For Dentist duo Dr. Bao-Tran Nguyen (@dr.baotran) and Dr. Nate Jeal (@drnatejeal), separating business from their personal life can be a little difficult. The two are not only business partners but life partners as well.
Nguyen and Jeal met in the hallways of the University of Manitoba as they chased a Doctor of Dental Medicine Degree. Following graduation in 2011, they both climbed the ranks in Manitoba’s dental industry quickly. Today, they own and operate three practices together.
Owners of Waterford Smile Co, Winnipeg Square Dental, and Lorette Family Dental Care, the two show the power of trust and hard work between two groundbreaking dentists and entrepreneurs.
“With hundreds of dentists within a few mile radius, it’s important to tell your story,” says Jeal.
In 2019, they opened the doors to their first scratch start-up Waterford Smile Co.
“Building a practice from zero with only debt on day one is a risky endeavor but it’s one that we genuinely take pride and enjoyment in,” says the power couple.
They managed to turn Waterford Smile Co into a premier destination for top-quality dentistry seeing people from hundreds of miles around. Their unrelenting focus on helping their patients find real solutions to real problems is a big part of their success. Among the many tools they use, Invisalign features prominently and they achieved Gold Plus with Invisalign in only a few short months, earning recognition as premier providers of Invisalign orthodontics across North America. As Gold Plus providers they consistently treat over 100 patients a year with Invisalign, joining a group of only six orthodontists who have Gold Plus or better rankings in Manitoba.
They plan to continue expanding their franchise as they begin building their fourth practice and second scratch startup.
Jeal and Nguyen are not only dentists and business owners but mentors in the dental community.
They are co-founders of Dental Authority Marketing (DAM), a marketing firm dedicated to growing and mentoring new and budding orthodontists and dental practices.
With new areas of business, comes new and difficult challenges but the duo says learning from the hardships is just as important as the results.
“Failure is part of growing and should be considered the ‘cost of tuition’ for an education in real life,” they say.
When times get tough, Nguyen and Jeal block out the noise and focus on the goal together.
“The only way to succeed is to persist in the face of adversity,” they say.
Luckily, the two don’t have to do it on their own. Nguyen and Jeal have employed over a hundred people on their team over the years across multiple departments and locations who help carry the weight of multiple fast-growing businesses.
“Creating a winning team starts with hiring the right people,” they say.
Their team has to have the right mindset, as do their clients. The duo routinely declines dentists as clients who are not a fit for solutions they provide.
“We made a commitment years ago to only work with happy people,” they say.
Jeal feels it can make or break one’s business.
“We live and die in business based on the client and patient selection,” says Jeal.
To learn more about Nguyen and Jeal and their constant pursuit of success, follow them @drnatejeal and @dr.baotran.
