I call it my most bone-headed move in high school. Though, to be fair, the situation was totally unprecedented.
I had not just one, but two, girls ask me to a school dance my junior year of high school.
Having one girl interested was special enough. But two? At the same time??
Unprecedented.
Of course, I had no idea how to handle the situation and froze. I took a week to respond to them and made the mistake of talking about the decision with friends who didn’t keep their mouths closed. The delay cost me big time and I was then dealing with two angry girls.
In just the last two months I’ve had three clients in a similar situation, only trying to decide between two good practices to buy.
The impression in dental school and online forums is that “the good practices are hard to find.” It seems inconceivable that you’d find two good options within a few days or weeks of each other and need to decide between the two.
But it happens all the time.
Sound improbable?
When you’re one of the good buyers, you make all the right moves. You can show you have the 5 things you need before looking for a practice to buy. You know the right way to approach and work with brokers. You know the right questions to ask in a first meeting with a seller.
Word starts to spread among the dentists close to retiring and the brokers and bankers who work with those folks that a good buyer is out there.
Suddenly the buyer is surprised to be looking at several good options and then gets paralyzed.
Call it ‘analysis paralysis’, or just the pressure of getting one of a dentist’s biggest life decisions correct.
It’s understandably stressful.
Here’s what I recommend you do.
Make a decision and move forward as if you felt amazing about the decision and then see if you start feeling strongly as you move forward.
Sometimes the missing ingredient in the decision is action.
It’s inevitable that there’s a lean towards one of the practices, no matter how slight. Make a move towards the one you have a slight lean towards.
This could look doing one of two things, either a) decline the other practice or b) submit an LOI and then pay attention to whether or not you get more or less excited about the location, practice, etc as you move forward.
If you think this suggestion has merit, my strong recommendation is to move forward with an LOI. Even though both practices are probably good. Don’t decline the other practice yet. Why?
For the simple reason that it’s easier to back out of an opportunity than it is to try to come back to the table.
If you’re having a tough time deciding between two practices add some action to the mix. Try submitting an LOI on one of them and seeing how you feel. As you move down the path, the butterflies may start to calm down a bit.
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I created a guide called “77 Questions to Ask to Avoid Buying the Wrong Dental Practice.”
Get the guide here for free (all I ask is a quick share in return).
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Read more below about how to buy a dental practice because good advice is important!
5 Steps to Ditch the Fear and Find Your Perfect Practice Today
A Negotiation Tactic to Use When the Dental Broker Won’t Budge on Price
Ground Rules to Understand to Get the Best Dental Practice Loans
