How would you transform one of the oldest, most resistant to change industries in the world? As an award-winning CEO, Haseeb Sajid of TBS Dental knows it takes equal parts of innovation, passion, and good old-fashioned hard work.
With the first dentist arguably starting the profession during the Ancient Egyptian empire around 2600 BC, the dental industry is based upon a long history and set of traditions. But, as with so many well-established professions, technology and innovation are forcing the dental world to rethink how it serves its patients and the best ways to deliver care.
One of the leaders at the forefront of this evolution is New York based TBS Dental. Haseeb Sajid, CEO, is passionate about how its innovative products and ways of working will create greater efficiency and quality in the sector whilst enhancing patient experience and comfort for clinicians.
A ripe market for disruption
Haseeb’s success with TBS is proof that the dental industry is in need of some disruption. He feels that for the past 170 years the profession has been stagnant when it comes to embracing innovation and has plenty of catching up to do.
What’s perhaps surprising is that the market certainly looks from the outside as an attractive place for entrepreneurs to grow exciting organisations. The dental equipment market is due to reach over $12.2 billion in size in the next six years and from a global point of view the industry has grown by almost $10 billion in the past three years alone.
A large, fast-growing industry that has numerous use cases for innovation to make a difference – sounds too good to be true. Many have tried and failed to succeed in this market because, as with so many professional sectors, it is one full of tradition and resistance. For Haseeb though these are not blockers – they are simply hurdles to jump over.
A destiny to disrupt and innovate
TBS Dental has previously established a reputation as a respected source of dental tools at an affordable price. The company was led by Haseeb’s father who recognised that his son was always going to be an entrepreneur. From a young age, Haseeb was an avid fan of the show Shark Tank and had this insatiable curiosity that meant that he always had to find out why some products worked, and others didn’t.
He started his first business at 18 years of age and focused on selling products on Amazon ranging from pet feeders to electronic accessories. He continued to grow his business while studying at college in New York but it was a trip to his father’s manufacturing facility after graduation that would see a crucial realisation. It was during this trip that Haseeb started to appreciate what could be possible if he started to create his own products from scratch – owning all aspects of the journey from concept through to the end goal of supplying clinicians – he could achieve something truly valuable.
It’s no surprise therefore that when Haseeb took over the family dental business he immediately focused on how to revolutionise not only the company, but dentistry and the patient experience as a whole. Based on his belief that an innovative based way of thinking was key to success, he took to searching for ways to disrupt the industry and create a new concept in the world of dental instrumentation.
Success from combining disruption with dedication
Disrupting the industry through its range of revolutionary products and a desire for innovation has always been at the core of TBS Dental’s vision as it has grown and prospered. Its mission is to make dentistry as efficient as possible with a focus on creating timeless dental products to enhance patient experience and clinician comfort.
One day as Haseeb was using forceps they slipped out of his hand. From this moment, he knew he had found a genuine area where he and TBS Dental could make a noticeable difference. Working alongside his brother, Hassan, he focused on creating a new set of forceps. The resulting US patented FRINGS, or forceps with spring, are now the most ergonomic and revolutionary forceps on the market. The product has proved to be incredibly popular with dentists and patients alike and have helped position TBS Dental as an exciting and worthy innovator in the sector.
With the confidence that their invention was something special, Haseeb focused on an old-fashioned go to market plan for his cutting edge creation – he hit the streets, knocked on doors and travelled the country. He knew that the product itself had incredible value – he just needed to get it in front of as many clinicians as possible.
This passion, dedication and enthusiasm for hard work has been one of the key factors that has helped TBS Dental expand from a small team of 25 to a family of 400 members worldwide. Also crucial to this success has been Haseeb’s mission to ensure TBS Dental own the end to end journey of their product. By keeping crucial aspects of the business in house, including the manufacturing process, distribution, research and development and the customer experience, TBS Dental ensures excellence when it comes to speed and quality. However, Haseeb knows as well as anyone that successful disruption and growth come from a clarity of purpose combined with an ability to pivot and adjust based on learnings. The legendary Simon Sinek is famous for encouraging entrepreneurs to always lead with their “why” and Haseeb keeps TBS Dental’s “why” front and centre. The company exists to create timeless dental products to make dentistry more efficient and enhance patient experience and clinician comfort.
Exciting challenges ahead
The past few years have demonstrated that one of the keys to lasting success is the ability to pivot quickly when challenges are thrown at you. The COVID-19 pandemic was a tough time for TBS Dental as so many dentists were forced to close their doors, yet Haseeb and his team continued to use this as an opportunity to deliver value.
One example of this commitment to innovation is the fact that TBS developed the idea of a brand new product and brought it to market in just six weeks. ShieldVac is designed to contain and remove airborne bacterial contamination using existing HVE – something of great value during the time of an airborne virus which locks the world down – and this has been extremely successful.
Naturally, TBS Dental wouldn’t wish for a repeat of the pandemic situation, but they do recognise how crucial it is to continue to innovate and learn quickly – attributes which resulted in them responding effectively to the unprecedented challenges of the previous two years.
TBS Dental, the Industry and Its Future
TBS Dental align themselves with the perspective shared by the American Dental Association which has found that over 85% of Americans consider oral health as an essential aspect of overall care. While the industry might have been hesitant to innovation in the past, it’s clear that with patient expectations and the requirements of dentists being higher than ever, Haseeb has firm ambitions to lead TBS Dental to new heights.
Further information on the TBS Dental story – how this family-based dentistry business has transformed the industry with its range of specialised state of the instruments – together with full product descriptions and explanations of use, please see the company website https://www.tbsdental.com/
