Category Archives: Due Diligence

I’ve mentioned before that the profitability of a practice has many factors. I’ve told you that one factor, such as asking price, shouldn’t necessarily be a deal breaker. That being said, there is another factor that is a huge deal. Any guesses?

Drum roll please … office collections. Why? Because there has to be enough money coming into the practice to justify the time, energy, emotions and expense you’re going to take on as a business owner.

Several other factors listed in loan proposals give the impression they are a big deal and need to be compared to choose the best loan. I’ll mention three that are commonly discussed, but that, in my opinion, aren’t important enough to be considered serious factors in your decision.

That first meeting with a seller is vital, and so is the first impression you give them. Making that great first impression will largely come down to the questions you ask, and how well you listen to the answers.

Here are 4 excellent questions to ask to set yourself apart.

A dental practice ought to look good, right? When someone drives past, they might notice the signage, the landscaping, the general look of the practice. Is it inviting? Is it dingy? These things matter!

But as a prospective buyer, you’re probably young enough to understand something instinctively: as much as the physical look of the practice matters, its online presence matters even more.

When you’re assessing a potential practice to buy, look hard at the office’s operations. There’s a lot to consider, and the list could get long. Instead, I’m going to keep it to three parts of practice operations that are all about patient experience.

Keeping patients happy is, no surprise, how you have a successful practice that brings in plenty of cash for you.

If you as a practice owner only do these three things, they’re already in the top 5% of dental practices nationwide in terms of their operations.

I often say that if you’re worried about keeping patients after the transition, your focus should be on the staff. As the doctor and business owner, you’re the final say on most things in the practice—but your staff are the front lines, the people your patients will have the most interaction with. Here’s what you should think about when meeting the staff for the first time.

Seeing a practice in person is a must before buying it. When you’re looking for a practice to buy, the top-level numbers and location may catch your eye—but before you put in an offer, and certainly before you sign on the line, make sure you’ve looked over the practice thoroughly yourself.

After you’ve talked to the selling dentist and their broker about your interest, you’ll schedule a visit to the premises. Here’s what you can expect as a buyer when it comes to in-person visits of a dental practice.

Buying a dental practice is NOT like buying a home. In a home sale, realtors and agents often love to keep the buyer and seller apart. But if you’re buying a dental practice, you need to get to know the seller, and you need to do it right.

You and the seller should be a reasonably good fit for each other, both in clinical and business terms. We’re not talking about an exact carbon copy here, but the Venn diagram should have some significant overlap.

So how do you figure that out? In this post I’ll tell you not only what you’re looking for, but also when you should look for it.

In a dental practice transition, you’ll have hired experts for a reason, and they’ll do their expert thing.

But hang on, because you’re an expert, too. Let me explain.