
Yep.
Hunter Bennett (40:52)
And so when we started talking to DSOs, they saw our numbers, they saw our trajectory and we knew we had a lot of leverage. It was 2021. So the market was just red hot. We got a really good evaluation. We got a really good multiple. they were, you know, and so, you know, I actually talked to Matt Molcock, you know, he's my advisor and, ⁓ and just, I talked to my mentors, Dr. Jones, like, you know, ⁓ just people that I really respect. He's the man he had started nine, nine different endo or worked in or started nine different practices and
The Dental A Team (40:59)
I see. That is hot.
Mm-hmm.
Aw, Dr. John.
Hunter Bennett (41:19)
And his advice to me was like, you know, like I would do it if I were you. And so a lot of people would just had kind of encouraged me. And so at that point, me and Nate said, you know, we, and we got opinions both ways. And at the end of the day, our conclusion was it doesn't matter. Like, if I'm being honest, like that was kind of our answer to a kind of a joint prayer was like, it's not going to matter. Like it just, doesn't matter which way you go with this. ⁓ for the things that are truly important, it's not going to matter what you do.
The Dental A Team (41:35)
Agreed.
Hunter Bennett (41:46)
And so we, we, we decided to do the deal and I will say, like I said, the first six months were rough, but to the credit of my, company, like the group that I'm with, like our team and the people that we work with, they're phenomenal. Like I've never like had a, they, they just always bend over backward to accommodate us and help us. And we've done our part. We've grown like crazy, you know, are there times where I'm like, man, we could have done this on our own and, ⁓ our
The Dental A Team (42:06)
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (42:12)
whatever, you know, and you look at your paycheck now because now I'm paid on a percentage and I have equity in the company. And so you're just waiting on a recap. And that's a whole, again, talking about, we can get into this too is DSOs have so many different types of structures. Ours is not like a joint venture. So we don't, we don't profit share in ours. It's all in our equity. so equity events are like super important for us. and so Scotty Hudson Smith is our CEO and he's the one that did smile docs. they, he's done it three times.
The Dental A Team (42:21)
Yep.
They are.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (42:41)
He came to our dinner like the night that they were recruiting us and he wasn't officially the CEO yet But like he was sliding in that role. It just hadn't been announced I think it was like the next week or something, but he came and he just sort of created the vision for us and we just honestly we a little bit of a feeling and sort of that answer like it's not gonna matter and Now looking back Are there days that are where I have resented like seeing what I produce versus what I take home sometimes?
But I've got to remember they give you five or six years of your profitability upfront. And I've been able to put all that to work, you know, for the most part, I've done pretty well with that. Like not like home run, like you, you know, it's not like crazy stuff, but it's fine. I'm diversified now. Um, it's not all in my practice, but I do have a bit still in equity quite a bit. we did a 70 30 split. did 70 % cash, 30 % equity in the group. Um, and I just,
The Dental A Team (43:09)
Sure.
Sure.
Right.
Nice.
Hunter Bennett (43:36)
Some groups will give you flexibility, some won't. That's just the number that we wanted and they agreed to. And looking back, I'm still glad I did it that way. I actually had an opportunity to buy more equity about a year in, which I did. And so I bought more. And so that allowed me to just be a little bit more leveraged into the company.
on a bigger scale, like me and Nate work real hard for each other, but now you just got all these partners that are counting on you. And I think the mojo and the culture in our group is quite good. So.
The Dental A Team (44:04)
Yeah, that's it. That's actually really, really good to know because I think so many people wonder about DSOs. And so what did the DSO take off of you guys? Because I know there's some people that get scared of the equity. Like they get scared of equity because some DSOs have actually gone under. And so I actually love to hear that you were a 70-30 split, then you were able to buy in more if you wanted to, because if it goes under, that is your retirement. And so I love that you were able to put money into work so your retirement's not solely like
Hunter Bennett (44:12)
Yeah, that's what you asked.
⁓ Yeah.
