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[VOICE]: This [00:00:30] is Dental Leaders. [00:00:35] The podcast where you get to go one on one with [00:00:40] emerging leaders in dentistry. Your [00:00:45] hosts Payman Langroudi and Prav Solanki.

Payman Langroudi: It [00:00:50] gives me great pleasure to welcome Kash Qureshi onto the podcast. The third [00:00:55] technician that we’ve had on this pod. Um, I think, you know, we don’t [00:01:00] give enough credit to our technician colleagues. And we all know those of us who’ve practised for a few years. [00:01:05] The difference a technician can make to your life in terms of. [00:01:10] I’ve worked with some technicians that make me look amazing and the opposite [00:01:15] as well. I’ve had situations I’ve had and you really realise it when [00:01:20] you change practice as an associate. I remember having a technician I adored, [00:01:25] someone who taught me so much. Yeah. Changing practice. And then in the new practice, they’re saying [00:01:30] you have to use this lab. And where I’d never had a situation where the crown [00:01:35] wouldn’t even fit. Yeah. Suddenly the first three crowns weren’t fitting, and [00:01:40] I suddenly realised, oh, my God, how good was my technician before? So it’s a massive pleasure to have you. Thanks for [00:01:45] coming all the way.

Kash Qureshi: Oh, thanks for having me as well. Um, you know, I really appreciate your time. And [00:01:50] thank you for letting me go on this podcast.

Payman Langroudi: My pleasure. So, cash, you own Bremer Dent? [00:01:55]

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. In London.

Payman Langroudi: You’re a clinical dental technician as well.

Kash Qureshi: That’s right. I run the [00:02:00] denture clinic as well.

Payman Langroudi: There’s an E in there.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. There is. It’s [00:02:05] Susie. Susie dent.

Payman Langroudi: Is that because there was another Swiss dent and you had to add an E to differentiate?

Kash Qureshi: You [00:02:10] own the trademark to it now? Um. Yeah. Susie. Yes.

Payman Langroudi: What does it mean?

Kash Qureshi: It was a system [00:02:15] that was developed in the 1950s from the Swiss Bank Corporation [00:02:20] in America. They’d done something with Angela. Uh, Angela done something [00:02:25] with a group of dentists and technicians. It was a way of dentists to communicate with their [00:02:30] technicians when it comes to dentures, because we know how difficult dentures are between the two. And [00:02:35] it was a system that was put in place. So everyone was singing from the same hymn sheet. And it worked for many, many [00:02:40] years. And then, um, I think the guy passed away who who ran it and [00:02:45] then it just went sort of downhill from there. Um, but I, I [00:02:50] trained on that system, and that helped me pass my clinical course as well, because it [00:02:55] was a Training from a dentist point of view as well as a technician. I sort of had both [00:03:00] aspects, the clinical and technical, and it worked quite well. One question I do want to bring [00:03:05] up. Yeah, you said that I’m the third technician who was the other two before me.

Payman Langroudi: Had Michael [00:03:10] Joseph.

Kash Qureshi: Oh yeah.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah. Right.

Kash Qureshi: Right right right. Yeah, yeah.

Payman Langroudi: And Simon Caxton. Is [00:03:15] it Simon Caxton. Yeah. That’s [00:03:20] a bit embarrassing. Um, but [00:03:25] both of them told me that dental [00:03:30] technology and being a dental technician isn’t something that the public know anything [00:03:35] about. That’s right. Because you guys are kind of in the behind the scenes. Yeah. And so, [00:03:40] you know, it’s not something that people even consider going into because they don’t even know it exists. [00:03:45] Yeah. So what was your thinking like how did you trip over becoming a dental [00:03:50] technician? Were you thinking of doing other things? What how did it happen for you?

Kash Qureshi: I think, um, [00:03:55] we’ve got to sort of go back to growing up in East London. That’s where I’m originally from, from Walthamstow. [00:04:00] And it was a very rough environment growing [00:04:05] up in Walthamstow. It’s not you know, it wasn’t great as it is now. It’s very, very nice to go [00:04:10] now. It is, isn’t it, when you go down there. But um. Yeah. So how [00:04:15] can I say it’s quite a long story short. Uh, by the time [00:04:20] I was, like, 15, um, I’d been into various situations [00:04:25] where knives were involved. Um, the youngest time when I had a knife up against my [00:04:30] throat, I was like eight. The second time was 12. Um, I got robbed [00:04:35] at that time. I just come back from Pakistan because I’m Pakistani and I was wearing all my gold [00:04:40] stuff. Like, are.

Payman Langroudi: You born here?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, I was born here in Watford.

Payman Langroudi: And your parents? [00:04:45] When?

Kash Qureshi: Pakistan.

Payman Langroudi: When did they come over? Like, how old were they?

Kash Qureshi: I think they were young, like two [00:04:50] or something like that. And I remember I was at the chicken shop that was 12 years old and, [00:04:55] um, yeah, they took everything from me. So I went to my uncle’s who was literally [00:05:00] up the road, and I thought, oh, my uncle’s going to get all my stuff back. And, um, [00:05:05] no, he just drove me back home. So I just remembered to myself, you know what I thought from [00:05:10] age of 12? I thought, I’m going to have to look out for number one because I’ve got. [00:05:15] No, I didn’t have a big brother or anything like that. So I thought, you know, I’m going to have to look out for myself. So [00:05:20] 15 comes around. Now, the reason why I’m saying this because it was linked to my trajectory [00:05:25] of change, of life. And, uh, 15, I got into a massive altercation. Um, [00:05:30] you end up in them. I don’t go out of my way to go to these things, but they just happen. [00:05:35] And, uh, a group of guys surrounding me, um, I always [00:05:40] remember my mum in my ear saying that if you got any for your life is worth more than [00:05:45] your valuables or whatnot. And at the time, I remember this group of guys around [00:05:50] me and I thought, nah, f that.

Kash Qureshi: When I was 12 years old, I thought, no, that was it. I am not [00:05:55] letting this happen. So in the end, I ended up having, um, a bit of a with [00:06:00] a knife. It just all sort of slashed on the arm. And I went home and, uh, I [00:06:05] sort of patched myself up, and I thought, what do I do here? Do I? Because I didn’t [00:06:10] know I was going through mixed emotions. I didn’t really know what to do. So I thought the only thing I could think of to [00:06:15] do was just me being stupid was, you know what? I’m going to get some bits and I’m going to go straight back to the place [00:06:20] and see what happens. I went straight back there and my heart was pounding, like, literally, you could feel. [00:06:25] You can like my heart was pounding. But I thought, no, I’m just going to go back there. Dah dah dah. So [00:06:30] yeah, that ended up happening. So you could see what sort of trajectory I was going down. [00:06:35] And it was a stage where my mum said to me, right, you need to get [00:06:40] a job or you need to go to college because I didn’t, I didn’t apply.

Payman Langroudi: You went back. What happened when you went back? [00:06:45]

Kash Qureshi: Oh, they didn’t say anything. They were more scared about why I come back to the same place. I’m sorry. I didn’t think I [00:06:50] meant to say anything because I patched myself up. I look like Rambo because I just put a bandaid on there. I put Sudocrem [00:06:55] with Vaseline, I put Vaseline and I put a plaster on it, and obviously [00:07:00] it’s just like slipping around. So then I just put a bandage on and I just went straight back to the. The location was [00:07:05] Ringwood Road. It was literally up the road from the lab where I went to. So when [00:07:10] I was looking for jobs, um, it was a newspaper, The Guardian at [00:07:15] the time, and there was an advert in there to for a plastering worker. I didn’t know what it was [00:07:20] about, so I thought, okay, I’m still going to apply because it’s in Walthamstow, it’s up the road from where I am. And [00:07:25] I thought, well, it’s better than getting involved in that life because I don’t want to be about that [00:07:30] life. It’s it’s a dangerous life. You don’t live that long living that life.

Kash Qureshi: So then [00:07:35] I applied. I sent a letter. When you used to do those things, I attended an interview. [00:07:40] And I just remember my boss, John Gerard, who owned the lab at the time. [00:07:45] He had one of the he had a dry trimmer And he had this model and he was like, [00:07:50] can you do this shape from this? So okay, I’ll give it a try. So I’ve done [00:07:55] it and it was quick at doing it. And he went, oh that’s really good. How do you know how to do that? And I went, oh, [00:08:00] in D.T. we do the stuff like that, we would work, but they’ve got like a red thing at the bottom that you kick in case [00:08:05] your tyre gets caught in it and you go into it. And he laughed. And then from there, um, I’ve just [00:08:10] been doing an apprenticeship since then, but the reason why I mention that is because that put [00:08:15] me on a different trajectory in life in general. Now I own the laboratory. I was once [00:08:20] an apprentice. Same lab? Yeah, that same lab.

Payman Langroudi: Okay. That’s.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. That’s permanent.

Payman Langroudi: Oh.

Kash Qureshi: So [00:08:25] if it and literally that event of, um, the, the knife incident literally [00:08:30] only happened about two months before I was started at that place. So it was very [00:08:35] close to one another and it was just like, okay, if if I didn’t do that, [00:08:40] I mean, yeah, I could have ended up anywhere. It could have been worse. I couldn’t [00:08:45] not be here today in a podcast interview, but I’m glad I used my [00:08:50] senses and I stuck to it and done the apprenticeship.

Payman Langroudi: But that life. I mean, did you? What [00:08:55] was it? What was it that you were involved in?

Kash Qureshi: I wasn’t involved with the street [00:09:00] dudes. There was a lot of street dudes out there then. There still is to this day. Some of the kids nowadays, they’re [00:09:05] crazy. They’re so crazy. Some of these.

Payman Langroudi: Kids.

Kash Qureshi: Knife.

Payman Langroudi: Crime thing is mad.

Kash Qureshi: The knife crime, [00:09:10] gun crime, the drug. It’s just there used to be a thing about drugs outside [00:09:15] the laboratory where, um. They used to stash drugs inside of the wheel arch of my car. Seriously? [00:09:20] And the police? Um, they would always knock on the door and say, um, can we [00:09:25] just search your car underneath? Because there used to be an alleyway there, and they used to always do it. [00:09:30] And it’s very easy to get into that lifestyle. You don’t need to actually be in it. You can be just [00:09:35] associated. I mean, one of my friends were into that sort of thing. That’s [00:09:40] good to good on them. I don’t know what they’re doing now. We were young at the time. I mean, the one the one [00:09:45] thing I do remember is I was in this house once with my friends and [00:09:50] what they call now, they call it a I think they call it like a trap house. That’s what they call it now. I didn’t know what it was back [00:09:55] then. No, we didn’t have a name for it. But I remember the floors. There wasn’t like nice floorboards. It was like that wooden floor, [00:10:00] you know, where. There’s nothing on there.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: And all I remember just sitting there thinking. If the police [00:10:05] come through right now, what am I going to tell my mom? That was the only thing that was going through [00:10:10] my mind. I was thinking, oh, man, I’m going to be an accessory to whatever’s going on here, you know? So I ducked [00:10:15] out of there so quick because I thought, I don’t want to be here. I don’t want I don’t want this lifestyle. And I’m glad [00:10:20] I don’t didn’t go through with it. But you don’t need to be involved in it. You see, you just get drawn [00:10:25] into it. If your friends are there, you’re not going to go, oh, you know what? Uh, it’s more peer pressure, [00:10:30] I think.

Payman Langroudi: And that and that inflection point of that incident that made you decide [00:10:35] to follow that career when you finally got there, were you like, super [00:10:40] disciplined and like, did you feel like it was an opportunity that. [00:10:45] Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: Because I just thought it was an opportunity. My grades wasn’t 100%. [00:10:50] Um, so I wasn’t the smartest of people out there. Um, I was very good with my [00:10:55] hands. Um, very good at art, design, technology and all of them sort of things. So I had good coordination [00:11:00] skills, and it just clicked. And I thought, you know what? This is going to be [00:11:05] the thing to do. And I ended up just just going at it full speed and, um, [00:11:10] yeah, I’m glad I did, to be honest.

Payman Langroudi: So from that point of like in the plaster room [00:11:15] to becoming a fully fledged technician, how many years, how many courses? [00:11:20] What are we talking.

Kash Qureshi: We there was a BTec course at the time. Um, [00:11:25] so you’d done that for about a year, I think. And then you went on to a foundation degree. And then [00:11:30] from there I’d done the external courses to do a CBT course. So [00:11:35] I think the first part of it was a four year. Um, so you do.

Payman Langroudi: Part [00:11:40] time.

Kash Qureshi: Part time. So one day released to college, four days in the lab. I think that’s the best way of [00:11:45] doing it, to be honest with.

Payman Langroudi: You, for it somehow.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, because you learn so much more in a lab than you do in a [00:11:50] in an ideal environment with ideal cases and stuff like that. You learn life experience. [00:11:55] Yeah. And I think they’ve changed things now. The new apprenticeships now seem to be more streamlined, [00:12:00] like, um, there’s a new place that’s just opened up in called Southbank [00:12:05] Colleges. Um, they’re running a technicians course. They’ve got a full time one and the part time one. [00:12:10] I’m a big favour of the part time one because it’s aimed for school leavers exactly like myself. [00:12:15] You know, the you know, you don’t want to do the academia side of things, but you’re good at your [00:12:20] hands and you’ve got value. You can bring value. And that’s what I think that is going [00:12:25] to be the more successful courses with the younger generation.

Payman Langroudi: And how long is it before you start kind [00:12:30] of subspecializing like that first course. Does that, does everyone do that first [00:12:35] course.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, because you need to get your feet wet. You need to know what you’re going to be doing. That. [00:12:40] And a lot of these, when you go into the course, you they train you on everything. But the main [00:12:45] thing that I don’t know why it was silly. They used to train you on orthodontics more than anything else. We used to do like 13 [00:12:50] orthodontic appliances I don’t even remember the name of. I don’t even touch the wire since I don’t even want [00:12:55] to touch removable appliance. Yeah, the orthodontic stuff. I leave it to the people that want to [00:13:00] do it. I just find it very tedious to bend wires. I still do, but they teach you sections [00:13:05] of each thing. It’s probably gone different now because of the digital aspect, which I think it should be [00:13:10] a core curriculum, because that’s going to outweigh anything we were doing, like the lost wax process. [00:13:15] So I think that that’s definitely going to be the way forward. And then once you do [00:13:20] your bits and pieces, I found that I started off in Crown and Bridge. I first started [00:13:25] off in the plaster room. Uh, apparently I showed good street smarts. There’s a reason for [00:13:30] that. Yeah. So I was very good at them sort of things and making decisions quick and thinking [00:13:35] with common sense. So I was very good at them sort of things. And then I started running that whole department down there. [00:13:40]

Payman Langroudi: And bridge department.

Kash Qureshi: The whole class.

Payman Langroudi: Oh, the whole classroom.

