Individual practice owners should pursue the future of their practice with passion and thoughtfulness. The good news is that the extra effort can have a direct effect on the financial rewards of succession planning and selling your clinic whether it be a Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Podiatry, GP, OT, Psychology, Speech Pathology, multidisciplinary or other type of practice. This process requires realistic evaluation of your financial needs and the emotional effect of passing the practice on to a new practitioner versus simply closing it.
Typically, individual practice owners have three basic options for succession planning:
1. Slow down gradually and close the practice when the financial rewards are no longer worth the effort. This scenario gives you no ROI for all the hard years of effort, no retirement bonus!
2. Maintain a full-time schedule until the day of retirement and then sell the practice on the open market.
3. Recruit a successor early, build the practice until it can support two practice owners, and then sell the remaining half of this new multi-practice owner practice.
The timetable for the last 2 options depends on how long it takes to recruit a successor (or find a buyer for the practice) if one is needed.
The first option, which does not require a successor practice owner, can take time as it is not easy to let go, plus you need to send all your patients elsewhere. Winding down and closing the practice will also result in a decline in income leading to no income.
The second option of selling the practice on the open market will give you that retirement bonus & it leaves all your patients in good hands with the new owner that you have chosen.
The third option requires you to successfully build the practice to accommodate additional practitioners, so it takes time. You also run the risk of the new practitioner not wanting to buy your practice in the long run forcing you to sell the clinic on the open market anyway.
If you decide to pursue an option that involves selling to a third-party (to a successor or on the open market), you should obtain a practice appraisal from an experienced financial/clinic advisor as a first step (Healthcare Practice Sales can provide that service for you if/when the time arises.). This gives you a realistic expectation and a basis for negotiations that cannot be dismissed as simply an opinion of your own practice’s value.
To either have your clinic goodwill & equipment value or to sell your clinic please do not hesitate to contact us on 1300 652 361 or email us at admin@healthcarepracticesales.com.au