Member Article

bdaily goes behind the scenes of Dentist Direct with Marketing Director Sarah Purvis

Synopsis of expertise:

I am responsible for all areas of marketing from PR and advertising to creative aspects such as branding, web and social media.

What key challenges has your company recently faced?

The biggest challenge for us as a new company, as with any other start up, has been the initial hard work and effort required to get things going. The initial research prior to the company set up, contractual documents, it’s website and marketing material, service confirmation, back office manuals and partner negotiations, all of which are fundamental to a successful business launch and have taken best part of a year to prepare. With our offering being completely unique to the UK dental market we needed to really show our professionalism and wanted our website and other such materials to show we had done our homework! We have all given over a year of our lives to this project, into making it a reality, but we had nothing to show for this until the BDA conference in May, when you spend that long not knowing what response you will get from your target market, it’s hard work.

What is your biggest achievement over the past 12 months?

Definitely launching the company successfully and discovering that after all of our hard work we DO have an opportunity which is attractive to dentists (our target audience), and probably more so than we could have imagined!

What is your biggest focus for the coming year?

We aim to open two Dentist Direct practices this year and it’s important that we do it successfully. Our first few practices are paramount to the success of our overall business, we need to show all future prospective partners how seamlessly we can give them their own practice and the benefits being a part of Dentist Direct can bring. We’ll all be working as hard as possible on all fronts to ensure the success of all of our partners, which we hope will give us credibility and lead to a national presence of Dentist Direct.

If you had to choose one top piece of advice for someone just starting out in business, or is currently operating within your industry sector, what would it be?

Don’t discount the detail! There is so much to do when starting a business that it’s tempting to cut corners but it’s vitally important that you get the majority of things right first time. It’s hard work, but ensuring that small details are correct at this stage will prevent a potentially much bigger problem later on.

Can you share with us your view of the current landscape of business, in this region or generally and where your organisation sits within it?

Albert Einstein said “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Despite what you may think or hear about the current business environment, there are many opportunities at present especially for businesses who are looking to offer something new or different. A recession often offers many opportunities not so obvious when the economy is booming! Dentist Direct are a prime example, with the NHS having a massive presence in the UK this model has never been attempted, however, with the current pressure on dentists operating in the NHS and the changes in regulation, there is massive opportunity for Dentist Direct and any ambitious dentists who want their own practice but perhaps never thought it possible.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sarah Purvis .