Seller Age Is Driving Strong Practice Sales Numbers
From having spoken with fellow practice transition advisors throughout the U.S. and from our company’s own experience, it is clear that practice sales have been moving along even through the Covid era. In some states like Utah and Colorado, sales have increased. Transition specialist Randon Jensen of CTC Associates which is based in Denver, said that he hardly has time “to come up for air!”
Practice sellers have been selling since Covid struck for a variety of reasons including:
PLANNING TO SELL
Many baby boomer Docs were planning to sell anyway.
OLDER DEMOGRAPHIC
Older Doctors often serve older demographic patient bases. Older patients in the high-risk group have been less inclined to return to offices for their appointments.
HIGHER RISK GROUP
Older Docs are in the higher risk group.
TIME OFF REFRESHING
Some late career dentists who were forced to close their offices for non-emergency treatment found their time off refreshing and showed them that retirement can be quite enjoyable and satisfying.
TIME TO RECOVER
Practice owners have become more aware of how vulnerable their businesses are to events beyond their control. While young practice owners’ businesses would have time to recover, late career practice owners may not recoup their losses from possible negative events in the future. Older individuals are naturally more interested in greater security and less risk.
According to Roger Hill and his business partner John McGill as published in the August 24, 2020 issue of Dental Economics, “…buyers, both corporate and individual, are still moving forward with due diligence, legal, and financing arrangements for deals in progress.” It has been a practice sellers’ market in many metropolitan markets throughout the U.S. and will likely continue to be. The sale of practices in rural cities is often difficult due to lower demand but these are in many cases fantastic opportunities for buyers.