Kash Qureshi: Taking training [00:13:45] new people, moving people here, they’re just running. I was like 17 at the time, so I was well in [00:13:50] my element. Then I got moved upstairs into the sort of Canning Bridge. I didn’t like it too much. [00:13:55] It wasn’t my thing. Uh, I was more quick paced, moving on things. And [00:14:00] then, um, I just approached my boss at the time and said, look, I’d rather do prosthetics, [00:14:05] try me out on prosthetics because there was a stage where the colleges, everyone would [00:14:10] tell you, if you want to be a technician, you want to be a crown and bridge technician. They used to always tell you [00:14:15] that even if you didn’t want to do it, they’ll go, you know what? You should be a ceramist. And boy, were they wrong. [00:14:20] That’s been the first specialised field that’s literally been outsourced [00:14:25] to CAD Cam, because there was a stage where they thought CAD cam will never it [00:14:30] won’t. I don’t get me wrong, it won’t replace technicians. It will make you more [00:14:35] productive, but it comes at a cost. You’re not going to sit there and [00:14:40] pay 70 K to a ceramist when you can get a machine to mill it out, and you can get someone [00:14:45] to stain and glaze it. It doesn’t make business sense. You’ve got to make it work somehow. And [00:14:50] at the moment, digital dentures is becoming a thing. Um, I’ve got a good team of technicians [00:14:55] now. Um, they are worried about digital dentures taking over. I [00:15:00] said, well, look, you’ve got nothing to be worried about. You’ve just got to apply your skills differently. You’ve got to apply what [00:15:05] you’re learning at the bench. You still got to know how to do setting up of teeth, because when you’re on the computer, [00:15:10] you’re going to need to know how to position teeth and so forth. So it’s just a case of transferring, [00:15:15] and I suppose it’s the employer that pushes the people in the direction that [00:15:20] you can foresee them going as well, because sometimes people just need that little [00:15:25] nudge in the right direction. Lead them up that path.

Payman Langroudi: I mean, it’s not only dental technicians, [00:15:30] right? It’s every single field now is going to change with [00:15:35] AI and all that. And I saw a thing. It was, you know, autonomous cars in [00:15:40] some city in Phoenix. They’ve got taxis. No driver, just the car.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, I see that.

Payman Langroudi: The [00:15:45] car just drives around by itself. Um, but in that situation, there’s one driver [00:15:50] driving 30 cars because the car’s basically doing its own thing until [00:15:55] it hits the situation where it doesn’t know what to do. And then it calls up the driver, and then the driver takes over. And [00:16:00] I think that’s going to be the way that a lot of different industries end up. It could be [00:16:05] one technician doing ten technicians job that, you know, today’s technicians [00:16:10] jobs. It could even be one dentist doing ten dentist jobs. You know, we think [00:16:15] we think that, you know, in those professions where it’s face to face, that’s the last one that’s going to go. [00:16:20] But, um, you know, I if I’m, if I’m buying something off Amazon, [00:16:25] I don’t want to talk to a human. You know, I don’t I.

Kash Qureshi: Don’t.

Payman Langroudi: I prefer. [00:16:30]

Kash Qureshi: To talk to you when, you.

Payman Langroudi: Know, I want to go on Amazon. Hit the thing.

Kash Qureshi: Have you have you rang up someone like a [00:16:35] bank or someone and they got the AI versions on there? Yeah, it is weird.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah, it won’t be for long.

Kash Qureshi: It’s [00:16:40] strange. And then they do the breathing thing as well. It makes it even worse because it’s like you’re trying [00:16:45] to be human and you can tell you’re not human.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah. So then you became [00:16:50] a clinical dental technician and set up a practice.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, well, a denture clinic. [00:16:55] Just in case CQC are watching. It’s a denture clinic.

Payman Langroudi: Tell me about that. Because [00:17:00] dentures are a funny thing. I worked with a guy on Harley Street who was a denture specialist, [00:17:05] if you like. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And the emotions, the the [00:17:10] sort of psychological aspect to making a great just stick to forefoot [00:17:15] for now to making a great full fall. We weren’t taught that in dental [00:17:20] school. You know, in dental school, we were taught the basics of how to make the thing. Yeah, we certainly [00:17:25] weren’t taught positioning of teeth. You know, the stuff that you guys [00:17:30] are good at. But what this guy used to do, and it used to. I remember seeing the emotion on [00:17:35] the patients faces was he’d asked for photos from their youth, and [00:17:40] they’d bring in pictures of themselves when they were 20 or 30, when they had teeth. Yeah. And then he’d [00:17:45] recreate the way that their teeth used to look when in their 20s. And [00:17:50] when he’d put them in, suddenly there’d be floods of tears and and and and so forth. And [00:17:55] it’s both the positive side of that sort of emotional connection. And as we know, [00:18:00] the negative aspects of it, there are some people who I’m sure come to you with a bag [00:18:05] of dentures, having seen 30 dentists and think you’re going to answer all their problems and, [00:18:10] and, you know, they’ve given a name to their pain and, and no, no set of dentures is going [00:18:15] to fix that. Talk talk me around the clinical aspects that you, you are [00:18:20] now super specialised in.

Kash Qureshi: I think the biggest thing I can say [00:18:25] is patient expectations and communication with patients. Because when [00:18:30] I get patients come into my clinic, they’ve gone done the rounds through all of [00:18:35] the dentists out there. So they’ve come to you and they know that they’ve got a problem. And [00:18:40] if it’s come to a CDC, you know that they’ve got low ridges. [00:18:45] Their old denture is very worn out. They’re dead. So it’s a long [00:18:50] winded process. That’s why the digital stuff can kick in. In actually does help. [00:18:55] Um, I’m training a lot of dentists on how to do digital dentures. Um, [00:19:00] and we’ve been getting some good successful results with it. But with the patients [00:19:05] as such, you just have to manage the expectations from the outset. Tell [00:19:10] them straight off the cuff that you’ve got a very. I mean, you do all of this in the treatment planning [00:19:15] stages and the examinations. And I will tell a patient straight away that [00:19:20] you’re probably going to need fixodent if needed. Um, if fixodent are watching wherever [00:19:25] the camera is, hit me up. I still want to do that advert with you guys. I’ve been [00:19:30] messaging them, so they messaged back. So I don’t know who’s running your social media, but you need to sort it out. Serious. [00:19:35] But, um, I’ve always recommend fixing them. Um, even if the dentures they’ve got healthy Ridge. I [00:19:40] would always recommend it.

Payman Langroudi: Really?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. Because you need to lower that expectation from the outset because [00:19:45] they’re coming to you thinking they’re gonna you’re gonna because they know that you special not special. You’re not allowed to [00:19:50] say special. Yeah. Gdc because they know you’re an expert in dentures. They [00:19:55] will think that you’re going to solve all their issues. I’ve had patients, um, because I look quite [00:20:00] young at the time. Um, when I first started, I was like, when I qualified, I was 23 years old. As I said, [00:20:05] I was the youngest in the country, and I must have looked very young to patients because they would, you know, you’re [00:20:10] getting old elderly patients in the 60s, 70s. So they’re seeing someone young. They’re like, well, what do [00:20:15] you know? And I said, well, look, I’m dealing with about 800 to 900 denture cases a week at the lab. Oh, [00:20:20] no. Yeah.

Payman Langroudi: Oh, in the lab.

Kash Qureshi: In the lab? Yeah. Like just in the denture department. I’m overseeing [00:20:25] 800 to 900 cases Day in, day out. Every week without fail. [00:20:30] It’s me. I can tell you now if it’s going to work or not. So they appreciate [00:20:35] that because experience takes over. How many years you’ve done it? [00:20:40] And I found with a lot of technicians that I’m getting coming through now, I don’t really look at [00:20:45] how many years they’ve been doing it. I’ve been looking more at what they actually their experience and what they [00:20:50] do. I mean, there’s no point of if someone if someone turns around to me and requests a pay [00:20:55] rise based on the long how long they’ve been at the place. Uh, it’s about time [00:21:00] that I’ll be thinking to myself. I need to get them the hell out of here. If you’ve had to come to me and you’re [00:21:05] telling me that the only thing you can think of is because I’ve been here for so long now. I’ve got no space for [00:21:10] furniture. I’ve. You know, we’ve got no space. You need to be bringing some sort of value [00:21:15] to the bottom line. And that’s where experience comes in. And if there are any technicians [00:21:20] out there, do not approach your employer with that saying that, oh, I’ve been doing this for X [00:21:25] amount of years. Approach them differently. Have you got clients like I’ve spoken [00:21:30] to some technicians that have their own clients. You go to an employer or a new employer and say, look, I’ve got [00:21:35] 5 or 6 dentists on my team. You know, they’re people.

Payman Langroudi: Who trust me.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. I [00:21:40] guarantee you that that employer will take you on straight away. But if you go there and say, yeah, I’ve been doing this for [00:21:45] 20 years, they’d be like, well, what have you been doing for 20 years? You know, have you been just sweeping the corner? You know, [00:21:50] you’ve been just been doing bites because you get found out. It’s where I [00:21:55] did remember reading a guy called Jim Glidewell. He owns a big laboratory in America. [00:22:00] 5000 laboratories. Yeah. Huge guy, very successful. Um, Stephanie [00:22:05] Goddard now is the CEO of it, very successful laboratory. And he said [00:22:10] that most technicians will get called out on their cases [00:22:15] every case they do. So that’s why you’ve always got to do the best case, because you send a job to [00:22:20] a dentist and it’s a piece of chalk, as he said. He’s that dentist is going to turn around to you and say [00:22:25] that lab work’s not good. So you’re always going to get constant feedback. Whereas as a dentist, [00:22:30] you very rarely get feedback. There’s no one there to govern how your clinical work is. [00:22:35] Whereas now I’m finding a lot of dentists are now asking us, give us [00:22:40] feedback. And I do I give them feedback. If I think an impression is good, I’ll ring them up and go, yeah, you know [00:22:45] that impression you sent was, you know, it was hot, you know. And if it’s rubbish, I would be very [00:22:50] careful in my work and say, you know. Yeah, I think it’s the impression is distorted. It [00:22:55] just distorted itself somehow. But yeah.

Payman Langroudi: And I want to go into [00:23:00] a couple of things there. Number one, this thing you’re saying about feedback, [00:23:05] how how important is it to you? How nice is it when a dentist [00:23:10] contacts you and says, that was really nice lab work. Like, I’d imagine that that [00:23:15] that’s almost like when a patient says thank you to dentist. It’s like. And they [00:23:20] really mean it. It’s actually the bit of the job that makes the whole thing worthwhile. And [00:23:25] often dentists don’t feed back that good news to their [00:23:30] technicians. They feed back bad news, but good news. Tell [00:23:35] me about that. Is that is that something that changes your day, like when you get a thank you [00:23:40] from a dentist?

Kash Qureshi: It does. It does change every. I think it changes everyone’s morale. It’s more for the team. [00:23:45] Um, you know, we got about 18 people at the lab. So to get feedback because I, [00:23:50] I don’t I don’t see half my team half the time because, you know, it’s like running a business. You’re [00:23:55] everywhere. You’re everywhere but nowhere sort of thing half the time. So it’s good to get feedback. [00:24:00] You can put it in the group saying, this dentist just sent this. Well done. So and so. It’s good [00:24:05] to. But then I also think at the same time, if something has gone wrong feedback, [00:24:10] you need to be able to give.

Payman Langroudi: That feedback.

Kash Qureshi: Because that’s how we learn. And it’s [00:24:15] like I’m always in the middle between a dentist [00:24:20] and then an annoyed staff member, because when you got that sort of situation going, you [00:24:25] need to find a medium ground in between. So I always say to the guys, focus on the [00:24:30] solution, not the problem. Because when you focus on the problem, you’re still going to be fighting. The technician will [00:24:35] say, oh, it’s bad impressions. The dentist will say it’s down to the lab and how they’re making it. [00:24:40] Okay, that’s the problem you’re focusing on. Let’s focus on the solution. The solution would be [00:24:45] okay. It’s going to come at a cost to us. Just making you aware to the dentist. It’s going to [00:24:50] come at a cost. But if you can get this right and then the next few cases I can make back, I [00:24:55] will make it back on that. It’s a hustler’s mentality that I will make it back on the next one. [00:25:00] So that is what I.

Payman Langroudi: Call nightmare, insomuch as I don’t know [00:25:05] for someone else what it would be like. But if I got two pieces of lab lab work in [00:25:10] a row back that for whatever reason, I’m blaming the lab. I’m now looking for a new [00:25:15] lab, isn’t it? And you could. You could have given me 100 great bits of lab work, [00:25:20] but if I get two in a row, I’ll worry as a dentist. And that’s [00:25:25] hard, man. That’s hard. You’re right. Dentists don’t have so much critique of the work they [00:25:30] do as as you guys have. The other thing I’m interested in is what was the transition [00:25:35] like from employee to boss? Like, did you find that easy or did you find that hard? [00:25:40]

Kash Qureshi: Uh, well.

Payman Langroudi: It seems like you you look comfortable in the boss’s position, [00:25:45] but it’s not an easy transition. I mean, yeah, lots of associates who become principals and [00:25:50] have real issues with that. What kind of things did you have to sort of go through?

Kash Qureshi: Well, I think that [00:25:55] the answer, the first one about the, um, the dentist with, um, you know, after two jobs [00:26:00] I’ve had, I’ve had dentists stop sending me work because they’re trying the [00:26:05] wax trying wasn’t right. And it could be something as simple as just moving [00:26:10] a lateral. And I’ve had people stop sending work because of it and all that does. There’s two [00:26:15] ways of looking at it. You can look at the way that that dentist is being pedantic. Or you can look at it the way that that [00:26:20] Dennis is being pedantic for a reason. Let’s up our game. And I like the second version, the latter [00:26:25] of it. And I would always say to people, come on, we need to up our game. Let’s [00:26:30] work to the standard that I’ve got one. Um, I don’t want to say names or anything like that, but one dentist, he sends me [00:26:35] photos of his impressions. He said to me, oh, can you extend the trace and make it like this? He constantly [00:26:40] sends me feedback on work and stuff and his work is coming out hot. I keep using [00:26:45] the word hot because I like to use the other word, but I’m just being PC about it and it’s coming out really good. [00:26:50] So I would suggest that any dentist out there, if you have an issue, [00:26:55] when I get dentists that ring up and dental practices. Now, this is something that not a lot of lab [00:27:00] owners do, but they should.

Kash Qureshi: A lot of people ring up and go, you know what? Um, [00:27:05] we’re looking for a new lab. Um, the first question to ask is what happened to the last one? [00:27:10] For some reason, my dentists don’t want to tell you what the name is of the labs. I’m not really interested, to be honest with [00:27:15] you. They don’t want to mention the names of the labs. I don’t have no idea why. Uh, maybe there’s [00:27:20] something out there that they don’t want to disclose who they’re using. I don’t really know, but my main thing is, hey, can [00:27:25] you resolve the issues with the lab you’re using? If it’s if it’s gone past that point where you can’t [00:27:30] resolve it and you can’t even have a conversation, most dentists don’t even know what the technician [00:27:35] looks like. They don’t know what the lab owner looks like. I remember when I used to rock up at practices and they used to go, [00:27:40] it’s very nice to actually see the lab owner. And I’m thinking, well, don’t everybody do this. You [00:27:45] know what I mean? I feel like everybody comes and sees people and stuff. It’s human nature, but a lot, [00:27:50] a lot of them do that. Whereas I’ve always liked to communicate with dentists, um, I like [00:27:55] to approach them. I like to go with them on cases because I’m a CDC now. I know what these guys go through [00:28:00] in the clinical aspect. So yeah, there is that. And what was this.

