Top of My Game: What’s Next (E.249)

What’s next when you’re at the top of your game?

That’s the question Dr. Bruce Baird tackles in this solo episode of the Productive Dentist Podcast. It’s not about burnout. It’s not about struggling. It’s about clarity, when you’ve already built the success you dreamed of.

Bruce speaks directly to dentists who are doing well—maybe even better than ever—but still feel that pull: to lead differently, live more intentionally, or prepare for a transition.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What to do when success no longer feels like a finish line
• How to translate financial freedom into lifestyle freedom
• The truth about building a practice too big to sell
• Why legacy starts long before retirement
• How mentorship can be the most fulfilling “next move” of all

This isn’t about quitting—it’s about choosing. Your next chapter starts now.

Key Reflection Questions for Listeners

• What does success look like for me now?
• Am I building something I’ll be proud to hand off—or something I’m afraid to leave?
• What parts of my next chapter can I start living today?
  

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Dr. Bruce Baird: Hi, this is Dr. Bruce Baird with the Productive Dentist Podcast, and this is the, uh, continuation of the What’s Next Series and, uh, this would probably be the last one I do, but you know, I’m, I’m, I had a dentist ask me, he says, “I’m at the top of my game. What’s next? You know, what, what do I do next outta the top of my game?” Well, I don’t know what that exactly means and, and how do I determine what’s next? You know, that’s kind of a personal, personal decision that people make, but what I would say is, um, from this question is that, you know, you’re at the top of your game, you’re productive, you’re making great money, you’re doing things at, uh, at the highest level, you love dentistry, um, your patients love you, your team loves you, and you’ve got options. You know what’s next? Well, uh, we’ve got offices and practices that are doing I. 5 million a year, 6 million a year, 7 million a year with a couple of associates. Uh, one practice that we’re working with, uh, doing 11 million a year. Uh, they have three brothers that are the, the dentist and they have a couple other associates. Um, and these mega type practices, they’re not really you know. Some of ’em I guess could be considered a group practice, but, um, or uh they’re not a DSO, but they’re, they’re together and their productivity is high. They’ve got great marketing, they’re doing things that way, but what’s next? Well, um, what I would tell, you know, what I would tell the doc is it really depends on what you want to do. I mean, you’ve got an EBITDA, uh, which is a profit every year after getting paid of a million dollars a year. Well, you know, you can, uh, keep doing that for the next, however, you know, if you’re forever how much longer you wanna work, you know, I, you may say, I wanna work 10 more years.

[00:01:56] Dr. Bruce Baird: I’m at the top of my game. I wanna do this 10 more years, and then I’m done. Okay, what’s next? Well, that’s the time actually to begin planning an exit strategy. That’s the time to begin planning. Uh, the sale of your business, uh, is 10 years ahead. Uh, but let’s say you haven’t planned, but you have a million dollars in EBITDA and you really don’t really want to work another 10 years. Um, there are options that you have, uh, as far as setting it up. You can sell to an independent dentist, uh, sell, sell the practice there. It’s a lot harder to sell a practice that’s $5 million because most individual dentists can’t afford that. So what we do is we end up building our practices to something we can’t even sell to an individual dentist and that’s where the private equity guys have really taken, uh, taken advantage of the situation, uh, and coming in and purchasing these, I say large practices, very highly productive practices. They don’t even look at practices that are doing less than a million and a half dollars a year. So you’re at the top of the game. What’s next? It depends on what it is you want to do. Um you certainly don’t have to sell. You could, you could go for 10 years. You say, I wanna practice until, until I can’t practice anymore. Well, you don’t have to do anything. You just keep, keep going. Maybe bring some associates in, you can work out. Uh, there are different ways of working out equity associateship positions where you can kind of give them a piece of the action as you go but if you’re making a million in profit every year, first of all. I would say if you’re gonna continue to work 10 years, let’s make that a million and a half or 2 million in profit over the next 10 years. Uh, not just a million, but money doesn’t become the issue. You know, lifestyle and time off and those types of things, uh, that would be what I would say, “Okay. What’s next?”

[00:03:45] Dr. Bruce Baird:  Well, that, maybe that’s next. You know, I, I just want lifestyle. Remember, that’s what I did. I went to two days a week, still kept producing, uh, 2 million a year, but I got five days off every week and, uh, that’s what I did. That was my What’s next? Um, as far as setting up for an exit strategy, selling your business, um, somebody with a million dollars in EBITDA. In today’s world, could get a check for 10 million, 12 million, and you’re not gonna be able to walk away with a check like that because they’re gonna want you to work. You know, three to five years. Why do they want you to work? Well, because you’re the one that’s been driving the train and, um, they don’t wanna lose the conductor. Uh, right off the bat they’ll find ways to bring in other, other doctors to come in and, and take over, you know, the productivity but it, it really becomes that option. What, what is it I want to do? Um, and, and, and dentistry, um, is one of those fields where you can make a phenomenal living, uh, at a high level, um, but you get to write your own story. You know, uh, what I can tell you what I did next. I mean, I, I started other companies. I’m an entrepreneur. I started several other companies, a software company, uh, that we eventually sold to AKKR. I coached. Um, I. I coached, uh, high school boys. I have all girls, but I coached high school boys a a u basketball, um, because it’s something I love. Um, I am what’s next for me. I, I’m gonna play Augusta National in the fall, which is something that’s been on my bucket list forever. I’ve been working hard to try to find a way to play there and, um, so. It’s about, you know, I, I don’t know, I think it’s about bucket lists. It’s about what’s on my bucket list, what are things I want to do, you know, gonna be 70 this year and, you know, I still wanna see the world.

