The Group Dentistry Now Show: The Voice Of The DSO Industry – Episode 96

Mick Janness, CEO of Oakpoint, joins the Group Dentistry Now Show to discuss the DSO’s:

• ‘Doctor first’ mentality
• $100 million affiliated practice goal by end 2022
• Five-year growth plan to support 150 doctors and clinical teams
• Differentiators

Oakpoint was one of the Emerging Groups to Watch in 2022. If you want to chat with Mick Janness, you can reach him at mick@oakpoint.us

If you like our podcast, please give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on iTunes https://apple.co/2Nejsfa and a Thumbs Up on YouTube.

Our podcast series brings you dental support and emerging dental group practice analysis, conversation, trends, news and events. Listen to leaders in the DSO and emerging dental group space talk about their challenges, successes, and the future of group dentistry. The Group Dentistry Now Show: The Voice of the DSO Industry has listeners across North & South America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. If you like our show, tell a friend or a colleague.

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Full Transcript:

Bill Neumann:

Welcome everyone to The Group Dentistry Now Show. I’m Bill Neumann. Thanks, everybody for listening in or watching us on YouTube. We are approaching. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re almost at our hundredth episodes. So again, thanks for everybody’s loyalty. It’s amazing. Where we’ve come from a website that was publishing content back in early 2015 to doing almost our hundredth podcast, that I was kind of pushed into begrudgingly. It wasn’t super comfortable with it, but what I’ve noticed is we get some great guests that want to be on and that we’re able to get on the show and we have great guests coming up here. We have Mick Janness and you may know Mick or you may not Mick kind of flies under the radar up until relatively recently. I’ve seen him on a couple of podcasts, but you’re going to learn all about Mick and also his DSO Oakpoint. So, Mick welcome to The Group Dentistry Now Show.

Mick Janness:

Thanks, Bill. Great to be here.

Bill Neumann:

Yeah, it’s a great story. And I learned about Mick from Kurt Harvey and Kurt is part of Caber Hill Advisors and also on the board of Oakpoint, correct?

Mick Janness:

That’s correct.

Bill Neumann:

So, we tried to get Mick for a couple years to talk about his DSO and I don’t think he was ready to do it. And then probably what about middle of last year seemed you were warming up to the idea became part of the 2022 emerging groups to watch and you and some of your team are going to be in Nashville in October to receive your award there. So, congratulations on that and all your success.

Mick Janness:

Thank you very much. It’s great to be here and spend some time with you.

Bill Neumann:

So, Mick, you have a little bit of a background in the DSO space prior to starting your own DSO. You were at Spring and Sprout prior to joining… Well, I guess the acquisition of Spring and Sprout by Pure Dental Brands and you were the chief development officer there. So, that was the merger and acquisition work.

Mick Janness:

That’s correct. That’s exactly right. So, prior to that started out on the product side. So, I actually went from the product, a natural homeopathic toothpaste product that was launched into 10,000 independent pharmacy stores, independent health food stores. And then went from that organization to Spring and Sprout founding Spring and Sprout with Michael Schwartz. Who’s now the CEO of Specialty Dental Brands? So, he and I founded Spring and Sprout with one practice and grew that to roughly 22 practices and 30 million in collections before that was acquired by Pure Dental Brands. And then I stuck around for a year for the integration of that before the launch of Oakpoint.

Bill Neumann:

So, how did you make the move from the product side to the provider side of things? That’s an interesting pivot.

Mick Janness:

Yeah. It was an interesting moment. So, the product company was formed by a pediatric dentist, and he was going through all of the trials and tribulations of running a practice and he was getting fatigued with the back office and we just had a holistic conversation of, “Okay, what’s working? What’s not? What if we just formed our own group and help support you in your effort of operating your practice, each day.?” So, he literally became practice number one for Spring and Sprout, which grew into 22 practices over approximately a three-year window.