Payman Langroudi: As a boss?

Kash Qureshi: Oh, [00:28:05] as a boss? Yeah. I mean, I was a manager first, so I was running a department, [00:28:10] um, the prosthetics department because I ended up taking over that. So I got an understanding.

Payman Langroudi: Understanding [00:28:15] of people management.

Kash Qureshi: That’s the the main key thing. If anybody asks me what [00:28:20] is the main key skill of owning a business and running a business is [00:28:25] leadership. Leadership has a lot of subcategories. But you just got to be a good leader. You’ve [00:28:30] got to know how to communicate to people. You’ve got to know how to talk to people. The [00:28:35] tone of your voice, the message you want to convey. Um, and that [00:28:40] seems to help quite good when even just in general, just talking to random general [00:28:45] people like randos on the street, you know, you’ve just got to be able to just talk, um, which [00:28:50] is worrying because I see the younger generation having an issue with communication and [00:28:55] talking. Um, they’re much more comfortable with talking via texts and emails [00:29:00] and so forth. Yeah. So I think they’ll snap out of it. I hope so, they’ll [00:29:05] snap out of it. But, um, I’d say that that is probably the main key things is, [00:29:10] um, transitioning from an employee to a boss was difficult because I was young. Um, my [00:29:15] my trajectory was from 16. Apprentice qualified [00:29:20] at, like, eight and 19. Qualified at 19. Um, become a department [00:29:25] manager at prosthetics at 2021. And then done [00:29:30] the course. Qualified as a CBT 23 um, 25. I opened [00:29:35] up a clinic. 26 I’d done an MBA on the laboratory. So you’ve got to think from 16 [00:29:40] to 26. In ten years, I had a lot of exposure to how [00:29:45] can I say to, you know, even younger than that, I’ve had a lot of exposure to sort of street [00:29:50] life, um, finance, um, money people. [00:29:55] Hr and I gathered a lot of experience up until the point [00:30:00] of 26 where I was. I’m the owner now sort of thing.

Payman Langroudi: Was it for sale?

Kash Qureshi: No, [00:30:05] it was because he was retiring the the old boss, John Gerrard, and, um, he [00:30:10] was looking to retire. He obviously saw me pushing through on the clinic and seeing that, [00:30:15] you know, I was at 16 year old and I’ve just shot past everyone, even people that have been there for [00:30:20] 1020. I’ve just shot past everyone. So he obviously saw something there thinking, right, okay, well this [00:30:25] is my lifestyle, retirement, you know, which, you know, it was when [00:30:30] I took over, I believe there was, um, seven people and three of them [00:30:35] left straight away when I took over. Really? Yeah. Dropped me right in it. Um, two of them done [00:30:40] it, so one of them done it good way. He told me that he was going to do it. One [00:30:45] of them done it quite vindictively. Uh, another one had it in the pipelines for a long time [00:30:50] that he was going to do it, but they all just seemed to do it at the same time. Well, the two people [00:30:55] that done it and open up in competition with me is going around to clients and stuff like that. It [00:31:00] was sad to hear because I don’t really like hearing about labs closing down, but they [00:31:05] had to close it down. I assumed that whatever they were doing to me, they’d done to each other [00:31:10] because a cheater doesn’t change his spots at the end of the day.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah. Also, [00:31:15] you know, new businesses go bust all the time. Yeah, you’ve got to bear that in mind. It’s [00:31:20] you’re much more likely to go bust than to survive the first three, five years. [00:31:25] Now, you bought an established business, and this guy obviously was a good guy. The guy you bought it from, the [00:31:30] fact that he even allowed you to go through the business as quickly as [00:31:35] you did. Yeah. I mean, all right, you were committed. Yeah, but you’ll find [00:31:40] a bunch of people that where the business is not a meritocracy, literally is about how long you’ve been there. [00:31:45]

Kash Qureshi: It’s mad, though, right?

Payman Langroudi: But it happens. By the way, I’ve been guilty of it myself. Yeah, I [00:31:50] have been guilty of that. Something I’ve learned over the years.

Kash Qureshi: I thought in prison was at the back. There was. [00:31:55] I didn’t want the war was going on in this place.

Payman Langroudi: But [00:32:00] but my point is, it was a good business that you bought in the first place. Now, do [00:32:05] you want to tell me? You don’t have to. How much did you pay for it?

Kash Qureshi: I can’t really [00:32:10] say. I can’t really say.

Payman Langroudi: You have savings?

Kash Qureshi: No.

Payman Langroudi: So how did you raise money?

Kash Qureshi: I [00:32:15] didn’t circle.

Payman Langroudi: Which is what? Explain.

Kash Qureshi: That funding circle at the time was a crowd [00:32:20] crowdfunding platform. Platform at the time. Um.

Payman Langroudi: So [00:32:25] what, you made a document or a video or something?

Kash Qureshi: No, I just applied online. I think I had a business plan [00:32:30] at the time, and, um, it was just a case of applying, and then, [00:32:35] uh, we worked out an acquisition and then b-01, um, because I was an established manager [00:32:40] there, it was easier for me to do a transition and get someone else coming in. A lot of the clients knew who [00:32:45] I was already.

Payman Langroudi: Did you put zero in yourself or did you put some savings in yourself?

Kash Qureshi: I [00:32:50] put zero.

Payman Langroudi: Oh that’s lovely.

Kash Qureshi: Put zero. That’s the best type of acquisition.

Payman Langroudi: 100% funded by [00:32:55] that. How amazing.

Kash Qureshi: But I spread it over five years. Um, the.

Payman Langroudi: Funding. [00:33:00]

Kash Qureshi: The, um, the payments to, um.

Payman Langroudi: Oh, okay.

Kash Qureshi: To John, it was a deal was over five years. [00:33:05]

Payman Langroudi: So every deal you made with John.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. So every quarter I had to make a payment to him to get the, [00:33:10] you know, to pay off the shares and eventually gradually take over the ownership [00:33:15] of the shares, because that’s how you gradually do these things.

Payman Langroudi: 100% yourself. You didn’t have a partner or.

Kash Qureshi: Didn’t. [00:33:20]

Payman Langroudi: Have a partner, and you own 100% of the business now. Yeah. John doesn’t John doesn’t own any of it.

Kash Qureshi: No, [00:33:25] no, he, um. He does.

Payman Langroudi: Did he continue? Did he continue for a while?

Kash Qureshi: He still does.

Payman Langroudi: Oh, he still [00:33:30] does.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, he still does. I don’t think I would be able to stop him from it. It’s. It’s [00:33:35] in his nature. You know, he’s been he was doing it from you know, he’s been doing it for 40, 50 years. [00:33:40] So it’s what he knows. And he does it from home. And he’s, he’s he converted his shed [00:33:45] into like a lab workshop. Yeah. So he’s done that. But [00:33:50] no from from that. Um, so.

Payman Langroudi: How did you go about taking it? I mean, how many years did it take [00:33:55] to go from seven people to 18? And, you know, you’ve grown that business. [00:34:00] So what what was your strategy to grow it, find new customers, I guess.

Kash Qureshi: Well, [00:34:05] it was that I used to approach a lot of, um, the old customers that we lost. Um, the [00:34:10] people leave and come and go for different, various reasons. But, um, I think the, the main [00:34:15] key thing was, was that I wanted to I don’t know why I was stupid now that [00:34:20] I think of it, because now I know a lot more about acquisitions and stuff. But my main aim was to buy [00:34:25] the business quicker than five years, which I’d done in two years. So literally [00:34:30] done it. Two years where it should have been five. And um, now that I think about it, [00:34:35] I could feel, oh man, I could have done a lot more with that money. I could have invested into various bits. But yeah, it’s all water [00:34:40] under a bridge now. But the the growth of the company, I [00:34:45] think it was more down to it was just building more people, just getting [00:34:50] more clients in.

Payman Langroudi: How they.

Kash Qureshi: I was at the time, it was cold [00:34:55] calling, knocking on doors, walking into practices. I remember once I had a client, one client [00:35:00] in Surrey, and I was in the area and I thought, you know what? I don’t know this. [00:35:05] I don’t know these ends. I don’t I’ve never been here before. You know what? I’m going to go to every practice that [00:35:10] I can find. So I just went to every single practice in Surrey. I knocked on the doors, introduced myself. [00:35:15] Yeah. And that seemed to work because I was I was comfortable with doing that. But, [00:35:20] I mean, I could still do it now. To this day, I’ve done it where I’ve just walked into practices and gone, you know. Hi. [00:35:25] You know, my name’s estimate.

Payman Langroudi: How many practices did you either call or just walk into? [00:35:30] Like, are we talking hundreds?

Kash Qureshi: No, I walk in general. All in all, you probably looking at about 50. [00:35:35] I wouldn’t say hundreds. I didn’t have that much time to do it. Plus, um, I started to do [00:35:40] deliveries because I was having access to practices where I didn’t have access to [00:35:45] it, like eg walking into a practice and delivering the work, asking them how’s the work going?

Payman Langroudi: Nice. [00:35:50]

Kash Qureshi: It made sense for me to do that at the beginning. Now it’s not valuable for me to do that [00:35:55] now. I’ve got about three, three, yeah, three drivers now that I do it. So [00:36:00] yeah. Three.

Payman Langroudi: Have you heard the story that the guy who owns Deliveroo [00:36:05] he used. He was still delivering 111 afternoon [00:36:10] a week. Really? Like up to two years ago. Like. And part [00:36:15] of it was he sees one of his customers is the delivery driver. Yeah, yeah. And [00:36:20] so he he wants to see what the delivery driver’s life is like. You know, talk to the other delivery [00:36:25] drivers, talk to the restaurant and find out. It makes sense, man. It does make sense. So. All right. [00:36:30] So you you grew it. Um. Were they growing pains as well? There [00:36:35] always is.

Kash Qureshi: There, there is there. I think the main thing is, is keeping an eye on quality of the work [00:36:40] that’s being produced, because you can get to a point where you grow so quickly and so rapidly, [00:36:45] um, that it just spirals out of control. I mean, uh, we [00:36:50] on average get about 100 to 200 cases coming in a day, and it [00:36:55] can get at times. Um, you know, you’ve got to keep an eye on the quality of stuff. And luckily, [00:37:00] now we’ve developed such a good system where we’ve got enough, um, managers and QC [00:37:05] guys now involved that if something does slip up, it has to [00:37:10] it goes through a rigorous checks now, whereas before and it was mainly me doing [00:37:15] a lot of the checks and your eyes end up just playing games on you after a while. That was [00:37:20] the hardest thing, keeping an eye on, uh, costs and keeping an eye on the quality [00:37:25] and just customer relationships. They were the three hardest things, and they [00:37:30] take up your time. And it’s even worse if you’re an operator of the business as well, because you’re stuck at the bench, [00:37:35] you know you can’t do much managing when your head’s stuck on the on the bench and you can’t see what’s going on around.

Payman Langroudi: You, you’re [00:37:40] still doing that.

Kash Qureshi: You, um, I’m doing bits and pieces of it now, but I’m starting to slowly edge off of it. Um, [00:37:45] we’ve got more and more people doing a lot of, um, the more tasks now, and I just oversee a lot [00:37:50] of things now. Um, I prefer it that way. Uh, one one thing it just reminded me of, you know, you was talking [00:37:55] about the AI, um, taking over a lot of, uh, of dentistry. Um, [00:38:00] that analogy of the man and the dog. Do you remember that analogy?

Payman Langroudi: Go on.

Kash Qureshi: That [00:38:05] in the future, in most factories, there’s going to be a lot of machines [00:38:10] and just one man and one dog? That’s going to be running a whole factory. [00:38:15] So the man’s going to be operating the machines. Oh, no. The AI is [00:38:20] going to be running all of the machines, and the dog is there to stop the man from interfering.

Payman Langroudi: They [00:38:25] call them. They call them dark factories, right? In [00:38:30] China, they have these 24 hour a day, like running continuously [00:38:35] without any humans. Right. And it’s.

Kash Qureshi: Mad.

Payman Langroudi: And I remember once we were making this one particular [00:38:40] product and we wanted to find a manufacturer for it. Yeah, yeah. And we were in America [00:38:45] and I went to one place and there was like lines and lines of people just [00:38:50] like making it by hand. And then I went to this other place on the border with [00:38:55] Mexico, and it was gigantic. It was this huge, huge lab kind [00:39:00] of thing. And the guy who came to open the door of the thing, and because we were next to Mexico, I thought it was just going [00:39:05] to be thousands of Mexicans sitting there, and there was no humans at all. There was just there was a couple [00:39:10] of guys with clipboards and just machines doing the whole thing. Um, [00:39:15] that.

Kash Qureshi: Is going to be a process. I think.

Payman Langroudi: Byd’s got a factory. You know, the car. The Chinese car.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, [00:39:20] yeah, yeah.

Payman Langroudi: Bigger than San Francisco. Oh, wow. The factory. I can [00:39:25] imagine.

Kash Qureshi: I can imagine that. That’s actually pretty. That’s pretty tidy. That.

Payman Langroudi: So now [00:39:30] let’s move on to clinical bits. Where what kind [00:39:35] of tips can you give us on? Let’s start with dentures. Okay. What was an aha [00:39:40] moment for you regarding dentures?

Kash Qureshi: Every clinical dental technician will [00:39:45] tell you this one thing. And if they don’t tell you it, change your life. Yeah. If they don’t [00:39:50] tell you this, the first thing you realise as a clinical dental technician is. You know what? [00:39:55] Shit. I’ve been making these special trays overextended for too long.

Payman Langroudi: Really?

Kash Qureshi: First thing you learn [00:40:00] is that the special trays that we used to make, that we thought we were going to the periphery, we were just overextending [00:40:05] the hell out of them. And now everyone in my special trays is 2 to 3mm [00:40:10] away from the periphery. Reason being is when you do your impressions. [00:40:15] Now, Rupert. Rupert Monkhouse will love me for this. Um, so if you shout out to Rupert, if you are watching.

Payman Langroudi: You [00:40:20] build your impression from the Rupert Rupert vernacular, right?

Kash Qureshi: I always remember that [00:40:25] photo that he took at bounce. You know, the thing. And he goes, does anybody know who took this impression straight away? Everyone. [00:40:30] Rupert. You just knew it was him who took that. But the main thing is, if [00:40:35] you decrease it by 2 to 3mm, you allow for space for the alginate to get into the three [00:40:40] dimensional space between the cheek and the peripheral area. So it allows you to build a mould. [00:40:45] If you’ve got a special tray, in a way it’s just going to move, dislodge anything. You’ve got no space. So that [00:40:50] was the main clinical tip.

Payman Langroudi: I haven’t done a full full for now.

Kash Qureshi: Really you should do one.

Payman Langroudi: About 1520. [00:40:55] I don’t know how long, but. Is green stick still a thing?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, still being used. [00:41:00] And much more now because of. Um, a lot of the dentists like Mike. Um, he [00:41:05] teaches a lot of people how to use it. Green stick. It’s still. I would still say it’s a good product.

