Dentaltown February 2020 - 91

by Dr. Tom Snyder

For most practice owners, their practice is their most valuable incomegenerating asset. So when it comes time to sell, "doing it right" is essential
to maximize the return on a career's worth of effort.
Experts place a premium on proper transition and financial planning, which
become even more important when, as part of your long-term financial plan,
you'll supplement your retirement income with the practice's sale proceeds.
This fact is supported by the statistic that the average retirement age of
dentists, according to the ADA Healthy Policy, has increased to 68.9 years!
The longer the timeline between now and your intended date to sell, the
better the chance you have to achieve a more successful financial outcome.
According to the ADA Retirement Survey, more than 55% of respondents
who sold their dental practice said they found it somewhat or very difficult
to sell. This is no small surprise; there are a multitude of tasks and steps that
must be undertaken to increase the odds for a successful outcome. Selling your
practice on your own can be a daunting and potentially overwhelming process!
To help prepare you, here's a comprehensive pathway and timeline for
you to consider. Hopefully, this information will enlighten and guide you
to a successful practice transition.

Dr. Tom Snyder, DMD,
MBA, the senior director of
transition services at Henry
Schein Professional Practice
Transitions, is a nationally
recognized speaker, author
and consultant who has
been advising dentists
for more than 30 years in
dental practice strategic
planning, practice valuations and dental partnership
formation. Snyder is a faculty member at the
University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
and a former department chair at the University of
Maryland School of Dentistry. He also serves on the
editorial boards of several national publications. He is
a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of
Dental Medicine and earned an MBA from the University
of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.

5-10 years before the sale
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Meet with a transition specialist for a session to discuss and map out
your perfect plan.
Determine how much longer you want to remain a dental practice
owner.
How long would you ideally like to continue treating patients?
Do you want to continue to work at the practice after the sale?
If so, for how long?
Consider the different types of transition options:
1. Outright sale into retirement.
2. Role-reversal sale, where you sell to your associate.
3. Sale of partial interest, bringing you into a partnership on
an interim basis until you sell the complete interest to that
partner or a third party (must be willing to engage a
partner).
4. Sale to a DSO or group practice network. Not "one
size fits all," but be prepared to remain in practice
at the location for
a specified time after the deal closes.
Compile all associate employment agreements and
confirm that your restrictive covenants are sufficient
to protect your business interests.
Meet with your financial adviser to
determine the required asset goal
so you can retire.

dentaltown.com \\ FEBRUARY 2020

http://www.dentaltown.com

Dentaltown February 2020

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