New Creative Options for Planning your Dental Practice Transition

By Daniel P. Baccari, Esq.

Several years ago the Principals of Choice, while spending long hours exhibiting at a dental trade show, kept hearing similar questions from dentists who were 2-5 years away from selling their practices. These questions were “I am not quite ready to sell but what should I be doing now” or “if I knew the current value of my practice that would be useful information to determine my selling date”. We saw the problem and put our heads together and came up with a very helpful and viable new offering for our clients, being the “Consulting and Future Listing Agreement”.

Choice representatives, armed with years and years of dental practice sales experience, knew what a dentist could and should be doing to make their practices more marketable and worth more when they were eventually listed for sale. By offering this new product, a dentist could have their practice valued now, often learning where improvements can be made, or expenses that could be reduced to make their practices more profitable resulting in a higher practice valuation. Choice representatives could also act as transitional consultants for the potential seller with helpful advice concerning things such as computer or equipment upgrade decisions, lease reviews, office staffing, cross training of employees, market changes and outlooks etc., all with the goal or making their practices more marketable and valuable when the sellers were ready to sell.

Choice test marketed this product in the New England market and the new transitional offering was very well received by Choice clients. Choice continues to improve this offering adding even more benefit to future Choice sellers by bringing in experienced practice management consultants to assist Choice representatives with their practice analysis of the client’s practice, all services provided at no out of pocket cost to the client, until the practice eventually is marketed and sold. With the Consulting and Future Listing Agreement, Choice again demonstrates to the dental transitional industry that is is an innovative leader in the industry by thinking “outside the box “ to better assist it’s current and future clients.