The Secret Behind the Smile, Your Local Dental Lab
Are you the technician, the mechanic or maybe the welder who is in the lab or shop creating the products? Have you ever had the dream of creating those products for your own business? It’s a new world with this new economy. It requires risk to survive and passion to thrive.
Recently I met one such man who took his technical skills to build a thriving business. While getting a crown color matched to my “oral environment” I met Gaetano Jauregui owner of Ceramicraft Dental Laboratories. I was curious. Does anyone grow up thinking….”I want to create teeth?” Somehow I don’t think so. My curiosity and his obviously thriving business led to the following interview.
CBN: Exactly what is your business?
Jauregui: In general my business is a crown and bridge dental laboratory. We specialize in custom shades and ceramic work. We make implants for dentists. We are a small business working directly with Dentists providing their patients with their crowns and restoration work.
CBN: How did you get into the business?
Jauregui: I lost my job and I got a random call from a man that knew me as a child. He had a dental lab and it turned out he heard I needed a job. It was a great opportunity for me to learn the trade that I was born to do. That was twelve years ago.
CBN: When did you start Ceramicraft Dental Laboratories?
Jauregui: I started in March 2007. I had always wanted to start my own dental lab and the company I was working with went through a change in ownership. I had the opportunity to buy some used lab equipment so I went for it.
CBN: How did you finance the opening and the purchase of the equipment?
Jauregui: Basically the owner of the equipment gave me terms and I put every penny of profit into paying him off. It took me eight months.
CBN: Did you have clients established?
Jauregui: Not one, I had to go into the market and establish all my clients myself.
CBN: How have you managed the economic decline?
Jauregui: It’s hard to tell how it’s affected me because my business has not been open that long. I’ ve gotten used to growing my business in a poor economy. I have noticed more of the cosmetic work has dropped off where the crowns and bridges remain steady. People need teeth.
CBN: What do you attribute your success to?
Jauregui: Referrals are the biggest thing. I have great clients who have supported me with their loyalty.
Secondly, my success is due to knowing my target market. That’s been a big one for me because I haven’t known that all along. In my case it’s a dentist who likes to do his own implants. Is it learning more about full mouth reconstruction and doing more cosmetic type cases. These are the ones we are trying to market. The dentists who are taking their dentistry to the next level.
Having integrity in business and paying attention to the client relationships are key. You have to follow through with what you say. They have to be able to trust you, if you are flaky you won’t last long. If you have good relationships you aren’t a commodity. You have to transform the business to be considered a service. It can be challenging to keep that at the forefront as you grow. It’s the clients that you have that are the foundation of your business.
I’m not intimidated by promoting myself. That’s always something that is easy to struggle with, puts you in a place where you have to be bolder. Especially in the early years I was really good at that.
CBN: What did that look like?
Jauregui: For me it was going door to door to dentists telling them who I am what I do why they needed to try me. It was phone calls and continually going back to those offices. Being a noisy wheel. I think that’s huge in starting a business as well as continuing and growing a business. When your business is technical you can be trapped at the bench and not be out there promoting. That’s something I wrestle with.
Lastly my success is due to faith, you can only do the best you can and the rest is in God’s hands.
CBN: There is new technology that allows a dentist to create a crown on site what do you think of that?
Jauregui: I think the technology is pretty neat. There have been issues with it in the past and the longevity of those crown and restorations has not been great. They have gotten better, especially in the last year. Personally I don’t love the idea that dentist have their own mill because it takes away business from my lab. At the same rate it has allowed me to become a coach in their technology because now they have to be a technician. We may not get as much revenue from them but it gives opportunities to build working relationships in new ways which lead to more referrals. It’s definitely changing the game a little bit.
CBN: Do you think it will dominate the market eventually?
Jauregui: Just a few are working with the new technology. The thing is it’s a big investment and the learning curve can be high so it’s not always worth the time and investment. It’s also limited in what you can do. A boutique lab like mine will always give higher quality products. The advantage is convenience because patients don’t have to come back the whole process can be completed in one visit. We are artists in terms of color most dentists don’t have the same expertise or time. If you think about it what we create is functional art. It’s truly artistry.
CBN: Do you ever meet someone and in conversation think….”I think I did
that crown.”
Jauregui: Sometimes I do. It’s funny how it all comes back around sometimes.
CBN: What are your long term goals?
Jauregui: I do 150-200 crowns per month. I would like to see it double. We’ve grown on an average of 20 percent per year, both in current but also with new clients. I am preparing for more growth by remodeling. We are excited about that. That’s the game, that’s the strategy I’ve been preparing for. I don’t’ think it will cause any miracles right away, I wish it would. I’m confident we’ll grow 25-30 percent in the next year with our target clients. We are a team of four and I expect to add four more in the near future.
CBN: What would you say to another who is considering a leap of faith to opening up their own business?
Jauregui: If you can be talked out of it easily, don’t take the leap. If you can’t be talked out and you are determined and your heart is set, then go for it and go all in. I would say if you fail, you are still going to learn. I have failed at several things in my life and with every failure I have been able to take pieces from it and apply it to what is going right or what the next step is.
Jauregui will be adding four new employees! Considering Facebook is hiring 50 something employees for the Prineville operation, four new employees hired by a local small business is fabulous. Can you imagine how quickly the local economy would bounce back if every small business hired even just one new employee?
Ceramicrat Dental Laboratories is located at 347 Logsden Street Suite 100 Bend. Their phone number is 541-318-7808.
If you have a business that is booming and are hiring I would like to share your story of success. Please contact me at eueland@gmail.com.
Elizabeth Ueland International Sourcing Agent.
