Buyer Articles

When Do You Know You’re Ready for Your First Dental Practice? 

You have been out of dental school for over a year now, working as an associate, or a GPR assignment.  You’re getting antsy as the owner keeps giving you the new patient exams, fillings, and the mean, nasty patients they don’t want to see.  You’ve got the itch for a change, either to do a startup or buy your first dental practice.   But, how do you know you’re ready?...Read More

Seeing the Jungle through the Trees

  All practices have something wrong with them.  Some have more problems than others.  The key to analyzing and acquiring a practice is having a vision and being able to know how to overcome and fix the problems.  Case Study #1 – A practice has historically produced $800,000 but is now down to $400,000 with no new patients coming in the door.  Turn and run, or look into it further?  If...Read More

Do Not Wait to Buy a Practice

Do Not Wait to Buy a Practice By Rod Johnston, MBA, CMA Do you ever sit back and wait for something to happen thinking that if you wait, that something could turn out perfect? But, then you end up waiting a little too long and you end up missing your perfect opportunity? Whether that certain thing is a cake that you think you need to wait a few more minutes to bake and then you end up burning...Read More

The Importance of a Good Team When Purchasing a Dental Practice

​Buying a practice can be a daunting task.  That’s why it’s important to not only have the skills and education to analyze a practice, it’s also important to have a good team on your side.  On your team, you will want a Certified Public Accountant that has a big emphasis or specialization in your field.  They need to know the industry, numbers, etc., they should also be accredited in practice...Read More

Entrepreneurial Energy

By Corey Young, DDS, MBA, Practice Transition Specialist   What defines entrepreneurial energy? According to David Lyons, PhD: “Entrepreneurial energy is the force that sustains the momentum and velocity of progression in the venture. Energy can rise through excitation/agitation and fall through decay of the energy as a result of predicaments or failures. Entrepreneurial energy is an...Read More

Pitfalls to Avoid in Buying a Building

By Steve Kikikis, Vice President, Commercial Real Estate Broker Money Pit or Cash Cow? On occasion when a doctor purchases a practice there is also an option to purchase the real estate.  Historically, real estate has been a good investment over time, but owning a commercial building has its own nuances. There are a lot of similarities between owning a commercial building and a residential...Read More

Where to Own a Dental Practice?

The question we often get from potential practice buyers is “Where is a good spot to own a dental practice?”  There are a lot of factors that contribute to answering that question. But first, let’s discuss the reasons why you want to own a dental practice. If you are in it because you love dentistry and love helping patients and you are not necessarily in it to make the big bucks, you can...Read More

Buy an Existing Practice or Build a New One?

By Rod Johnston, MBA, CMA We speak with hundreds of practice buyers each year.  Many are looking for that gem of a practice in their desired area; a practice with new or newer equipment, digital technology, great location, recently remodeled, etc.  Oftentimes, that practice either doesn’t exist; or if it does exist, it’s not for sale.  So what’s a buyer to do – buy an existing practice...Read More

Should I Pay Down My Student Debt Before Purchasing a Practice?

By Rod Johnston, MBA, CMA Nothing resonates more with recent college graduates than the talk of possibly wiping away student debt.  Even though this might be a talking point of our current administration, it does bring up a question that newly graduated dentists worry about if they want to own their own dental practice.  Should I pay down my student debt first?  Or should I purchase a practice...Read More

Patient Record Audit: Suggestions for Buyers

By Megan Urban – Randomly select patient records and review for complete documentation, full mouth diagnosis, necessary x-rays, and regular maintenance. – Review the most recent three to five new patient records for charted existing and diagnosed “ideal” treatment, perio charting, appropriate x-rays, and confirm if the patients have their next scheduled appointments. -Review the...Read More