The Dental A Team (44:31)
vested into this company. I really am big on that when DSOs do purchase, but what did they take off your guys's plates going in as a DSO?
Hunter Bennett (44:31)
Totally.
Yeah, sorry, that's what you asked me and I kind of got off track there, but...
The Dental A Team (44:40)
That's okay. I wanted
the deal. I wanted the deal. I actually wanted to know that a lot.
Hunter Bennett (44:44)
So we skipped to the deal,
but going back, like the thing that they've helped with the most, would say is like, just as an example, like, like, ⁓ there's like this employment tax, you know, that we'd always get these letters about every year with Florida and we'd call them and then I spent an hour on the phone, finally getting to someone. And then I had already canceled it, but then they automatically renewed it for it. And so it's just like, that's like one example, work, workman's comp. ⁓ even just like we had an office book for like policy.
And again, this might speak more to maybe my lack of strong leadership where when a team member says, well, I understand that's the policy, but this is what I have going on. And then when you bend the rules for one person, then it sort of just creates this culture of favoritism. And again, that was probably partly being a new owner and then a people pleaser. and something I've worked on a lot. And again, I'm not the same leader I was even five years ago, you know, four years ago when we sold, but, ⁓ having seen that now they, because there are just
The Dental A Team (45:34)
Totally.
Hunter Bennett (45:40)
company policies in place. And again, it might be a little maybe feel corporate, but now you sort of see the reason why things are corporate because otherwise people, if you run it like a small business and you do those little things here or there, all it does is create resentment within your team. And so ⁓ I will say just having a really, we've gone through like, man, we hired like two or three different office managers through the company that they helped us hire. And finally we hired internally and she's
The Dental A Team (45:53)
Totally.
Hunter Bennett (46:09)
man, she's phenomenal. she has just totally, she was at our front desk, she wasn't in dentistry, she came to the front desk and really for first couple of years she was pretty quiet. And then when we interviewed, we're like, we need to interview, are you interested? And she said, yeah, like I would. And she's absolutely just crushing it. And so she is a big reason because we finally, you know, like it's just a good fit for her, you know? And our old office manager is still with us and she's amazing, she's amazing. And she's just so humbly taking the role. She's she's like,
The Dental A Team (46:10)
Amazing.
Yeah.
Hunter Bennett (46:37)
just want to be in the front and she's the best front office person in the world. You know what I mean? And that's she didn't want to be an office manager and so it's kind of worked itself out and but I don't know if we would have made those decisions without being sort of forced into it with it with our structure in the corporate, you know in the corporate group. If I'm being honest, you know, there's a couple things like we were salary like we just paid our girls salary for example and so there was always sort of this resentment because here it's very seasonal.
The Dental A Team (46:39)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Totally.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (47:06)
So during winter, like our population in Naples doubles. And so the girls are working more hours. So they might work 42. I don't know if I should say this is, I guess it doesn't matter because I don't do it anymore, but they might work 42 or 44 hours one week. But in the summer, they're probably working 32, 34, 36. Or I'd just say, go home or whatever. So over the year, it just worked out. so they came to us, like, you can't do that. And so was like, so then we had to switch to hourly, which I really resented in that first six months. I was so mad. But now looking at it, it's actually the
The Dental A Team (47:06)
Right.
Right.
You
Hunter Bennett (47:35)
It's actually the fair way to do it. You know, it actually makes sense. ⁓ they like our, always get.
The Dental A Team (47:38)
It is. So it sounds like you just got a lot of like,
you got like a lot of company backing is what I feel like it is like the structure of a business. Yeah. Yep.
Hunter Bennett (47:44)
Totally, it's just more structure, more structure. I didn't have to be the bad guy, I guess. I sort
of get to say that's just how we do it. And so again, I think now, like the older version of Hunter sees that as, well, man, were kind of, you could have been a stronger leader, but I didn't know what I didn't know. ⁓ But now again, too, like looking at it, like this is exactly the path that I'm supposed to be on and it's fine. And truly like...
