Purchasing a Dental Practice

David Barry has been working in the financial services industry for over a decade, with an additional four years of experience in healthcare products and distribution. So, his unique combination of skills enables him to develop custom solutions for doctors seeking practice financing. He helps dentists and other medical professionals realize their visions from the pre-purchase phase all the way through completion. In the latest episode of the Progressive Dentist podcast, David discusses some of his favorite financial tactics and strategies for dentists who are looking to purchase a practice, and he addresses many of the difficult questions dentists have throughout the process.

Built Your A-Team

In the pre-purchase phase of buying a practice, dentists are plagued with a lot of difficult questions. How does student debt affect them? What’s more important—buying a home or buying a practice? How do they position themselves to get a loan? David helps his clients answer all of these questions upfront, but the most important thing he advises them to do is surround themselves with the right partners. That means finding an excellent CPA, attorney, contractor, supply rep, and financial strategist, all of whom understand the unique nuances of the dentistry field.

The Acquisition Process

Once a dentist has completed all of the preliminary steps and starts looking at practices, they can formulate a plan for all of the next steps. On the borrower’s side, it means providing the financial partner with documentation so they can determine if the practice purchase makes sense. They will look through the borrower’s personal finances in depth before moving to the seller. On the seller’s side, they look at three years of business finances to make sure there are no red flags, then crunch numbers based on the cash flow. It takes about 7-10 days for David to process all of the information once he has it, and if the terms are satisfactory, they can move forward to closing. If you are interested in learning more about the acquisition process, listen to the latest episode of the Progressive Dentist podcast.

As always, please visit me at www.theprogressivedentist.com for more informative podcast episodes with other remarkable business leaders.