[00:05:53] Dr. Bruce Baird: I’ve seen a lot of it, but there’s still places I want to go and, and people I wanna go with and so that’s where financially it allows you to, to do that and if, if you’re at the top of your game. You kind of understand that. Um, and another thing I would say is what’s your stress level? You know, is this, is this, uh, being at the top of your game? Is it stressful? Is it stressful going to the office? Um, if it’s not stressful going to the office, yeah, you got an option, keep going to the office, keep having fun. Enjoy your life, but make sure you get to spend time with family, friends, and, uh and take good care of yourself. You know, health wise, I’m, I’m probably in, well, I’m in the best shape I’ve been in, in probably 20 years, 25 years. Um, I, you know, I’m, I’m enjoying life and I think that that’s really one of those things that, you know, that’s why we’re here. I mean, to take care of people. I’ve been able to, to, uh, I’ve been able to be. Um, you know, donate revenue, donate money to charities. Uh, we have a rabbit farm in Zimbabwe that, uh, we, we’ve been a part of and, um, um, the New Hope Girls down in the Dominican, which is, uh, a home for, uh, for kids that have been abused and, uh, trafficked. Uh, so, and, and even right here in our local town, we’ve, we’ve donated to, uh, the Children’s Advocacy Center. So it’s, it’s, you get to do the things that are important to you and, uh, I, I said in the last, uh, podcast or couple before, was that Jeff Buskey, my, my, my partner for years has a great course on. Really, I don’t know, identifying what it is you want to do for the future. You know, what, you know, my family, my friends, my uh, my fitness, my finances, all of those things and so that can be something that really takes you to a new level. I’ve watched guys really just blow up in their, uh, in their decision making on what’s next in, in their, in their practice and in their life. You know, the other thing about that question is, you know. You know how to determine, you say, how do I determine what’s next? Again, I think I said a few months ago, I said, that’s where you sit out on a back porch with a glass of wine and you decide. You know, if, if your, your significant other, you say, what is it we want to do?

[00:08:29] Dr. Bruce Baird: You know, talk and, and, uh, have dentists that you can talk to. That’s where Productive Dentist Academy has, you know, study clubs. We have doctors that, uh, are part of a tribe that, you know, you’ll be able to ask questions to. Um, but you’re at a point in your life when you’re at the top of your game, you can either keep doing it for as long as you want, you can stop doing it. You know, if you, if you’ve invested property and you’ve done the things, you could stop doing it. So those are the kind of decisions that I love to make. You’re, you’re coming to a decision, you’re coming to that crossroads, you’re coming to that, do I take a left or do I take a right, based on abundance, based on an abundant mentality and what Productive Dentist Academy has been doing for 20 years is helping doctors get to. That abundance so that they can have an abundant mentality. Uh, it’s really hard to have an abundant mentality and to do things you want and to take care of people the way you want to take care of ’em when you haven’t taken care of yourself and so when I, when I hear somebody say I’m at the top of my game, I would say I’m at the top of my game physically. I’m at the top of my game from a productivity and finance. Um, and, you know, I’m at the top of my game of, of the things that I want to do in my life. So, um, that’s the kinda stuff that, um, to me makes dentistry fun and we have the greatest occupation, I think, in the world. I think it’s the greatest time to be a dentist. Uh, I think, uh, you know, I’ve got so many great friends. It’s, it’s afforded me the opportunity to see the world. It’s afforded me the opportunity to just have some real, serious, serious relationships, uh, with people that I, I may never have met. Um, you know, it’s kind of neat when, you know, dentists we’re all kind of engineers in the head, so we relate to each other and so, you know, that, that, that’s fun. We’ve got the new Clinical Calibration Institute now with Productive Dentist Academy, which. You can get involved in. It’s, it’s maybe not a what’s next decision for somebody who’s at the top of their game, although it could be.

[00:10:46] Dr. Bruce Baird: Um, but what’s next? I would recommend getting in, uh, involved with the Clinical Calibration Institute. It’s like 695 to 995 a month. Uh, not per person, but for the whole team and we helped train the whole team to live a life of abundance, to get to a place where stress is low, enjoyment is high. Um, and you know, I think I, you know, I think that’s where I wanna be. That’s where I am. Uh, I’m enjoying life. Um, let’s get you there too if you’re not there and if you are there, congratulations, man. I love it and I would love for you to become a mentor and help, help our docs because that’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for docs who, in all different areas of their life, uh, that we can help other docs. So, uh, productivedentist.com. Get involved with any of our programs and, uh, I super, I super look forward to seeing you at one of our, uh, one of our programs.