Articles

In order to effectively negotiate any deal, you need to be able to understand the person on the other side of the negotiation. You need to know what their fears and motivators are. Somehow though, buyers often misjudge the emotional journey that a seller is going through towards the end of their career. 

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about the council zoning required for a dental practice. Can you put a dental chair in a retail shop and start practicing? Can a dental practice operate in an area that is zoned “commercial”, or does it need special purpose zoning? If a practice has been in the area for a long time…is council approval assumed? Are all approvals for dental practice use the same?  What happens if your practice is operating under the wrong permit?

At first glance, many would assume that young and older dentists would have a shared perspective when it comes to what it takes to run a practice - after all, they have chosen the same profession and job description. However, in reality, there is often a generational divide that exists in their perspectives. The practice of dentistry has changed enormously in the past 25-35 years. From the technology and compliance needed, to the equipment and materials, and from the clinical range offered to the marketing allowed to bring in patients, there is actually very little about the modern practice of dentistry that has remained untouched and would have been the same when senior dentists (55+) started practice.

"One fateful day, we had a BBQ at home and a mate of mine, who is a winemaker, looked at my paddock and said I should grow grapes. I checked with an independent consultant, who also said I could grow grapes there. I did a wine-making course and started to make wine...We began planting the vineyard in 1991 and it was a few years before we produced a commercial volume."

It is no exaggeration to say that your premises lease can make a massive impact on the profitability and sellability of your dental practice. While many landlords will issue their tenants with a proposed lease, saying that what is proposed is “standard”, and imply that there is little to be negotiated or concerned about, it is important to seek advice, as not all commercial leases are created equal.

I am sometimes asked by buyers how much patient attrition should be expected when a practice sells.

There are a lot of misconceptions out there among dentists who are buying practices, about the moving parts in a dental premises lease. What is and isn’t negotiable? What is attractive to a landlord? What should and shouldn’t they ask for? Here are some answers to some FAQs:

If someone is approaching retirement, they need to make sure they have an identity outside of dentistry. I always saw dentistry as work, it never defined me. I am the father, husband, brother, motorbike rider first. So many people are ready to sell, but they don’t know what else there is in life, they are scared to find out what is on the other side of that transaction. In my experience, you don’t realise how much stress and pressure you have in your life until it is removed.

For those of you unfamiliar with dental practice financials, you may be forgiven for thinking that if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. That they all follow a similar structure or template, and that the practice’s income and expenses will always be labelled somewhat consistently from practice to practice. The truth of it is that the structure and quality of dental practice financials can vary enormously.

PSS recently expanded its team by adding a new National Account Manager, Michael Brivulis. Before joining PSS, Michael worked in dental practice acquisitions and practice builds for two major Australian dental corporate aggregators; he also worked in the financial services sector for more than 15 years.