Assisted by ASBTDC Lead Center at UA Little Rock
Consultant Nicolas Mayerhoeffer
Couple At Home in Own Dental Practice
Partners in life Shirin Amirfaiz and Samir Sulieman are now partners in their own dental practice.
They opened Cantrell Dental in Little Rock in February 2019.
“We wanted a practice to call our own and to be our home,” said Dr. Amirfaiz. “We knew it was a risk because the practice would not have any active patients, but we were willing to take it together.”
The married couple met in 2009 in dental school at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.
“In 2013 we graduated from dental school, and I went back home to Tennessee to practice and he went back to Little Rock to practice. We got engaged in 2014, and I moved to Little Rock to be closer to him and started practicing dentistry in Arkansas,” she said.
Both worked in private and corporate offices but envisioned their own. After two years of looking for a dental practice to buy, they decided to start one.
Almost two years later, aided by the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, they accomplished their goal.
“We decided in February of 2017 we wanted to open our own practice, and it took two years before we opened the doors to Cantrell Dental,” said Shirin.
Their bank recommended utilizing the ASBTDC. The couple worked closely with Nicolas Mayerhoeffer, a business consultant at the center.
He assisted with business planning, budgeting, market research about the industry, the area, and the competition, and marketing.
“ASBTDC helped us factor in our expenses, assets, and budget,” Amirfaiz said. “ASBTDC also showed us different practices in the area and the saturation of the region and helped us define what would set us apart from other practices.”
They decided to build a new facility from the ground up and chose a location near the intersection of Cantrell Road and Taylor Loop. Construction began in summer 2018, just as the couple welcomed twins in May.
The new office includes a nursery, so the babies can be with their parents.
The new business owners are excited to watch their young practice and their young children grow.
“Having your own business is a constant learning experience and is demanding of your time. However, the reward of having something you call your own is priceless,” Shirin said.
Open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and one Saturday per month, Cantrell Dental is accepting new patients.
Gwen Green, May 6, 2019