Orthotown November 2017 - 8

embrace progress

I Want It All
by Dan Grob, DDS, MS, editorial director, Orthotown magazine

I
Why don't we look
at our practice like
a potential CEO of
a major corporation
might look at it, and
realize that we don't
need to own it all to
have a meaningful
impact or realize a
lifetime of success
and financial reward?

8

NOVEMBER 2017 // orthotown.com

'm often recognized at dental meetings, and in some instances doctors
comment on the topics chosen for
my monthly column. Most readers
enjoy the rambling. Many ask where I get
the ideas. It's quite simple.
I recently came across an ad for a practice
transition meeting. What other business
talks about transition? Where did the word
transition come from? I know that there's an
industry built around the "transitioning," if
you will, of dentists and orthodontists selling
their practices or adding another practitioner.
This is not to minimize the value they add
to the equation. If I'm correct, though, most
businesses and enterprises talk about sales.
Could this be the problem in the dental
profession-that instead of talking about
building our practice or business, when it
comes to the sale we talk and are conditioned
to speak about "transition" instead? The
pitch for the meeting, by the way, went
something like this, and I've included just
some of the bullet points:
* When to start preparing
for a transition
* How to prepare and profit from
your real estate in a transition
* How to get top dollar for
your practice
* Building additional value into your
practice to increase your selling price
* Preparing your staff and office
for a transition
* How to plan an effective
associate transition
* How to protect yourself from
Stark Law violations in a transition.

The standard definition of transition-
the process or a period of changing from one
state or condition to another-falls short
of what it means for those of us in private
practice. There's nothing in the dictionary
definition that addresses selling a business
or reaping profit from a lifetime of hard
work, effort and planning.
Yet, when I talk to most practitioners,
they believe their practice or business is worth
some magical figure that will take them into
retirement worry- and stress-free. We've all
read the articles and statements that say a
good number of dentists and orthodontists
are working harder and longer because what
they thought was a retirement plan came
up short in the end.
Could it be that the way we think about
our practice or business is what's holding
us back? Why do we "transition" and not
sell or go public or private using commonly
available business principles and metrics?
This topic reminds me of a young orthodontic graduate who looked to purchase a
practice I was involved with. Understand,
this is not to impress or brag, but this
practice was producing and collecting
close to three times the national average
per working doctor. The practice started
with four team members and slowly grew
to more than 30 and was still productive
and profitable.
In fact, the practice was so productive
that it enabled its selling price to be paid
with interest and still provide a reasonable
salary to the working orthodontists. This
made it difficult for a single entity to purchase
this practice under commonly accepted
http://www.orthotown.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown November 2017