Payman Langroudi: I used to love [00:41:10] it, I love it.

Kash Qureshi: It smells, though, isn’t it? It’s got it’s got that smell, man. It’s got that. You smell [00:41:15] it and you’re like, yeah. I mean, we used to use shellac. The shellac base. I stopped using it because [00:41:20] it’s I don’t know what opium smells like, but I can imagine it being shellac. It’s just giving me a headache [00:41:25] every time I. Because you have to put it through a Bunsen. Yeah. And the smell of it is. Oh, I [00:41:30] just like.

Payman Langroudi: I did a prosthetics job. My first job I did was in a hospital, and [00:41:35] the guy used to. For free and saddles.

Kash Qureshi: Oh, yeah? Yeah.

Payman Langroudi: Stick the whole saddle. Right. [00:41:40] Um, not just the periphery. Yeah, yeah, it was. It was a good, good technique. It really [00:41:45] was. There’s something about making it so. Okay, so your first point was that over [00:41:50] extended special trays.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, absolutely.

Payman Langroudi: Anything else? How about the tooth setup to [00:41:55] make it aesthetic, but not like, you know, like denture classic [00:42:00] four four setups that all just the same, right? Yeah. So do you put characterisation in. Do you [00:42:05] involve the patient a lot or not?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, absolutely. Um, we got the Swiss [00:42:10] system that I used and that trains you in utilising the patient’s [00:42:15] facial features, like the centre line, nose, uh, canine line, as I say, but nose [00:42:20] is different in various patients. Like mine would be bigger. So everyone is different. And, [00:42:25] um, you utilise stuff like the eyes, the age of the patient and stuff like that. So. [00:42:30] Yeah. So imagine a bike lock. You got them lines. Yeah. You got your box, your perimeter you’re working with. Yeah. [00:42:35] Um, you got a thing called a masculine setup. So the teeth are position quite [00:42:40] square like, so very much like the central central [00:42:45] lateral. And it goes in back in steps like that. So when the lights hit it, it hits it in various [00:42:50] patterns and it shows up. For some reason you position that five millimetres [00:42:55] away from the incisive papilla. Don’t know why, but they just tell you to do that. For some reason. [00:43:00] I mean, when I teach apprentices, this, um, the female version is actually seven millimetres in [00:43:05] front. Oh, really? They usually ask me why? Because I say, oh, you know, you guys got big mouths, so [00:43:10] I don’t really. But in general terms, they are more [00:43:15] forward. I have no idea.

Payman Langroudi: And you’re picking different teeth for women than men.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. So you know, the canine [00:43:20] line. The centre line. Yeah. That creates your box. Yeah. So, you know, you don’t go.

Payman Langroudi: Deep [00:43:25] into that.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. If you get a mould and you put it in between it, you know it’s going to fit in that box. So you think right, I’ve done [00:43:30] it. You know I’ve nailed it straight away. But most dentists, especially [00:43:35] in NHS game they don’t have time to do these things. Um, so they’ve run the time [00:43:40] constraints and so forth. But you can do it. It’s quick, um, doing the bite registration in general, [00:43:45] getting the ovd rvd um, registering the bite bi facial features [00:43:50] takes about eight minutes in total. Man, that’s how long it took me. And [00:43:55] that’s what me being very pedantic with it. And I’m very pedantic in the clinic with it and [00:44:00] it takes eight minutes.

Payman Langroudi: So then at trying, yeah, classically, I don’t know. I’m [00:44:05] behind with all this, but classically a dentist will try in the denture and he’s really [00:44:10] looking more for the occlusion than how it looks. But when [00:44:15] I did that job in Harley Street, I wasn’t job. I was kind of helping out. Yeah, trying [00:44:20] was the biggest visit. Really? Yeah, that’s.

Kash Qureshi: My quickest one.

Payman Langroudi: Really? Really. What I’m saying is [00:44:25] at try and this guy was moving teeth, trying different looks and and so [00:44:30] on.

Kash Qureshi: What, the actual dentist was moving the teeth.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: Okay.

Payman Langroudi: So to try and make it look [00:44:35] the way the patient wanted it to look.

Kash Qureshi: Right.

Payman Langroudi: Was, was, you know, he was spending hour [00:44:40] on trying. Oh wow. You know, like like removing everything and starting again sometimes. Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: I [00:44:45] hope he didn’t use his technician half of that.

Payman Langroudi: No, no, we do it himself. [00:44:50] Himself?

Kash Qureshi: Oh, he’s done his own lab work as well.

Payman Langroudi: No, he would do that. He would. He would remove the teeth that the technician had put. [00:44:55] Put his own.

Kash Qureshi: You know what.

Payman Langroudi: Twist on that? Yeah. I’m sure.

Kash Qureshi: Because, you know, when we [00:45:00] get the work back. Yeah, you can see that it’s been moved. Yeah. And it’s just you just got to neaten [00:45:05] it up. But. Yeah, I get that. Do you know something? That’s my quickest appointment is a drying stage. Because I’ve done the [00:45:10] bike stage and the impression stage all correctly with base plates. All of them stages are [00:45:15] done correctly in the right way. They are my quickest. And you know what? I’m not even there half the time for the drying. Um, I [00:45:20] do my checks. Um, aesthetics. Uh, function occlusion. [00:45:25] Um, just general retention, extension, stability, support.

Payman Langroudi: All the kinetics, I [00:45:30] guess.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. So I do phonetics as well, but I usually do that as I’m talking to them. So you [00:45:35] can use paying attention. Yeah. When you’re talking to them you can usually tell. Um, but then again this is what, [00:45:40] you know, at the patient management stage, your speech will be affected for the first 2 to [00:45:45] 3 weeks. Just repeat the numbers from 60 to 70 with the dentures in [00:45:50] and your tongue will retrain itself. Which is true. It does. So that ends up becoming the [00:45:55] my quickest appointment. I usually tell patients to bring a family member or someone in with them [00:46:00] on that appointment only because patients tend to ask you what your opinion is. [00:46:05] Um, I’m looking at it from a technical, clinical aspect. I don’t see your [00:46:10] vision. Bring someone in with you who sees you on a day to day basis. They will [00:46:15] tell you right then that don’t don’t look right. So I always do that. I leave them with a dimension.

Payman Langroudi: That [00:46:20] guy that that family member is the one that’s going to like make say that, say there was something wrong [00:46:25] with the way it was looking. It’s good to get that particular person. Exactly. Because they’re.

Kash Qureshi: Going to they’re going to be the first one [00:46:30] to say they look like horse.

Payman Langroudi: Teeth.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. You know, so if you bring that patient in, bring them in, [00:46:35] leave them with a mirror. Literally. I’ll leave them in there for five minutes. I tell them not to bite hard because that’s what patients [00:46:40] tend to do. They think they can chew rock now. So I tell them, don’t bite hard. Just [00:46:45] take it easy. Have a look. Any adjustments? You let me know at this stage because I can make adjustments. Anything [00:46:50] after that. I can’t do it. So yeah, that seems.

Payman Langroudi: And then the fit visit. [00:46:55]

Kash Qureshi: As quick as well.

Payman Langroudi: Because everything was right.

Kash Qureshi: Them stages are the most quickest [00:47:00] appointments for me. Um, my longest stages are the impression, the secondary impressions [00:47:05] in particular because I’m very, so pedantic with it. And if something just [00:47:10] ain’t right, I will redo it again. Um, I don’t care how it makes me look to the patient if it makes me look incompetent, [00:47:15] I would rather take that than doing it wrong. Doing it wrong.

Payman Langroudi: We used to have a professor [00:47:20] in Cardiff, a prosthetics professor, and, you know, they would get sent some really difficult [00:47:25] cases, right? And sometimes the patient would say on fit day, the [00:47:30] patient would say the dentures are too tight. Yeah. And he had this thing. He would turn around [00:47:35] to me and look at me and smile and he’d say, no problem, no problem. I’m just going to get the denture [00:47:40] stretched and we’ll go to the denture stretcher, and [00:47:45] then me and him would go off to his office and stand there for about 30s and [00:47:50] then come back, and he’d go stretched it nicely out and he put it back in. And invariably the patient would go, [00:47:55] oh, that does feel better. As you said.

Kash Qureshi: It’s a psychological thing.

Payman Langroudi: It’s a huge psychological. [00:48:00]

Kash Qureshi: I agree with you. It’s a definitely a psychological thing. Um, and I think that’s the main thing with patients [00:48:05] is managing the expectations.

Payman Langroudi: What about implant retained.

Kash Qureshi: Oh, I get quite a few of those as well.

Payman Langroudi: Um, [00:48:10] so the conversation I mean, are you patient comes in and says, I want [00:48:15] new teeth. Do you every time offer implant retained as well?

Kash Qureshi: I can I do [00:48:20] if I, if I find them suitable for it. Um, luckily we work quite close with an implant. Dentist. [00:48:25] Which one? Uh, Kashif. Doctor. Kashif. Saeed. Um, are you done? My clinical [00:48:30] training with his brother, doctor Saeed. Uh, in Corby. We used to travel up there every week. [00:48:35] From from from Walthamstow to drive up to Corby every week. Because that’s how they had their practice. [00:48:40] Um, yeah, that was an interesting one. And, um, yeah. Then we [00:48:45] got close. Um, we do a lot of immediate loadings with them, you know, we you go to surgery or whatever. [00:48:50] Yeah, all of that sort of stuff. We learned, uh.

Payman Langroudi: Tips, tips about that.

Kash Qureshi: On the [00:48:55] immediate loadings. Um, because.

Payman Langroudi: That’s a heavy, heavy sort of day, right?

Kash Qureshi: It’s a [00:49:00] heavy day if it’s unprepared. Um, if you’re prepared and got all of the stages done correctly. [00:49:05] Um, from the lab point of view, the clinical aspect just literally, seamlessly works [00:49:10] together. Um, you know, just make sure that you’ve got your, your prosthesis, which you’re going [00:49:15] to convert. Um, we’ve got a specific way of making the, uh, the all in fours. [00:49:20] We make it like a denture. We cut out flap areas and the inside palate, and then [00:49:25] if you go on the website, you’ll see what we mean. And then the reason for that is. So when the dentist is done [00:49:30] taking out all the teeth and has placed the implants, it still allows the denture to sit properly. [00:49:35] Because if you take all of that away and you’ve just got like a an arch.

Payman Langroudi: Doesn’t [00:49:40] look, it.

Kash Qureshi: Just moves around all the time. It just moves around.

Payman Langroudi: That’s a good.

Kash Qureshi: Point. This just holds it in place. Then once you’ve picked [00:49:45] up the, um, the mürz and so forth, you can just cut them bits off because [00:49:50] they’re just little tiny nicks and you just cut them off and voila, you’ve got a bridge. Uh, you’ve got an FP3, [00:49:55] FP2, FP1, whatever you want to do. Um, so that was one tip. I would say. Get a surgical [00:50:00] guide. You need a surgical guide. Um, it’s always worth bringing the technician in when you’re [00:50:05] placing the mürz to see what the angles are. Because you’re fixated [00:50:10] on placing the implants, you’re not your technicians looking at it from. [00:50:15] That’s going to make my life hard. So they will always tell you they want to make their life easy. Technicians will [00:50:20] make their life easy, so they will tell you no, change that to a zero degree one change that so [00:50:25] they will do that. So always bring the technician in on that because that’s worth gold I would say. [00:50:30]

Payman Langroudi: And you’re you’re pricing your [00:50:35] positioning from from the from the patient perspective, is it [00:50:40] right at the top end cost wise for.

Kash Qureshi: For the lab work or to the dentist or for the [00:50:45] patient?

Payman Langroudi: For the patient? For dentures? What do you what do you charge for full, full.

Kash Qureshi: I think for a full, [00:50:50] full. Um, from a correctly I think our precedent is 1500. So it’s 1500. [00:50:55]

Payman Langroudi: It’s not too bad.

Kash Qureshi: It’s not too bad. It’s not too little. It’s just in between. I [00:51:00] can afford to do that because of the lab? Because I got the lab. Um, plus, we got [00:51:05] a set price. I run them separate businesses, so I still invoice and so forth like that. [00:51:10] Um, you know where I’ve worked it out. You know, I’ve still maintain at least between [00:51:15] the, uh, 60 to 70% profit margin.

Payman Langroudi: That’s nice.

Kash Qureshi: So I keep it [00:51:20] that way. And if dentists are out there and they want to do 1500 dentures, speak [00:51:25] to me because we can actually do that with the Swiss. It’s a set price, I do it. I don’t [00:51:30] even work in my clinic anymore. I have another clinician there who does the work. So that was a that was an eye opener. My [00:51:35] employing a clinician for the first time. Oh man, I never knew how to do splits before. You [00:51:40] know, like where you do your. Yeah. I’ve never had to do it before. I had to actually ask ChatGPT how [00:51:45] to do it. And then it gave me a template on how to work out how much to get pay, [00:51:50] you know, 50, 50 percentage. The lab split and everything. I thought, wow, these practices actually [00:51:55] do this.

Payman Langroudi: Is that another clinical dental technician or is it.

Kash Qureshi: Clinical dental technician? Um, [00:52:00] I wouldn’t have minded a dentist coming in as well. Um, I, I didn’t really put it out there as such. [00:52:05] Um, but yeah, I was surprised at how many seats actually applied for it, because where [00:52:10] were we when we qualify? Most of the guys I know, they ended [00:52:15] up opening up their own clinics and stuff, and I thought it was a given that, you know, you qualify and you open up your [00:52:20] own clinic. But I’m finding more and more now working for practices.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah. [00:52:25]

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, I’m seeing that more and more now.

Payman Langroudi: I think it’s the same with dentists. You know, the costs [00:52:30] have gone up in general, so risks gone up. Yeah. And there’s some people who don’t want [00:52:35] risk in their life, you know? I mean, you seem to thrive on it, but there are some. [00:52:40]

Kash Qureshi: People who get it.

Payman Langroudi: There’s some people who absolutely hate it. You know, they just want to do their 9 to [00:52:45] 5 go home. And by the way, as an associate, it’s I mean, I never became a practice [00:52:50] owner. Oh, really? Yeah. Because I was an associate, we started enlighten and, you know, ended up doing [00:52:55] this. But but as an associate, a high earning associate, one [00:53:00] of the nicest jobs in the world, man. Yeah. Especially in a practice where, you know, [00:53:05] they’re good to you in terms of materials, in terms of, you know, a [00:53:10] smart boss will let a high earning associate do absolutely do what he wants to do. Yeah. [00:53:15] And just keep him happy and just keep him. But high earning associates are just brilliant position [00:53:20] to be in. And I can understand why some of them don’t want to ever own a practice. Because literally [00:53:25] 9 to 5 go home and play with the dog. They don’t have to even think about work. And [00:53:30] if you’re in a practice where there’s enough patience and enough work where you’re [00:53:35] a high earning associate. Yeah, yeah, I can understand, man. Why even bother?

Kash Qureshi: You know, someone who I’ve seen thrive [00:53:40] and who I’ve seen who was an associate who now owns her own practices. [00:53:45] Marina. She’s done really well with. The one thing I like about Marina, she’s always [00:53:50] given me her time. Um, even if I rang her up, she would always answer [00:53:55] or get back, you know? Should we ring her now? See if she answers? Sure. Let’s see if she answered, [00:54:00] because she would always give me her time of day.

