Money maximisation - 5 top tips - The Dentist

I’m often stunned when people tell me how much their water rates are. One of the best things I did, with regards to utilities, was to have a water meter fitted many years ago. This knocked hundreds of pounds off my water rates bill every year.

The surprising thing is that despite the obvious savings for small households (less than 4 people) people still prefer not to have a water meter installed and pay crippling water rates!

Water meters are usually fitted for free and can save you a fortune. This is not for households with swimming pools however, nor for those green fingered dentists with large gardens and frequent use of sprinklers!

Usually, it is a good idea to spread large payments and pay them by monthly direct debit. However 49% of home content policies and 83% of motor policies charge interest to customers who pay their annual premium in installments. The interest averages a whopping 21% for motor insurance and 19% for home contents cover.

To find out if your insurance company is lending you your annual premium and charging interest on it (not all of them do it), examine your policy documents to see if an APR (Annual Percentage rate) is shown. If the APR is more than 0%, paying by installments is costing you money, and it could be worth paying the premium in one go.

Many dental practices advertise in the yellow pages, however not all of these adverts are effective.

Review these tips to ensure you have applied them to your advert:

· Does it advertise your USP?

Your unique selling point (USP) is something that differentiates your practice from the next one. It is why a new patient should choose you over the practice down the road. You almost certainly have one USP (or more!) but may not have consciously realized. Some examples:

Your location – are you in the middle of a busy shopping area?

Do you offer cosmetic treatments such as teeth whitening and botox?

Are you are particularly good with nervous patients?

Are you are the largest practice in the area?

Are you are particularly good with treating children?

· Is it Eye-catching?

The number of ads in the yellow pages makes finding your ad difficult. If it is one of the smallest ads in the book and your budget doesn’t allow for a larger ad, consider taking it out in favor of an occasional larger ad in the local newspaper, which may be cheaper. There is no point paying for advertising if it is not going to be seen. That said, before you take any decisions about switching mediums, you should always review how many patients you have got from your ad. It may well be that a small but perfectly formed ad may be very effective in your case. For this reason, always find out where new patients heard about you from and keep a record of this so you can assess the effectiveness of your adverts.

Some people can make credit card applications etc. safe in the knowledge that they will not be turned down. Others are not so lucky. What can you do to try and keep your credit rating squeaky clean?

¨ Don’t make too many applications for credit cards. Every time you do, the lender checks your credit report and leaves a footprint that they have searched it. Future lenders could become suspicious as to why you have made so many applications for credit.

¨ Don’t have too many credit cards on the go at the same time. If you make use of 0% deals by switching debts from card to card, remember to cancel old cards as you go.

¨ Try to avoid late payments, defaults and county court judgements. If you do have a problem with a lender, contact them straight away to try to avoid a black mark on your file.

Mac Kotecha (FCA) is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Financial Planner, who deals exclusively with dentists and has been established for over 27 years. His company offers Accountancy, Taxation & Payroll services in addition to invaluable advice on practice management, buying/setting up a practice and other dental issues. Contact him on 020 8346 0391 or go to www.specialistdentalaccountants.co.uk to learn more.