There’s been an awesome influx of new faces who have subscribed lately to this newsletter, often through Instagram. (Follow me there for daily tidbits of dental-buying wisdom.) I wanted to first off welcome everyone, and second, explain a bit about who we are and what we will do for YOU when you’re ready to buy a practice.
It seemed like a good time for this because I was recently a guest on Dental Nachos’ “Talking Nachos,” where I was asked to explain, well…what it is I actually do! I also got into the two biggest misconceptions that dentists have around the practice purchase process. Here’s the clip (I’m on for about 5 minutes starting around the 1:00 mark):
In short, my goal is to change the process around buying a dental practice. For a long time, the deck has been stacked against buyers in favor of the sellers. Why is that? Because the brokers who work on these sales are hired by and paid by the seller.
To be clear, I have nothing against brokers and what they do: they’re an important part of the process! But I wanted the buyers to have (forgive me) an advocate in their corner. I’ve handled thousands of practice purchases by now, and know how to make the process as smooth and transparent (and inexpensive!) as possible for you.
One of my goals with Dental Buyer Advocates is to shatter some misconceptions that dentists have around purchasing a practice. Here are a couple:
Misconception #1: You need to “feel ready” before you can buy.
What most people mean by this, in my experience, is that they feel like their debt load is too much already with their student loans, and they want to get those “under control” or even paid off before buying a practice. This is the wrong approach because the best way to pay off your student loans quickly is to make more money. And if you buy the right practice (that’s where I come in), you’ll make more than you would as an employee or associate and pay off your loans faster than you thought possible.
(That being said, there are some concrete things you should do before you buy. I list them in the first episode of my podcast.)
Misconception #2: To keep your debt load low, you should buy a small practice and build it up, or even start a new one from the ground up.
As a rule? No, definitely not. This is a gamble that doesn’t usually pay off. Make the safe bet by buying an established practice with a good patient base, effective staff, and healthy collections. Do this and you’re stepping into an already-good situation where you don’t have to reinvent any wheels, and you can concentrate on what you do really well: dentistry. Transitioning into the role of business owner is already a big enough step; don’t add more stress that you don’t need.
All of this feeds into my ultimate goal as your buyer’s coach: To help you buy the right practice at the right time and set you up for a strong career of helping people while building wealth. Wherever you’re at in the process, give me a call (yes, it’s free; no, there’s no obligation) and I can answer any questions you’ve got.