Mick Janness:

So, it was a pretty natural progression, really when look at… All the doctors pretty much have the same challenges. They really want to do their clinical work and they really don’t want to the vast majority of them do not want to be spending time with human resources issues or whether the phones are up or down or IT issues or pick the topic today, right? I mean, it’s a lot to handle when you’re responsible for the clinical work.

Bill Neumann:

That’s pretty cool that worked out that way. So, the pediatric dentist that was the first practice for Spring and Sprout was also the pediatric doctor that owned the practice was the founder of products that you sold into the season. Okay.

Mick Janness:

That’s correct.

Bill Neumann:

Interesting. So, all right. You’re at Spring and Sprout, Pure Dental Brands, you were there for a while, and then what led you to start your own DSO?

Mick Janness:

Yeah, I mean, it was just really kind of time, right? It was just the perfect time at the right place with the right time, with the right experience. Also, getting encouraged by various mentors in the industry. People, I hold in high regard that just saying, “Now’s the time.” I mean, you’ve got the skillset, highly recommend you take the step and do it. So, here we sit, a few years later and we’re 32 total practices supported now across the Oakpoint footprint. So, it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience and really glad I personally took the step and did it.

Bill Neumann:

So, any of those mentors you’d want to mention their names?

Mick Janness:

I mean, one, in particular, is Michael Schwartz the current CEO, Specialty Dental Brands, consider him a friend and a colleague. And somebody that has had a lot of success in the industry. And we just had a lot of conversations about it saying he was just really encouraging me to take that step. That was a big one. Kurt Harvey is another one. Kurt was absolutely instrumental in that process. And there are a few others as well, so yeah it just feels good to be at the place we’re at. We’ve got a great business. We’ve got a great organization we’ve got a great culture. We feel like we’ve accomplished a lot and we’ve got a lot more to still accomplish.

Bill Neumann:

That’s great. So, I guess what you’re saying is we need to get Michael Schwartz and Kurt Harvey on a podcast as well.

Mick Janness:

Yeah, we can do it all together.

Bill Neumann:

That sounds good. All right.

Mick Janness:

That’d be a cast of characters.

Bill Neumann:

Okay. That sounds great. So, talk to me about Oakpoint. So, one interesting thing is you’re in Birmingham Michigan outside of Detroit, but the practices are in North and South Carolina. And I guess Oakpoint is based in North Carolina.

Mick Janness:

And it also helps too. I mean, it may seem trivial or not maybe not as important, but North Carolina, South Carolina, same time zone as I currently live in. So, early-stage organization, same time zone. It really does matter. It’s an hour and 10-minute flight. It’s pretty easy. And I don’t know, six to seven flights a day, so it’s pretty easy to find a time and work it in the schedule.

Bill Neumann:

And the HQ is been in Raleigh. Is that where you are?

Mick Janness:

That’s correct. That’s exactly right.

Bill Neumann:

Okay. So, interestingly enough, when you started Oakpoint, it was what about six months? It was in 2019. So, right before the pandemic and one of these shows. I’m not going to ever have to talk about the pandemic again, but it seems like it somehow there’s… Because it’s recent history or maybe it’s currently going on, depending on who you talk to. But to talk a little bit about that. I mean, I guess she started off obviously no thoughts of a pandemic in the near future.

Mick Janness:

So, that was not in the business plan, Bill, not in the business plan. We did not… When you talk about or think about threats that was definitely not one of them no question about it. Yeah. So, we launched in September 2019 with one supported practice. We were on the cusp of closing two seminal transactions mid-March of 2020 of course country shuts down. We maintained those relationships through that entire process and ended up closing and consummating those partnerships in September of 2020.

Mick Janness:

So, we were able to manage through that pipeline. I’d say successfully, and we were able to successfully consummate those two partnerships in September. So, no doubt about it was challenging absolutely no doubt about it. I think one of the things that we did extremely well is we collaborated with all sorts of different individuals, that we personally hold in high regard and respect deeply in terms of how they’re thinking about it, what their approach was.

