6 Reasons Why Your Veterinary Practice Won’t Sell
By: Rodney Johnston, MBA, CMA & Jim Vander Mey
Your practice has successfully worked for you for many years, so why isn’t it selling? Don’t get discouraged, understanding these challenges can help you adjust your approach. The issues typically fall into two categories: problems with your transition consultant or challenges with the practice itself.
1. Inadequate Practice Representation
Working with an inexperienced transition consultant can significantly hinder your sale. The right consultant knows where and how to advertise beyond simple website listings. They may connect with veterinary schools nationwide, professional journals, and state associations. Many already maintain lists of potential buyers for your area or practice type. Without these connections and marketing reach, your practice may remain invisible to ideal buyers, through no fault of your own.
2. Inaccurate Valuation
Price your practice too high, and you’ll unintentionally drive away qualified buyers who might otherwise show interest. Even if you find someone willing to pay premium prices, they’ll face financing challenges since banks rarely fund 100% of overvalued practices. This creates an unexpected situation where you become the bank for part of the purchase price. A comprehensive, accurate valuation from the start helps avoid these complications.
3. Undesirable Location
Sometimes it’s simply not finding the right veterinarian at the right time. Often, location limitations present significant challenges regardless of practice quality. Areas that aren’t attractive to new graduates or their families struggle to attract buyers, even when the practice itself is thriving. While your location may have been perfect for your needs, younger veterinarians may prioritize different community features.
4. Insufficient Practice Size
We know 2 exam room practices can operate efficiently and profitably, but today’s buyers may seek 3 rooms or more. Your practice layout worked wonderfully for your style of practice, but new buyers often anticipate expansion and want facilities that can evolve with their vision. This size limitation doesn’t diminish your practice’s value. It just means finding the right match may take longer.
5. Declining Revenue Trends
Declining collections over the past three years raise red flags for both buyers and lenders. They understand legitimate reasons such as more time off due to vacation or health issues, but the numbers still matter. Banks analyze historical performance when approving practice loans, and downward trends require explanation. While these factors slowed your sale, they don’t make it impossible.
6. Outdated Facilities and Equipment
Most buyers understand they may need to update style, equipment, and technology, but if it requires substantial investment, they may keep looking for a better practice. Modern veterinary medicine has evolved, and significant renovation costs post purchase can make an otherwise attractive practice less appealing. These factors don’t diminish what you’ve built. They simply narrow your buyer pool.
If your practice falls into any of these areas of concern, it will take more time than average to sell. Lowering the price may help, but if there is no interest, it’s not the price that’s the problem. Don’t give up or get mad, just understand that while your practice may have been perfect for you, it can be a while to find the right buyer.
Work with an experienced transition consultant to identify specific improvements that might increase marketability without requiring substantial investment. Omni Practice Group offers consultations to help veterinarians create effective transition strategies tailored to your specific situation and practice realities.
Read More6 Reasons Why Your Dental Practice Won’t Sell
By: Rodney Johnston, MBA, CMA & Jim Vander Mey
Your practice has successfully worked for you for many years, so why isn’t it selling? Don’t get discouraged, understanding these challenges can help you adjust your approach. The issues typically fall into two categories: problems with your transition consultant or challenges with the practice itself.
1. Inadequate Practice Representation
Working with an inexperienced transition consultant can significantly hinder your sale. The right consultant knows where and how to advertise beyond simple website listings. They may connect with dental schools nationwide, professional journals, and state associations. Many already maintain lists of potential buyers for your area or practice type. Without these connections and marketing reach, your practice may remain invisible to ideal buyers, through no fault of your own.
2. Inaccurate Valuation
Price your practice too high, and you’ll unintentionally drive away qualified buyers who might otherwise show interest. Even if you find someone willing to pay premium prices, they’ll face financing challenges since banks rarely fund 100% of overvalued practices. This creates an unexpected situation where you become the bank for part of the purchase price. A comprehensive, accurate valuation from the start helps avoid these complications.
3. Undesirable Location
Sometimes it’s simply not finding the right dentists at the right time. Often, location limitations present significant challenges regardless of practice quality. Areas that aren’t attractive to new graduates or their families struggle to attract buyers, even when the practice itself is thriving. While your location may have been perfect for your needs, younger dentists may prioritize different community features.
