Essential Qualities of a Dental Practice Broker

Just like you would treat your dental practice like a member of your own family, you’ll want to feel confident when transitioning ownership of the business you’ve nurtured for so many years. Rather than taking on the seemingly impossible task yourself, you’ll want to hire a professional to guide you through the whole process. While you may think brokers are all the same,not all dental practice brokers are created equal. Before you hire the first company that comes up in your Google search, you’ll want to know what makes a good dental practice broker. Here, we break down the essential qualities to look for.

We’ll also help you answer the following questions during your quest for a dental practice broker:

What is a practice broker?
What qualities are important in a broker?
What marketing strategies should your dental practice consider?
What is the role of a dental practice owner?
How do you evaluate a dental practice for sale?

What does a dental practice broker do

Selling a dental practice can be a stressful process – one that takes up to 150 hours. A good dental practice broker, like Professional Transition Strategies (PTS), will ensure you have all the facts to make a fully informed and educated decision about the future of your business. We’re here to make your transition smoother, easier and seamless for general and pediatric dentists, endodontists, orthodontists, prosthodontists, oral surgeons, periodontists and others across the country.

Compared to other professional dental brokers, we have a highly active marketing approach to ensure your dental practice is in front of every dentist looking for an opportunity in your area. While we make sure your practice has tremendous visibility, we also believe that confidentiality is important, and finding the right buyer – not just the first potential buyer – is our ultimate goal. Our strategic approach garners interest in your practice while also maintaining complete discretion with non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) so you can maintain patient and staff attrition rates throughout the process.

Common traits of a successful broker for dental practices

There’s more to dental practice brokers than meets the eye. At PTS, we pride ourselves on going above and beyond for both our sellers and buyers. We stay ahead of the trends, like the current DSO consolidation wave, to keep an eye on the timeliness of your sale. Thanks to more than 145 years of combined experience with dental background, we can easily predict which way a deal is headed and negotiate accordingly — whether it’s an individual sale, an affiliation with a dental service organization (DSO) or going direct to private equity.

What’s more, we offer clarity in representation while giving you the personal relationship and contact you should expect from one of the largest financial transactions of your life. We also lean on our network of support as part of your team of advisors so you can feel confident in your transition.

What to look for in a broker

Here’s a list of 20 questions to get you started in the right direction so you can feel confident in making your selection.

Do you perform practice valuations? If so, what is the cost?
How accurate are your valuations?
Who do you represent in the transaction?
How long are your contracts?
What happens if I terminate the contract early?
What type of transitions do you mostly perform?
How do you typically market practices?
How big is your list of active buyers currently?
Where do most of your buyers come from?
How often will I hear from you?
Will you be present for my practice showings, or do I have to do them myself?
What is your confidentiality policy?
When should I tell my staff and patients that I am considering a transition?
What is the industry standard commission? What is your commission?
When do you get paid?
Do you handle the real estate portion, as well as the practice?
Do I need outside legal services to write the contracts?
What services will you provide?
What happens if I don’t want to accept an offer that I receive?
Can you provide me with referrals?

We not only offer a free valuation at the beginning of the process with no signed contract or obligation in place, but also 30-day listing agreements where most other brokers require a yearlong contract with penalties, making it imperative that we show our value fast and frequently. In other words, we won’t sit back and wait for the phone to ring.

Knowledgeable about every step of the transition

At PTS, we guide you through every step of the transition process, all the way from those initial thoughts to handing over the keys. Whether you want to increase your bottom line, improve work-life balance, no longer handle the backend work or want to make some other change, we’ll lay out all of your options, based on research and data, so you can make an informed decision.

We begin our process by performing an overall practice analysis, which includes numerical, physical and even emotional aspects of your dental practice. This includes everything from profit-and-loss statements and office location to the best exit strategy. Because each dental practice and transition is unique, we’ll help unpack all the factors that will determine the right strategy for you, your patients and staff.

Bring only qualified buyers to the table

To determine which buyers are best suited for your dental practice, we first assess the many factors that determine the right strategy for you. This includes the size of your dental practice, its location, types of insurance plans accepted, number of operatories and if there is an opportunity to expand in the future, in addition to establishing earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE). It’s also important to ask if you are looking to continue practicing with the dental practice longer, or do you want to sell your business and walk away?

At PTS, potential buyers fill out an online profile, furthering our extensive network of qualified candidates. Conversely, buyers searching for the perfect dental practice can be the first to find out about new listings on the market up to five days before everyone else. It’s as simple as finding a fit that matches your desired location, size of practice, number of operatories and even the type of transition, as well as philosophies and terms. PTS also does a lot of due diligence upfront to make sure the buyer is pre-qualified and not just a “looky-loo.”

Bottom line

Whether you are looking to take on a partner or affiliate with a DSO, there are various transition strategies to consider, and every situation is different. No matter what transition type you are considering, you are in good hands with Professional Transition Strategies.