The COVID-19 pandemic foregrounded how essential medical frontliners are in maintaining the normal functions of a society. Because of the plague, our communities now have a renewed appreciation for the work of healthcare professionals, from doctors to nurses, and even hospital custodians who keep medical facilities as tidy as what health and safety protocols require.
However, not all medical professionals have thrived during the pandemic. For example, audiologists running private clinics have been severely affected by the plague. Most had to temporarily or permanently cease operations. That is explained by people’s shift in priorities. These days, hearing problems can wait. Going out for a routine checkup and potentially exposing one’s self to an even bigger health risk proves impractical.
If you are a licensed audiologist, you are probably considering putting your audiology practice for sale. Here your motivations could be two-fold. First, you need to keep your finances in order. Second, you are probably as concerned with your health and safety as your clients.
But before you decide with certainty, you must first consider a few things. Such as these:
Plan ahead of time
Ideally, you give yourself at least a year of planning before your scheduled signing above the dotted line. This period should suffice for accomplishing essential pre-sale requirements such as keeping your financial books in order to the preparation of client data for eventual transfer.
That goes without saying that if a good offer comes up, you must be ready to relinquish control of your practice at a moment’s notice. Trust your instinct.
Do not slow down
If you are one of the lucky few who still get to pursue your practice amid the pandemic, do not slow down just because you have plans to sell. Buyers are partial to medical practices that are active. A stagnant medical practice will not look good on paper. That will be detrimental to your asking price.
Study your options
If you are not entirely sure about leaving your profession for good, why not consider the possibility of a merger while you figure things out? You can seek out a local group in the same practice and team up with them. Doing this will allow you to continue doing work in the industry while decreasing the extent of responsibility you assume.
Now, should you decide to sell without strings attached, study potential buyers. Your options include private equity firms and hospital chains.
Know your worth
Do not sell yourself short. But you should not overprice your practice, too. The latter will make it difficult for you to close a deal.
Be guided by the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Here you need a medical expert to accurately assign value to your private practice using USPAP barometers. That will increase your chances of convincing buyers.
Get online
Prospective buyers will search for you online. If you have an extensive online presence, such as social media pages and a dedicated website to boot, you will send off a good impression. If you have not bothered with these marketing strategies, it is not too late. You can still put up these pages to improve your sales potential.
Be guided accordingly
Keep in mind that potential buyers will have an army of advisers on their side. That is because they do not want to get the short end of the deal. You must be as proactive as they are. Have a certified public accountant, business attorney, and medical practice broker on your team. This assembly of professionals will ensure that you go about the process as informed as possible.
Once an agreement is reached, make sure all the nitty-gritty appears on paper. The last thing you want to happen is for a legal loophole to cause you financial loss.
Selling your medical practice will give you a new lease on life. You can use the money you make as capital for your next business venture. Maybe you are considering shifting careers and planning to pursue your dream of owning a bakeshop. Or perhaps you just want to bide your time until the current situation improves and you can go back to your private medical practice.
Whatever your future plans are, go at it with an equal dose of boldness and caution. If there is one thing we can all learn from the past year, it is how easily our lives can be changed by things beyond our control. So while it pays to anticipate what is to come, it is just as smart to play it by ear and let life happen.
