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Creating a successful dental practice can take years of hard work. Your professional skills, relationships with patients and business ability surely assist in bringing the practice to the high level of professionalism necessary for determining if it is the appropriate time to sell it.
Creating a successful dental practice can take years of hard work. Your professional skills, relationships with patients and business ability surely assist in bringing the practice to the high level of professionalism necessary for determining if it is the appropriate time to sell it.
As the owner of the practice, you know what it has taken to reach this turning point in your life. You have an idea of what value to place on your practice but you are smart enough to know that a professional practice broker should be hired to maximize its sale price and quicken the pace of the transaction. You know that you must maintain the level of professionalism and earnings that your practice has historically enjoyed to get the best for yourself and the key people employed as your staff.
Where to look
You know how much effort you have put into developing your practice. So now you want the practice broker to do the same when marketing your practice for sale and when discussing its attributes with potential buyers.
Seek potential brokers with whom to list your practice through referrals from your peers, by reading professional journals, and other advisors with whom you work such as your CPA and attorney, if they work with a lot of dentists and have the background in assisting in the sale of dental practices. The final decision with whom to list your practice of course rests with you. Do your due diligence and be ready to sell your practice with the broker of your choice.
Follow these points
Here are some points to consider reviewing as a guide to assist you in this decision. These should be reviewed prior to agreeing to sign the listing agreement.
Can you do more?
If all of the above points are considered and discussed with the broker and the answers are satisfactory, you have done just about all of the due diligence that you can do. Some might try to negotiate commission rates, shorten the term of the listing agreement or insist on release clauses within the agreement in the event that the dentist wants to cancel the agreement before the end of its term. A confident qualified broker will rarely budge from the terms and conditions stated in the agreement. That may sound stubborn but it is also a sign of the broker’s strength and confidence in his or her own ability to sell your practice.
Make a careful decision regarding which broker with whom you sign your listing agreement and assist the broker every way you can. Of course, assisting the broker does not mean interfering with the agreed upon marketing plan. A professional broker will contact you as frequently as possible when events are taking place and not merely contacting you for a notice to “chat.” You and the broker are busy professionals and you are each doing your best to get the practice to closing as quickly as possible.
Once you have selected the best broker for your situation, you can be confident that steps will be taken to assure that you get the most out of the sale of the practice you have worked so hard to build.
Bruce Bryen is managing partner for Bryen & Bryen LLP, Certified Public Accountants. Based in New Jersey, Mr. Bryen specializes in deferred compensation such as retirement plans, income and estate tax planning, the determination of the proper organizational format, asset protection and structuring loapn ackages for presentation to financial institutions. Bruce is also experienced in providing litigation support services and has testified on numerous occasions as an expert witness. Contact him at 800-988-5674, ext. 112.