Payman Langroudi: Would it be funny if she doesn’t answer to you? And she answers to.

Kash Qureshi: Me that. [00:54:05]

Payman Langroudi: She.

Kash Qureshi: She if she. Because what’s the time she might be in practice?

Payman Langroudi: Patience.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, more than [00:54:10] likely.

Payman Langroudi: It’s lunchtime. It’s lunchtime.

Kash Qureshi: Oh, let’s give her a call, see what happens.

Payman Langroudi: I love this, this is the first [00:54:15] podcast first.

Kash Qureshi: All right, let’s just see. Henry, I’ve still got her name down [00:54:20] as. All right. It’s going to sound funny, but I’ve got a name down there. Speaker. Speaker I rang [00:54:25] her. Yeah, I rang her yet because I got her name down as Marina, the Queen of London. Now, the reason why [00:54:30] was because we were doing a real we was doing a skit and I just haven’t changed the name since [00:54:35] that. Right. Let’s put her on. All right. Hopefully I got a signal here. Let’s [00:54:40] see.

Payman Langroudi: How funny. [00:54:45]

Kash Qureshi: She might be busy. She might call back. I [00:54:50] don’t know.

[PHONE CALL]: Hey, guys.

Kash Qureshi: Hey, man. How you doing? You all right? [00:54:55]

[PHONE CALL]: I’m good. How are you?

Kash Qureshi: Listen, listen, listen. Yeah, I was just. I’m on the podcast with [00:55:00] Payman, and it’s live, by the way, and I. She says [00:55:05] hi.

Payman Langroudi: We made a bet. We made a bet whether you would pick up or not.

Kash Qureshi: No, no, [00:55:10] no, what it was, was I was talking about someone who’s always made time for me. And I was saying, that man always [00:55:15] makes time. And I thought, let me just call her right now.

[PHONE CALL]: Look at that.

Kash Qureshi: There [00:55:20] you go. But anyways, I hope you’re keeping well. We’ll, we’ll we’ll catch up soon, man.

[PHONE CALL]: Yeah, [00:55:25] yeah.

Kash Qureshi: Is there anything you want to say? Is there anything you want to say? Quick.

[PHONE CALL]: Oh I know, no, [00:55:30] I’m all good, but. Yeah. Hi. And I’m glad you’re on it. And I look forward to listening to it.

Kash Qureshi: All right, you know what? And anyone that [00:55:35] wants to do the DMR course, it’s running live.

[PHONE CALL]: Academy.

Kash Qureshi: There you. [00:55:40]

[PHONE CALL]: Go.

Payman Langroudi: Talk to Mr..

Kash Qureshi: Okay.

Payman Langroudi: Thanks.

Kash Qureshi: Bye bye. [00:55:45] Oh wow.

Payman Langroudi: That’s funny.

Kash Qureshi: That is.

Payman Langroudi: Podcast first.

Kash Qureshi: You know what I say man always [00:55:50] makes time. And that’s one thing I appreciate more than anything else. Is time like your time I [00:55:55] appreciate that it’s more.

Payman Langroudi: Do you make her veneers?

Kash Qureshi: Um, no, I think she she’s got her own person [00:56:00] who does her veneers because they have her working. As I said to her from the outset, I [00:56:05] have always said to man Reyna, um, she’s guiding me in quite a few things in the right places. And I’ve always said [00:56:10] to her, look, um, I don’t I’m not too worried about doing your lab work. If you do need it, you’re stuck [00:56:15] in a jam. Give me a call. But I’m more than happy to be, you know, as a friend. Basis. [00:56:20] Um, which I’ve established with her over the years. We’ve done so many various things on social media. [00:56:25] So you can understand, uh, Also a working relationship [00:56:30] as such. But yeah.

Payman Langroudi: When you, um, do the work when [00:56:35] you used to do the work. Yeah, yeah. What was what was the what were a couple of [00:56:40] things about a dentist’s knowledge that was [00:56:45] lacking when it comes to, you know, on your side, like what’s, what’s the thing a couple of things you [00:56:50] wish more dentists knew that you’re surprised. They don’t know.

Kash Qureshi: I think it’s more the [00:56:55] materials, um, from the clinical aspect, um, not understanding that [00:57:00] if you leave or if your nurse leaves an impression in disinfectant, [00:57:05] it will destroy the impression we’ve had issues with, uh, practices where we’ve [00:57:10] done the lab work. It’s all fitting fine on the model, because that’s the typical [00:57:15] thing that a lab.

Payman Langroudi: The moment, isn’t.

Kash Qureshi: It? They will say that. Well, if it’s on the model and the dentist will [00:57:20] go, well, I didn’t do anything with the impression, but there’s always that section in between that no one pays attention to. [00:57:25] Yeah. And disinfection. Mixing of alginates. Expiry date of alginate. [00:57:30] That is the biggest killer in profitability in so [00:57:35] many things. Because you get a remake, it’s going to be expensive at the end of the day.

Payman Langroudi: So for that [00:57:40] reason, we supply alginate with every kit.

Kash Qureshi: We hope you’re using hydrogen five. Yeah, yeah. That’s [00:57:45] the best.

Payman Langroudi: Way to supply hydrogen five with every kit.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah.

Payman Langroudi: Like a sachet of [00:57:50] it.

Kash Qureshi: I don’t know which way the cameras. Oh yeah.

Payman Langroudi: That way or that one.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. That one.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. So yeah I remember [00:57:55] I got actually approached by Zermatt because, um, I was really raving about it at one point, and they actually asked me to come [00:58:00] down to their place in Italy. Um, they actually asked me to come down and stuff. I didn’t take [00:58:05] it up. I was stupid, but, um.

Payman Langroudi: So, so a better understanding of materials. Yeah, I [00:58:10] find, you know, I’ve seen it from both sides, though. Yeah. So. So sometimes we get [00:58:15] an impression and it’s just wrong. Right? There’s no marginal, you know, the margins. [00:58:20] Completely wrong for a bleaching tray. Yeah. And I know in your world that bleaching tray is nothing [00:58:25] but in our world we make the train a particular way. And so if we’ve got the [00:58:30] the gingival margins, you know, for some reason wrong, you know, whether there’s a, there’s a [00:58:35] artefact there or whether they’ve totally missed it, whatever it is. Yeah, there comes a point [00:58:40] where we contact the dentist and say, look, we need another impression. And [00:58:45] the majority say, go ahead and make it. Yeah. [00:58:50] And I get it on on their side. I do get it. Yeah. Because [00:58:55] it’s hard calling a patient and telling them to come back in to repeat something [00:59:00] that you’ve already done. It’s quite a difficult conversation to have with the patient, [00:59:05] not only because you know you’re wasting time, but you know, how come, how come you didn’t realise [00:59:10] it was wrong the first time? I get that. But you know, with enlightened, [00:59:15] particularly if you’re if you’re using a bad impression, you’re not doing enlighten, you [00:59:20] know, you’ve got a bad tray, you’re not doing enlighten, Enlightened. You’re doing something else. [00:59:25] And so you must have that situation every day, right?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. You do. You do. You [00:59:30] do get these sort of situations happening quite frequently. Um, I think [00:59:35] the hardest thing is I, I because as I said, working in the clinical aspect, I [00:59:40] understand.

Payman Langroudi: You get it.

Kash Qureshi: To. Yeah, I get it to. That’s why all of my clients and even new clients I deal with a lot of. [00:59:45] Yeah. And, um, as I said, because I understand the clinical [00:59:50] aspect, I know where these guys are coming from. I know how difficult patients can be. So, I mean, it’s a bit like what you [00:59:55] do. Some times I will literally say to an associate, you need to use hydrogen five. They [01:00:00] will say, my practice is not buying it. I’ll go into my clinic, bag it up [01:00:05] like a little drug dealer, and I’ll put it in a baggie for him and I’ll give it to them. So take your special tray [01:00:10] with this impression and all the shots of the Mac. Do you remember I used to sell shots [01:00:15] like a bag shot?

Payman Langroudi: What do you mean by shot?

Kash Qureshi: They sell like a shot of, um. They sell them in individual [01:00:20] packages.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah, that’s the one we sell.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Payman Langroudi: Sashay sort of thing.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. I mean, I remember for the bapd [01:00:25] once I was meant to get that, but I didn’t come in time, so I had to sit there and bag it all up into bags [01:00:30] and send it to the showcase at the time. But yeah. So I would always [01:00:35] do that. Um, we’ve, we’ve, um, dentists, especially if they haven’t got I understand that [01:00:40] the practice won’t buy them. My way of thinking is, well, if the [01:00:45] boss is not going to buy them, I’m going to buy it myself. But I think differently to everyone else. [01:00:50] But that’s just the way I am with it.

Payman Langroudi: We see. We see associates. All. All sorts. [01:00:55] Right? We’ve got a composite bonding course as well. And and we get some associates, [01:01:00] right, who buy their own scanners.

Kash Qureshi: Oh, really?

Payman Langroudi: Yeah. And then you get some associates who [01:01:05] won’t even touch. Like, they definitely will not buy anything other [01:01:10] than their own loops or something. Yeah, yeah. Because in a way, they feel like, you know, the practice is screwing [01:01:15] me enough already as it is. You know, there’s that feeling. Yeah. Mhm. Um, and I [01:01:20] see everything in between as well. You know, you get some associates who come on our course and [01:01:25] immediately buy all the materials and you know it can if you buy everything, it can come to like a £2,000 [01:01:30] of materials on top of the course. And then you get others. And they’ve done a beautiful [01:01:35] job they’ve done. And they can tell it’s the instruments and the materials that are important. And [01:01:40] they’ll say, oh, I’m going to go ask my boss. And you get others who just there’s no even there’s no, [01:01:45] there’s no I guess, by the way, I get it right. It’s it’s money. It’s money. [01:01:50] And, you know, I actually tell them, okay, go try the technique with your own material [01:01:55] and then come back after that. I think.

Kash Qureshi: You’re right. I think you could tell [01:02:00] the difference in between the type of character, shall we say? Yeah. Uh, where someone [01:02:05] will go out and buy their own materials or equipment, or someone else would be happy to use [01:02:10] someone else if it’s there. Yeah. And I think it’s more to do with investment [01:02:15] in, you know, that’s the biggest investment you can do is an investment in yourself. That’s why going [01:02:20] on courses and buying this materials and stuff are buying things yourself. You know you’ve got ownership. [01:02:25] Put it this way if you bought a scanner yourself, you’re more than likely not going to drop that thing on the floor. But [01:02:30] if it’s your boss’s, that’s all right. Oh, sorry. I just dropped that on the floor. Let me just pick [01:02:35] that back up and put it on the shelf. Ownership is totally different. It’s a bit like renting a car. You know, if [01:02:40] you paying rent on a car, like one of them, you know, rent a car, places, you [01:02:45] know, you’re not going to look after it. You’re going to run it ragged. And, you know, unless if it’s your [01:02:50] own car, you’re going to pay attention to it. And I think it’s more to do with ownership.

Kash Qureshi: Well, I think we’re starting to go more [01:02:55] into a because I’m seeing more and more people not wanting wanting to [01:03:00] have assets. It’s strange. Right? They’re like Germany where everything’s rented. And, you know, there’s a big thing about it. [01:03:05] That’s what I’m seeing the culture becoming more of where we know when we deal with banks and stuff. You need [01:03:10] to have some form of assets, but I know that they don’t. Banks don’t really [01:03:15] care if you’ve got assets or not because it’s more headache for them. They just want to make sure that you are financially [01:03:20] viable and that’s the main key thing with them. So if anyone’s out there that are looking to [01:03:25] do various bits and pieces with banks, just take that one bit of advice that, yes, it’s nice to have assets, [01:03:30] but they don’t particularly pay too much attention because it’s going to cost them a lot more to seize [01:03:35] that asset. You know, uh, you know, like tangible assets, like microphones and all that, you [01:03:40] know, what are they going to do? Who are they going to sell it to? They’re going to sell it to, you know, it takes time.

Payman Langroudi: How old are. [01:03:45]

Kash Qureshi: You? I’m 37 now.

Payman Langroudi: So have you got like a five year, ten year [01:03:50] idea of what’s going to happen next.

Kash Qureshi: Man. You know, growing up I was lucky to make it [01:03:55] to 20 years old. So, um, but I was, you know, I do have a plan, um, [01:04:00] in place.

Payman Langroudi: Um, are you going to buy more labs, for instance?

Kash Qureshi: I might possibly do, um, you [01:04:05] know, there is that section there. There is a sector there. Um, to buy more laboratories, grow the business. [01:04:10] My main thing is the future. I’m always thinking in the future, I’m. I know about here and now [01:04:15] and present. I present. I am aware of that. I’m aware that these things are happening. But I’m just thinking about [01:04:20] the future and you know, the future that I want for my family, uh, for my daughter, [01:04:25] um, you know, growing up and stuff like that. My wife, my daughter. I want to be able to [01:04:30] be able to just spend more time, you know, every day I do a thing [01:04:35] called a service technique. I don’t know if you know that savours technique. No, it’s a mindset [01:04:40] thing. Um, where you do a silence for [01:04:45] six minutes. Uh, affirmations, uh, vision. So you you sit there and think about [01:04:50] a vision, uh, exercise reading. And I think the last one is scribing. [01:04:55]

Payman Langroudi: Oh, yes. It’s like that early the morning routine.

Kash Qureshi: I wake up, I wake [01:05:00] up quite early in the morning, uh, sometimes about two, sometimes three. I wake up naturally.

Payman Langroudi: And you’re [01:05:05] awake?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, I’m ready for. I’ve got to tell you a story about this man. I’m ready for war at that time because I do my stretches at [01:05:10] three. Yeah.

Payman Langroudi: What time do you go to bed?

Kash Qureshi: Um, sometimes. Eight. Nine.

Payman Langroudi: Oh, God. What time [01:05:15] did you get home?

Kash Qureshi: I can’t sometimes I can’t remember. Two. Two. Three.

Payman Langroudi: Oh. [01:05:20]

Kash Qureshi: Okay. That’s better. It’s just lately I’ve been coming back. Back lately because I’ve been. I’ve had [01:05:25] so many things this this month.

Payman Langroudi: So your whole day has just pulled back?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. That’s basically. [01:05:30]

Payman Langroudi: When you wake up to when you get home.

Kash Qureshi: At that time, because I feel like I’ve got an edge over the world and people and [01:05:35] stuff like that. And the only time, the only people that are around at that time in the morning is [01:05:40] spirits and ghosts and demons and drug dealers. That’s the only things that people around at that time in [01:05:45] the morning. But I’m cool in that environment. I can operate in that environment. But doing that savers technique [01:05:50] works. It calms me down, makes me think straight. It puts me in the right sort of [01:05:55] mindset. Plus, I go to the gym four times a week as well, so.

Payman Langroudi: It’s 4 [01:06:00] a.m..