4. Insufficient Practice Size
We know 3-op practices can operate efficiently and profitably, but today’s buyers may seek 4 to 6 operatories, especially to add more hygiene. Your practice layout worked wonderfully for your style of practice, but new buyers often anticipate expansion and want facilities that can evolve with their vision. This size limitation doesn’t diminish your practice’s value. It just means finding the right match may take longer.
5. Declining Revenue Trends
Declining collections over the past three years raise red flags for both buyers and lenders. They understand legitimate reasons such as more time off due to vacation or health issues, but the numbers still matter. Banks analyze historical performance when approving practice loans, and downward trends require explanation. While these factors slowed your sale, they don’t make it impossible.
6. Outdated Facilities and Equipment
Most buyers understand they may need to update style, equipment, and technology, but if it requires substantial investment, they may keep looking for a better practice. Modern dentistry has evolved, and significant renovation costs post purchase can make an otherwise attractive practice less appealing. These factors don’t diminish what you’ve built. They simply narrow your buyer pool.
If your practice falls into any of these areas of concern, it will take more time than average to sell. Lowering the price may help, but if there is no interest, it’s not the price that’s the problem. Don’t give up or get mad, just understand that while your practice may have been perfect for you, it can be a while to find the right buyer.
Work with an experienced transition consultant to identify specific improvements that might increase marketability without requiring substantial investment. Omni Practice Group offers consultations to help dentists create effective transition strategies tailored to your specific situation and practice realities.
Read MoreSelling to an Individual Buyer or a Corporate Buyer Takes Time – Start Planning NOW!
By: Steve Kikikis
Retirement—ah, that sounds nice, right? However, the path to retirement requires careful planning, especially when it comes to selling your veterinary practice. While the idea of selling may seem simple, the reality is often far more complex. Selling a veterinary practice isn’t as straightforward as putting up a “For Sale” sign and waiting for buyers to arrive. Whether it’s finding the “right” individual buyer or navigating the complexities of selling to a corporation, veterinarians should start planning the sale of their practice at least three years before their intended retirement date. Omni Practice Group is here to help you determine the best timeline to begin the process.
Challenges with Individual Buyers and Extensive Due Diligence
Selling a veterinary practice to an individual buyer can be a lengthy process, often taking anywhere from three months to three years. One of the biggest challenges is the shortage of qualified buyers in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation. Potential buyers who meet the financial and professional criteria to own a practice are becoming increasingly rare. Many veterinary professionals are opting to remain associates rather than take on the commitment of owning and operating a practice full-time.
At Omni Practice Group, we are committed to addressing this challenge. We actively market your practice to individual buyers through buyer seminars, attendance at industry conferences, outreach to veterinary schools, and leveraging our extensive database of potential buyers. If there’s a doctor considering practice ownership, we ensure they know about your practice.
Once a buyer is identified, the process of due diligence begins. This includes an in-depth evaluation of the practice’s financials, client base, operational procedures, and securing financing, as well as negotiating terms and other critical details. This thorough process ensures that buyers fully understand their investment and can assess the practice’s viability for future success. While vital, due diligence takes time and underscores the need to start planning early.
Corporate Buyers: Balancing Opportunity and Commitment
In recent years, corporate buyers have become significant players in the veterinary practice acquisition landscape, and 2024 is no exception. Selling to a corporate buyer can offer financial security and access to resources, but it also comes with specific requirements.
Corporate buyers typically expect a long-term commitment from the selling veterinarian, often requiring them to remain with the practice for 2-3 years post-sale. This arrangement ensures a smooth transition of ownership, continuity of care for patients, and the successful transfer of knowledge to the new owners. Additionally, the work agreement will outline financial expectations for both the outgoing doctor and their associates.
For veterinarians planning their retirement, this extended post-sale commitment may delay retirement plans by several years, making it even more important to plan the sale of your practice well in advance.
Omni Practice Group: Your Partner in a Complex Process
Selling a veterinary practice is not a typical transaction; it’s a multifaceted process requiring careful consideration, strategic planning, and sufficient time. By starting the sale process at least three years before your planned retirement, Omni Practice Group can help you navigate the complexities of the market with greater ease and confidence. Our expertise ensures that you have the time needed to find the right buyer for your practice and facilitates a smooth transition.
Your Next Steps
Contact Steve Kikikis today to schedule a consultation. Together, we’ll evaluate your practice to determine its value, identify potential buyers, and estimate the timeline needed for an individual sale or corporate transaction. Start planning now to secure the retirement you deserve!
