Retiring Dentist - Blog Archives

Getting The Right Price For Your Dental Practice? 

If you want to sell your Dental practice...

It is always great to hear about how someone else has done it right... Right? 

Click the link below to watch the video with Dental practice sellers we have helped.

Listen to how we have helped them achieve a premium price for their Dental practice...

Watch our video

And if you are an Dental practice owner who is looking for the right people to push you forward to achieving your premium price, then reply to this email with the word 'Premium'. 

I have the exact thing that you need! 

Best wishes, 

Kimberley Hagues

PS. Click here to watch our video.

Important CQC Considerations when Acquiring a Dental Practice

Before you get to deep into your Dental practice acquisition, it is crucial that you make your application to the CQC before the process gets well underway…

It became a legal requirement in 2011 for all Dental practitioners to register with the CQC (The Care Quality Commission) 

And it is a criminal offence to own a practice without being registered with them! 

The process for making an application can be extremely complex and an application can end up being rejected over the most trivial piece of outstanding information.

This can be extremely frustrating to you the Dental practice acquirer so it is vital to try and get it right the first time. 

There is definitely a fine balance to knowing when the right time to start your application and the CQC aim to have applications completed within 10-12 weeks (from start to finish)...

You will be asked for an ‘effective date’, which is basically the completion date of your acquisition so it is important that careful consideration be given to a number of factors before considering whether an application should be submitted yet. 

Leaving it too late, leads to the assessor not processing the application in time for the desired completion date. 

Leaving it too early, an application can be rejected by an assessor if it is submitted outside of the maximum 12 week timescale. 

And applications submitted with the earliest possible date in mind – within the 10-12 week timescale – are often rejected by the CQC because completion goes beyond that date which leads to extension requests. 

It is important to understand, that CQC cannot keep applications open indefinitely and whilst they appreciate delays occurring, it is within their discretion if applications are kept open. 

If they do grant an extension, the maximum will be a number of weeks only! 

For an NHS practice the registration of the partnership should happen on the same day the buyer is added as a provider to the GDS contract…

And the changes should happen simultaneously with it being noted that NHS England usually agree to any variations at the start of the month as opposed to mid-month. 

This factor may not necessarily apply to private practices however, the timescales imposed by CQC definitely do! 

It is important for the acquirer to also consider if notice to cease any existing associate agreements should be served and how long that notice period is. 

Because a buyer with a 3 month notice period may wish to have a period of 3 months between exchange and completion. 

This should definitely be taken into account when making an application!

Before even submitting an application it is wise to consider whether the business and property elements are progressing as planned. 

If not, hold off on submitting before these are dealt with! 

Scaling up profitably through Dental practice acquisition will only work if you are comfortably prepared for the process ahead…

So if you want more information on considerations to think about during your CQC application or finding out who the CQC are, then Retiring Dentist can help you navigate those without you losing your footing.

Best wishes, 

Kimberley Hagues

PS. If you want to grow your practice and maximise your profits, then follow the steps outlined here! 

Funding Your Dental Practice Acquisition

So in last week’s blog, we talked about the important of carrying out due diligence before you commit to buying any dental practise for sale.

But we skipped a head a little.

Of course, you have already decided that this is the right path for you to go down so now is the time to start considering looking at the different financing options. 

Because as you and I both know, nothing in this life comes for free and like anything else…

Finance for your venture must of course, be approved beforehand. 

It is so important that you allocate enough time so it completes properly. Some banks can be quite pedantic when it comes to conducting their own checks and valuations. 

These checks can end up delaying the process for quite some time!  

Be sure to secure this funding early on and provide the bank with as much information as they require. 

Be organised and prompt answering their requests for information.

It is helpful to also keep in mind that the solicitors involved with the transaction may need confirmation from the bank that the mortgage advance will be available when requested, before allowing you to become legally committed to the purchase.

So what will the banks be looking for? 

When you look for a bank loan to fund your Dental practice purchase, it is of course imperative that the terms of the agreement are suitable for you, the borrower. 

But then again, it is equally important to understand what banks expect from you, the applicant. If you don’t get this, then the likelihood of you getting accepted for one becomes far smaller! 

They will want to see information on: 

Asset, liabilities, personal income and expenditure. (They will want this information going back three years or more depending on how picky they want to be). 

Earning history as an associate dentist (including information on hours worked). 

Background information on your personal finances, including credit scores. 

Whether you are a homeowner. 

You should be aware that there may well be other hoops you need to jump through before becoming successful at securing your finance. 

And don’t rule out the possibility that you will be asked to stump up your own capital for the venture.  

God it sounds awfully expensive and terribly intrusive doesn’t it! 

But if you have a sound business plan in place it doesn’t have to be as overwhelming as it sounds. 

Banks may take EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Authorisation), into account. This means that the forecast from your business plan may be used to secure a greater level of funding. 

At the end of the day, owning your own Dental practice is incredible but no one said this process was going to be easy.

Follow the steps listed here to prepare yourself for the journey ahead by gaining a deeper understanding of what to expect during the process. 

Only then will you have the best shot at securing the best funding!

Best wishes, 

Kimberley Hagues

PS. The formula for EBITDA may seem daunting at first, with a professional hand it doesn’t have to be. Click here and we can talk you through it.