focus is athletic injuries? It becomes difficult to change the routine of those patients as you are more likely to lose them to another chiropractor than convert them to your treatment approach. If the practice has existing practitioners, then you have the potential of butting heads with the established staff, as most people do not welcome any change in leadership. Ask yourself: what if? As we covered earlier, successful practices do not sell – so remember, the majority of practices for sale will be in de-clining or failing financial health. This is why the biggest thing you need to consider with DCs selling their business is: What if no one buys their practice? What will they do? If the DC does not have any potential buyers the practice will eventually close. This means the office patients will eventu-ally look for another chiropractor for treatment. So, if you like the location of the practice but the asking price is too high, then do nothing but consider opening a practice nearby or rent a room at another local office, with the aspi-rations of attracting the patients from the defunct practice. The best things in life are free. One of my colleagues (George), recently found a retiring chiropractor who, after 40 years of practice, was literally closing his doors. He did not try to sell his practice because he did not want the headaches of transitioning the practice or his patients to another practitioner. He was finanacially well-off, so he decided to walk away and enjoy retirement. George met him, realized they had similar philosophies, and gained his support to step in and rent an office space on the same street to fill his void. George also met and hired the chiropractor’s receptionist who worked for him for 32 years. On the day the DC retired, George received permission to take over his office phone number he had used for 40 years. George never received any of the patient files but regardless, he was in business. His secretary was familiar with all the patients and whenever people dialed his number they knew they were calling the local chiropractor. Tips to remember If you decide to buy an existing practice, do your homework: • Request to see the financial statements, as well as accountant-prepared end-of-year statements for the last 10 years. If they refuse, this is your first red flag. • Insist on shadowing the DC in their current practice for a minimum of six months before you officially take over. This will allow you to see how the business mechanics run and how the existing patients are re-sponding to the news that you are taking over. • When you finally negotiate a price, structure the agreement where you pay the transfer fee in install-ments over the course of one year. This way if the selling DC does not live up to the terms of your agreement, you can motivate them to do so by with-holding the fee – there is no more motivation for them once you pay them in full. • Lastly, have your lawyer structure or review the con-tract, and make sure that you always have an “out” clause should the practice reveal itself as a lemon. www.canadianchiropractor.ca September 2016 Canadian Chiropractor 17 Order from the store and give more Your purchases at the Bookstore and Supply Center help reduce CMCC tuition fees for young upcoming chiropractors. Buy more, give more. Visit our online store at cmccstore.ca
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor September 2016: Page 17
