Five Questions to Answer Before You Sell Your Dental Practice

"How much can I get?"

Almost every dentist I talk to about selling starts with the same question. It is the right place to start. It is the wrong place to stop.

You built something valuable. Of course you want it recognized. CEG Worldwide, which studies owners getting ready to sell, says top dollar is almost always the first concern.

Their research found something else, too. Most owners get so focused on the sale that they barely plan for what comes after it.

The price is one number. These five questions decide what that number turns into.

1. Is the practice ready to run without you?

Buyers look hard at how a practice runs, not just what it collects. One thing they notice is how much production depends on your hands, and how much comes from your associates and your hygiene team.

A practice that runs well on the days you are not in the chair is easier to hand over.

Your broker or transition specialist can tell you what buyers in your market look for. Your job is to start early enough to act on it. Work that starts after an offer arrives is usually damage control.

2. What could stop the sale, including the risks you have not seen?

Some risks are obvious. Others hide in plain sight.

In one CEG case study, a company's whole edge rested on a few senior people. If they left, much of the value could leave with them.

In a dental practice, that might be a key associate. A long-time office manager. A lease that does not fit a buyer's timeline. Name these risks now, while you can still fix them.

3. What have you done to reduce taxes on the sale?

Timing matters most here. How your practice is structured, and how the price is split among what is being sold, can change what you keep after tax.

Those decisions usually need to be worked through with your CPA and attorney well before a letter of intent. Not during diligence.

You do not need the answers yet. You do need to know if anyone on your team has asked.

4. How much does it matter that the practice thrives after you leave?

For some owners, a sale is a clean break. For many dentists, it is not.

You may care deeply about your patients, your team, and the name you built in your town. If so, that should shape who you sell to and how the deal is built.

It is far easier to protect what you care about when you name it before the negotiation starts.

5. What will your life look like after the sale?

This is the question owners skip most.

In another CEG case study, a couple who owned a business together had no idea what they would do after selling it. They talked about travel, health, and grandchildren. But one theme kept coming up: their marriage. Over the years, it had turned into more of a business partnership than a romance.

That detail stays with me. For them, the sale was more than money. It was a chance to get something back.

What do you want to get back?

No one answers these alone

No single person has all five answers. CEG's guidance for owners getting ready to sell says a strong professional team is everything at this stage. For a dentist, that often means a practice broker or transition consultant, a CPA, a tax attorney, and an attorney who handles the sale.

Working together, that team can help you:

• Make the practice more attractive to buyers
• Find and fix risks before they derail the sale
• Prepare your team for the transition
• Widen the pool of buyers
• Negotiate the sale
• Reduce taxes on the sale where the law allows
• Handle family questions if a child or relative is involved

The key words are working together. Each professional is good at their part. Trouble starts when no one coordinates the whole.

My role is not to replace any of them. It is not to value your practice. That is your broker's work. My role is to make sure everyone on your side works from one plan, on one timeline, toward the life you want.

Start with the hardest one

Try writing a short answer to each question today.

The ones you can answer, share with your advisors. The one you cannot answer is where your real planning begins.

Which of these five questions would be hardest for you to answer today?

Bring the one you cannot answer to your 25-minute Exit Stress Test. We will start there.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult your own qualified professionals about your situation.