If you’re considering purchasing an existing chiropractic business, here are five quick tips to help in preparing your credit to buy a chiropractic practice.

Certainly, a lot of preparation goes into researching your ideal location, finding the “right fit” business and determining your budget for a purchase.

But one step that many aspiring chiropractors overlook is getting your credit prepared to a buy chiropractic practice.

Sadly, if you skip this step or are unaware, you may not even have opportunity to purchase a business, since the vast majority of chiropractic practice sales will require a loan to purchase them.

Furthermore, having adequate credit to buy a chiropractic practice has a large impact not only on whether you’ll be able to acquire chiropractic practice thru financing (at all), but on how much you will be able to borrow and also on the repayment terms.

Naturally, those with the best credit have the more options so here are five tips you should act on now in preparing your credit to buy a chiropractic practice:

  1. Don’t procrastinate paying bills. It may not seem like a big deal, but making just a few late payments, especially on credit cards, can have a big impact on your credit score. It could make potential lenders believe you’re a risky investment. If you find it hard to pay bills on time, consider registering for auto-payments or setting up monthly calendar reminders so you’ll always be notified of due dates. If you do have a history of late payments, that does not mean that you will never qualify for a loan.  However, be prepared to explain the reason for your delinquencies to the bank loan officer.

 

  1. Don’t close unused credit cards. It sounds counterintuitive to keep credit cards that are paid off active, but it’s a good idea if you want your credit score to increase. When preparing buy a chiropractic practice, be sure to keep your credit cards with zero balances open because it benefits your credit utilization score in the the amount of credit you have open versus your total credit limit.

 

  1. Use Only a Portion of Your Credit Limit. Going along with the last step, when you do use credit cards, try not to exceed more than 40 percent of the credit limit per card. This also is a positive sign to lenders that you know how to limit your spending. A prospective buyer who has a $10,000 credit limit with $9900 unused credit and a history of on-time payments looks better than a buyer with $10,000 credit limit, $5000 in unused credit and a history of on-time payments — and your credit score will likely reflect that. If you do have to carry balances, spread your debt out among several cards.

 

  1. Limit New Credit Card Applications. While it can be smart to transfer balances to lower interest cards, you need to be careful with opening new credit card applications. Before you start filling out multiple credit card applications online, keep in mind that each submission means another inquiry to your credit report. Since more than two inquiries can decrease your credit score, this can be a strategy that can backfire on you as well.

 

  1. Choose Banks Wisely – Even if you are preparing your credit to buy a chiropractic practice properly, that does not guaranteed you’ll get a loan to purchase a business. Unfortunately, although you won’t see a sign on their door, many banks discriminate against chiropractors because of their high student loan debt. If you’re blessed to not hae a debt burden, then you will have an advantage. But for the rest of the DC’s, do not lose hope.  This means that you will just need to choose your banks wisely.

 

Working with banks that have a great track record for lending to chiropractors will be a key to your success. Finding banks who understand that most healthcare providers of all types (dentists, MDs, vetrinarians, etc) have significant student loan debts (and higher than average incomes) will be helpful in you successfully obtaining a loan.

Fortunately, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel and search on your own.  We can assist you in finding the financing you need to purchase.

Next Steps

By following these five quick steps and preparing your credit to buy a chiropractic practice ahead of time, you’ll be well on your way to investing in your new business.

Need to Learn More about Buying a Chiropractic Practice (& Loan Options)? Consider our FREE ON-DEMAND webinars and videos designed to help you learn more about buying or financing a chiropractic practice.

Need to FIND a Practice to Buy (Or an Associate Job or Ownership Opportunity)?  Our FREE Practice Match service will help you do exactly that! Just fill out the form, tell us your interests and let us find you a great fit!