How to Sell a Dental Practice to a Foot Doctor

You may think this is a terrible time to put your dental business on the market. But the economy hasn’t stopped everyone from getting cavities filled. Selling a dental practice in this economy doesn’t mean losing your retirement. You just need to make your clinic irresistible to buyers.
Here are some tips on how to sell a dental practice no matter what the economy is like.

• Offer a Fair Deal
  There’s a temptation in a slow economy to either cut your losses and take what you can get quickly or try to reinterpret the state of the economy for your buyers as evidence your practice is their only refuge. Don’t let the economy drive you to panic. Make your business something you’d want to buy, price it for what it’s worth, and radiate confidence. When it comes to business investment, most people know the economy will ebb and flow and they will get what they pay for.
• Build Up Your Customer Base
  You might be hoping to ease into retirement by slowly reducing your patient list. But this can also reduce the income you report as well as the earning potential you pass on to your successor. If you can stick it out for a while longer you can justify a significantly higher asking price. Use patient retention tactics that will be easy for someone else to continue, such as emailed teeth cleaning reminders. Make reciprocal referral alliances with noncompeting medical offices you can pass on.
• Prepare a Smooth Transition
  Buyers generally don’t want a fixer-upper business. If they think they’ll have to hike prices, revamp the charting system, and rebuild clientele off the bat, they may prefer to start from scratch. You can set your buyer up for patient retention by giving shining endorsements to current patients, take your name off the practice well before you list it so the new owner can maintain brand recognition. Coach your staff to be helpful and pleasant during the switch. Let buyers know you’re taking these steps when they first inquire. Depending on how much time you have, there are a lot of things you can do to prepare for selling a dental practice to make the transition go well.
• Wow Them with Financial Data
  There is a lot of information your buyer’s lender will want to see before approving a transaction, including tax returns, financial statements, current year-to-date production/collection reports, fee schedule, copy of your lease, staff roster with tenure, wage rate, benefits, etc. If you have this ready when you list, the negotiating will go much smoother. You can go a step further and add other documents such as current procedure mix, annual days worked, unpaid accounts receivable, financial policies, insurance payer detail, office hours, staff vacation time accrued, and details about contributions to your pension/profit sharing. Format this data like a corporate stock report, using graphs to highlight the most impressive numbers, and make it easy to read.
• Make Your Practice Look Nice
  Although decorating your office may not add much to the appraised value, it could change how your buyer feels about it and that could influence the selling price. So do some interior designing and landscaping. One of the most essential things you can learn about how to sell a dental practice, or anything else, is the importance of perceived value. If you’re business has a professional and inviting feel, a buyer may be less likely to question whether your practice is worth your asking price.

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