practice transitions
DO’s & DON’Ts
Estate Sale of a Dental Practice
by Richard V. Lyschik, DDS, FAGD
The procedure for selling a dental practice is very complicated under the
best of circumstances; selling the practice of a deceased doctor is many,
many times more difficult. The appraised value of a practice will decline
by about ten percent per week for the first six weeks (this is considering
an already depreciated appraised value because of the death of the
owner). After that, you will have little value left but its scrap value.
PLEASE CONSIDER
THESE SUGGESTIONS
DO get the practice appraised
immediately. The appraisal should be
completed within three working days –
if not, get another appraiser.
DON’T get the office supplies
inventoried. It takes too much time
and does not affect the practice value.
The value of a dental practice is based
more on its business, not the equipment and supplies. Equipment, furniture
and supplies usually account for about
twenty percent of the value of the practice. If you wait for an appraisal of these
items, you will possibly lose tens or
even hundreds of thousands of dollars
in value.
DO
get copies of the last three
years of tax returns. Also, get the
office lease and employment contracts
with associates (if any). Have these
ready to be reviewed by a potential
purchaser.Talk to the landlord to determine if the lease can be assigned. If you
own the building, have a five-year lease
prepared.
20 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com
DON’T have another doctor or
group of dental colleagues cover
the practice until a buyer is
located. This presents a conflict of
interest. Too many colleagues will pass
out their business cards to patients
informing them that if they don’t like
the new doctor they are welcome to
come to their practice located nearby.
Potential buyers are scared off by the
presence of other competitive doctors
who will take patients away from the
practice. Most of the patients will stay
with the “temporary” doctor and your
practice will lose more value.
DON’T forward patient calls to
another doctor’s office. It makes
patients feel that there will be no continuity to the practice. Don’t worry if
there is no doctor coverage for two or
three weeks.
DON’T send a letter to the
patients informing them of the
doctor’s demise until you have a
buyer to introduce to them at the
same time. There is no sense in making patients feel that they need to find
another doctor.