If you already own a veterinary practice, have you ever considered buying an existing veterinary practice located close to your first practice and merging the two together?  If you ask most doctors, they will say the best way to build a practice is through taking care of your patients and bringing in new patients via word of mouth and marketing.  And, they would be correct.  However, acquiring a second practice and merging the two together makes sense in many ways.
 
First off, have you ever calculated the cost of acquiring a patient via old fashioned word of mouth?  It requires a lot of work if you include everything from building your brand, training your staff, maintaining a spotless, high-tech practice, etc., the cost could easily be hundreds of dollars or more per patient.  The cost of acquiring a patient via marketing is even more.  Acquiring a veterinary practice with existing patients can typically run from several hundred dollars per active patient to $1,000 per active patient.  Slightly less to maybe equal to acquiring a patient through a normal channel.  However, you get a high volume of patients very quickly in addition to adding income to your pocket.
 
Secondly, you acquire a stream of revenue at a near dollar to dollar relationship.  If the selling practice is producing $500,000 per year, you should be able to repeat the $500,000 in revenue by merging the practices together, or worst case, slightly below the $500,000.  The good news is you don't bring over all of the expenses of the selling practice.  You typically can save in a number of ways including reducing staff of the selling practice, utilities are not double as the practices merge to one location, there is only one rent payment (more on that in a minute), only one set of books, so only one payroll service and one bookkeeper and accountant and several other services can be eliminated.  So, while getting most of the revenue to increase your practice collections, you only get a portion of the expenses.  This increases the income of the practice owner - you!
 
Thirdly, by acquiring another veterinarian’s office, you reduce the number of practices in your area by one.  Less competition equals more new patients for you.  You can hire the selling doctor as an employee to help with the veterinary transition as well as perform some other things that will help with patient retention.  

Contact us today for a free consultation!

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877-866-6053

By planning your transition carefully and working with a trusted broker in the Veterinary practice marketplace, practice sellers can ensure each element of the process is completed smoothly. But first, it’s important to learn more about the types of Veterinary practice transitions available for those considering a sale. In this article, the team at OMNI Practice Group explains the processes involved in several types of Veterinary practice transitions.

Partnership
Selling a portion of your practice via a partnership has its own pros and cons.  One of the pros is that if you can find a partner with similar interests and philosophies as well as a set of skills that enhances your practice and you get along well, you’ve found a winner.  The cons are that those types are difficult to find.  The ADA states that 70% of partnerships fail.  However, if done right using experts in partnerships, you can have a successful and happy partnership transition.

Walk Away Sale
A walk away sale involves the seller removing themselves and their business interests from the practice the moment the sale is completed. This could be ideal for those in the process of retiring or relocating to a new area across the country. But sellers must analyze whether they truly want to walk away from the business they helped create. To complete a walk away sale effectively, sellers must tie up all loose ends many weeks before the buyer completes their transaction. This ensures a seamless handover process and allows the buyer to immediately enter the business with a fresh start.

Sell and Work Back
This can often be very gratifying.  The seller sells 100% of the practice but stays to work as an employee in the practice.  The seller may cut back their hours or may keep up the pace.  The seller and buyer work together, and the seller may even mentor the buyer.  The seller no longer has any management responsibility or ownership.  He simply does clinical veterinary medicine.  As long as the two get along, this can work wonderfully. 

Customized Transition
Working with a Veterinary practice transaction broker can help sellers customize the sale according to their unique requirements. Brokers are experts in managing the transition process, from organizing the timing of asset sales to implementing buy back procedures once the sale has been completed. It’s important the company the seller works with has a full understanding of their business plans before they begin the transition process, as this will help reduce potential issues as the transaction is completed.

By having a clear understanding of the available Veterinary practice transition options, owners can ensure the right model is found for their sale process. To learn more, contact us today!

[email protected]
877-866-6053