When Danielle Wuensche walks into Zahntechnique’s Miami Lakes office each morning, sunlight streams in from the surrounding glass windows, filling the boutique dental lab with natural light. For this small business owner, her space represents more than just a modern workplace: It’s a symbol of resilience, vision, and a decade-long journey of transforming a small, family-run laboratory into a thriving business.
Zahntechnique specializes in what most patients never think about when they’re sitting in the dentist’s chair: the intricate fabrication of crowns, veneers, and other dental restorations. While the dentist prepares and fits the restoration, the artistry and precision behind it happen in dental laboratories like Zahntechnique, where each piece is custom-made for the individual patient. “It’s all about making a restoration with the same care and passion as if we’re making it for our own family. That’s how we treat every case,” says Danielle.
Getting started
This small business success story begins in 2014, when Danielle and her husband Alexander purchased a small dental laboratory, Zahntechnique, that had been operating since the early 1970s in Pinecrest, building a reputation for high-quality, aesthetic dental restorations.
When the Wuensches took over, the lab was still in its original Pinecrest location, an aging facility tucked behind a bar, and it didn’t reflect the boutique, high-aesthetics brand they wanted Zahntechnique to be. In 2015, they moved to a larger facility in West Kendall, allowing them to expand production and add an education component, offering workshops for dentists to learn more about the restorative process. The strategy brought in new clients and strengthened relationships with existing ones.
But just as the business was gaining momentum, the pandemic hit.
In 2020, stay-at-home orders forced the Wuensches to shutter their operation for months and furlough their staff. With minimal revenue coming in, Danielle still faced a rent bill each month. When the landlord sought a 25% rent increase to renew their lease for one year, Danielle questioned whether the business would even survive that long.
Yet, Zahntechnique survived by adapting operations and finding efficiencies. Still, the rent problem persisted. Another rent increase followed, this time by 15%, becoming a stress on the business.
SBDC at FIU assists the team
In 2023, Danielle began working with the team at Florida SBDC at FIU, the small business development center within FIU’s College of Business that provides no-cost business consulting and training to small businesses in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Ricardo Newark, FSBDC at FIU ’s specialist in business strategy and finance, was Zahntechnique’s primary consultant.
Newark said the company already had a state-of-the-art dental lab and highly qualified management in the Wuensches. Indeed, Danielle had previously worked at a leading dental business in a corporate role, and she managed all operations at Zahntechnique. Alexander had worked for five years in a production management position at the very lab they ended up purchasing, so he knew that side of the business. Still, there were obstacles to their growth they needed to overcome.
First, Newark helped Danielle take a closer look at Zahntechnique’s financials. Together, they identified occupancy costs as a big pain point.
Their solution: Seek to buy a property of their own, so they are no longer at the mercy of a landlord. With Newark’s guidance, the Wuensches secured financing through the SBA 504 program and a local bank. In June 2024, they closed on a new property in Miami Lakes, built it out, and by March of this year, the team had moved in. “It feels so much better knowing it’s ours,” Danielle says.
Buying the property slashed their occupancy costs in half, giving them the ability to reinvest in the business and their team. The new space has also boosted employee morale. Unlike their previous industrial building, which had no windows in production areas, the new lab is filled with windows, she adds. “It’s beautiful for natural light and just to have a better work quality of life.”
In addition to helping them execute their property purchase, Newark also assisted Danielle in setting up a more comprehensive QuickBooks application for proper financial analysis. He helped Danielle better define Zahntechnique’s target market by performing an extensive data-driven analysis of customer information. They also worked together on putting a customer follow-up system in place.
“Danielle and Alex have been very responsive and have taken advantage of our consulting sessions, which I believe were very important in their success,” says Newark, who continues to meet quarterly with Danielle.
Adds Danielle: “I do have some anxiety going into my meetings with Ricardo because I know he is going to hold me accountable… But it has allowed me to better understand our metrics, our numbers… It’s been amazing working with Ricardo.”
A plan for smart growth
While many business owners focus on rapid expansion, Danielle says Zahntechnique is committed to remaining a high-quality boutique operation. The company currently employs eight people and serves clients across Florida and the United States, as well as parts of the Caribbean.
“We want to continue to be at the top, the cutting edge of dental laboratories,” says Danielle, by continuing to focus on making high-quality, custom restorations.
At the same time, “I always want to have a place where I know that the team loves where they work. We’re all about our team interactions and I want to know that the team is also growing professionally,” she adds. “That’s success.”
Beyond financials, Danielle has focused on building systems to support the team. She has introduced AI-powered tools to generate standard operating procedures (SOPs), helping employees document and learn processes more efficiently.
“Having SOPs gives the team guardrails, but it also empowers them to take on new responsibilities,” she says. “When someone can follow a process and then do it on their own, they feel like ‘Now I can do this thing.’ They feel very proud.”
Danielle’s advice to new entrepreneurs: Have a business plan, define your metrics, and stay true to your vision. “A plan is your compass,” she says, adding that it keeps you on course when new opportunities come along that might not be aligned with your goals.
Most important, adds Danielle: Don’t be afraid to seek help, as she did with SBDC at FIU. “We’re making better business decisions, and I love it.”
Website: Zahntechnique.com
Instragram: @zahntechnique