Why Selling Your Dental Practice Isn’t Always the Answer

dentures

You’ve worked hard the past year or two to get your dental practice off the ground. You’ve seen production ramp up but your quality of life decrease. Professional Transition Strategies (PTS) Founder and President Kyle Francis recently sat down with “Dental Momentum” podcast host Jared Duckett to talk about how selling your dental practice doesn’t have to be the answer when you feel like you’ve gotten in over your head. Here are some key takeaways from their conversation. 

Start with a valuation

With any major life decision, you’ll want to begin with the end in mind. For a dental practice, that means obtaining a valuation to know where you stand so you can figure out where to go. Conducting an appraisal or prospectus will give you the option structure to know that now might not be the best time to sell but rather work on upgrading equipment, moving to a new location or bringing on an associate to buy a 25% stake in the company.

Recognize when it’s time for change

A common revelation when assessing what changes need to be made is recognizing when you have legacy staff on board who are putting an undue burden on your dental practice with their salaries. Any dental practice broker worth their weight in gold will advise you to either make sure the staff is adequately compensated for that practice or make some cuts to save on overhead.

Test the market

Many dentists are fully aware of the consolidation trend happening within the industry. Even if you don’t have enough capital in your business to pay off your debt, it doesn’t hurt to put your dental practice on the market to see what options present themselves, especially when comparing individual buyers to group investors, like dental service organizations (DSOs). The worst thing that could happen is you keep the practice for another year or two before going through the process again to recognize your true market value.

What’s next?

Contact the experts at PTS to learn about all the options for your dental practice, starting with a free valuation.