Dental Owner Interview: Don't put all your eggs in one basket!

Dentist Times Owners Club continues its new series of interviews with dental practice owners from across the country, exploring their career pathways, successes, and ambitions for the future.

This week editor, JO MAKOSINSKI, speaks to JEFF SHERER, clinical director at The Dental Design Studio (DDS), about his early fear of dentists, his introduction to business, and his hopes for the future.

Q: How did you get into dentistry?

A: My introduction to dentistry was really down to my own positive experiences as a child.

I was really, really scared of the dentist, to the point that I used to run out of the dental practice and my mum had to chase after me through the car park.
Luckily, though, we managed to find a really-kind dentist who did my orthodontics and that made me feel much more positive about myself and I started thinking about future careers.

My dad had worked in IT, but at a time when IT wasn’t like it is now, so he struggled from job to job.

I thought, well dentistry is one of those jobs where you will always be busy because everyone needs a dentist.

That sparked my interest and passion and got me started in dentistry.

I always struggled academically, but I was hard working and really, really determined, even at a young age.

Luckily, I managed to pass my A-Levels and get a place at Leeds University where I completed my dental degree.

Having some private practices meant we would not completely be relying on the NHS and would have the flexibility to set our own fees and make decisions in the best interests of patients

Q: Tell us about your early career

A: After I qualified, which was 26 years ago now, I worked as an associate and then after about two years I set up my own practice, which is something I had always wanted to do.

I wanted to run the practice the way I wanted to, and I hated being bossed around by other people, so those were my motivating factors.I thought, whether I am successful or not, at least I will be my own boss and if the practice was not successful, then I can always go back to being an associate.

I didn’t really feel like I had a lot to lose.

I set up my first practice in 2005. It was a start-up ‘squat’ practice, and I spent five years building that up and developing The Dental Design Studio brand, learning about running a business, and learning more about dentistry.

After some years, I felt I had done what I wanted to do in terms of the clinical side – I had completed courses in sedation and implants and I was really fascinated by dentistry as a business.

Then an opportunity came up where a friend of mine was selling his practice and it was an opportunity to take it over. This started my journey to multi-site practice ownership.

My very first practice was in Northwood in Greater London,the second in central London, and then I decided to purchase practices in Suffolk.

The Suffolk and Norfolk areas appealed because you could actually buy the freehold of the properties relatively inexpensively. Whereas, in London, the buildings were often more expensive than the dental practice and it just didn’t really make sense.

I then started to branch out into Lincolnshire and Yorkshire and that started the gradual build-up of more and more practices and now we have 23 nationwide.

I always had my focus on NHS practices because I thought it is a reliable income, but I have also purchased some private practices as well.

It is a good idea to have some diversity because you never want to put all your eggs in one basket.

Having some private practices meant we would not completely be relying on the NHS and would have the flexibility to set our own fees and make decisions in the best interests of patients.

In terms of building the group, it has been achieved by a mixture of events – some of it has been practice purchases, some of it is about winning competitive procurements, and then there has, of course, been organic growth that has taken place in the business

Q: What have been the main challenges?

A: It was always difficult in the beginning because I was trying to run practices and work as a dentist as well.

I found that whenever I was not seeing a patient, I was on the phone dealing with various things like compliance and recruitment.

At the very beginning, there was no money for practice managers and a compliance director, so I literally had to do everything myself. It was incredibly hard work, but it was very rewarding and lots of fun as well, especially as I had another dentist who has been my business partner from day one. We have shared lots of incredible moments and ups and downs.

In terms of building the group, it has been achieved by a mixture of events – some of it has been practice purchases, some of it is about winning competitive procurements, and then there has, of course, been organic growth that has taken place in the business.

When I consider whether to go for a leasehold or freehold option, what I found is that having a freehold property allows us to expand the practice, so fit in another surgery or make alterations without having to rely on the landlord’s consent to do that.

Also, over the years, the loan on the freehold is paid off, whereas where there has been a rental, the rent has only gone up. So, while not all of our practices are freehold, I do prefer that option as it makes financial sense and gives you more freedom.

Recruitment is another challenge we all feel because while there are enough dentists out there, there is a lack of dentists who want to work within NHS dentistry.

Because of that it is difficult to find dentists, especially for areas outside of London.

Even though in more-rural places there is great scenery and a more-chilled way of life, it’s not for everyone.

A lot of young dentists just want to just do private work and not work within the health service, so recruiting NHS dentists has certainly been the biggest challenge.

We are trying to do a lot of innovative things. For example, we offer patients a blood pressure check as part of their dental check-up, which is something you don’t really hear about or see elsewhere

Q: What does the future hold for the Dental DesignStudio?

A: We are very patient focused in the fact that we love treating patients, whether they are NHS or private patients.

We have treated over a million patients since our conception.

Our ethos is to provide quality dentistry at affordable prices.

We also have a big slant on sustainability within dentistry and we recently won a UK Business Award for Environmental Sustainability.

We are trying to do a lot of innovative things. For example, we offer patients a blood pressure check as part of their dental check-up, which is something you don’t really hear about or see elsewhere.

Having that sort of holistic approach is about looking after the whole person, not just their teeth, and treating people with care and kindness.

One of the things that has always been really important to me in my career is to make sure we treat people nicely because many people think that is not a very nice environment coming to the dentist, and it reminds me of my own childhood experiences and how a kind dentist can make such a positive difference.

People are scared and I think treating people with humour and compassion while delivering quality treatment is what makes a successful formula.

My key goal for 2026 is to buy more practices, have fun doing it, and help lots of people along the way.

My key goal for 2026 is to buy more practices, have fun doing it, and help lots of people along the way

Q: What is your advice to someone at the beginning of the journey and looking to expand their practice?

A: I would definitely tell them to do it.

I think the satisfaction you get from having your own practice is really phenomenal and once you have your own practice it opens doors to expansion and you can make decisions about how you want to do dentistry.

It’s a fantastic journey and while there are tough days,absolutely, the next day something positive happens, which makes it all worthwhile.

No two days in practice ownership are the same and even though it is really hard work, it is very rewarding and such a great feeling to own a practice.