02/09/2026
Undercharging. Underpromising. Relentlessly Delivering.
Yesterday, while listening to Dr Michael Norton, one sentence stayed with me:
“I underpromise and overdeliver.”
It made me pause and think about my own journey.
Because, in many ways, I realised I have been doing this for years — without ever consciously calling it a philosophy.
I don't always charge what I could.
I don't promise what I cannot control.
But whatever I do promise, I try my very best to deliver.
Perhaps some of this comes from my roots.
For almost 40 years, I was an Army dependent. Healthcare was simply… there. Medical and dental treatment were taken care of. I grew up without having to think, “How much will this cost?” when someone needed care.
It was a privilege.
But when something is your normal for decades, you don't always realise how deeply it shapes you.
Maybe that's why, even after becoming a dentist and a business owner, putting a price on healthcare never came naturally to me.
I have always wanted to charge what I could justify to myself.
But I am slowly understanding that fair pricing and underpricing are not the same thing.
If I want to keep investing in good materials, technology, training and clinical systems — and continue giving my patients dentistry that is stable, predictable and built to last — the business has to be able to sustain that standard.
And then there is detachment.
Something I learnt quite early in my clinical journey.
I never wanted to become attached to a particular material, technology or technique.
I love technology. I love learning. And honestly, clinical dentistry is where I am happiest.
But the question has always been:
“What is right for this patient and this case?”
Sometimes it is a proven protocol.
Sometimes it is something newer.
And sometimes it means changing something that has worked well for years.
I think that detachment has helped me grow clinically — to keep learning, adapting and moving forward instead of becoming too comfortable with what I already know.
Perhaps now I need to bring that same detachment to the business side of my practice.
I’m at the midpoint of my career — not looking back, but thinking about how to make the next half count.
And, God willing, I still have another two decades of dentistry ahead of me.
So perhaps this is my mindset for the road ahead:
Stay detached enough to keep learning.
Stay honest enough to underpromise.
Value the work enough to price it fairly.
And care enough to relentlessly deliver.
Maybe that's not the conventional way to build a dental practice.
But it is the way I want to practise.
And now, I'm learning to build a business that can sustain that philosophy too. ❤️
