This last week I watched two videos that I believe every person in America needs to see. The first video is not particularly new (first posted in March), but the message just keeps getting more and more critical. The economic fallout from coronavirus mismanagement is going to be far more devastating than that of the virus itself.
It is time for all of us to get our heads out of the sand! The economy is going to crash. The only question is “how soon?”, not “if”. Even if the vaccine messiah arrives today, it will do nothing to erase the crippling national debt that has just been impossibly compounded. The only choice government is going to have (other than eliminate the Fed, which it won’t do) is going to be to print more money. And the resulting inflation will be like nothing we have seen since Germany’s pre-Nazi Weimar Republic.
Particularly hard hit are going to be traditional retirement portfolios and small “non-essential” businesses. This includes dental practices. Although we all know better, we have failed to challenge the official position that non-emergent dental care is non-essential. We have already paid heavily for that failure, but you can be sure the worst is yet to come.
Fortunately, there is still time to do something about it. How much time, nobody knows. But it certainly is not as much as you and I would like! But, here are 3 things we all need to do right now –
1. Start immediately differentiating your practice as a “critical care practice”. The middle-class insurance reliant practices that most of us have are likely going to die or, if you’re “lucky”, be swallowed up by corporate DSOs. The middle-class is going to continue to shrink and the only place left for independent practice is going to be in serving the upper class that still has money. And here’s what the late marketing genius Dan Kennedy had to say about that –
The higher up in affluence you reach for customers, the more interested in “who you are” vs. “what do you sell” they are – and not coincidently, the higher a professional’s income, the more he’s being paid for who he is vs. what he does/sells.
And who are they going to be looking for? Not yesterdays non-essential “cosmetic” dentists, but experts in critical whole-health integrative dental medicine. It is now indisputably established that comprehensive dental health is critical to systemic health and longevity. And therein lies your window of opportunity. Nobody “needs” a new set of veneers, but everyone needs to get their systemic inflammation under control. And they can’t do that without the help of a knowledgeable and skilled integrative dentist.
Cutting to the chase, I’ve set up the Liberty Dental Co-op to help you be that essential dentist. And my good friend Jerry Jones can help you get the word out to the clients that most count. One way or another, the sooner you get that reputation going, the more secure and profitable you practice will become – even if all I’ve said about the economy is wrong!
2. If you have money to invest, move it! Get a larger portion of your portfolio in gold and silver, and move another significant portion into “trophy assets”. I am definitely not a financial adviser, but here’s a link to a book by someone who is that will explain it further.
Let’s be honest. Although we’ve known better, most of us have not done nearly as well as we should have at saving let alone investing. Consequently, few of us have the critical assets needed to survive retirement in the style we are accustomed to, let alone a major depression. Especially if we are counting on social security &/or corporate portfolios!
3. That really leaves only one other option – securing a back-up secondary income stream. Without money to invest, and assuming you like me want to preserve your economic independence (don’t want to become a corporate or government employee), we are going to have to invest some sweat equity – build a business that produces residual income. There really is no other good option. If a secondary side business is something that makes sense to you but you don’t have a business in mind that you are ready to pull the trigger on right now, or don’t have the expendable capital you are willing to risk on it, then you might want to seriously consider a micro-franchise.
The most reliable solution
For anyone wanting to build a reliable business with minimal risk, franchising is probably the best way to go. The obvious advantage of a franchise is that you don’t have to invent or prove anything. You know the business works because you can see examples everywhere. The product and all of the systems from marketing to delivery have already been developed. And all you need to do is be teachable, committed, and invest. With a typical franchise that means having anywhere from a couple hundred thousand to over a million dollars available.
In contrast, micro-franchises can usually be had for under $100; the real investment is in time, not money, and surprisingly little at that. And there are other advantages. With a typical franchise the bulk of your income comes from product or service delivery at a brick-and-mortar location with a significant labor pool to recruit, train, and manage. Micro-franchises on the other hand require no brick-and-mortar investment or staff to manage and receive just a small (micro) portion of their income from product or service delivery. The bulk of the income from these businesses actually comes from sharing what you know with your contact network, from which comes their more common name – network marketing.
Now most of us have been exposed to or perhaps even tried this business model before, but for whatever reason it didn’t stick. And I’m not going to belabor the point right now. But there are a couple key factors required for success.
- Is the product or service one you would recommend with or without any financial incentive?
- Do you seriously need or want to increase your financial security?
Yes, there are other due diligence issues to consider like company/ brand integrity, income potential, and market dominance. But those first two questions are foundational to success.
At the beginning of this letter I said that I had recently seen two videos that I feel everyone needs to see. If your answer to question #2 is YES, then I’d highly encourage you to take a look at this second video, especially if you are skeptical about network marketing. (If you missed the link to the first video, here it is again – first video). Next, if you want to pursue the subject further, devour all the information at RedoxRevolution.net. Then after you’ve done that, if you are interested, I’ll be glad to show you how redox signaling has benefited both my patients and my practice of whole-health dentistry. Just shoot me an e-mail – [email protected] – and I’ll get right back to you. Remember, life as we know it is certain to change; it has already started. Are you ready?
Dr. Lon Peckham provides comprehensive and whole-health dental care in Priest River, Idaho. He is a Diplomat of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, a Fellow of the American Academy for Oral-Systemic Health, facilitates a national study club for the Dawson Academy, and is also certified in Lead Management and Choice Theory by the Glasser Institute. He helps patients and dentists successfully incorporate whole-health into their lives and practices.
