Active marketing and plans for expansion

What sets your business apart from your competitors? Our business is unique in that we offer the value proposition to what was a traditional health service and because we actively market our business, which is something dental practices traditionally did not do. We do regular advertising and marketing promotions to increase our market share to make the volume sales work. We are also the first dental practice to offer dental finance plans without using a third party credit agency so we can offer 0 per cent finance immediately .

What is the best piece of business advice you have received? Paul Graham is a UK venture capitalist and his advice is not to think big. Start small, refine your business, make small mistakes and then grow your business empirically. I think that's great advice – grow and finance your growth as you go along.

What is the biggest mistake you have made in business? In previous businesses, it was to believe so completely in my own ability that I felt I didn't need other skilled practitioners. I was slow to take advice and opinion and it impacted on my businesses in the past. The lesson learned is to know your own strengths and weaknesses, don't be too proud to take advice and trust the people within your organisation who possess specific skills and expertise get on with their job.

What has been your major success to date? We are opening a second clinic in north Dublin so we are delighted with that. From a practice point of view, it is being able to offer patients high standards of care and treatment without having to travel abroad. We believe we have taken away the need for people to seek dental work in lower cost countries.

Whom do you admire most in business and why? I really admire Jeff Bezos from Amazon. It is Jeff Bezos who innovated the concept of "predictive analytics" – recommending products to customers based on search history and buying habits.

Whether you like the concept or you hate it, the idea has made online commerce more profit rich and efficient and is making online shopping a better experience for consumers throughout the world.

Based on your experience in the downturn, are the banks in Ireland open for business to SMEs? It is not easy for new businesses to get started and it's incredibly difficult without proper finance and support from the relevant authorities. We ourselves are fortunate to have a very good relationship with Bank of Ireland which we have built up over the past number of years so I won't complain.

What one piece of advice would you give the Government to help stimulate the economy? The Government should make sure that new fledgling companies have access to the widest range of knowledge and supports that are available. Venture capital should be readily available for entrepreneurs, not just spoken about.

I honestly believe entrepreneurship should be taught in schools also, to help develop an independent business and start-up mind-set.

What has been the biggest challenge you have had to face? To overcome potential patient scepticism about a new practice offering the same services but at a much lower cost than they have been used to. Some may have felt that, as we are the best value, that there must be a hidden catch or an inferior service. However, we are now in business for four years so word of mouth has helped to overcome this concern.

We use the highest quality industry standard products, so we can certify standards. Like any new business, we found the recession difficult but it made us focus on consolidation and more conscious of what we were offering our patients.

How do you see the short- term future for your business? The plan is to continue to refine the business model and to replicate it. As our model is based on reduced fees to our patients, we have small margins so we need to make sure that we run to full or near full capacity at all times. The model also needs to run smoothly and efficiently.

What's your business worth and would you sell it? The business has increased in value each year and it has huge potential for expansion. We wouldn't want to sell it just now as it has taken so much time and effort to get to this stage.

We want to bring MyDental as far as we can over the next few years and ultimately have a significant chain of MyDental practices countrywide. At that stage, hopefully, we will be able to reap the rewards for our earlier efforts.