5 Points to Ponder About a Transition in the New Year
We have been involved in practice transitions since the mid-1990’s. Our company has sold over 500 practices in 12 different states. Doctors have sold their practices for numerous reasons ranging from just being tired of owning and managing a practice to severe health issues forcing them to sell.
In all these years and transactions we have performed, not one doctor has come up to us and said “I wish I wouldn’t have sold my practice so soon”, or “I wish I still could own my practice”. In fact, most doctors whom we talk with months, or even years after selling their practice say “selling was one of the smartest decisions I made, I wish I would have sold much earlier”.
So, how do you know when is a good time to sell? Here are a few things to consider:
- The Current Sales Market – Is it a buyer’s or seller’s market? A buyer’s market is when there are a lot of practices for sale, interest rates are average to high and there is low demand. Currently, as of today, we are in a seller’s market. Interest rates are quite low. The economy is doing well. The demand for practices is high. Doctors and groups looking for practices producing over $1,000,000 per year is very high. That is attributed to the number of corporate buyers in the marketplace. The demand by corporate and other buyers is driving up the price of practices. In a few years, this will change, and prices will drop, possibly significantly. You want to sell your practice in a hot seller’s market versus a buyer’s market. Even if you sell 5 too early, you will make it up in the sales price you are going to receive versus the income you would make as an owner.
- Being Forced to Sell – There are certain things that are inevitable in life. Getting older is one of them. And that includes all the aches, pains and other health issues that go along with it. We have seen doctor after doctor, every year, sell their practice because of back, neck, hand, or eye site issues to name a few. We have also seen more serious health issues that forced a doctor to sell. Cancer in all its’ forms and other diseases can happen when you least expect it. There have been several doctors who every year told me they were ready to sell. Only when they were diagnosed with cancer did they decide to sell. One of them sold their practice and then passed away the next day. We have story after story of doctors who sold their practice expecting to enjoy retirement with their family only to report back that they or their spouse got sick, or worse yet, passed away. Enjoying retirement and life is something we should all have the opportunity to do. Selling when it’s the right time ensures us of this.
- Harvesting the Equity in Your Practice – This is one of our favorite strategies in selling a practice. And, selling in a seller’s market with higher practice values make it even a smarter decision. When you started or bought your practice, you probably took out a loan with the bank. As you have been in practice, you have paid your loan down and have built up your practice. The difference between the potential sales price of your practice and any debt you may have on your practice is called equity. Many doctors may have hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars, in equity. This equity does not do anything for you while you still have the practice. You cannot receive this money unless you harvest the equity. You do this by selling your practice. You put the hundreds of thousands, or million dollars into the bank, invest it, or pay off your house. Whatever you would like to do. You can then work back in the practice you just sold, or work in another practice. Or, you can even go buy a new practice, build it up and harvest even more equity. It’s a beautiful thing.
- And now for Something Completely Different – That was for the Monty Python fans out there. At times we all get tired of doing the same old thing, day in and day out. We are just tired of the monotony, tired of staff, tired of the patients and just ready to do something completely different. We have doctors who are ready to change course completely. We have had doctors sell and tell me they want to be a real estate agent, a barista, or they are going to run a surf shop in Hawaii. If you have reached that point and are tired of the same old routine, life is short, it is time to take action and do something different. You can always come back years later if you decide you have had a long enough break and are ready to return back to practice.
- Annual Production is Decreasing – For fun, go back and take a look at your last five years profit and loss statement or tax returns. Have your annual revenues gone down year after year over the past 5 years? How’s your income? Has it also gone done year after year? We frequently see this as practice owners start to get a bit tired towards the end of their career. They slow down their production, but the overhead stays the same, so their income goes down even faster. They then decide to sell and think that the price should be based on what the practice used to do, before the slide in production. It does not work that way. A practice’s value is what it is doing today, not five years ago when it was double the revenue. Using the Equity Harvesting strategy in number 3 above, would have given these doctors hundreds of thousands of additional dollars.
We are imparting this knowledge to you, not to get you to sell your practice as soon as possible. We are simply giving you some things to think about and passing on to you some wisdom from prior experiences of other doctors. Thinking about these five things in addition to taking action may provide you more time with your family if you sell a few years earlier. It may also give you more money to have a happy retirement.
Look at each one of the five items above and ask yourself if you want to sell your practice when you have to, or when you want to? As always, call us if you would like a free consultation.
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