Notwithstanding what most chiropractors have been taught and how most operate, your primary function as the
owner of your very own chiropractic practice is NOT as the chief deliverer of chiropractic care, as much as your innate tells you it is. Your primary function is running a business… more specifically it is the acquisition and retention of patients.
After almost two decades of facilitating the assessment and transition of chiropractor’s practices into selling, there are many facets that are overseen before starting the process, and the amount of patients seen per week is only one aspect of the purchase price.
If you are thinking of selling your practice, there are a number of important matters to consider.
The Price is Right
The first thing to consider while selling a practice is the amount of the purchase price and the manner in which the purchase price will be paid. This is a time tested process for Full Circle that has a heavy involvement with the selling doctor to get every bit of data possible in assessing the value of the many years of service against the goodwill and coefficients set up in the system.
Generally, we see a myriad of reasons for selling and many have to do with a natural transition into a new career or environment, however, there are times when a practice is just not making payments and needs to transition quickly. These are high risk but can offer profitability for successful docs. The purchase price is a key determinant in the efficiency of selling amongst many variables. Consider every aspect of your practice when considering selling your practice from the market value of every asset to the reproducibility factors of your systems.
The guts of the practice
The second thing that needs to be clearly addressed is the status of each piece of property in your practice and whether it is being transferred. Typically, accounts receivable are not transferred and the selling doctor retains title to them. Additionally, if equipment in your practice is leased or if your premises are leased, these leases either have to be assigned to the purchaser or subleased to the purchaser. Every item over $50 is going to be considered moving forward towards purchase price and you will want to have a good handle on what is coming with you and what needs to stay.
Got back up?
Before hiring an expensive lawyer to oversee all activity of transition, it is wise to have a chiropractic consultant to help oversee the details. Are you clear on some of the typical transition questions below:
- How long and wide is the non competition clause?
- Are you staying to aid in transition and if so, how long is the process?
- Are you using an escrow account for transition of funds?
- How are you handling the accounts receivables?
This process can be uncomfortable for the authentic doctor who is not a business broker, as many are not. You will be faced with challenge and adversity that you do not foresee. Are you comfortable taking this on yourself or are you better bouncing ideas off of a coach. These are the questions we want you to play with.
At Full Circle our primary function is on providing a coach/ advisor service to chiropractors on giving their chiropractic a thorough valuation in order to determine its worth in today’s market. Unlike the “Financial Professional” who has no idea whatsoever about the chiroindustry, our company is comprised of active and practicing successful chiropractors. Our countless success stories tells us that we have a system and assistance in place to make your life easier.
After appraising 100+ practices, we have created the top 5 lessons in the ‘systems that sell series’ that can help you get an extra $106,000 at time of sale. Check it out here:
