Sell Your Dental Practice the Right Way

Work with a Qualified Dental Transition Professional to Realize Your Practice’s Full Value

You’ve spent your entire professional career establishing, nurturing and growing an amazing dental practice; but now it’s time to move on and enjoy the fruits of your labor. But before you slap a “For Sale” sign on the curb and walk away, take a moment to think about the actual process involved when it comes to selling a dental practice.

Remember, you probably didn’t wake up one day after graduating dental school and decide to buy or start your dental practice.  There was a lot of work and research that went into your decision.  Aside from buying your first home, getting married and deciding to have kids, selling your dental practice, your legacy that you have worked hard to build over the last 20, 30 or 40 years is a really big moment in your life and career.  So it’s important that you get it right.  

Determining how to exit your business can be just as important as the strategy you implemented when you took steps to set up your practice all those years ago. From ensuring that your nest egg is large enough to provide you with your desired retirement lifestyle, to maintaining strong relationships with others associated with the practice long after you’ve taken your degree and licensure off the wall, a considerable amount of thought should be put into your efforts before forging ahead. Fortunately, you don’t have to take on the challenge alone.

Call In the Experts

If you are looking to maximize your return on investment, working with a qualified dental transition company is essential. Transition professionals, particularly dental practice sales experts who work exclusively with dentists, are uniquely positioned to address your specific concerns while effortlessly guiding you throughout the entire process.

For years, dental professionals have trusted qualified dental transition companies for sales assistance because of their excellent ability to:

• Identify an accurate value

Dental practices are not identical commodities, and one cannot be substituted for another in the same manner that raw materials, precious metals, real estate, groceries, and other goods can. Each dental practice is unique and has a plethora of differentiating factors that must be subjectively quantified in order to accurately determine its true value.  Because of their extensive portfolio of completed transactions, dental transition companies are oftentimes the go-to resource for market insight, best cash flow practices, location assessment and practice valuation expertise.

• Ensure confidentiality

Oftentimes, dentists want to keep the news that they are selling the practice under wraps until just the right moment to avoid spooking employees and patients.  If you attempt to sell your practice on your own, it is highly unlikely that you can keep your intentions confidential.  If you run classified advertisements in dental publications, who will answer the calls?  Is your spouse, a friend, or your attorney able or willing to take the time to vet the potential buyer?  What happens if your staff or patients find out you are selling the practice, will your staff start looking for other jobs and will your patients begin looking for a new dentist?  Lastly, if nearby dentists hear that you are selling, they may try to take advantage and market to your patients.  In short, you don’t want to notify your staff, patients, or the public about a practice sale until you have found your purchaser, he/she has obtained financing for the sale and the purchase and sale  agreements have been finalized.  Dental transition experts are in a unique position to effectively balance your need to market the practice, answer calls and evaluate potential buyers while maintaining business as usual.

• Call upon past experiences

Every dentist who has decided to sell his or her practice has certain preconceived ideas about what the process entails.  Sometimes those ideas match reality but often times they do not.  It would be virtually impossible to list all of the misconceptions that dentists bring to the process, some of which cost them tens of thousands of dollars.  Practice transition companies are well-versed when it comes to all the nuances of selling a dental practice.  Because they have “been there, done that” they know how to streamline the process without putting additional burden on you, the seller.  A successful transition is not the absence of problems, but having the ability to solve them in a manner that is timely and satisfactory to both parties. Having a qualified professional at your side can surely enhance your ability to deal with the unexpected and help you clear the many hurdles that tend to arise along the way.

• Provide high-quality representation

Some dentists believe that they will save money by selling their practices without professional guidance. For that to be true, the doctor must make some unrealistic assumptions. They must first assume they can determine and objectively substantiate a value for the practice.  Then they must assume they can get a purchaser to actually believe their analysis.  Not only must the purchaser believe it, he or she will want to independently verify and validate the appraisal with his / her own advisors.  What are the odds that the purchaser’s advisors will agree with the seller’s appraisal?  That’s right, probably no chance at all.  Because of its fantastic ability to provide you with current income while building equity over a period of time, your dental practice is easily you’re most valuable asset. The truth is that dentists who attempt to go it alone either never sell their practices, or they eventually end up negotiating away far more than it would have cost them to have it done the right way.  If you decide not to use a professional transition firm, then at least be aware of the risks you are taking with one of your most valuable assets.

• Maximize the seller’s return

Keeping your practice updated and fresh so that it doesn’t appear to be in decline is important.  Most dentists enter their office through a back door.  You should periodically walk into your office through the front door and look at it through the patient’s eyes.  If the practice looks dated you may consider a few inexpensive things to spruce up the curb appeal, such as fresh flowers, new carpet, updated furniture, and a little paint.  Another thing to keep in mind is that your business is worth more when it’s taking on new patients and maintaining full office hours so don’t be tempted into slowing down.  Lastly, ensuring that your practice is fully functional amid the selling process is incredibly important if you want to realize your practice’s full value.  A dental transition professional can help make sure you don’t miss a beat while your practice is on the market.

Still not sure if it makes sense to get a dental transition company involved in the sale of your practice? Contact us today to learn more.