If you are considering retiring and selling your dental practice, it is important to make sure you receive top value for your life’s work. Before putting your practice on the market, the following steps can help to optimize its value and secure your financial security.
Upgrade Your Office
While the bottom line is profitability, the appearance of your office and the technology in use are important factors in assessing the value of a dental practice. In particular, take note of the condition of the building, furniture, and equipment. If your office looks worn or dated, it will be more difficult to market your practice. By upgrading the look and feel of your office you will attract new patients and increase the sales appeal of your practice.
The Power of Partnerships
Today, more dentists are deriving benefits from working in partnerships. Not only can having a partner make your schedule more manageable, it may also help to attract new patients. In this regard, teaming up with a specialist, such as an orthodontist, can expand you patient base and add value to your practice. In addition, by hiring a younger dentist, you may be able to sell the practice to him or her, which can make for a more seamless transition.
Control Overhead
As with any business, it is crucial to control overhead. Lower overhead means a higher profit margin, which will drive value. In short, establishing an annual budget and monitoring lab and supply costs, and other expenses is essential. Of course, the largest overhead item for a dental practice is labor costs. Instead of giving annual raises to employees, an alternative is to offer bonuses that are tied to increased collections. Ultimately, your current overhead should align with industry standards.
Update Your Marketing Plan
The fact that you are considering selling is not the time to slow things down. In fact, it is important to continue attracting new patients. While dentists could once rely on referrals, these days it is vital to have a digital marketing plan. Given that most consumers look online for services, your practice needs a state-of-the art website and SEO marketing plan. In particular, your website should have an elegant design, but also contain content that enhances your rankings on search engines like Google and Bing.
The Bottom Line
In the end, if you are selling a dental practice, taking these steps can help enhance the value of your business. At the same time, it helps to have professional practice management advice. By engaging the services of an attorney who provides comprehensive legal and business services to dentists, you can put an action plan in place that will help to secure your future.