Empowering Women in Chiropractic -Is There A Right Time To Sell Your Practice?

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Hey everybody. Thank you so much for joining me here today. I am Dr. Randi Ross, CEO of Premier Practice Consultants, and wanna give a big thanks to ChiroSecure for hosting these events and having giving me the opportunity to share some important information with you. I. So today we're gonna talk about a question that I frequently get, probably multiple times in a week, if not even more.

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And people will often ask, is there a right time to sell my practice? Or when should I sell my practice? And quite frankly, there's not really necessarily a generic answer to that question. There's different types of situations that will deem when it's right for you, and we're gonna . Talk about each one of those briefly here.

So one of the questions that I often get asked is, does it matter how long I've been in practice? In other words, someone that's been in practice, 30 years, 35, 40 years, does that make their practice have a more timely situation to sell? And the answer quite frankly, is. No, that's the short answer.

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And what I mean by that is I sell practices that have been around for four years and are thriving and doing really well. And buyers are happy to take that over. And I sell practices that have been around 30, 40 years and are thriving and people are happy to take over. The misconception sometimes about this particular element of the process is that.

Just because I've been in practice 40 years, I have this legacy practice that anyone would be interested in tapping into taking over and continuing to carry my torch, . And so on and so forth. That's not necessarily true. People are really buying currently what a practice is doing and what the value is as well as a bank, and not that the duration of a lengthy practice can't have value added.

For relationships in the community and other types of recognition and visibility that has been built up. But you can't think just because you've been around a long time, that's gonna make the ti the right time to sell the practice. Okay? So it's just important to keep in mind, don't necessarily go longer than you would like to simply because you think you're gonna get more value that way.

The other thing that I always tell people, I get off in these I call 'em the toe dipper phone calls, where people just want to understand the process. Maybe talk a little bit about how much money they could get at a sale, and so on and so forth. And usually no matter what the, that conversation entails and what direction it goes in.

I always tell people, if you are thinking about it, it's probably a good time to get started. 'cause if you are thinking, is it time for me to get out? Is it time for me to move on? Then chances are you're gonna start to slowly check out. And now that creates a problem. 'cause if we have a diminishing, even slightly diminishing practice, the perception is that it's a decreasing practice.

The docs checked out and so on and so forth. And the worst conversation I have is when I tell people this, if you are thinking of having thoughts on it chances are it's time to get started. Is also, 'cause the process takes 12 to 24 months. So if you are thinking about it, but you don't act on those feelings and those thoughts and now call me up 12 months later and go get me out in six months, I'm done.

I don't wanna do this anymore. I'm gonna tell you that's not gonna happen because that's just not the way this process works. So one thing I always little tongue in cheek tell people is. Don't stay too long at the dance. And this kinda leads into our, next portion of this is that you want to go out on top.

You want to get the most that you can, for your practice, you should be growing the practice while we're trying to sell it. That should be something that you do if you're, if you work with a coach or some kind of consultant, make sure either prior to listing it or even when we do, 'cause we're gonna have some time put in that extra effort again and grow the business.

It's so important to go out on top. One, it's gonna make you feel good, and two, it's gonna attract the most valuable buyers. Everyone wants something that's growing and that's achieving certain goals. Most people do not want, and that will be reflective in the offers that you get something, again, that's dwindling, that's it's very easy when someone looks at a practice to tell if someone has checked out.

For some people it's a family decision and that's very important to consider. Is this something that your family wants from you? Are you ? Are you a mom that's been in practice for five or 10 years now? You've gone ahead and you've gotten married and you've had a couple of kids and you wanna stay home with your babies or your toddlers, and that's okay as well.

So sometimes it's a family decision. Sometimes there are family members involved. I. Within the practice itself. So there's, more things to consider. Again, that decision, is it the right time for me to sell? Can often be a family decision or at least one with your significant other. I'm always happy to talk to any family members that are involved and get their input into is this the right time for you to make that decision to start the process to move on.

Will it create financial freedom? That depends upon what you've done over the years. We sew practices that sell for . A hundred thousand dollars, probably not gonna create a whole lot of financial freedom for your retirement. And we sell practices, up into the multimillions. Those situations hopefully create some financial freedom for someone.

Hopefully that's something you've been planning for throughout your career, especially if you've had that three or four decade long career. And then the question as to . What you will acquire during the process of a sale obviously depends upon an offer, but then it also depends upon conversations with the other professionals that you have in your circle.

Your attorney, your accountant, your financial planner. These should all be part. Of this process of is it the right time for me to sell my practice? Very important and something that people ask me all the time, and it's interesting how often this comes up. I. Is there life after practice?

Now, this point probably isn't for those of you that are younger, that are, getting out to be with family or do other things or maybe you're relocating and you're not gonna work for a little while, which we see a lot of that lately, people migrating to different parts of the country. But I will tell you that I frequently have to talk people off a ledge as it gets much closer.

To the close of an acquisition and the transaction being completed, people start saying what am I gonna do? This is all I've known. I've done this, for 30 or 40 years, and it's who I am. It's my identity, and where am I gonna go every day? And the list goes on and on. And I always tell everyone.

Rest assured the initial process might be a little bit difficult for you emotionally, but I can tell you there is a life after practice and for some people that's being retired and living in South Florida and playing golf and playing pickleball and traveling for other people it's other business ventures.

For some people it's just having . Excuse me. Having that opportunity to spend time with family and friends that maybe they didn't have when you're tied to hours of a practice. So I can assure you, and I do this dozens and dozens of times a year. I have never spoken to someone I. After a sale and I follow people months down the road, sometimes even much longer than that, and they are all so happy they made the decision.

Most people will even say, wish I did it 10 years earlier, or wish I started this, five years ago when my wife told me it was time to get out. So there is life after practice. It varies for different people, depending upon what stage of your life you are in. So I hope that gives you a little bit of a thought process of is it the right time to sell my practice?

Just a few things to consider as you embark on the process. . I'm always happy to be here to field a phone call. If you have questions, we can talk through it and hey, sometimes it's not the right time yet, and I can tell you that. And for some people it is, and I can tell you that as well. So I.

Make sure that you think about all these things you consider it. It is a process. You have to be patient and, make sure that it's the right time for you and your family. Thanks so much for joining me here today. Again, thank you to ChiroSecure for having me. I look forward to the next time. I'm back to share some important tips about your practice. .

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