Mick Janness:

And we attacked it from that angle from an angle of collaboration. So, there are doctors all across the country that we were reaching out to and communicating with and sharing best practices with and approach. Obviously, there’s no textbook that we all learn learned about in business school and how to approach a pandemic, right? From a business point of view. So, it was definitely learning as we go, but we were able to manage through it successfully. I think we came out pretty strong. We went pedal down through that entire affiliation process. We never ever took our foot off the gas in terms of outreach and communication and marketing and all those sorts of things.

Mick Janness:

So, I think they really positioned us nicely because not only do we close on those two semi-transactions I had mentioned earlier, but we also closed on two seminal transactions that happened in the last day of the year of 2020, which absolutely put us on the map at that point, we were… Let’s call it 16, 17 locations.

Mick Janness:

We finalized those two transactions and literally in the last few hours of the day on the last business day of the year. So, we attribute all of that success, all that growth to the fact that we never took our foot off the gas through that entire time period. So, there were many, many Delta flights that I was on that had six people on the flight. I was on those flights. So, I’ll look back on that. There’ll be a chapter in the book someday so…

Bill Neumann:

Yeah, there you go. So, beyond the challenge of the pandemic, you took on a challenge when it was part of the business model, right? The business plan. The thesis was to open up in one of the most difficult states to set up a DSO structure. So, why even go there? What was the thought process behind that?

Mick Janness:

Yeah, I mean, there was just the barriers century. Obviously, extreme, right? I mean, no other state really, maybe one or two others that are difficult, but nothing quite like that required the level of board oversight and a board approval of the documentation packet before they even green-lighted transaction. So, the whole idea here is I will say somewhat of a glutton for punishment. Sometimes I like hard things. This is definitely, fits that profile. Our approach with the board itself was very collaborative. We wanted to be open book how are we going? This is how we’re going to build a group. These are the things that we’re going to focus on.

Mick Janness:

And I think all that played well in terms of their receptivity of Oakpoint in terms of how we’re going to operate as a group in the states. So, love, love markets with high barriers to century, have no desire to go into market with DSO competitive DSO on every street corner would much rather be the first person there than the last person to enter. But that’s just a personal approach to just business itself so…

Bill Neumann:

Makes sense, doctor-first mentality. This is the philosophy that you have at Oakpoint. So, that could be the reason that you’re doing so well in North Carolina. Talk to me a little bit about that.

Mick Janness:

Yeah. So, everything that we do is focused for the doctor. So, we have not built an added human capital in areas of our organization without direct influence and direct comments and direction from the doctors. So, we’ve built out an extremely as a very specific example. We’ve built out an extremely robust human resources department. We’ve done that because the doctors have asked us to do it. That’s where they want help. They want help with recruiting. They want help with front desk recruiting. They want help with training. They want help with doctor recruiting. They want help in all these key core functional areas within human resources. And we’ve built out that team. We haven’t built that team out in a vacuum, and we have not made those decisions in a vacuum. We’ve made those decisions in collaboration with the doctors they spoke, we listened, we built it.

Mick Janness:

And the reception of that has been, incredibly favorable. So, when we look at how we’re built from an infrastructure standpoint today, it’s because of the doctor. So, it’s everything that we do is 100% focused for them and what they want and where they want the help. And then what we’ve done in that is part of that process is we have communicated to them where we are at in that process. So, we’re making progress here. We’re a little bit behind. We’re trying to catch up we’re fully transparent in terms of the good in the bad, right? I mean, there’s always challenges and everything you build and scale.

Mick Janness:

So, I think the openness, the transparency that we’ve been able to provide to the doctors with that approach has bowed really well for Oakpoint. And the engagement that we have with our doctors is a direct testament to that. So, we’re proud of that. It’s absolutely a huge differentiator for ourselves. And we believe it sets us apart in the market.