Kash Qureshi: I’ve done that. It didn’t work man. I was knackered after that, but I usually go [01:06:05] after I go to the lab because the gym is across the road from me, so it makes sense to go there. But [01:06:10] I tend to do the savers technique. Um, that puts me in the right mindset for the rest [01:06:15] of the day. Plus, doing the exercises stretches you have to do, um, where you’re working at a bench, you’re always sort of like [01:06:20] that. So it really does do your backing after a while.

Payman Langroudi: Um, one thing I’ve noticed about labs, [01:06:25] um, I hung out a bit at, uh, you know, hit hit Palmer. [01:06:30]

Kash Qureshi: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah I do, yeah.

Payman Langroudi: A bit of hits at his lab and with our lab when [01:06:35] we were a little bit undermanned. Yeah. One thing. One thing about labs is that, you know, you’re [01:06:40] working to a deadline.

Kash Qureshi: Yes. Yeah.

Payman Langroudi: And so sometimes people have to stay [01:06:45] late. Is that right? Does that happen to you? Yeah.

[TRANSITION]: That happens.

Payman Langroudi: And so what if you’re leaving at [01:06:50] two or do you stay late those days.

Kash Qureshi: Them days I’ll stay late if it needs to be done. [01:06:55] Yeah. If it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not shy. I get my hands dirty.

Payman Langroudi: And you know what I’m [01:07:00] saying? If your day is like, generally you’re going home at two. Sometimes it sometimes because I remember [01:07:05] hit slap. Once we were I was like eight at night and everyone was still there because there was a they were [01:07:10] behind. They had That’s that’s extreme. They had to deal with it, you know?

Kash Qureshi: And you have.

Payman Langroudi: To. Look, we have [01:07:15] a thing express. Yeah, yeah.

Kash Qureshi: Like a day or something. Same day.

Payman Langroudi: Same day. [01:07:20] A normal turnaround is ten working days. Our express is three working days.

Kash Qureshi: Wow. That’s [01:07:25] a big difference.

Payman Langroudi: So and then and we’ve got a type of user who we give express to [01:07:30] every single case they do. Okay. So yeah they’re big. We call them elite partners. Now [01:07:35] you must have that situation right where you said 100 to 200 [01:07:40] a day comes in.

Kash Qureshi: That’s I think some labs are out there doing so much more.

Payman Langroudi: Of course, of course they will. [01:07:45] Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: But you know how many he does.

Payman Langroudi: Tell me.

Kash Qureshi: Man, I heard.

Payman Langroudi: 100,000. [01:07:50]

Kash Qureshi: A week.

Payman Langroudi: 100,000 a week, minimum.

Kash Qureshi: They do [01:07:55] 90,000 crowns a week.

Payman Langroudi: Oh my God, man.

Kash Qureshi: Imagine doing that. [01:08:00] Business is a beautiful business. Them guys know what they’re doing there. But American, the American [01:08:05] dentistry is totally different.

Payman Langroudi: Okay. It’s a much bigger market. But. But tell me this. You get sometimes [01:08:10] a dentist says, um, can I have it back by next Wednesday? And they [01:08:15] don’t get that. You can’t sometimes do that even though next Wednesday [01:08:20] is six days away. It’s impossible for that to happen. Explain. Explain that [01:08:25] because we get that all the time.

Kash Qureshi: I’ll explain it so the dental practice. Understand? [01:08:30] I don’t think they actually get it with practices. They have set numbers of patients that come in. [01:08:35] You basically say that this dentist is going to do ten patients today. [01:08:40] You wouldn’t give them 20 because you know he’s not going to be able to do it. Labs operate [01:08:45] differently where we have a pickup. We don’t know if we’re picking up one job [01:08:50] or 30 jobs.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: If you get that over a range of 60 to 70 [01:08:55] drops.

Payman Langroudi: It’s a massive difference.

Kash Qureshi: You’ve got so many cases coming in, [01:09:00] and every lab is exactly the same because you can’t control them. Amount of units. The [01:09:05] only time you can control it, like what we’re doing now, is that if we are overloaded on [01:09:10] that day, um, our admin team would ring the department and say, uh, [01:09:15] x, Y and z cases in. Will you be able to move another case or [01:09:20] can we move it on to that day. And then I will talk about it. Some days you can. You’ve always [01:09:25] got to leave a little bit of gas in the tank to take on an extra case here and there. I tried to work in advance. [01:09:30] So our lab system is built in a way that our internal dockets [01:09:35] that are our internal deadlines are two days ahead of the appointment.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah, we do the same. [01:09:40]

Kash Qureshi: You have to. Otherwise sometimes we have to work to the docket. I mean, there was a stage where, you [01:09:45] know, it’s like if you got an X amount of work, you can’t turn anything around for 2 [01:09:50] to 3 weeks and you’re all working flat out to do it. And I think the main [01:09:55] thing is, I mean, what’s your views on people saying about work life balance? Do you [01:10:00] think that’s a thing?

Payman Langroudi: Not for me, not for me, but I do recognise it with [01:10:05] the Employees.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah.

Payman Langroudi: You gotta understand, when you own the business, you [01:10:10] basically set it up to your own preference. Like you’re saying, you go home at two. Yeah. You [01:10:15] can’t do that as an employee.

Kash Qureshi: No, no, no. You’re right. I mean, I.

Payman Langroudi: Don’t think there’s such a thing. I sometimes [01:10:20] don’t even like the weekend coming, you know?

Kash Qureshi: I don’t mind it. I mean, don’t get me wrong. [01:10:25] I don’t mind it. I mean.

Payman Langroudi: I’m just being honest sometimes. Yeah. I prefer the week to the weekend. And the reason?

Kash Qureshi: Because you’re busy [01:10:30] doing things or.

Payman Langroudi: Just during the week. I’m my own boss. Yeah. During the weekend, I’m working for [01:10:35] the family.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah.

Payman Langroudi: And that’s.

Kash Qureshi: A big part of why I.

Payman Langroudi: Love working. [01:10:40] I love working for the family, but I feel like on a Tuesday I can [01:10:45] do exactly what I want. Yeah. On a Saturday. What are [01:10:50] we doing? What are we doing as a family?

Kash Qureshi: There’s no structure.

Payman Langroudi: It’s nice. It’s nice doing things with the family. But. But [01:10:55] what I’m saying, sometimes I prefer the week. Yeah. Never, never see [01:11:00] that in an employee. Never.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, I get that. And I think that phrase has been [01:11:05] used a hell of a lot lately in.

Payman Langroudi: Work life balance.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, that phrase just gets overused, but I think what’s ended up [01:11:10] happening is it’s getting used by the wrong type of people, because people use that as a [01:11:15] justification to not do stuff. And I think that’s what’s happening. Can be I’ve [01:11:20] seen it happen with people where it’s a bit like the word that gets used [01:11:25] a lot is passive aggressive. That gets so much like.

Payman Langroudi: Sort of opposites.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, man. [01:11:30] You know, I had to I had a staff member tell me about another staff member who was passive aggressive. [01:11:35] And I thought, you know, I’m gonna have to research this, this word because everyone keeps using it. And I looked it up [01:11:40] and there’s about 40 subheadings as to what a passive aggressive person is. [01:11:45] And there was only one thing on there that that person followed. [01:11:50] And I’m thinking right. So you’ve just labelled someone a whole thing over this [01:11:55] one word of passive aggressive. But I think that’s just a culture.

Payman Langroudi: What I will say about work [01:12:00] life balance is this definitely happening in dentistry. Tell me if it’s happening in labs as [01:12:05] well. A lot of the young dentists are saying, I want to work three days a week or [01:12:10] two days a week, and I only want to do this type of work. And that’s the work life [01:12:15] balance I want. Yeah. And it pisses off principals. It pisses [01:12:20] off, uh, you know, old school people who say, well, what do you mean? You’ve got to be a dentist. You got [01:12:25] to be able to do everything. And it pisses off people who essentially put in the hours themselves [01:12:30] back in the day and can’t understand why a young person would now be that way inclined. But I [01:12:35] quite like it. I think it’s nice. It’s nice. Do you get that in technicians? Do you get technicians [01:12:40] coming in saying, I just want to work two days a week? Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: No. That happens. You just got to be flexible. Yeah. As an employer, [01:12:45] as I said, it goes back to people and understanding people. The younger generation are not [01:12:50] going to do the same things that I had to do. Yeah. They’re not going to. It’s as simple as times are different. You just [01:12:55] got to be flexible with people. And I have noticed it’s very difficult with dentists to actually [01:13:00] do that where they work in, in various practices because from our point of view, we’re chasing dentists around [01:13:05] oh so and so is not working today. He’s at so and so and you ring that oh no, he’s not here. So I [01:13:10] get that.

Payman Langroudi: And you know, one thing, one thing I think people don’t appreciate. I didn’t appreciate it until I got a lab [01:13:15] here was the number of people you need just for that sort of follow [01:13:20] up. The the instructions aren’t clear. Like we’ve [01:13:25] got two full time people chasing just just odds and ends. Odds [01:13:30] and ends like, you know, no one understands that. That’s something that has to happen. Yeah. No, [01:13:35] it’s it’s frustrating.

Kash Qureshi: But I mean.

Payman Langroudi: It’s the business.

Kash Qureshi: It’s the it’s the nature of the business. [01:13:40] At the end of the day, they’ve always been very much like that. I would say, um, where they [01:13:45] constantly, um, we constantly we, we, we [01:13:50] send emails now and our dentist once actually rang me, um, because I had a good relationship [01:13:55] with. She rang me, she went, why do you send me emails? Why don’t you just phone me and tell me that the [01:14:00] shade’s not on it or you can’t. Or the date’s too quick, I say, well, I don’t think you would like to get disturbed [01:14:05] at 3:00 in the morning.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: I don’t know about you unless you want me to, but I don’t [01:14:10] think that we should go down that road. So emails are the best ways.

Payman Langroudi: Traceable as a guesstimate. [01:14:15] What percentage of your work is scanner and what percentage is.

Kash Qureshi: Oh, that’s getting higher and higher now.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah. [01:14:20]

Kash Qureshi: Um, I would say at least a 40% now is becoming more scannable 3D prints. Yeah. [01:14:25]

Payman Langroudi: 3d prints I see houses 6065.

Kash Qureshi: Well, your most yours is 3D prints. That’s [01:14:30] beautiful for bleaching trays and shutdowns and stuff like that.

Payman Langroudi: Um, I prefer models, [01:14:35] man.

Kash Qureshi: No, I’ll tell you what. If you put. All right, if you if you got some, um, have you [01:14:40] got some tester, I can tell you which one is done on a 3D printer and which one’s done on a plaster. Yeah, just based [01:14:45] on the quality of the enlighten the of the whitening tray.

Payman Langroudi: But [01:14:50] I my my, my, I’ve tested it. My position on it is that I can make a tray [01:14:55] on a plaster model than on a plastic model.

Kash Qureshi: I don’t know. I’ve got mixed views on [01:15:00] it.

Payman Langroudi: We’re trying really hard to make them as good as each other. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that. At the very end [01:15:05] and with our process, with our process, there’s different processes, right? Um, we’re trying really hard [01:15:10] and we’ve improved it a lot. Yeah, yeah, we’ve improved. But and, you know, 65% of them are scans right now. [01:15:15] Yeah. So there’s no way around this. It’s going to be soon. It’ll be 85 and then soon to be 100%. Yeah. Um, [01:15:20] but right now I prefer it’s to do with the the gas permeability [01:15:25] of the stone. Yes. Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: Well, you got to control the expansion rates.

Payman Langroudi: As [01:15:30] an as an air goes through the stone. Yeah. Yeah. Whereas air doesn’t go through the resin.

[TRANSITION]: Yeah. [01:15:35] No. Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: It depends on your.

Payman Langroudi: Is there a resin that is gas permeable? I don’t know. I haven’t found a resin. [01:15:40] I’ve tried 12.

[TRANSITION]: There isn’t a resin.

Kash Qureshi: But it could be more to do with [01:15:45] the actual 3D print. Are you doing, like, a full base or a horseshoe?

Payman Langroudi: No. Horseshoe.

Kash Qureshi: Horseshoe? So that should be fine. [01:15:50] I mean, I know obviously I’m not going to ask you what machines you’re using and so forth, but it depends on the machine. [01:15:55]

Payman Langroudi: Oh, for the print. A cigar?

Kash Qureshi: No no no no, not not that. The actual machine that you’re doing [01:16:00] your your suck downs on. Your pressure forms on.

Payman Langroudi: I see.

Kash Qureshi: You now. And, uh, it depends [01:16:05] on the type of beads. You know, back in the day, we never used to use the metal beads. We used to use lentil seeds.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah, [01:16:10] we’ve done that too.

Kash Qureshi: We used to use lentil seeds, uh, back in the day.

Payman Langroudi: Just cheaper. Right?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. [01:16:15] And it used to allow air to travel through. We used to drill holes in models. [01:16:20] That was one thing we used to do.

Payman Langroudi: So I’ve tried printing holes in models.

Kash Qureshi: No, [01:16:25] no, I wouldn’t think so. It’s I find with the I [01:16:30] was doing a lot of 3D printing, uh, pressure form at one point I was just getting loads of them. And [01:16:35] it depends on I mean, you if you I’m saying it depends on the separating [01:16:40] solution. That’s the main key thing. If you tried using a relief spray.

Payman Langroudi: Uh, [01:16:45] we do. Yeah. Yeah we do.

Kash Qureshi: Depends on the relief spray.

Payman Langroudi: Or the type. [01:16:50]

Kash Qureshi: Yeah.

Payman Langroudi: Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, excellent.

Kash Qureshi: We’ve got a special one that we buy from. Um. Uh, [01:16:55] I think it’s Abby Dental supplies. I mean, if you can, you can. You can speak to them directly. I’ve got [01:17:00] no problems with it. And we buy it specifically for them because of the the [01:17:05] heat factor. Every one of these release bays I use at different heats, because we use them with our [01:17:10] valve system, because them crucibles are heated up to like 500, 700 degrees. So [01:17:15] you need a release spray to withstand that amount of heat. Same thing with the melting the suck downs. Because [01:17:20] it works both ways, we tend to get good results with the. I’m sure your whitening trays [01:17:25] are exactly the same, where you test the quality of the pressure by. If you hold it [01:17:30] up into a light, you can see the detail of the gingival crevices. It looks like it’s like [01:17:35] a masterpiece. When you look at it, you’re like, because we do that with our quality control, we look at it and [01:17:40] then you can see the crevices, everything. And it’s just like, bang, you know, when it hasn’t pressure form, when [01:17:45] it’s dull.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah, exactly.

Kash Qureshi: When you get that dull look and you’re looking at it and you think, yeah, you need to redo that again. [01:17:50]

Payman Langroudi: You know your stuff.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. Well, yeah, I’ve done so many of them that I [01:17:55] just know what I’m looking for, and instantly I can tell if it was done on a model or if it [01:18:00] was done on a 3D print. There are obviously loads of techniques that you know what? Just like yourself, I’ve [01:18:05] tried loads of techniques. I’ve tried so many things to get it.

Payman Langroudi: The nice thing about we used [01:18:10] to outsource our lab work, and the nice thing about having it in-house is that you can try things.

Kash Qureshi: Absolutely [01:18:15] R&D all the way.

