If you are thinking about selling your Texas dental practice, you are probably feeling a little overwhelmed by where to start. Well, fear not — Professional Transition Strategies (PTS) is here to help! We have an experienced team of brokers whose knowledge has helped hundreds of dentists through successful transitions. Today we are going to look at a step by step guide to dental practice transitions in TX.
Be ready to transition
Your first step is to determine your goals for the sale and what is most important to you. Start by answering the following questions: Why are you considering selling your dental practice? Would it be enough money to retire? Do you need to sell by a specific date? Is it important to maximize your financial return? Or is the most important thing to find a buyer who will keep your staff? Ultimately, your transition goal(s) will steer the transition plan, so identifying the goals of the future sale will help you structure a clear defined transition path.
Find a consultant
A considerable amount of time and thought needs to be put into dental practice transactions. We have talked to numerous dentists who “read a couple of articles and have a good understanding of the process” and want to do the sale on their own to save money. While we can understand that, there are experts in the industry for a reason. It is important to get advice from experienced transition brokers and loop them in all of your decisions and discussions pertaining to the sale. Not only can they help you increase the probability of a lucrative transaction, it’s just nice to have experts on your side to guide you through the process.
Obtain a Professional Practice Valuation
Now that you have transition experts to work with and a goal and transition plan, it is time to determine what your practice is worth. The valuation you obtain should be completed by a broker, CPA, or accountant that understands dentistry and understands the current marketplace for dental practice sales.
At PTS, we use the most effective way of calculating the value of your practice by looking at factors like the location, growth potential, and long-term growth trends. In the meantime, you can determine the estimated value of your practice with our simple calculation tool.
Structure your ideal transaction
By obtaining the valuation of your practice, you can now determine if you are happy with the value placed on your office or unhappy with it. If you are unhappy with it, one option is to work a couple more years to make up the difference. If you are happy with the value, you need to figure out if you want to leave as soon as the practice is sold or if you would like to work as an associate post-sale. But, note that these aren’t your only options. We recommend talking with your transaction broker to find the best fit for your situation.
Market the practice
Once you have your valuation, plan and structure in place, you need to get people looking at your practice. Just like anything, the more people hear about your practice, the better chance you have at selling it. This is where your broker comes in. Practice brokers usually have a great pipeline to sell!
Show the practice to potential buyers
Once you have people interested in buying your practice, you need to get those potential buyers to the bank to see if they qualify for a loan. This way, you aren’t wasting your time and effort showing your office to individuals that can’t get a loan.
Receive offers and negotiations
Once you get an offer, you have three options. You can accept the terms, counter offer and begin negotiations, or decline the offer. Each option has different consequences and messages that you and your transaction team will have to think through. This is a decision that needs to be thought through in detail before making any quick decisions.
While this is just a quick step by step guide to dental practice transitions in TX, we hope it helps! If you would like more information, take a look at our complimentary eBook. It covers topics like ways to make your practice more valuable, transitional periods, and types of transactions. If you still have questions on dental practice transitions in TX, please don’t hesitate to contact us!