Just like everything else in life, the key to a successful dental practice transition is to have a plan and to plan early. It is unfortunate when a dentist waits to contact us until after they have already begun cutting back their days working in the office which has unintentionally resulted in a significant reduction in their practice’s value.  Many approaching the end of their careers feel they deserve to work less, spend more time with their families, travel more, or pursue other interests. They do deserve all of these things, and they can do all of these things without affecting their practice value if they plan early and put their transition plan in place with proper timing.   

It is always in the doctor’s best interest to start planning for a practice transition many years before they would like to retire.  If the seller plans on getting maximum value for the practice at the end of their career, the plan should include selling the practice at its “peak” or at least well before the practice begins to decline and lose value. If the doctor would like to retire at 65 the planning process should begin at or before age 60. Too many of our colleagues wait until their intended retirement time to begin planning.  Perhaps they have never been told that a transition is a process and not an event.  

The initial step in the process is to have a professional practice valuation completed. Once a seller has made the commitment to move forward with the discussion of a possible practice transition we gather the necessary practice information to do a financial analysis to arrive at the practice value.  The reason that a practice for sale should be valued by an independent third party is to give validity to the asking price.  Rarely will a buyer just blindly accept an asking price that the selling doctor has placed on his practice without having it valued by a professional.  

A properly prepared valuation and financial analysis also gives the lender confidence in the price being paid for the practice and provides the financial details that the lender’s underwriter will want to see before agreeing to lend for the purchase of the practice.  Currently, one hundred percent financing (no down payment required) at competitive interest rates is readily available from a number of lenders with significant experience in the dental financing marketplace.  We can make introductions of the buyer to lenders and help both the seller and buyer work through the financing application process.

A seller and a buyer should have confidence in the abilities of the transition consultant they choose to work with.  The best predictor of whether you will be pleased with the services of the person you choose to facilitate your transition is whether past clients were pleased with the services that they received and with how the entire process was handled.  So ask around as you are beginning to choose your own transition professional.   We routinely recommend that our prospective sellers or buyers contact the clients who we have served in the past. Our past clients are all listed by town on our website along with many of their testimonials.  Often doctors are pleased to see dentists on our list of past clients who they know and can feel comfortable contacting and asking if they were pleased with how their transition was handled.

Once the valuation is completed and the practice owner is ready to get his or her practice on the market, we begin to contact our prospects who have already let us know that they may be interested in a practice that becomes available in the area.  We also look for additional prospects by listing the practice on our website and including the opportunity in practices for sale marketing emails sent regionally and statewide.  Before the practice location or owner is identified or any practice details are shared with a prospective buyer we require that they sign our Confidentiality Agreement which clearly explains their legal obligation to absolute CONFIDENTIALITY. 

We handle the entire process from start to finish with skill, empathy, expertise, and knowledge of dental practices.  As dentists who have owned practices, built strong practices, and sold our practices we know what you are facing.  We have faced the same issues ourselves in our own practices and in our own transitions.

The key to successful transitions is always successful planning. If you feel that it may be time for you to do some planning for your future transition have a talk with your family, financial advisor, accountant, or attorney and then talk with us. 

Give us a call to schedule a complimentary consultation to help you identify your practice transition options and solidify your plans.

A transition is a process and not an event.    

Choose your transition team carefully.  Your life’s work is worth it.