Dentist Finds An Ideal Buyer After A Period of Selling Struggle

Dental practice sales can be a lucrative way to fund your retirement or move on to new ventures - but only if you have the business acumen and sales experience needed to maximise your results. For most dentists, their own careers take precedence over learning the ins and outs of the medical property market and as a result, selling a practice requires external support. 

Selling agents live and breathe the property selling market - they guide you through the sales process and ultimately help secure an asking price that reflects the years of hard work you’ve put into your practice. 

Unfortunately, not every dentist recognises this. So some try to go it alone - but this typically presents some barriers from early on. From not understanding the different buyer types in the dental market to pinning your hopes on handing over to an associate who eventually finds out they cannot secure the funding, there are pitfalls galore when you try to sell alone. 

Here at Rangewell, our selling agent team experienced this first-hand when we were contacted by a dentist trying to retire and sell their practice but had failed to secure interest due to trying to sell solo. 

Why was there a problem?

The dentist in question was aiming to sell alone and had been actively trying to progress for over six months. However, despite friends in the industry claiming they had an interest in buying, no solid offer was made, and the dentist became frustrated. 

Once we spoke to the dentist, the main problem was the gap in knowledge around the actual selling process. The dentist knew their own practice inside and out, but they didn’t know how to advertise their practice properly, ‘vet’ potential customers, or even handle the issues that can occur with CQC and the NHS contract handovers. 

After trying and failing, the dentist approached Rangewell for guidance. Our selling agents are specialists in the medical property market, which meant we quickly identified the challenges and guided the dentist to the best outcome for their goals (which was to fund retirement and secure maximum sale value). 

Why we were able to help

Working with the dentist, we were able to map out their practice’s value by collaborating with specialised accountants. This helped set a realistic asking price as opposed to one that the dentist had merely guessed at. In addition, we were able to talk through existing buyer types to find the right potential buyer who suited the dentist’s goals. 

From there, our agent helped match up potential buyers who had the right budget to meet the client’s asking price. We were even able to introduce the buyer to better finance options which meant they could meet the seller’s price without the same exposure to risk. 

Finally, we helped facilitate the relationship between the buyer and seller’s solicitors so that everything went smoothly and the seller ultimately secured their asking price and went on to retire, while the new buyer was able to protect the legacy of the practice and start a new career as an owner.

About dental practice finance

Sellers and buyers alike need to understand the financing considerations that go into a lender’s decision when they fund a dental practice purchase. Lenders need to assess the risk to their own investment - which means they’ll typically secure independent valuation, perform due diligence and assess the buyer’s history to ascertain how risky the investment may be. 

As a seller, you ideally want your buyer to be backed by the best dental practice finance package they can find so that they can meet your asking price without later debt negatively impacting the legacy of your practice. 

As a buyer, you need to secure the best terms you can between capital investment and interest rates. Sometimes, rates that seem attractive may not be as financially wise as they seem. 

In either instance, working with Rangewell can help mitigate risks and equip you with the knowledge you need to sell, or even buy, a dental practice. Knowing the process of applying for a dental practice loan is just one step - but understanding specialist lenders and being able to negotiate the best terms will help make the process the best it can be. 

Sell your dental practice with Rangewell

If you’re looking to move on from your dental practice and either fund retirement or change direction, we can help. Don’t waste time by going it alone - work with our selling agent. After all, we wouldn’t try and perform a dental extraction by ourselves, so why try selling a complex property and business without the training and experience your own career needed? 

Get in touch today for a free consultation to see how we can help.