These days, owning a business isn’t for the faint-hearted. Post pandemic, things have been universally tough and there’s no denying that keeping the wheels turning is more expensive than ever. Everyday costs such as energy are still high, especially when these are coupled with shortages, supply disruption, and above-average inflation.

From 1 April, the national minimum wage has also risen, cresting a whopping £11.44 per hour. If we consider that back in 2015 this figure was only £6.70, this means that minimum wage has almost doubled in less than a decade. This is great news for workers (particularly in straitened times) but more problematic for businesses, who will likely struggle to retain their current numbers of entry level and trainee employees.

The reality is that for a skilled industry such as dentistry to compete with comparatively “easier” minimum-wage careers, practice owners will need to pay above this amount to attract new staff. What this shows, however, is that with costs such as these rising, it’s more important than ever for owners to run their practices as businesses. This means understanding how you’re performing, thinking seriously about how to improve your performance, reducing costs in your practice, and paying the least in tax that you’re able to.

These are all things that Hive routinely helps practices to do. Because we work solely in the dental industry, we’re able to understand the unique challenges it faces, from concerns like staffing to bigger-picture strategic considerations. If you’re thinking seriously about your business, there are several ways we can help.

Diagnostic service

Our dedicated diagnostics are increasingly in demand as practice owners seek solutions to their challenges. Over the course of two or three sessions, we’ll take a deep dive into your practice to help you understand everything from your costs and profitability to your market position, identifying the key areas for improvement.

Management accounts

To really know how your practice is doing, it’s essential to look beyond the everyday financial tasks like bookkeeping and payroll. Management accounts allow you to track your performance over time, using actionable intelligence to make recommendations, and importantly our help to interpret the numbers. Best of all, if you’re newly engaging us as your accountant, we offer a money-back guarantee, meaning there’s no risk to trying our services.

Tax savings

At Hive, there’s one truth we hold firm to: dentists pay too much tax. Of course, every practice is different, but on average we’re able to save our clients £50,000 per year in tax through our unique approach. Here, there’s no single “product” – we achieve this by thinking holistically across areas such as personal budgeting, data, and great communication. When you consider that this alone could fund a year’s salary for two junior staff members, it’s well worth looking into.

Project work

On top of our regular, routine tax services, we also collaborate with clients on projects. These are typically one-off or “outside the norm” events, such as property planning, exit planning, or restructuring shares to optimise dividends. By engaging a specialist like Hive to help with these events, you can make sure that you’re travelling from A to B in the most tax-efficient way possible. This can lead to enormous savings; preserving valuable money that can be invested in your future health and growth.

Get in touch

Everything we do is designed to make dental practices perform as well as they possibly can. If you’d like our support with improving your performance, get in touch for an initial chat.