As anyone who runs a business knows, the entrepreneurial journey is not easy. The path is filled with obstacles, challenges, and setbacks. It’s also full of triumphs, big and small, as you work your way toward success.
However, for those ready to become entrepreneurs, charting your voyage is the best way to start. Here are a few points I found helpful during my journey.
Planning the route
In a family full of doctors, I was torn between my love for architecture and pursuing a medical career. I had always dreamed of becoming an architect as the aesthetic of symmetry, line, and form fascinated me. However, the desire to give back to society through a commitment to medicine had a draw that I could not resist. Luckily, dentistry turned both dreams into reality by combining aesthetic balance with a will to do good.
Consistent hard work and perseverance helped me graduate top of my class from the prestigious Boston University in 2002. Even more exciting was being recruited into the Boston Dental practice directly by the Assistant Dean of the university’s School of Dental Medicine in 2009. The practice became the foundation for my continuing entrepreneurship.
Setting pace
Dreams do not become reality through magic – no matter how much we may wish it some days! Ask any professional, and they will tell you that moving out of your comfort zone is hard. Every day spent working toward a dream takes sweat, determination, and long hours of hard work.
I’ve always wanted Boston Dental to set the standard for high quality, patient-centric dental services, offering the best in preventative care, orthodontics, Invisalign, periodontics, dental implants, and endodontics. As the practice worked to showcase our abilities, we were soon featured in magazines like InStyle, Self, Boston Weddings, Bustle, Dental News, and Boston Magazine. A real crowning achievement was being appointed the official dentist for the Boston Red Sox.
While the practice continued to do well, I still wanted to do more. Drawing from my early inspiration to give back to society through a career in dentistry, I began working pro bono with veterans suffering from dental trauma. The decision to challenge myself away from my day-to-day cases gave me a renewed sense of purpose.
Putting a smile back on the faces of people who served their country helped me realize that the gift of a smile is one of life’s most beautiful blessings. It also led to the foundation of the Smile Design Studio at Boston Dental – a dedicated advanced dental aesthetics service that is uniquely tailored for dental trauma cases.
Staying on course
As Boston Dental moved from strength to strength, it has grown into a multicontinental practice. With new clinics slated to open early next year in Boston’s Seaport area, as well as a new venture in Dubai, UAE, we are expanding our reach to deliver premium care to more patients.
We’re also exploring new technology to give our patients an even better experience. During the peak of the coronavirus crisis, we were the first dental practice in the world to use AI-based, 360-degree, autonomous UVC robots for sanitation. Today, we are helping thousands of patients safely return to dental treatments and cosmetic care in clinics that follow the safest hygiene protocols.
Overall, my entrepreneurial journey is driven by the need to keep challenging myself. I think that’s what drives most people to strike out on their own and take risks to see if they can reach even higher rewards. By creating your own roadmap, you can transform your entrepreneurship dreams into your new reality.