The Dental A Team (48:01)
Totally.
Hunter Bennett (48:11)
There's so many reasons to join a DSO. Some people are looking for an exit. Some people are looking for a lifestyle. And for me, it's just worked out that I, don't know what I was looking for besides relief from all the pressure I felt and, um, and it's worked out, you know? And so I still make enough money that I can do the things that I need to do and want to do. And if the equity works out, that's a cherry on top. And if it doesn't like it's okay for right now. And if I want to do something later,
I can do something else, you know, and that's the other thing too, like with, with the DSO is if, if you want to leave at some point you can. And I don't really have plans to leave per se, but like I, now it's an option. Whereas if I own the practice, that was one reason too, with me and Nate, who part of our thought process was, well, we're from the West in 10 years. If we want to sell in 10 years, who's going to buy us? Are we going to wait 10 years? Why don't we just do it now and grow with the DSO? So that was a big part of it too, is like, what is our exit? And so even though I'm only, I'm not, I'm 40 next year.
The Dental A Team (48:38)
can.
Totally.
Hunter Bennett (49:08)
I still was sort of planning an exit at some point because the practice was so big and we couldn't find a partner. So maybe that gives some insights retrospectively into our thought process because we did the same conversation every day for six months. But looking at it now, like that's what they've taken off our plate is all those little nuances that are just so mentally exhausting that now when I come home, I can just be present with my kids. I've changed my schedule. Like it's totally benefited my life.
The Dental A Team (49:14)
Totally.
Hahaha!
Hunter Bennett (49:38)
Lifestyle wise but it's not perfect but I would say an overall net positive, you know If you're not just looking at money, you know If you're not just looking at your month to month income I would say that's like the only downside is I don't make as much money as I used to but my lifestyle is way better so
The Dental A Team (49:43)
That's amazing. Sure.
And so we traded a few things, but who knows it can pan out as well to where you actually make more in the future. That's not a given, but like today you're at least in a good space. You've traded ⁓ like money for time. And I think that that's one of the most beautiful things, which ties to, as we like quickly wrap up. I love that you just talked about all the pieces of DSO. I love that you have a great experience. I love hearing the pieces that they were able to take and agreed a lot of businesses actually need to sell to a DSO because they've grown too big that there's not a buyer for them. And like that is
Hunter Bennett (49:57)
Yeah. Good.
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (50:22)
I think that's where a DSO actually becomes very paramount. And so I love that you guys knew your exit plan. I love that you knew where you wanted to go. And so Hunter, in our last couple of minutes together, I do want to hear about what you mentioned of the cherry, the dessert, of you've done all these pieces, you were associate, you did partners, you did DSOs, and thank you for just being so open. I think it's so hard to get like, what are the true numbers? How did your partnership work? I just want to know the hows. What did you do so I can build off of that?
what is now when you talked about like redefining what success is. I just want you to like highlight that for just a second as we wrap up today because this has been one of my favorite podcasts. One of my favorite humans to just hear your whole journey and now how you've kind of restructured from that money, the profitability and that being your success guiding star to what you're currently at right now.
Hunter Bennett (51:06)
Yeah, I think, I think one of the big moments for me at the end of the month, it was always fun. Like you just crush yourself during the day and then you get to the end of the month and we'd look at the bank account. put it in the spreadsheet. Me and Nate take the deposit and do all this. And you know, we would, we would sit there and withdraw all the money on our phones from bank of America into our personal or into our own business accounts. And that feeling lasts. It's very fleeting. You know, it's like you get that, you see that number, it feels really good, but then it goes away. And even when we got our check.
for our buyout, even when we got that big check, was really exciting, literally for like 24 hours. And then it's like, okay, I'm still the same exact person. Like I'm still doing all the same things. And so I just, as cliche as it sounds, I've just learned that money doesn't buy happiness, you know? And I thought for those couple years with Nate, while we were hustling and bustling, I was chasing a number, I think, and I don't even know what that number was. ⁓
The Dental A Team (51:41)
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (52:03)
hoping that at some point I would feel fulfilled. And when I got that money, I realized it didn't change a single thing. And so I had to start looking for other things and I ran into, you know, first couple of years in the DSO were fine, but then coming to the dentist money summit two years ago when you were there, and this was like, I was already thinking about getting into like a coaching program and whatever. And I was looking just to improve my life. Like I knew I needed something. I was just floundering. So I found...