Bill Neumann:

So, 2020, what did you say you ended with as far as practice count?

Mick Janness:

So, let’s see, we had 18 total at the last day of the year.

Bill Neumann:

Right. And you closed the majority those the last day of the year.

Mick Janness:

That’s correct.

Bill Neumann:

So, talk to us about the growth in ’21, and then what the goal is for 2022.

Mick Janness:

So, we’re ahead of our projections. Let’s say by about a year and a half, roughly ahead of our total projections that we initially forecasted. And we never changed our forecast, even through the pandemic process. That was we’re proud of that as well. We’ve been able to achieve the results that we’ve been able to achieve, even with those hurdles in front of us. We’re at 32 total locations, now with LOIS and everything will be… Let’s call it a $90 million total business by the end of 2022. We are… I think a little bit unique in that we’re multi-specialty, so we’ve built out a highly dense footprint in the Raleigh-Durham Market, as an example. And we’ve cross-pollinated that footprint with virtually all the specialties.

Mick Janness:

We’re only short one really key specialty at this point. So, we’ve done a really good job of creating a really nice dense footprint. We’ve got roughly 35 people at the DSO level supporting the practices, and we have total of… Let’s call it 500 total employees across that footprint. I think another thing that’s interesting about our organization is when you look at our revenue per location, it’s extremely robust. So, we’re proud of that too. We’ve got highly successful practices, they’re generating, significant, top line and bottom line, profitability. We’ve got incredible doctor engagement and we’ve been highly selective and disciplined in our approach.

Mick Janness:

So, our approach to the geography. Our approach to the partner that we’re seeking our partners. They embody where we’re going as an organization. And you can’t appeal to everybody, not everybody fits this model, right? It’s not the right fit for everybody, and that’s perfectly fine. And if it’s not the right fit, we’re happy to make introductions to other groups that we think it would be a good fit.

Mick Janness:

So, this is not for the doctor. Who’s 65 years of age, wants to make a transition and do a work back for 24 months and be done. That’s not what we’re building here. So, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not what we’re building here. So, we’ve been highly disciplined in our approach.

Bill Neumann:

Are all of these practices, these 32 practices, or locations? Are they all acquisition?

Mick Janness:

100% what we refer to as affiliation each one of our doctors is a doctor partner, each one of our doctors that have joined Oakpoint is an owner. And our median age is we only have two doctors in their 60s. Our median age is high 40s. So, one of the most exciting things about where we’re heading as an organization is we’ve got a highly engaged young doctor base that wants to run a long race with this leadership team. And we’re extremely excited about that.

Bill Neumann:

So, you talked about them being doctor owners. So, is it ownership at the practice level at the DSO level combination of the two?

Mick Janness:

Yeah. So, it’s all at the practice level. That’s where ownership resides, and it’s directly tied to their performance. So, we believe that the model that we have set forth is one of the reasons why we have the level of engagement that we have. When you look at our average specialty practice has 30 in excess of 30%, same location growth year over year. And our average general dental practice has in excess of 15% year, over year growth on a per-site basis. And we believe 100% that is tied to the fact that their ownership does in fact reside at the practice level. They’re deeply incentivized to drive those results. And we’re coaching and directing and guiding in terms of where we think and as a team where we should be spending our time and effort so…

Bill Neumann:

So, you mentioned Raleigh being where the HQ is, and also where the majority of these practices are located. You have some in South Carolina as well. Talk to me about… Do you feel like you’re going to spend… As you continue to grow, spend time focused on North Carolina and South Carolina. Is there any aspirations to move out of those two states?

