North Texas Dentistry Volume 5 Issue 3 | Page 20

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.