I have heard from other practice transition consultants, bankers and attorneys who are telling me they are busier than ever.  We, Omni Veterinary Practice group, are experiencing the same thing with more listings and more practices under contract than ever before.  So, why are so many veterinarians deciding now is the time to sell?  I believe it’s for a number of reasons:

1. Interest Rates are rising.  Buyers have had the luxury of living through ultra-low interest rates over the past five years.  Historically, interest rates on practice acquisitions have been around 7% to 8%.  The last five years, we’ve seen them dip down to an average of 3.8% and one bank offering loans at 1.89%!  Crazy rates!  Buyers are now seeing the rates creep back up.  Current rates are around 5% to 5.5%.  This is scaring some buyers into acting on their desire to own a practice.  They feel if they wait, interest rates will be back to the 7 to 8% rate soon.
   
   
2. Baby Boomers are reaching their peak.  Baby boomers doctors make up the largest portion of the veterinarian population.  Approximately 50% of veterinarians are now over the age of 55.  The largest portion of the baby boomer population is now hitting their mid-60’s.  These doctors are now selling and retiring.  Along with this, as we age life events, such as health issues, or even death happens.  We are seeing sellers with health challenges where they cannot work at the same pace as they were before, or they cannot work at all. 
   
   
3. Veterinarians tired of being Practice Owners.  Several of our current listings are from doctors in their 40’s or 50’s who are just tired of being owners.  Managing staff and managing expenses such as rent, employee benefits, etc., have caused owners to rethink their dream of owning a practice.
   
   
4. Equity Harvesting.  Veterinarians at the peak of their production in their practice are deciding to sell their practices and get the equity out before production goes down.  Many are selling to either small groups or investor veterinarians who allow the seller to not only harvest their equity but also to work back in the practice.  A perfect storm in most situations.
   
   

Whether you fit into any of these categories or even if you are in the middle of your career, you owe it to yourself and your family to have a transition plan in place.  Life events happen.  We meet with veterinarians of all ages to discuss their career plan and look at different options of how to sail into retirement, or even sell and work back. We put customized plans in place and offer solutions in the event the doctor needs to sell quickly.  

All practices have something wrong with them. Some have more problems than others.  The key to analyzing and acquiring a practice is having a vision and being able to know how to overcome and fix the problems. 
Case Study #1 – A practice has historically produced $800,000 but is now down to $400,000 with no new clients coming in the door.  Turn and run, or look into it further?  If you looked further you would find that the doctor has had a health problem.  He’s turning away 10 to 15 new patients per month while he’s getting treatment. Purchase price is $300,000.   A buyer with vision purchases the practice and in his first year, he collected $900,000.
Case Study #2 – A practice in a nice neighborhood has been in existence for 45 years. The doctor is 67 years old and as it often is with older doctor practices, the collections have gone from $1.2 million down to $500,000.  As it also is with these practices, he still has one full time and one part-time technician, two front desk, and two assistants.  His overhead is 75% and he’s taking home $100,000 per year.  The equipment is old and the practice hasn’t been updated since Jimmy Carter was President.  We sold the practice to a buyer for $350,000 who bought it primarily for the good location.  The lease was up for renewal, so we assisted the buyer in getting money from the landlord to buy new flooring and repaint the interior. He offered one of the front desk employees a small severance package to leave the practice.  He had the entire staff working the phones and sending letters to patients.  Within two years he was collecting over $1 million. 
Case Study $3 – A practice is collecting $350,000 in a downtown metropolitan area.  The doctor is earning around $40,000.  There is a technician, assistant and front desk staff.  The practice formerly produced $800,000.  The doctor is doing a lot of “watches” and not much treatment.  The price is $275,000.  Bank XXX tells the first buyer they will not loan on the practice because there is no cash flow.  The first buyer walks away.  Buyer two comes along and likes the practice.  She’s also told by a different bank that the practice will not cash flow.  We explain the opportunities in the practice to the buyer and how it doesn’t cash flow based on prior years’ collections.  However, we are certain the practice will grow a minimum of 10% in the first year and more likely 20%.  We suggest to the buyer that they let us help them find a lender who will lend on the practice based on future, projected collections.  We speak with a couple of banks and find one who sees the vision of the practice with a young buyer who is ambitious and wants to grow her own practice.  The bank agrees to loan on the practice.  The doctor does $50,000 her first month in the practice and grew the practice 30% in the first year.
These are all true examples of transactions where doctors were able to see the jungle through the trees.  They had a vision and confidence in their ability to grow a practice.  Not all practices are like these, but if you can see that the practice has a good foundation, or a good location, or good “bones”, you can pick up a practice where you’re not spending $1 million to get a practice that may not grow, but rather spending a lesser amount for a practice that will grow. ​