Yeah, like like like an accountability group I went with a like a men's group and then now I'm with Richard Lowe and in Next Level Fathers and and it's like Just been I found my purpose. I found I knew I knew who I was I know who I am as a person I know who I am but I was living below what I had to offer because I was chasing the wrong things so now even though I'm making less money and this probably sounds like really foo-foo like
The Dental A Team (52:40)
Yeah.
I like it.
Hunter Bennett (53:01)
you know, for people that just
maybe haven't been through this yet or people that, ⁓ are just making a ton of money and are super happy. I don't know. Maybe, and maybe you can have the best of both worlds for me. I had to give up my time and energy to make the money and that took away from my family. And so now that I have that balance, I'm more fulfilled. I'm more happy. I'm more satisfied in my marriage. ⁓ I'm more content in every area of my life because I just started working on myself and I stopped chasing money and, and it just,
Like I think I feel. ⁓
I just see it differently now. just, see things for what they are. I'm not chasing cars. I'm not chasing houses. ⁓ I'm just totally content wearing my Apple watch and like, like, you know, like I don't need a Rolex. Like I don't, I just don't need that stuff. And I thought I did, you know, and I could go into more details on some of that stuff too, but it's just, ⁓ that would be my biggest takeaway. That's been the dessert is to give up the things that don't matter for the things that do. And it comes with sacrifice.
And it comes with a little bit of suffering, a little bit of pain, a little bit of resetting. ⁓ but it's all required and in the end, it's all really beautiful. And it's just like, it's a journey, right? It's just like, there is no mountain top. ⁓ there's just, there's always another mountain. There's always another hill to climb. And that journey up the hill is really where the beauty is. That's really, ⁓ where the growth happens and where you're fulfilled is when you're doing hard things. And, ⁓ it's definitely not money is just one measurement of that, but the money is not what brings the happiness. So that's.
That's been my biggest learning thing and learning experience or learning lesson learned. But, ⁓ again, I have to thank you. I'll do it on the podcast. Cause I know I texted you, but the little, I still remember where we were standing in the back of the room. said, care, like, I'm thinking about doing a coach. And you're like, stop thinking about it. Just do it. You're like, just do it. And I was like, all right. I was like, and I left that meeting on such a high, like, all right, I'm going to figure this out and I'm going to, I'm just, I'm going to find this next version of myself. And I keep rediscovering that person, you know, which is.
The Dental A Team (54:43)
Yeah.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Hunter Bennett (55:05)
It's been phenomenal. It's been so good.
The Dental A Team (55:07)
I'm so proud of you and thank you for sharing that. And I mean, I was just the person you were just ready for it at that time. And I think that that's magic that way. What I love so much is I feel like Hunter at such a young age, you found yourself. You found what fulfills you. I think that that is such a beautiful thing. I just did a podcast a couple of weeks ago called the empty millionaire. And when like people hit that million mark and they're just like, like you said, like you get the money and it's like, this is it. Like, this is what I've been chasing.
Um, and you realize that there's so much more to life than that. Not to say that money and metrics and all of that are not a worthwhile thing to go after everyone's at their own place in their journey. But what I love is you really were able to give us the buffet of dentistry today and to show us where the contentment came for you and how you're able to navigate that journey. And I'm just so, so proud of you, like genuinely proud of you. And just like all the happiness of I'm so excited to see that at in your thirties, you've discovered Hunter here.
Hunter Bennett (55:40)
Yeah, totally.
