Michaelangelo Dental Studio: Marketing 'Dental Artistry'

In 2009, Monica Kim, CDT, came to a crossroads familiar to many small laboratory owners: would she step away from the bench to manage the growth of her then two-year-old laboratory or hire someone to do it for her? To Kim, the answer was clear. "I wanted to stay connected to the artistry of the work so I knew I had to surround myself with people I could trust to give me guidance from a business and marketing standpoint," says Kim, owner of Michaelangelo Dental Studio, Tujunga, CA. As a result, she hired Cris Pinedo, CEO, and Walter Orellana, Director of Marketing, both experienced in the dental laboratory industry.

It may sound like a bold move for a very small laboratory (with just one other technician and six clients) to hire a two-person team to run the business. But Kim's workload was rising quickly through word of mouth and the laboratory was on the cusp of substantial growth. "I knew that together with Cris and...