When a practice owner is looking to sell their practice, they will often put off telling their staff about the sale for as long as possible.  There are many reasons for this. Sometimes (often) they won’t want to tell the staff at all until after a deal has been locked in with a buyer.

It is quite common for practice owners to be fearful of how the staff will react if they learn that their practice is for sale.

If you are looking at buying a veterinary practice, it is likely that you will be asked to sign a Confidentiality Agreement or Non-Disclosure Agreement at some stage. 

Once a Vet has decided that they want to be their own boss and own a vet practice, the next question that they face is “should I buy an existing practice or set one up from scratch?”

When a practice is valued, it is often for goodwill and equipment, “plus stock”. That is to say, the stock levels will be determined closer to settlement and an amount added to the valuation to compensate the vendor for the stock that will be onsite at the date of transfer.

In October 2019, a bottle of The Macallan Fine and Rare whisky sold at auction for $US1.9 million, becoming the most expensive bottle of wine or spirit ever auctioned. This whisky was bottled in 1986, after maturing for six decades in European Oak at Macallan's distillery near the River Spey in Scotland. The cask this bottle was from has produced six record-setting bottles, beginning in 1986 when the first one was sold in New York, winning the Guinness Record at the time for "The World's Most Expensive Spirit".

So, you’ve decided to sell your practice and after years of blood, sweat and tears, doing whatever’s necessary to build it into the success it has become, you want to make sure you get top dollar for it.

Any business is made up of both tangible assets (those that you can see and touch, like equipment, fit-out and furniture) and intangible assets (like goodwill, brand recognition and intellectual property).

A practice or real estate sale is usually a high-stakes transaction involving hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars changing hands. Quite often, the buyer and seller will base the price paid for a practice on an appraisal or valuation that has been done by an accountant.

There is a school of thought that in a price negotiation, the buyer should point out every fault, weaknesses, minor flaw and imperfection of the acquisition and talk down any strengths in order to justify giving the vendor a lower than expected price.