Mick Janness:

Yeah, great question. So, definitely aspirations to move out. We’re highly focused on partner selection. So, if I was introduced to somebody in Eastern Tennessee tomorrow, that was the right partner from a culture standpoint and embody our core value set and kind of where we’re heading as an organization. We’d go to Eastern Tennessee tomorrow. We have looked at multiple opportunities in Virginia. We have multiple LOIS right now in place in the state of South Carolina. So, we’re excited about that. We feel that 2022 will prove to be a successful year in South Carolina will continue to build that footprint out and we’d be even looking… Willing to go a little further than those anything in that Southeast corridor we would absolutely be willing to take a look at, we have our approach to date has been tied directly to the number of resources that we have at our disposal.

Mick Janness:

So, we’ve been deeply focused on saying in a highly concentrated geographic footprint because of the resources that we have at our disposal. When we have more resources, we’ll be able to expand further. We will not be one of these organizations or groups that has 30 locations, 40 locations over six states. That’s just not of interest to us there are others doing that. And we just feel at some point you get spread a little thin, right? We’re still in an early-stage organization. We want to be smart about how we’re resourcing the business. We want to be prudent with how we’re approaching the process. And I think the doctors respect that we’re able to go deeper and provide a deeper level of support into these practices. So, yeah. And that’s just something we really truly want to stay true to and not get too far over your skis.

Bill Neumann:

Yeah. Some great points there. So, Tennessee, anywhere in the Southeast, so a couple of questions here, what are you looking for in a partner? So, what if there’s somebody in east Tennessee that’s listening in and I’m a partner, maybe I’m not, what do you typically look for?

Mick Janness:

Number one thing is growth oriented. Are you a growth-oriented doctor do you have a growth-oriented mindset? Do you want to learn and grow? Or do you want just stay status quo and function like that? So, those are two different mindsets. I don’t think one’s more right than the other. It’s just our approach is we’re looking for growth-oriented people and growth-oriented mindset. So, when you get that energy, that like-minded energy together under one umbrella, really good things happen. And what you’re seeing right now is you’re seeing that feed on each on itself right now within, within Oakpoint. And that discipline to that approach is what’s leading to our growth. And we don’t want to do anything to disrupt that. So, yeah that’s our big thing is we’re looking for somebody who’s growth-minded and wants to continue to go pedal down as we like to say internally and scale and grow so…

Bill Neumann:

And do you think after the pandemic, now that we’ve had a couple of years, you’ve had a couple of years of experience with it now, practices that might be looking to affiliate? I mean, do you feel like there has been maybe some ducks seeking shelter from the storm, so to speak, like they don’t want to… They dealt with a great recession in 2008, 2010, got there, they got their retirement accounts back up to where they were previously, and now they’re back down again. And then, of course, the issues now, which really weren’t as big a problem then with recruiting and retention, you just, people don’t disappeared. Right. The part of the workforce just didn’t come back. So, do you have any maybe different experiences with people that are looking to partner, pre-COVID versus post-COVID?

Mick Janness:

Yeah, I would say, for the most part, we definitely have seen a few that fit that profile that are just looking for a partner to weather the storms with, and future storms with. Let’s call it a phone a friend, kind of mentality if you will, right? But still, doctors that are hungry for growth and want to go in continue to focus on that growth within their practice. What I’ll say is that the vast majority of our doctors, if not every one of them, regardless of their age, is at a personal inflection point within their own practice. They know they need help in order to take it to the next level.

Mick Janness:

And so, that includes the couple of doctors that we have that are in their early 60s all the way down to our youngest doctor who’s 36 and everything in between. So, every single one of our doctor partners was that a personal inflection point with themselves and wanted. And it was seeking a partner to help them grow their practice. And so, when you’ve got somebody that’s hungry to learn and approach it from that standpoint. It makes it a lot easier, right? Because that’s our model, that’s how we’re built. That’s how we’re focused. We’re focusing on all these key areas to help them sharpen the pencil and get better and more crisp within their own personal operations within their practice.

Mick Janness:

But definitely, some doctors fit that profile. It’s not let up, I can tell you that. I mean, from our point of view, we’ve got more letters of intent executed today than we ever have. We’re looking at more active opportunities today than we ever have. We just don’t see that letting up at least anytime soon.

