“How long does it take to sell a chiropractic practice” is one of the critical questions every chiropractor should ask when considering a chiropractic practice sale – and it’s often the single business mistake chiropractors make when going to sell their business.
In fact, when speaking to prospective sellers, if they do not ask the question of “How long does it take to sell a chiropractic practice,” I make it a point to tell them that this is one question they missed – but need to know.
WHY TIMING YOUR BUSINESS SALE IS SO IMPORTANT
The most important answer to “How long does it take to sell a chiropractic practice” must be based on the length of time it takes the average chiropractic practice to sell.
Unfortunately, this is not how most chiropractors approach this question. Many doctors of chiropractic seem to believe that timing their business sale correctly is similar to timing the real estate or stock market. To an extent, market forces can help give your sale a small boost or provide an extra challenge. So in that way, it is similar to the real estate or stock market — but with a much smaller impact.
For example, if you were to buy a stock of ABC company for $20 per share and the market or the company hit a growth spurt, you may be able to sell that same stock at $40 per share and effectively double your money. In the chiropractic practice sale marketplace, any positive trends, growth spurts or upswings are very unlikely to boost your chiropractic sale value to the point where you can double the price you get for your practice. So again, market forces can and do impact sales – but a lot less than other arenas
So when you ask “How long does it take to sell a chiropractic practice” — the key answer is not typically related to launching your sale as just the right time in the marketplace.
The better answer is going to be a function of how long it takes the average practice to sell — and what qualities about your business, location, size, performance trend (and other factors) will make your practice likely to sell faster, slower or about at the same pace as most practices.
YOUR PRACTICE DOES NOT SELL LIKE YOUR HOUSE
Another common mistake chiropractors make in respect to timing their practice sale is the assumption that selling a chiropractic business is similar to selling a house. There are some similarities, one of them is NOT the timeframe.
Recently, the housing market here in the USA has seen some incredibly quick sales with houses going on the market and selling within 2 hours, 2 days or even 2 weeks. The demand for housing is high and the supply is low – so it makes sense that a house can sell so quickly.
As I remind my chiropractic sellers, ANYONE can buy your house. But the most likely buyer for your practice is a chiropractor.
That immediately narrows your field down to less than 60,000 people in the USA who call themselves doctors of chiropractic. If you take that a step further and consider that more than half of the chiropractors already own their own business or are not looking to buy a practice, you’ve narrowed that initial figure down quite a bit. Then, you have to acknowledge that the likely buyer of your practice also has to want to practice in your state, in your county or area, in your town, in a style similar to yours – you’ve got the field quite narrow already. Add to that the fact that a buyer also has to be able to purchase in your price range and in your timeframe – and you can easily see why a chiropractic practice sale may take significantly longer to sell than a house.
So the best next step to answering the question of “How long does it take to sell a chiropractic practice” must be to avoid the assumption that the timeframe is anything like real estate.
HOW LONG DOES IT REALLY TAKE TO SELL A CHIROPRACTIC PRACTICE?
Once you can avoid common blunders, we can then just objectively deal with the real question on hand — “How long does it take to sell a chiropractic practice?”
The answer in most cases is 9-12 months.
Your sale may be slightly longer or shorter depending on some factors that can either shorten or lengthen the expected time to sell your chiropractic practice.
For example, your State Location can make your sale go EITHER slower or faster depending on your state’s popularity. Similarly, your Local Location – can make your sale go EITHER slower or faster depending on your area’s popularity.
Also, Cash Buyers – can make the sale go FASTER than those who are seeking bank financing (but cash buyers are less common). Similarly, Owner Financing – can make the sale go FASTER (but not all Sellers want to offer this).
Your sale timing can also be impacted by your technique (common techniques are easier to find buyers, whereas very specialized or lesser known techniques can slow down the sale because it’s harder to find a buyer). Even your price point can impact the sale timing (very large and very small practices have fewer buyers and therefore can take more time to sell).
These factors — much more than market factors — can and do impact how quickly your practice will sell.
TIMING YOUR PRACTICE SALE FOR SUCCESS
Ultimately, the best answer to the question of “How long does it take to sell a chiropractic practice?” will be the answer that allows you adequate time to get a practice valuation (so you can determine the price) and allow you enough time to get it on the market so that you can have enough time to find a buyer in the timeframe you choose to sell.
For the typical practice that means the chiropractor is going to want to start approximately 18 months before their target time to sell. This would allow time for the valuation process, to get the practice listed on the market, to have a year or so on the market — and a little extra cushion.
Certainly that does not mean that if you want to get out within 12 months, you are sunk. Practices can and do sell in much shorter timeframes. But to be on the safe side for the typical practice, that’s a timeframe that will usually get you there.
On the other hand, if you have a practice that you already know has some exceptional or challenging qualities, then it makes to start the process sooner, so you can avoid a panicked sale where you are having to give away the farm just to get it sold.
Want to learn more about successful strategies to help you sell your chiropractic practice? Check out our FREE webinars to learn more!
Or if the timing is right to start moving on your practice sale — contact us to have us help you SELL YOUR PRACTICE (click the link for more info)!
