Not only does Provide offer a comprehensive product suite to support every stage of your practice ownership journey, we also care about your success — that’s why a relationship with Provide doesn’t stop at funding. We’ve taken a personalized approach to banking, and in addition to our partnership, online resources, and network of industry experts, we can provide you with more value than other lenders. But don’t take our word for it: we sat down with a recent Provide borrower to see if the Provide difference we promise, lives up to its name.

Meet Dr. Sam Muwafaq, DMD, of Independence, KY. Dr. Sam specializes in IV sedation dentistry, advanced dental cosmetic procedures, complex full mouth rehabilitation, dental implants, root canal therapy, and impacted wisdom teeth removal. He is also board certified in cosmetic facial procedures such as botox and dermal fillers. Dr. Sam's full-mouth rehab cases utilizing implant dentistry have been nationally recognized and his work has been published on multiple digital platforms.

He has always dreamed of opening his own practice to provide comprehensive care for his patients and address all of their needs in one place.

Customer service always comes first for me! I don't want to be on the phone and be put on hold for hours at a time to ask a question or send an email and wait days for a response. When I worked with Tom at Provide, I had his cell phone number. When I had a question, I sent a text and got a response within minutes (literally three to five minutes) regardless of the time of day. That is service.

Doctors always look for the lowest interest rate, and I do too. However, there are other factors that are far more important to me than getting a minimal interest rate (customer service, response time, the quality of the people you talk and work with, less formalities, etc.). Getting a loan is stressful. You talk to people who judge your entire existence (not literally, but it sure feels like it) to determine if you qualify for a loan. This is not the experience I had with Provide. I had a dedicated team who I could text my questions to at any time of day. It was like having a family group chat! Stress free and hassle free. All I had to do was send them my financial documents (through our secure portal 😉), and they did the rest. I feel like I did nothing to get approved for the loan. They made it so easy and seamless for me, and I can't tell you how appreciative I am of their service.

When you are opening a startup practice (or acquiring), there will be a lot of people you will need to talk with — and I mean a lot! And, when it comes to getting a loan, there will be even more people you will have to talk with. There are lenders I spoke with and then waited literally weeks for a response (got to love those 1-800 numbers). They may have offered a slightly lower interest rate, but after you sit down and do the math, the monthly payment difference is negligible. In the scheme of everything you have to pay monthly to run your office, why would anyone want to be on hold for hours and sit through interview after interview to get a loan. I value my time and my comfort and I need people to work for me and to make my life easy; afterall, time is money. So, any time I am wasting equals money I am losing (so is there really a savings?). I would rather work with people who are fast and efficient, straight to the point, and can get the job done so I can focus on what I love most — dentistry.

What other advice do you have for someone who is looking to startup (or acquire) their own practice?

When you pick a bank, a contractor, equipment specialist, etc., always pick customer service first. Trust me — you will thank yourself later — especially when it comes to choosing a lender. Whether you choose Provide or any other lender, look for customer service, flexibility, and response time. I say this after having spoken with five different lenders and this experience was the most hassle-free. 

And, finally, when we asked if there were any other tidbits he’d like to share, Dr. Sam got a little personal. His current success almost remained just a dream due to health concerns as a child that caused him to be denied by lender after lender he encountered. He told us they were quick to dismiss him because he didn’t qualify under traditional requirements. “I almost gave up on my dream,” he said. “It was the worst time of my life. I studied and worked my entire life to open my dream practice, and due to something out of my control, no one would approve me for my loan. I was miserable, and I thought everything I did for myself was pointless. I can’t put into words how miserable I was when another lender said to me, ‘...you’re basically dead in the water…no lender would be able to approve you for a loan.’” Luckily for Dr. Sam, he was introduced shortly after to Tom Muck, Provide regional director of practice finance — this is where his path to ownership did a 180. Tom and team listened to his story and went to bat for Dr. Sam. Shortly after meeting the Provide team, Dr. Sam finally had his long-awaited approval. “I put my phone down and cried,” he said. “What Provide did for me — beyond the customer service, beyond their commitment, and everything else — they made my dream come to life.” 

👆This is why we do what we do. Any lender can discount a rate, but not everyone can say without a shadow of a doubt that they truly care about the person (the human) behind the application. At Provide, this is not an empty promise — it’s a commitment (actually, it’s our mission statement) to empower healthcare providers with great people and innovative technology. If that doesn’t illustrate the Provide difference, we’re not sure what can.