“Acting like an ostrich with its head in the sand” has become a well-known metaphor for human avoidance behaviour. It is used describe a person who intentionally ignores facts, hoping that simply denying the existence of a problem will make it go away.

Somehow, unfortunately, most dentist business owners treat business exit-planning a lot like an ostrich with its head in the sand. They don’t give it much thought or attention, hoping it will go away. Most dentist business owners go through their careers, from week-to-week and year-to-year, as if business ownership will go on forever, and that what they are doing now will have no impact on what is to come later.

Even though they know that:

1. They will one day need to exit their business.
2. The practice is one of their largest assets.
3. The proceeds of the sale of the practice should make a significant difference to their post-sale lifestyle.

Very few dentist practice owners give much thought or planning for how and when they will exit their business more than a few months in advance. Most dentists who own their own practices feel that exit planning:

• Is something that they can always put off for later (like making a will).
• Is something that will not affect the outcome of the exit.

Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth. Planning and being goal-focussed in your approach to any task increases your likelihood of success enormously, in almost every arena.

To maximise their chances of success, elite sportsmen are trained to visualise their goals. The Olympic runner visualises crossing the finish line, the pro-golfer visualises the ball dropping into the hole, and the ski jumper mentally rehearses what they are about to do before they take off...This same visualisation happens in a professional arena. Builders need to visualise the finished house while building, chefs need to visualise what the dish is going to look like while they are cooking and... of course,  dentists need a clear picture in their minds where they are going with a treatment plan.

All great business people go through a similar exercise of building with the end in mind. If they envision how their business will likely be valued and what it will sell for, they can work and plan towards it, to ensure that it is realised.

If you, as a business owner, work like the ostrich with its head in the sand, and avoid thinking about exit-planning until the end is in sight… you are bound to have limited your exit options somewhat. When the end does come into view and you want to exit in the near future, you may find that your practice has a short term (and recent) decline in production and/or profit, or a peak of key man dependency, that will dictate what is achievable.

However, if a practice owner can keep an eye on:

1. The likely manner in which they will sell (merger, internal sale, phased sale, walk-in walk-out, etc.)
2. The profile of the likely buyer for the practice and
3. What the likely buyer will be looking for - what they like to see and don’t like to see

Then it becomes possible to focus efforts where they will be best rewarded, identify when and where their practice is becoming less attractive or losing value, and do some course correction. Ultimately, a business owner is able to ensure that, when the time comes to sell, they get an optimal return for the asset that they have built and the flexibility that they want post-sale.

For more articles on “Selling a Practice: Timing your sale and Retirement”. Click here:

• The Tortoise, The Hare and the Sins of Success
• Drive for show, Putt for dough
• Pace Yourself
• Retirement: Is it better to jump out or fade away?
• Just a few more years... What Muhammad Ali can teach us about exit planning!
• Life begins after dental practice ownership! Post-Retirement Planning
• How can you tell when it's time to sell?
• Dental Practice Ownership : The Final Years