Starting a dental practice – #2 – Location, Location, Location
It’s all about location, location, location!
Finding a location will be your next step. You might want to enlist the expertise of a leasing agents to assist with the sourcing of locations and the lease negotiations that will follow.
What type of location are you looking for? Are you thinking about starting in a new development or building location? Are you looking to find an established location and complete a renovation within an existing space? Do you want to start off small and plan for future expansion or do you want to begin with the full scale office plan and populate with the equipment as the practice develops? Are you thinking about associates or specialists to join your team? How scalable will your clinic be?
Location factors
- Visibility – How easily can people walking or driving see your location? Or signage?
- Access – Can you patients gain access to your facilities easily? Is there parking for them?
- Demographics – Is your location near your ideal patients? What communities will you be pulling from? What are the opportunities nearby?
Once you have a location in mind you will want to request information from the landlord or seller. We call a set of drawings that represents what is there currently an as-built set of drawings. Do these exist? If it is a new building can you get the information regarding the floor plans and systems that are currently in place or planned for your space?
Starting lease negotiations is the next step. You will want to ensure that this is a permit allowable use for a dental clinic. A development permit or change or use may be required. What is the parking situation/ how many stalls will be dedicated to your clinic, if any? What are your signage options? What is the term of the lease and your renewal options? These are questions outside of the more important aspects of rent and operating expenses. What is your fixturings or construction period? Is there free rent?
Will you be given a construction allowance or tenant improvement allowance? It is also helpful to determine the landlord and tenant scope of work. What will the landlord be responsible for and what will you be responsible for? What kinds of services will be brought to your space and will they meet the criteria of a dental clinic?
Does this sound like a daunting task?
You are just getting started. How can we help?
Pick up the phone today to book a complimentary Design Exploration call.
We can get clear on what your needs are and exactly how we can help you realize your dream clinic. If we see that there is a way to work together we can have that conversation and if we don’t think we can genuinely help, we will let you know and give you some direction on your next steps.
Let us know what’s on you Design Mind.