Are you ready to buy your first practice?

 With the purchase of your first practice becoming ever-more difficult, Mike Bryan, dental accountant, explains how you can increase your chances of making that first step.

As an associate, it is understandable that you might want to buy your own practice rather than working in someone else’s. This is a natural progression, and the rewards can be considerable, both financially and personally.

However, buying a practice has become more difficult than ever. Especially with the increased burden of complying with the CQC and high practice values. There are several things that you can do to increase your chances of a successful first purchase.

This article will help you to get ready to make that all-important step to becoming a principal.

Research on your first practice

Common sense dictates that before investing in any business you have to do your homework. Similarly to buying your first home, there will be criteria that are essential for the purchase. (NHS, private or mixed) Also criteria that are preferred, but not a deal breaker.

Spend time creating this ‘shopping list’ and register with sales agents to assist with your search. Once a practice is found, it is essential that you engage a specialist accountant and lawyer. They will help you find out all you can about the prospective practice. They will do this by ensuring you ask the right questions from the start.

Past performance

‘Past performance is no indication of the future’, or so a stockbroker will tell you. However, once you have identified a practice that you would like to buy, it is essential to obtain financial accounts to assess how profitable it has been. This will be a good indicator as to whether the practice profits can support the loan that you…