Succession Planning for Your Dental Practice if You Do Not Want to Sell

When you consider what you will do when you choose to leave your dental practice, you may not want to sell your business to a third party. For example, if market conditions are not favorable at the time you are thinking about leaving the practice, you may not receive full value for it. It can also be difficult to find quality buyers and navigate the process. Fortunately, there are options other than selling to a third party. Below, our dental practice sales attorney explains what these are.

Selling to an Associate 

Internal succession may be a good option for you if you have an associate that would like to take on the practice at some point. You can bring in a younger dentist as an associate and prepare them to take over the practice right away, or you can work with them for a few years to help them integrate into the business. You can also provide an associate with a minority ownership interest before selling the remainder of the practice to them, or you can allow them to slowly take on more management responsibilities and eventually have a larger share of ownership.

Keep the Practice in the Family

If you have a family member who is also a dentist, family succession may also be possible. Of course, if there are no other dentists in your family, this option does not make sense. In Utah, ownership of a dental practice is limited to licensed dental professionals, ensuring clinical control stays with dentists.

If you are considering family succession, your plan should also take certain family dynamics into account. This is particularly true if you have multiple family members who want to take over the practice. It may be possible to transfer joint ownership so multiple family members own a share. However, if you believe only one person is a suitable successor, it is important to tailor your succession plan so family disputes do not arise.

A Slow Exit

Your succession plan may also involve slowly reducing your management and clinical roles. You may allow staff members and associates to take on more responsibilities regarding the daily operations of the business while you still retain equity control of practice. This strategy is particularly useful if you would like to retain an income stream from the practice’s profits while also planning for an actual sale of the business.

Our Dental Practice Sales Attorney Can Help You Determine the Option Right for You

If you are thinking about retiring, there may be many reasons you do not want to sell your practice to a third party you do not know. Fortunately, there are other options. At AGS Law, our dental practice sales attorney can help you identify your options and determine which one is right for you so you can leave the practice in good hands when you are ready. Call us today at 801-477-6144 or fill out our online form to schedule a consultation and to learn more about how we can help.