• Confirm the clinic is right for you – do some real indepth thinking and decide if, at face value, this clinic suits you for a host of reasons. Consider the type of clinic (is it just a Physiotherapy practice for example with one income stream or is it a multidisciplinary clinic with income derived from many different modalities). Then look at the income of the clinic, is there flexibility to add value and any other factors that are important to you as the potential clinic owner such as how close it is to where you live, is it in a desirable position where you would enjoy going to work and so on.
• Conduct online research of the clinic – do some thorough internet searches to see what you can uncover and learn as much as you can about the clinic that you are interested in. Take a good look at the website of the clinic & it’s social media accounts plus don’t forget to check-out the Google Reviews.
• Verify the seller of the clinic – get the name and details of the seller, find out more about them if you can. Check everything that you can both online and thru contacts you have within the profession. You should also review the ownership documentation of the clinic to verify the vendor. Find out why they’re selling (this is a big one) and ask as many questions as possible.
• Check the clinic’s reputation – check with colleagues, ask about the clinic at a seminar you may attend or call local rival practices.
• Analyse close by clinic competitors – look at local clinic competitors and where this clinic is. If it is in a capital city you may only need to look at competitors who are only 3-5kms away, with rural clinics widen your competitor clinic research. Who are they, where are they, what do they offer and how do they compare to the clinic you are interested in buying?
• Identify opportunities for growth – find any growth opportunities for the clinic such as increasing room tenancy, improve poor marketing, cut back on over staffing issues, etc. and think about how the clinic might be successful in the future. Will you be able to increase new patient numbers, subsequent patient visits and revenue with the current clinic resources? What is the viability of the clinic in the future?
• Gather a team to help you decide if this clinic is a viable purchase for you – get the help of the likes of a business coach who works in your field/profession, your accountant and or financial planner then later a lawyer. They will be able to guide you thru the buying process of the clinic and help you perform your necessary due diligence.