Payman Langroudi: Quite difficult with an outsourced lab because outsourced lab does not want that call. [01:18:20] Know that says, hey, try this, try that. They just want to get on with the job.

Kash Qureshi: I know, I know, I know.

Payman Langroudi: Um, [01:18:25] tell me this. We’d like to talk about mistakes on this pod. What comes to mind when I say [01:18:30] what mistakes have you made? I’d like kind of like one. Which is like a technical [01:18:35] one. And one that might be like a business one.

Kash Qureshi: Okay. Um, [01:18:40] a technical one. I’m just trying to think of the biggest mistake I made. Well, [01:18:45] it wasn’t really my mistake, but as an owner, you have to take it as your mistake. Yeah. Um, we’ve [01:18:50] done a case, Uh. Dentist. Uh. I [01:18:55] don’t know. I made sure I was on top of it. I made sure that it was good. Correct. Everything [01:19:00] was right. Very particular dentist. And it [01:19:05] got to it. I double checked everything. I made sure it was all all right. The [01:19:10] name on the 3D print was the same. Everything was good. Went to the practice. The wrong job [01:19:15] in the 3D.

Payman Langroudi: The name.

Kash Qureshi: They put the wrong file [01:19:20] in the wrong place. And the name that. That patient that cost me that practice, [01:19:25] that cost me that practice. And I didn’t really I [01:19:30] was I was annoyed because it was for a friend that the dentist was one of my friends. [01:19:35] I would class her as my friend and um, that happened and I had to explain [01:19:40] myself to, um, the dentist in the end.

Payman Langroudi: And it was a clerical error. [01:19:45] Do you not have a technical error, like a situation where a patient’s been left [01:19:50] and a dentist gone berserk. And because I’m sure maybe this dentist did. Yeah, but something [01:19:55] you did wrong. Something what could it be like? I don’t know, I don’t. Know enough [01:20:00] about it.

Kash Qureshi: I’m just trying to think of what the the biggest, the biggest faults we would get technically [01:20:05] is if we’ve done the wrong shades or if we’ve made it completely the wrong job, or we [01:20:10] missed an extraction or we haven’t done a.

Payman Langroudi: But you sometimes the technician goes in for [01:20:15] the shade taking. Right.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, yeah.

Payman Langroudi: And then and then the shades still wrong. But [01:20:20] that and it’s stressful. I’m sure as the technician who’s going in because you’ve got to make [01:20:25] it absolutely right now because you were there. Yeah. It must be very stressful. Yeah. [01:20:30]

Kash Qureshi: I think the the cases that we find are most stressful is a remake of [01:20:35] a remake. Ah, because it’s a lot of cost involved in that from your time, clinical time. [01:20:40] Um, so it’s a lot of wasted time. And that to me seems like the biggest. [01:20:45] I’m just trying to think if there’s any because we’re we’re dealing with so many cases. I’m just trying to think of. There’s one in particular [01:20:50] that’s gone wrong. I can’t off the top of my head.

Payman Langroudi: Sometimes it comes to you later. What [01:20:55] about business error?

Kash Qureshi: Uh, business error.

Payman Langroudi: Something you’d wish you’d done differently [01:21:00] sooner or later? Different. Someone you treated, an employee who [01:21:05] left unexpectedly. Something like that.

Kash Qureshi: I think the the biggest thing [01:21:10] for me would be probably spending more time working [01:21:15] on the business rather than in the business.

Payman Langroudi: You wish you had done that earlier.

Kash Qureshi: Because at [01:21:20] the end of the day, when you focus working in the business, you know you’ve [01:21:25] got a lot of people that rely on you to be, you know, they’ve got mortgages, they’ve got families. Yeah. [01:21:30] You know, in the grand scheme of things, all of a sudden you’ve got like 100 people that you’re responsible for. [01:21:35] So working you owe it to your people to work [01:21:40] on the business rather than in the business, because you need to be bringing constant revenue in to [01:21:45] cover costs. Make sure everything’s okay. Um, I wish I understood [01:21:50] finances more. Um, that would have been my key thing, too. I mean, I went on an accountancy [01:21:55] course and everything because I didn’t understand what my accounts were saying to me. They talk to you in a language that you don’t [01:22:00] understand. And I think they did it on purpose, actually. But they they talk to you in such a way [01:22:05] that you just don’t get them half the time. So I went on accountancy and I started understanding what these guys were [01:22:10] saying. Yeah, it did, it did. I started understanding things and I understand, [01:22:15] you know, I started understanding gross. You know. Net bottom line, top line. I, I [01:22:20] got it. Now I can look at a managerial report which I get monthly. Now that’s the tip for anyone who’s doing [01:22:25] business in your practice. And make sure you get a monthly management report. Don’t listen [01:22:30] to your accountant say it’s okay. Every quarter. Make sure you get a monthly one. You’ll start seeing trends.

Payman Langroudi: To be able to read it though. [01:22:35]

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, well you have to be able to read it as well. But I mean you can. Anything in brackets means [01:22:40] that you’re at a loss.

Payman Langroudi: At the beginning.

Kash Qureshi: That’s the easiest way [01:22:45] of saying it. If you see brackets, you know that you’re at a loss. So just focus on the numbers. Without it, [01:22:50] they don’t they don’t simplify. They don’t tell you. You’re just expected to know. Make [01:22:55] sure you understand your books. Because if anything goes to HMRC, you know there’s two [01:23:00] certain things in life. There’s death and taxes and HMRC won’t go to your accountant. They will go to you. [01:23:05] You’re responsible, not them. You even have to sign a bit of paper to say that your accountants [01:23:10] are not responsible for anything than they are. But, um, I would definitely suggest that.

Payman Langroudi: And [01:23:15] how about just where the business slows down? I mean, dentistry does tend to be [01:23:20] quite cyclical in that right now it’s very slow half term. Half term. Yeah. Um, [01:23:25] have you had moments like have you had it long enough now that you can see those patterns. [01:23:30]

Kash Qureshi: We used to be able to. The trends are just so bizarre now.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah you’re right, you’re right. It’s much [01:23:35] more volatile now than it used to be.

Kash Qureshi: I mean, October’s used to be the most busiest. Yeah. December, obviously. Crazy [01:23:40] Christmas rush. March. April. You’d a rush. You know, they were your set time. [01:23:45] But now, um, we’re finding that, uh, January February is the most busiest. [01:23:50] And turnover. It’s more higher in ten months than it is the rest of the months. And I don’t know if [01:23:55] that. I did see a report from, um. Evident who I’m so touch [01:24:00] wood. If this is wood. Um, I’m happy on the fact that they’ve done a report on [01:24:05] the lab industry, um, on whatever labs they’ve got. And they were saying that in the first [01:24:10] quarter, a lot of labs were down by like 8%. They were down. Mine was [01:24:15] up by 10%. So I was happy I was above board keeping things in the right way. I’m [01:24:20] moving in the right direction. So I was happy. The first quarter I was 10% higher than I was.

Payman Langroudi: But [01:24:25] have you ever been in the opposite situation where you feel like.

Kash Qureshi: Oh man, you know, the biggest mistake I ever had? And I just [01:24:30] come to me, right? I had payroll two days time, had [01:24:35] bills, you know, all them sort of things happening. And then this [01:24:40] was late paying me, man. You guys don’t like paying labs. I don’t understand why.

Payman Langroudi: Isn’t it.

Kash Qureshi: Very cool? Man? [01:24:45] We got lives.

Payman Langroudi: It’s very common, isn’t it?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, it is, but I think it’s just business. I [01:24:50] only found out about for years how the NHS system actually pays dental practices. [01:24:55] I never knew. I just assumed that they got him every month. It was only until I found [01:25:00] out once that they get paid at a certain time. I thought, why didn’t they tell labs that nobody, no lab [01:25:05] knew this or they did? I don’t know, they didn’t mention it. But anyways, yeah, two days payroll [01:25:10] looks at my bank account. Od’d on. I gotta [01:25:15] buy a Hoover. I didn’t have enough money to [01:25:20] buy a hoover that month. Didn’t have enough money to buy even a hoover. I [01:25:25] was so reliant. I don’t like being in that position. I was so reliant on certain [01:25:30] clients paying. So I had enough for payroll. Do not be in that situation. [01:25:35] There’s not an enjoyable. They paid and I paid staff. I didn’t pay myself. I didn’t pay myself that [01:25:40] month. Yeah, because I just just didn’t pay myself just to make sure I was. I was more fretting [01:25:45] first ever time that happened to me, that happened to me within the first four months of me [01:25:50] owning the business. So you got to remember, I don’t know these things.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah. So cash crisis. That is right. [01:25:55] I think we spent the first three, four years in from one cash crisis [01:26:00] to another. Yeah. You know, it’s one of those nightmares. And the reason I asked you about the [01:26:05] sort of the seasonal.

Kash Qureshi: Cash flows.

Payman Langroudi: And the seasonal trends, I remember being [01:26:10] caught out like every August for the first four, you know, they just did not understand. [01:26:15] Wasn’t expecting until I got the pattern recognition effort, you know. Oh, yeah. August [01:26:20] is going to be quiet. That’s the best time to.

Kash Qureshi: Start taking holidays.

Payman Langroudi: Exactly. You [01:26:25] know, end up going to Lebanon in August, which is a terrible time of year to go, [01:26:30] but only because it’s slow, right? It’s slow. It’s a slow time of year. Let’s [01:26:35] end with the usual questions. I’ve really enjoyed our conversation.

Kash Qureshi: Oh me too. I enjoyed this. It’s been [01:26:40] really good, actually.

Payman Langroudi: The final questions are around. Um, fantasy [01:26:45] dinner party.

Kash Qureshi: Okay.

Payman Langroudi: Three guests. Dead or alive. [01:26:50]

Kash Qureshi: Dead or alive? Right. Okay, so one of them would definitely be Jim Glidewell.

Payman Langroudi: Who’s [01:26:55] that?

Kash Qureshi: Glidewell dental labs.

Payman Langroudi: Oh, I see.

Kash Qureshi: He’s like.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kash Qureshi: California. [01:27:00] Yeah. He’s done really well. And his success shows. I would love to.

Payman Langroudi: Glidewell I [01:27:05] thought I heard yeah well who’s that? Glidewell. Glidewell. Glidewell. Yeah [01:27:10] I heard light bulb. Jim.

Kash Qureshi: Jim. Jim Glidewell.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: Um, so yeah, that would be one. [01:27:15] Another one would be the strange one because I’ve never really, really talked about it with anyone would be my granddad. [01:27:20] I never met him, but I knew he had something to do because I remember seeing a book, [01:27:25] you know, like with them images that they used to draw, like scientific things. I remember seeing [01:27:30] that. So I think he had some sort of technical background in something. So I would like to have done [01:27:35] that with him.

Payman Langroudi: And dad’s dad or mum’s dad.

Kash Qureshi: My mom’s dad. Um, but I didn’t really [01:27:40] know my father that well. Um, I’ve sort of seen him a [01:27:45] few times in my life.

Payman Langroudi: Your own father?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, my real dad. Um, yeah, I’ve seen him a few [01:27:50] times in my life, and, uh, he died, uh, just after [01:27:55] Covid in that time. I remember that very well, actually, because, uh. Yeah. Thanks. [01:28:00] Um, because I was in the lab, a phone call from my uncle. Now [01:28:05] you’re a member. I’m quite distant with my real father as well. So it’s a bit like. Oh, okay. [01:28:10] He’s not here anymore. Okay. I [01:28:15] didn’t know how to take it. So, um, that’s when I had this tattoo done, uh, [01:28:20] of the Eye of Horus and the Eye of Ra. Um.

Payman Langroudi: Did your parents [01:28:25] split up?

Kash Qureshi: Yeah, when they were young. When they were young? Young? So just literally after I was born, [01:28:30] actually, they split up, so I got the phone call. I remember it very well because [01:28:35] I had drivers that were giving me grief in the morning about their run going, oh look, look, look. [01:28:40] I’m sitting there just biting my tongue sort of thing, trying to keep my cool [01:28:45] with everything. But yeah, that happened. And, um, you’d like.

Payman Langroudi: Feel a deficit [01:28:50] of not having your dad around as growing up? Or was it you never [01:28:55] knew any different or. I mean, surely when, when when he passed away, you must have reflected [01:29:00] on that question.

Kash Qureshi: I think the only thing I would have reflected on, because I didn’t [01:29:05] feel that much emotion at the time, because everything [01:29:10] that I wish growing up as a kid, you know, like I see my friends doing stuff [01:29:15] with their dads, you know, they used to do like, uh, you know, go to [01:29:20] the park or even something simple like that. Put the socks away for the dad. Like the dad would put the socks away in a drawer. I don’t know why I [01:29:25] remember that, but I remember that in my head I’m thinking, well, why am I dad doing this? But then [01:29:30] everything that I’ve been taught and everything I’ve done, I don’t think there’s much he could guide me [01:29:35] in life with afterwards, because I had done. I’ve gone through some of the most horrible [01:29:40] things as a young age. I’ve. If you think about my trajectory from young to 26, [01:29:45] I had done a lot of things that most people take some 50, 60 years to do or [01:29:50] go through. So there wasn’t much he could show me. And, you know, [01:29:55] there’s a phrase, um, that Tupac says in one of his songs. [01:30:00] Sorry. You could tell it was from the streets back in the day. Yeah. That he says, you know, [01:30:05] uh, he says something that, um, people thought I was, um, [01:30:10] I was heartless because, um, I didn’t cry when [01:30:15] my father died. But how can I cry for a stranger, you [01:30:20] know? But my anger couldn’t let me feel for a stranger, as he says in his song. [01:30:25] Which is true, and I, I, I knew that phrase quite well, because when I had done my media [01:30:30] studies thing, we had to make a magazine, and that was one of the key phrases I used. I didn’t think, [01:30:35] now that I think about it just now, I think that maybe there was a subliminal thing from there [01:30:40] to there, I don’t know.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah. Look, the way you said it to me, when when that incident happened [01:30:45] and you realised I’ve got to get myself out of this situation. Yeah. There’s a self-reliance [01:30:50] that comes with not having your dad around. A self-reliance. [01:30:55] And that self-reliance is probably the reason why you manage to do all the things you managed to [01:31:00] do. Yeah. So, you know, you as a 17 year old, were way [01:31:05] more independent and self-reliant than I was. Yeah, because you had to be. Yeah. [01:31:10] So I get that, I get I get the benefit.

Kash Qureshi: I got to thank my mum for that because she taught me. I haven’t told you about [01:31:15] the first time I got paid.

Payman Langroudi: Go on.

Kash Qureshi: Oh. When I first started the lab, the first ever [01:31:20] payment from the lab to buy.

Payman Langroudi: Something for your mum.

