By Ellen Curnow, Accountant at Hive Business
Fear is an illusory energy founded in lack of knowledge. Ergo it is human nature to fear the unknown. Even when this unknown is something that we want, we still tend to feel nervous about it. If you start a new job, buy your first house or go on a first date, you will inevitably be made to feel nervous (by their very definitions as unknowns) even though all of these things could bring you something great.
So now if we start talking about a scenario where we can’t even tell if the change will bring a positive outcome, that fear is of course going to take over, which explains why so many people are rendered paralysed in the face of the unknown.
The dental sector has seen massive increases in consolidation in recent years, and the expectation is that this state of change will continue for the foreseeable. This has been and will continue to bring a range of unknowns to practice owners as they are presented with options to hire, fire, buy, sell, or jack the whole thing in and go into employment!
In light of this, we’ve seen a shift in demand towards advice and due diligence work on practices and other businesses which clients are looking to buy or sell.
Of course, the ultimate question in these instances which both the buyers and the sellers always want answering is; What’s it worth?
Well, practice valuations can be a dark art, and even when you have reached a number, there is an infinite number of alternate angles you need to observe when deciding whether or not to buy/sell. It is at this point where you have so many questions and so few answers, that you may be rendered paralysed by this huge unknown and, end up putting off the decision until the moment has passed altogether.
Do you have the legal, commercial, human, management, pension, tax, environmental, IT, production, technology, intellectual property, antitrust, insurance and risk management resources to make an educated decision?
No?
Never fear, we can help.
Call 01872 300232 or email hello@hivebusiness.co.uk if you are buying or selling a practice.
