Retirement is often thought of as an event, a date on the calendar, a threshold that you cross one day into a new phase of life. Making a person’s profession or retirement an “all in or all out” proposition like this makes it a big deal. It means that people looking at retirement need to:
“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.
For many contracted dentists, their planned path to ownership involves the buy-in or buy-out of the practice they are already working in. It should be the ideal buy-in scenario… They have effectively taken the practice for the equivalent of a test drive and know it inside-out, so the purchase involves far less risk than buying any other practice. They already know, hopefully get on with, and are accepted by patients and staff; they know the quality of the equipment, and there is a mutual respect with the vendor.
There comes a time in every successful dental practice owner’s career when they consider opening another branch, or buying another practice. This juncture represents a possible turning point in their personal fortune. It introduces an opportunity to grow their wealth by expanding the scale and scope of their business interests and, at the same time, it also introduces new complexities and risks into their life, which have the potential to bring down what they have built thus far.
When a dentist buys their first practice, it usually comes at a time when they are anxious to start asserting control over their work environment. They have spent the last few years paying their dues as an employee/contractor. In that time, while they have (no doubt) learned a lot from the owner on how to run a practice, they have also seen things that they would like to fix but cannot, because they don’t own the place and the owner doesn’t agree with their suggestions.
There is a well-known saying that if a smart person was given six hours to chop down a tree, they would spend the first four hours sharpening their axe. While sharpening your axe adds some up-front effort and may delay the start time, it will also result in the ability to chop wood more efficiently and effectively, once you do begin.
The first big, post-sale decision that buyers and sellers of a dental practice will need to make will revolve around patient disclosure. While no one wants to be dishonest with the patient base, there is a fear that, if the sale is communicated poorly, goodwill may not transfer effectively from seller to buyer, and patients may leave the practice. When faced with such dire consequences, some will prefer not to tell the patients anything about the transfer of ownership, and hope to manage the situation “on the fly” if patients ask.
It was fantastic to be interviewed for the latest edition of Australasian Dentist about our role facilitating the buying and selling of a dental practice. Click here to read the article