The Dental A Team (56:05)
and the person you become will influence and impact for many, many more years beyond just dentistry. And I think that that's the beautiful journey that you've been on, which is why I wanted to do on the podcast. Yes, to be like showcase somebody that I just think is incredible, but to also show the impact and influence that you can have for other people. So I really hope listeners today took from wherever you are on the journey. think Hunter, you really truly have gone through such a beautiful journey to get here. And thank you for being open. Thank you for sharing all the metrics, the numbers, your life.
And I'm just so happy for you. Like everybody in my opinion deserves happiness, fulfillment, joy, and to see that you have achieved that. Like I remember talking to you two years ago and you were just like, it was a frenzy. was kind like, I just don't know. And to see the more confident centered Hunter, I know there'll be more peaks, there'll be more valleys in your journey, but I think the ⁓ centeredness, the confidence in you, I feel like before you like, knew how it was. I feel like today Hunter,
2.0 has been created to where that certainty is there that will never leave you. So any last thoughts you wanna have today? Thank you for being on this. Thank you for all the things. Any last thoughts as we wrap up today?
Hunter Bennett (57:13)
No, I I just, appreciate the opportunity. I just want to express gratitude, you know, um, I don't want to come off like I've got it all figured out because I certainly don't. Um, but just recognizing and realizing that fact that there are going to be more valleys. And I will say like, that could be a whole podcast on its own, but I've had some really, really low valleys, you know, as I know you've shared with me too, but those are what make us who we are. And so for anybody that's, guess I would say like struggling, if you're trying to figure things out, just ask for help. Um,
There are so many resources now of people that are willing to mentor and help and encourage ⁓ with so much negativity like on social media and so much comparison. I just feel like it feeds this ego and ⁓ it's just not healthy. You know, we just need to as a profession as dentists, what we do is so hard. ⁓ It's so stressful and.
Only we can relate to what we're doing. No one else can understand unless you have a spouse that's a dentist or in the profession, which some of us do. And even then, you know, even then it can be tough. So ⁓ I would just give people that are struggling just words of encouragement that there is there's there's hope, you know, there's there's brighter things and ultimately just do your best. The money doesn't matter. And ⁓ I say that I say that. ⁓
I say that with some sensitivity because I know that there are people that are just feeling really heavy things in their practices. Kiera I know you've seen like genuinely struggling financially, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, it's so common in our profession. So if you're struggling, I would just encourage people to find resources because there's tons out there. ⁓ And I'm happy to have conversations with anybody if I can be of help to anybody that, you know, is struggling or wants to talk about the DSO thing and more details. ⁓
reach out to Kiera, can get ahold of me or whatever. just thank you for having me and thank you for sparking that light in me that it's, like I said, not to be too dramatic, but my life has changed a ton in last year and a half and I couldn't be more grateful.
The Dental A Team (59:09)
I'm so proud of you and thank you for that and agreed reach out. Like this is why don't do it alone. Like we don't have to do this alone anymore. Like we've evolved and I think like you said, Hunter, get the group. If it can be through a consulting group, like we're big on life and business. Like what you just said, Hunter, is why the reason I brought you on is because what you told me in that text is what I hope to achieve for our clients and for dentists listening to the podcast. Because to me, that's ultimate fulfillment. That's ultimate success. Like that is what we're striving for.
And sometimes it gets masked by the money, the profit, the team, outward, the outward expression of success rather than the inward expression of true success. And so thank you for being here. For all of you listening, reach out to Hunter, reach out to us. If we can help in any way, [email protected]. Hunter is one of the most genuine, incredible humans you will ever meet. And to be surrounded by people like him, I think is a beautiful thing you can give to yourself. So Hunter, thanks again for being here. Just so proud of you. I really am so proud of what you've done and who you've become and doing the hard work.
to get to where you are. So proud of you. Thanks for being on here today.
Hunter Bennett (1:00:09)
This was super fun. Thanks.
The Dental A Team (1:00:11)
Of course, and for all of you listening, thank you for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.
