Selling your practice: when, why and how

Although I often speak to young dentists about the ins and outs of setting up their practice, I also enjoy talking to my contemporaries about the process of leaving their practice.

At the Excellence In Dentistry conference taking place April 27-29 in Destin, Florida I’ll be giving a number of talks including one on the steps to take when preparing to sell a dental practice.

Here are a few of the points I’ll cover:

1. When should you start the process?

This requires some finesse but in general, the sooner the better. It’s a two-way dance between you and any potential buyers. You want to sell to someone who’s going to be successful and will treat your patients well. The buyer will want to evaluate all aspects of the practice from the demographics of your patient base to the vintage of your equipment. They may even want you to stay on awhile to help them learn the ropes of running your practice.

2. How do you know if you’re ready and able to sell?

This is a very personal decision and there are many factors involved. Discussions with your wife or husband come first, then your partners in the practice if there are any. More importantly you need to answer the big questions, are you ready to hang up the drill? Are you ready to let your practice go?

3. Can I use a simple formula to determine what I might sell my practice for?

There are so many factors that go into determining the selling price of a practice. Some include the actual dental office.  However many extend far beyond that to demographics, client base and the location of the office.

There are other factors of course and I will cover them in my talk at the conference.

I look forward to discussing this with my colleagues at the Excellence In Dentistry conference. If you haven’t already registered I encourage you to do so by clicking here.

If you can’t make the practice and you’d like to speak to me about the hows and whys please get in touch.