Kash Qureshi: No, no no, no. Oh, you know what? I was shocked [01:31:25] myself. I still had mum, if you’re watching this. Yeah. You remember this day as well because I. I kicked about [01:31:30] it. First paycheque was £496. Yeah. As an apprentice? Yeah. [01:31:35] Working my ass off. Literally. Yeah. I come home, I [01:31:40] show my mum my first paycheque. I said my wage slip was a green one. And I said, look, this is my first paycheque. [01:31:45] She said, oh, okay. That’s really good. Yeah. Really proud of you. I’m gonna need £300 [01:31:50] for rent. I went you what? She went. Yeah. Do [01:31:55] you think things are free? And you know what? I kicked up about it. I said, what’s the point of me working? [01:32:00] I might as well just not work, you know, because you’re just taking everything. You’re literally robbing me. I might as well even just work. So [01:32:05] literally, you know, after that, now that I think about it, you know what? What I would do to go back to them days, you [01:32:10] know, because them days were I wasn’t as grateful as I am now, [01:32:15] knowing the amount of bills I got coming out left, right and centre, you know, running a business, family life, [01:32:20] house, you know, so many expenses going out. Man, what I’d give to go back to that day of [01:32:25] that. But yeah, that was some crazy times back in the day. But I think [01:32:30] that being self-reliant has helped me do a lot of things that I’m doing now in business. [01:32:35] It teaches you to go through the hurdles. You know, you get a bad month. I’m not going to sit there. You know, [01:32:40] some of the situations I’ve been in, like for instance, like payroll two days time, no money. [01:32:45] You know, some people, you know, commit suicide over things like that.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: But you’ve got to think to yourself, [01:32:50] you’ve got to have that mentality of the hustlers mentality. I’ll get it back on the next one, and [01:32:55] I did. I got it back on the next one. Sometimes when I have conversations with my accountant and he [01:33:00] just puts me on a depression mode for some reason, I don’t know. Skilful in making you depressed about life [01:33:05] and go, look, you know, you just gotta be positive, man. That’s just the way things are in dentistry. Oh, but you know [01:33:10] business. Listen, you don’t understand dentistry. Dentistry is not the same. As you [01:33:15] know. We’ve got different expenses to you guys. We’ve got different expenses. You just gotta understand, things are different. [01:33:20]

Payman Langroudi: I think in business in general. Right? You. After a while, you come to, you still [01:33:25] have all the ups and downs, but you just come to manage them better in terms [01:33:30] of whatever the bad news is you feel like. Either it’ll go away or you’ll [01:33:35] find a way around it. Whereas at the beginning I remember like massive, like [01:33:40] worry and pain. Whenever anything bad would happen.

Kash Qureshi: Yeah. You think about it a lot, [01:33:45] right?

Payman Langroudi: A lot. And guilt and whatever it was, whatever the thing was, um, treason, [01:33:50] you know? Whereas now, you know, stuff still happens every day, man. Yeah, [01:33:55] but but, you know, you’re just more sort of level headed about it. Um, it’s like, you know, it’s like it’s [01:34:00] like being calm, getting used to the chaos in a way. Yeah. You know, I tell.

Kash Qureshi: You the last thing, I’ll leave you with my [01:34:05] street life. The last thing was only happened about a year and a half ago. I was doing my [01:34:10] usual run and coming into the lab early, like 2:00 in the morning. I was driving a smart car at the time. Not [01:34:15] a fancy car. Just run around. Two door thing. I was going through Chingford. You know where Chingford is? Yeah. [01:34:20] So I was driving through Chingford and there’s a McDonald’s on a corner. And, um, I’ve been [01:34:25] previously stopped by police a lot of times in the car, and so I’m used to it. Yeah. [01:34:30] So they’ve done a lot of stop and searches and so forth like that. So I’m driving and um, [01:34:35] this car comes out of McDonald’s and comes up behind me, starts flashing his lights, and I’m thinking, okay, [01:34:40] maybe he wants to overtake me. Maybe he wants to go into the next road is coming up because there’s a roundabout there. [01:34:45] Unmarked, unmarked. I thought it was unmarked. So I thought, okay, this is what they do because they police. [01:34:50] If they’ve ever stopped you. Anyone knows that they ride up really close. They try to startle you at like 2:00 [01:34:55] in the morning for like, okay, he’s signalling to turn left, so I’m thinking he’s going to go left in a second.

Kash Qureshi: He [01:35:00] didn’t. And I thought, right, he’s following me. He’s still doing his speeding up slowing down, flashing I come to [01:35:05] the roundabout I thought I’m gonna turn. I’m not going to signal where I’m going to go. If he follows me, I know it’s on. [01:35:10] So he follows me. I ring the police, I say, right, I’m at some location [01:35:15] in Chingford. Is this one of your guys behind me right now? This is his reg plate. [01:35:20] Because you guys do things like this and this is all recorded on police. I’ve still got the texts text [01:35:25] from them and, um, they went right. There’s none of our police people in this area [01:35:30] right now. I thought, oh, shit. I thought, something’s going to go down. So then [01:35:35] this guy starts speeding up on the side of me. We’re driving, like 50 now, [01:35:40] both from each side. Um, we’re at a golf course bit. Yeah. So we’re both driving. He’s driving on the opposite side [01:35:45] of the road, so he’s trying to push my car in. I think. What the hell’s going on? I’m on the phone to [01:35:50] the police at that time.

Kash Qureshi: And I said, right, I’m coming up to a dual carriageway. You know, it turns into a dual carriageway. [01:35:55] I said, one of us is going to die right now, and it ain’t gonna [01:36:00] be me. What do I do? Because he’s going neck for neck with me. [01:36:05] I’m driving. I’ve literally got a barrier right in front of me. And the police guy went, he goes, [01:36:10] I don’t know. And I went, what do you mean you don’t know? He goes, I’ve never been involved [01:36:15] in anything like this. Like a hijacking. It’s me. Hey, you need to tell me what to do right now. So luckily, [01:36:20] by then, the guy drove behind me and said, right, I’m going to be coming up to the end of this road. I’m [01:36:25] going to hit the a406 where the traffic lights are at the end of that long road. I said, I’m driving through that and I’m going to [01:36:30] lose this guy in Walthamstow. This is me. I better not get any tickets from you guys because [01:36:35] this is me. And then I got to the lab. He went, he disappeared somewhere, and [01:36:40] I said, oh, I thought only I could get into a situation where I’ve just got.

Payman Langroudi: No idea what. [01:36:45]

Kash Qureshi: That was. I don’t know, maybe he wanted to hijack me, I thought, but not today. It’s a bit like the whole [01:36:50] thing. When I eventually got knifed, I got to a point in life where I’ve said, [01:36:55] I’m not going to let these things happen to me like it did back in the day. And I thought, nah, he ain’t going to happen. Sorry. [01:37:00]

Payman Langroudi: It’s the thing you say about the cops in the suburbs. The cops aren’t busy enough, right? [01:37:05] So I used to get stopped quite a lot in Kent when I was living there. A nice car. [01:37:10] Yeah. And once, once I ended up going, like, left, left, [01:37:15] left, left, left. He kept on following me. So then I got to a big roundabout and just kept going. Round and round and [01:37:20] round and round.

Kash Qureshi: He’s on drugs or something.

Payman Langroudi: Because [01:37:25] it was just like because they kept following. And then eventually he [01:37:30] stopped me. So why were you going round? Round and round the [01:37:35] roundabout. And I said, why were you. And he let me off. And, um, [01:37:40] the third guest. The third.

Kash Qureshi: Guest. Um, I haven’t really [01:37:45] had time to actually think about it, to be perfectly honest with you.

Payman Langroudi: Um, would you not want your dad to [01:37:50] find out what he was like?

Kash Qureshi: I’ve spoken to him a few times. Um, [01:37:55] we couldn’t really communicate that well because, um, he’s Pakistani, [01:38:00] so he speaks Urdu, I don’t.

Payman Langroudi: Was he over there? Yeah. Oh, I.

Kash Qureshi: See. [01:38:05]

Payman Langroudi: So I.

Kash Qureshi: Don’t.

Payman Langroudi: Speak.

Kash Qureshi: The language I used to when I was really young. So communicating is very difficult. I [01:38:10] mean, it’s more like a yes no nod. Nod your head, maybe.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah.

Kash Qureshi: Here’s [01:38:15] where he is. Don’t get me wrong. Uh, I probably would have liked to, but I don’t [01:38:20] really know. No, I don’t think I would. Um.

Payman Langroudi: Fair enough.

Kash Qureshi: Just, you know, I’ve. [01:38:25] I’ve gone through life with so, so much without life now. My mum’s happily married [01:38:30] now. Um. I’m married. I’ve got my kid now, so you know.

Payman Langroudi: How old’s your [01:38:35] kid?

Kash Qureshi: Uh, two going on three, man. Yeah.

Payman Langroudi: Difficult time. The beginning is difficult.

Kash Qureshi: She was premature. [01:38:40] 25 weeks.

Payman Langroudi: She was? Yeah, she was.

Kash Qureshi: The size of my hand.

Payman Langroudi: Oh my goodness.

Kash Qureshi: So, yeah, that was [01:38:45] a tough time. Back and forth through Whitechapel, Royal London. Like a different [01:38:50] country when you go Whitechapel. Yeah. Uh going Royal London.

Payman Langroudi: That market. Right.

Kash Qureshi: Oh, yeah. Yeah. You literally [01:38:55] come out the station. You’re in the market. Like people don’t care. I know, rock up anywhere. And it’s not just selling you [01:39:00] things, but yeah, as I said, I mean, hopefully if one things people can get from this podcast [01:39:05] is they can see that, you know, the resilience is there to just keep on going. Um, [01:39:10] you know, you got to keep on going in business and everything. And I’ve always been like with the lab side, with the clinic side, [01:39:15] just keep it going and keep it moving and make time. I like people who can make [01:39:20] time for me, and I make time for them. Like, man, you know, I always make time for man Rena. And [01:39:25] I hope she thinks the same and she can make time for me. I mean, I honestly thought she was going to be. [01:39:30]

Payman Langroudi: The.

Kash Qureshi: Answer man. She picked up. She picked up, man. Good on you, man. Rena. You picked up for me. [01:39:35]

Payman Langroudi: Final question. Three pieces of advice on your [01:39:40] deathbed for your loved ones.

Kash Qureshi: Uh. Always [01:39:45] be nice to people on the way up, because you might just see him on [01:39:50] the way down. Um, time is the most valuable [01:39:55] asset. Um, and health. The [01:40:00] the two things I always am thankful for every day. Um, in my part of my technique [01:40:05] and my affirmations, I’m always thankful for, um, my time first and my health. [01:40:10] Because without time, I’ve got no health. And I know I think it’s just [01:40:15] a street mentality where you think that you’re not going to live past 23? I’m always curious. I. Time [01:40:20] is everything to me. I’m always very headstrong on time. You know, I allocate certain times [01:40:25] to gym. You know, I live that that way. And I think I’ve always just been like that growing up and everything. [01:40:30] But time always value time and make time for people.

Payman Langroudi: Amazing. I’ve [01:40:35] really enjoyed.

Kash Qureshi: Have you had any have you got any advice?

Payman Langroudi: Advice for life? [01:40:40]

Kash Qureshi: For life? Yeah. In general, you know, I haven’t had a dad, so, you know. Yeah. [01:40:45]

Payman Langroudi: I think the one thing I mean, I’m interested in the notion of, [01:40:50] uh, children. Right. What do you want for your child? Yeah. And you can’t [01:40:55] overdo it. You can’t say, oh, I want my child to be a surgeon. Surgeon or [01:41:00] something. It’s ridiculous. Well, the things I’ve come down to is I want my child to be confident. [01:41:05] Yeah, yeah. Confidence is quite important in.

Kash Qureshi: Something.

Payman Langroudi: Right? It’s certainly not arrogant. [01:41:10] I mean, the opposite of arrogant. Yeah. Confident. And I want my child to be kind, [01:41:15] you know. And I’ve really come down to those two things, you know, trying [01:41:20] with, with my.

Kash Qureshi: Feelings and kindness.

Payman Langroudi: Confidence and kindness. Those two things are really, really key. [01:41:25] Um, the other thing I’d say is around work. I mean, look at someone [01:41:30] like you. You’re so driven. You know that. You know it’s within you. And I like [01:41:35] my kid to want to change the world somehow. [01:41:40] You know, like, make, you know, the famous, um, Steve Jobs thing make a dent in the world. [01:41:45] Yeah. To want to make a dent in the world. But by the way, someone might not want [01:41:50] to do that, right? Someone might want to do a 9 to 5 and surf and bring up a family.

Kash Qureshi: There’s nothing wrong with that.

Payman Langroudi: Nothing wrong [01:41:55] with that either. But, but but for me, that’s my particular bias that I want them to want to make a difference. [01:42:00] Mhm.

Kash Qureshi: I agree with you. I think there’s nothing wrong with that. I think that’s a very sound platform [01:42:05] to establish with um you’re never going to know what your kids are going to end up becoming. I don’t know what my daughter’s going to [01:42:10] be.

Payman Langroudi: And you and your mum had no idea you were going to be a dental technician.

Kash Qureshi: Nah, man, she didn’t know. [01:42:15] But then again, in the Asian community, you get usually pushed into doctors or dentistry. I [01:42:20] mean, obviously I went into a total different there’s not many Asian people in dental technology, I don’t think. Yeah, there’s not [01:42:25] that many. There’s probably a handful I can probably name on my hand. Yeah. Literally one. There’s there’s [01:42:30] quite a few others that I’ve seen now, but there’s not that many of us. And I think it’s because [01:42:35] we’ve gone more into, well, not me personally. They’ve gone more into.

Payman Langroudi: Professions.

Kash Qureshi: Into dentistry. [01:42:40] I think that’s why. Another thing why I relate with a lot of dentists is because I’m Asian. Yeah, [01:42:45] I am Asian. In case anyone’s wondering, I am Asian. They they always ask me. They don’t think I am. I [01:42:50] don’t think I’m lying. And then they ask me, what is your mum and dad? But seriously, where do you come from? That sort of [01:42:55] thing. But I can relate to him on that basis. I can relate to him on the basis that [01:43:00] I’m in that sort of age group, and I can relate to the younger guys as well. I don’t know if it’s because of the [01:43:05] tattoos and stuff, but I can relate to people because in clinical school they used to frown on that. Now [01:43:10] it’s quite common to have tattoos.

Payman Langroudi: Yeah. Now I think your superpower. Is that right? No, [01:43:15] sorry.

Kash Qureshi: You can say, you know what? This has got me into places.

Payman Langroudi: You can talk [01:43:20] to people you can relate to people.

Kash Qureshi: I think it’s being down to earth.

Payman Langroudi: I’ve really enjoyed it, man. [01:43:25] Yeah. Me too. Thanks a lot for coming.

Kash Qureshi: No thank you man.

[VOICE]: This is [01:43:30] Dental Leaders, the podcast where you get to go one on one with emerging [01:43:35] leaders in dentistry. Your [01:43:40] hosts, Payman Langroudi and Prav Solanki.

Prav Solanki: Thanks [01:43:45] for listening, guys. If you got this far, you must have listened to the whole thing. And just a huge [01:43:50] thank you both from me and pay for actually sticking through and listening to what we had to say and [01:43:55] what our guest has had to say, because I’m assuming you got some value out of it.

Payman Langroudi: If you did get some value [01:44:00] out of it, think about subscribing. And if you would share this with a friend [01:44:05] who you think might get some value out of it too. Thank you so so, so much for listening. Thanks.

Prav Solanki: And don’t [01:44:10] forget our six star rating.