Bill Neumann:

So, you mentioned earlier the growth you see with your specialty practices, 30 plus percent, right? Year over year, and also 15% for the GP.

Mick Janness:

That’s correct.

Bill Neumann:

Okay. So, that’s the growth. So, here’s a couple, and this leads into how you differentiate yourself because I would think that’s, what you’ve got these dentists that want to grow. They’ve gotten to the point where they feel they can’t do it on their own anymore. So, what’s Oakpoint doing that’s different than other DSOs out there?

Mick Janness:

Yeah. I mean, I don’t know what other groups are doing in terms of operational metrics and what they’re focusing on, but from our point of view, we look at it from… It’s just like building a house, for us you can’t put the roof on first, you’ve got to start with the foundation. So for us, the foundation is phones, a really good example. We look at phones. We look at telephone data. We look at inbound calls, we look at all these different metrics. And what we’ve found is that on average, every single one of our practices that is affiliated with Oakpoint, every single one of our practices is missing between 30% and 40% of their inbound phone calls on the day of the affiliation.

Mick Janness:

So, okay. Before we start to allocate marketing dollars or more marketing dollars. There’s no reason to spend more marketing dollars if you can’t answer the phones, right? And so, we spend a lot of time on that key metric and really making sure we have the practice resource properly in order to facilitate. It’s got 98% or better at the inbound call level. Once we get that component, let’s call it fixed or managed properly supported resource properly. Then you can go to the next item, right? And so, we’re focused on what I’ll call a lot of blocking and tackling items, things that are absolutely fundamental to a practice. We’re going to focus on those fundamental core items first, and then continue to go one by one until you get them all dialed in just perfectly.

Mick Janness:

So, it’s an evolutionary process, it’s not easy all the time, but I think we’re all in agreement. There’s no reason to spend marketing dollars as a very specific example. There’s no reason to spend marking dollars. If you can’t answer the phone, everyone will agree with that, right? So, let’s start there. Let’s start at a place where we can all agree on one or two items and let’s attack those items. So, for us, you look at a lot of groups out there that have scaled and grown. A lot of them are what I’ll call they’re aggregating EBITDA, right? They’re just literally stacking up the EBITDA. And they’re just going to use that collection of EBITDAs and arbitrage for the investment.

Mick Janness:

Okay. That’s one approach. But I think a better approach would be also to improve operationally at each practice site, right? And support the practices accordingly. And of course, grow by affiliation as well. So, our approach is twofold, and there’s no reason to just go and affiliate with five, 10, 20 more practices if you don’t have that those success points in place. So, we’ve got all case studies that we show our docs and we’re very proud of these items. And I think one of the things that we do really well is we don’t over-engineer the process. There are about 10 really key items that we focus on at the practice level.

Mick Janness:

And once we get those 10 dialed in, then we’ll focus on another 10. But there’s no reason to focus on the more complex 10 down the road if you can’t answer the phone and make sure the hygiene schedule is back. Yeah, fixed and operated on operating at an optimized level and so on so…

Bill Neumann:

Okay. So, number one, make sure that you’re answering the phones.

Mick Janness:

Got to answer the phones, right?

Bill Neumann:

At least easier said than done. Also, yeah you make a really good point about this aggregating that’s going on, right? So, you’re basically a DSO that’s stacking practices and EBITDA, but you’re not… The S, right? The support isn’t necessarily there. So, you’re not building the back office. You’re just aggregating. Another important thing is culture. So, let’s talk about the culture that you’re building at Oakpoint and what that’s all about. And that’s another thing that’s thrown around quite a bit, but it does mean a lot for an organization, especially as they scale up.

