June 28, 2004
It’s been a very busy year since I relocated my decades-old business from the sunny South to my home state of beautiful Colorado! I have been faced with the tasks of opening my new company, taking care of new management clients and overseeing a large practice transition as well. The support I have received from the dental community has been tremendous.
A doctor contacted me soon after my first newsletter went out and, at the beginning of our consultation, he said, “I’ve met with all the others; now it’s your turn!”
Yes, I suddenly had the feeling I was sitting on a very hot seat.
We proceeded with the appraisal of his practice, and a week later he listed his practice for sale with Athena Consulting. As many of you have learned, either through your own experience or transition lectures, you should really allow a good year for the sale of your practice. I believe that’s an average. Consultants want you to understand that selling a practice is not like selling real estate. The right purchaser candidate must be found in order to have a smooth transition, no matter what the structure of the transition.
Two weeks passed and that practice I mentioned above was under contract! Of course, the practice itself was a rare find because the selling doctor had reinvested some profit in recent years, remodeled the office and replaced some very old equipment.
Eye appeal has a lot of value to young doctors who are in the market to purchase a good business. Why? Because the equipment sales people have been courting them all the way through dental school and preaching that they should do a “cold start.” And who wants to sell these young doctors a lot of new equipment? You’re right, the equipment sales people!
I have nothing against new equipment. In fact, I like new things. However, these new doctors don’t realize that doing a “new start” creates “brick-and-mortar” debt rather than income-producing debt.
To get a new doctor from the “I’m going to do a new start and have my office the way I want it” mode to an understanding that an existing practice produces income is a lengthy educational process. However, that’s one reason I chose to be a dental consultant and request that I not be confused with brokers. Most of my time is spent educating the dental profession, whether in purchasing, selling, the pros and cons of new starts, business management and consulting, and dental practice management (staff coaching).
I refuse to transition a practice unless the purchasing doctor is willing to retain me for a “managed transition.” I don’t believe in turning over practices to young doctors and hoping for the best. These purchasing doctors need to learn what they didn’t learn in dental school!
I know each of you has invested a lot of time, work and emotion in the success of your own practice, and when you sell it you’d like to know your patients will be taken care of properly and that your “baby” will continue to thrive.
If you know of anyone considering “getting out,” please pass my name along to them. My business continues to grow through internal referrals – just like your business.
When you do a good job and take care of your clients as if each is the only one you have, they tell everyone they know. I’m no different from you. I own a business which is much like any other business. I still needs production in order to allow me to continue offering the best care I can to the dental community.
f you know of a young purchaser who needs mentoring in order to make good decisions when getting into dentistry, please steer them my way.
This is how dental practices are sold. This is how you realize value from the sale of your practice. It begins with education.
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