Ah, the big question! The shortest period I have had from start to finish for selling a practice was 4 months, and a year can be normal. I have had several that take more than a year. There are multiple issues that can impact the timeliness of finding a buyer and closing the transaction.
Unique locations or settings can cause a practice to take longer to sell because of a limited buyer pool. Not every chiropractor and their family want to live in an isolated area, on the coast, or in the mountains. You may have a great practice but finding the right fit for your area can sometimes be challenging.
Buyers want profitable practices. It’s common to look at production only and feel like you have an easy practice to sell, but it requires more than high production. Collections and expenses are king. Buyers look for 50-65% overhead. Your broker/transition specialist will work with you to determine any expenses that can be adjusted back as income. For example, children that are paid through the practice but do not truly work in the practice, or high continuing education or car expenses.
Using non-chiropractor specific advisors such as attorneys, banks and lenders has been a disaster in my experience. Many of us have friends and family who are advisors. But if they do not know the chiropractic world, you get inadequate information and documents and it takes much longer, which means more expensive. Your broker/transition specialist will help ensure that your advisors have all the necessary information and that they stay on track.
To put a value on your practice, and potentially the associated real estate, we must have accurate and timely information. We provide a list of information needed and we assist you in making this process as easy as possible. Potential buyers cannot decide to purchase and lenders cannot decide to finance without all the appropriate reports and documents.
If you are leasing your space, be sure to pull out your lease agreement and review it. Poorly written leases can cause delays. Financing for the buyer requires a transferrable and solid lease for the life of the loan.
The average practice has about $800,000 in annual collections, so if your practice is a lot smaller or larger, it may take more time to find the right buyer. For larger practices, we may need to look at experienced chiropractors or groups with multiple locations. If your collections are lower, we push “great growth opportunity”.
Specialty practices can take a bit longer to sell because there are more general chiropractors, so the buyer pool is smaller. We may want to advertise in a more general respect regarding location so that your sale remains confidential, and we may have to weed out a few buyers after they sign a non-disclosure agreement to determine if the exact location works or does not work for their needs.
We see more and more chiropractors relocating, so your buyer may be coming from another state or area, and more time may be necessary to get the buyer in town to see your practice and to sell their current practice and home.
Chiropractors are people too, so sometimes you just never know buyers’ issues or concerns. But never fear, we are here to assist you in finding the right buyer and move the process forward, but be patient!
Unique locations or settings can cause a practice to take longer to sell because of a limited buyer pool. Not every chiropractor and their family want to live in an isolated area, on the coast, or in the mountains. You may have a great practice but finding the right fit for your area can sometimes be challenging.
Buyers want profitable practices. It’s common to look at production only and feel like you have an easy practice to sell, but it requires more than high production. Collections and expenses are king. Buyers look for 50-65% overhead. Your broker/transition specialist will work with you to determine any expenses that can be adjusted back as income. For example, children that are paid through the practice but do not truly work in the practice, or high continuing education or car expenses.
Using non-chiropractor specific advisors such as attorneys, banks and lenders has been a disaster in my experience. Many of us have friends and family who are advisors. But if they do not know the chiropractic world, you get inadequate information and documents and it takes much longer, which means more expensive. Your broker/transition specialist will help ensure that your advisors have all the necessary information and that they stay on track.
To put a value on your practice, and potentially the associated real estate, we must have accurate and timely information. We provide a list of information needed and we assist you in making this process as easy as possible. Potential buyers cannot decide to purchase and lenders cannot decide to finance without all the appropriate reports and documents.
If you are leasing your space, be sure to pull out your lease agreement and review it. Poorly written leases can cause delays. Financing for the buyer requires a transferrable and solid lease for the life of the loan.
The average practice has about $800,000 in annual collections, so if your practice is a lot smaller or larger, it may take more time to find the right buyer. For larger practices, we may need to look at experienced chiropractors or groups with multiple locations. If your collections are lower, we push “great growth opportunity”.
Specialty practices can take a bit longer to sell because there are more general chiropractors, so the buyer pool is smaller. We may want to advertise in a more general respect regarding location so that your sale remains confidential, and we may have to weed out a few buyers after they sign a non-disclosure agreement to determine if the exact location works or does not work for their needs.
We see more and more chiropractors relocating, so your buyer may be coming from another state or area, and more time may be necessary to get the buyer in town to see your practice and to sell their current practice and home.
Chiropractors are people too, so sometimes you just never know buyers’ issues or concerns. But never fear, we are here to assist you in finding the right buyer and move the process forward, but be patient!
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