Mick Janness:

Yeah. For sure. So, for us, one of the key… So, our number one core values, transparency. So, we just feel like if we can operate in a fully open book, transparent fashion, that just has a way of attracting a certain person that is of like mind and wants to be a part of an organization that fits how we’re growing as an organization. And what we have found is that the more transparent, the more information we could provide the doctors, the better they feel, right? They are very detail oriented. People, they want information, more information, the better, let them pick and choose what information they want to draw on, but give it to them make it available to them, and then walk them through it in detail and some require a high level of detail and others do not, right?

Mick Janness:

But the bottom line is they want to make sure that they’ve got access to the information. So, we have done a… I think our finance department has done an unbelievable job of creating an open book toolkit for practices to reflect performance. And that is literally the root of our culture within our organization is every single thing that we do is it’s on the table, here’s what’s going really, really well. Here are the things that are not going well. Here’s why they’re not going well, here’s what we’re doing to get them fixed. And the doctors appreciate that, right? It’s not lip service, nothing goes perfect. Nobody delivers it’s impossible.

Mick Janness:

And so, just having really open, honest conversations about the things that we’re doing really well, and the things that we’re really making focused energy to improve upon is really appreciative from the doctors. And because of that we really believe that’s a big reason. We’ve got the level of engagement we have because the doctors are jumping in and helping in some of these areas. So, it’s been refreshing, when you’ve got to a culture of transparency and a culture of engagement, and everyone’s working together for the common good. It makes a lot of fun.

Bill Neumann:

So, you’re not only big on culture. You’re also big on analytics and data, right? So, here again, it’s another thing you talk a lot about in the industry or the analytics. It’s the data that’s coming in. And so, you have that, but then there’s… How are you measuring it? How are you sharing that with the different practices? And then how do you measure, how they act on that, right? So, how do you take that data and make it actionable? So, can you talk a little bit about what you’re doing?

Mick Janness:

Yeah, absolutely. So, this is an area that we started on day one. Let’s call it a few months before we consummated our very first partnership transaction in September 2019. We started building out our proprietary dashboard. That’s built on Power BI and it’s built 100% to drive very specific behavior. And in the order that we want it done. So, phones being one of those items, right? So, we have not only all of our operational KPI data flowing into Power BI. We have all of our financial data flowing into Power BI, and we have all of our phone data flowing into Power BI.

Mick Janness:

And so, for an early-stage smaller organization. I’m sure the groups that are 500 plus are doing this all day I would have to imagine, but for us, for being such a small organization, when we first started today, just continue to build on that Power BI dashboard. We attribute a lot of that data and how we have it laid out to our current success. So, everyone within the organization has access to that. So, that’s literally… It’s how we operate the organization. We’ve got a scorecard, we’ve got very specific metrics that we focus on. We do not change the practice management data. We’re able to extract this practice management, the KPI data through a third-party tool, and all of that data flows into our Power BI dashboard and it’s all in real-time access.

Mick Janness:

So, it’s been an incredible differentiator for us as an organization. And it gives our leadership team, the confidence that we’re firing on the cylinders that we need to be firing on in the areas that we want, the teams at the practice level to be focused, and the doctors are in full support of all this. I mean, we map it all out for them and it’s a proven methodology, it works. And that’s one of the reasons why we’re seeing the success at the practice level.

Mick Janness:

So, a lot of times it’s just there’s so much work being done at the practice level. And what we’re trying to do is direct and guide it to three, four, five, six areas let’s focus on these areas every single day and get these right. And then after these are checked off, these boxes are checked off. We can go chase the shiny nickel well. Let’s make sure that we’ve got these half a dozen items who are really dialed in tight so…

Bill Neumann:

So, we talked a little bit about 2022, where you think, things are going to end up. What’s your five-year plan look like, what are expectations?

Mick Janness:

We’d love to see Oakpoint double its footprint over the next… Let’s call it three to four years from where we sit right now today. We think that’s achievable. Does it take five years potentially be able we feel like we’ve got good momentum that we can double not only the revenue base in the profitability base but the actual footprint itself over the next, let’s call it three to four years based on where we are at today?

Mick Janness:

And that’s the goal. That’s where we’re focused, staying true to our core, staying true to not only the geography that we talked about earlier but also the type of partner that we’re looking for, right? Just staying disciplined to that and making sure that we’re checking all those boxes along the way. And we feel at this point with what the market’s bearing and we’re the consolidation continues. We feel that’s very achievable based on where we sit today.

Bill Neumann:

Okay. Last question for you. So, this is the catchall here and what people always want to know is what are your thoughts? And you see a lot of what’s going on with providers with other DSOs. Now we’ve got this recession. I think we can all comfortably say that’s where we are. I know if comfortable’s the right word, but I think we could all say we’re in some type of recession, what are your thoughts on the future of the industry?

Bill Neumann:

So, when I say the industry, you can take that as DSO industry. The dental industry as a whole… What you see as how… Where do we go from here? Do we continue to consolidate? Does the recession slow things down? Does it accelerate? Does it change things? And again, that’s a really open-ended question. I’ll leave it there, but I’m just curious your thoughts.

Mick Janness:

Yeah. I think it’s an interesting question. So, number one, at a high level. I think we’ll continue to see big platforms, join forces and create cost synergies by joining forces. So, we’ve already started to see some of that play out over the last 24 months that will absolutely continue to play out. There’s no doubt about that. The second tier down, I think you’ll start to see that play out with some of the mid-tier size groups as well. Same thing can I get stopped out in growth, easier to join forces, strip out costs and generate savings and create enterprise value in that capacity. I think you’re going to see these smaller groups that are doctor-led, doctor-owned. Let’s call it regionally financed by regional bank.

Mick Janness:

You’re going to start to see those, continue to trade and join forces with larger groups or become platforms themselves, before for their next phase of growth. There’s a lot of groups out there that are 10, 15, 30 locations that are doctor owned financed by a regional bank. And now you need institutional capital to take it to the next level. So, it will absolutely see that play out. Recession I think those practices that are highly cosmetic based those are vulnerable going into this. And that’s definitely not an area of focus for ourselves for that reason. So, I think that’ll play out. And I think markets that will remain stable are those high-growth markets.

Mick Janness:

So, the Florida’s of the world. Nashville, Tennessee, Austin Texas, Dallas Texas, and the markets that we’re serving right now and the Raleigh-Durham area, and North Carolina in general, and South Carolina in general. These is a high, high-growth markets, depending on what you look at the Raleigh-Durham Markets anywhere from the first or second, or third fastest growing MSA in the country, right?

Mick Janness:

So, there’s some benefits to being in these high, high-growth markets. Where your buffered from some of this recession discussion? Those markets will not be as hit as hard as some of the other states will be over time. So, I think for the next five years, you continue to see rapid consolidation. And I think it’s a lot of fun for the next five to seven years. I think beyond that. I think it’ll just get harder and harder because I think a big push will be completed by that point.

Bill Neumann:

All right. Last question for you, Mick, if people want to find out more about Oakpoint or they want to contact you, how do they do it?

Mick Janness:

Yeah. Oakpoint.us my email is Mick M-I-C-K @oakpoint.us and cell phones, (248) 670-0040.

Bill Neumann:

Wow. It gave out a cell phone. There you go. All right. That’s a true leader there. Not afraid to talk to the people.

Mick Janness:

That’s right.

Bill Neumann:

All right. Mick Janness CEO of Oakpoint. Congratulations on the emerging groups to watch award. We’re looking forward to seeing you in Nashville to receive that award. And thanks for sharing. We had a lot of… I know I asked you probably a bunch more questions and you’re prepared for you answered them all.

Mick Janness:

It’s fantastic. It’s fantastic. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Great to see you as always. Thanks for having me on.

Bill Neumann:

Yep. Thank you. And thanks everybody for listening in or if you’re watching us on YouTube. Thanks for watching until next time. This is The Group Dentistry Now Show and I’m Bill Neumann.