You're Thinking About Selling—But Your Exit Plan Is Probably Wrong

You're thinking about selling. Everyone is. The market is flooded with advisors selling exit planning. Most are worthless. Here's what actually matters.

The reality: Exit planning has four real levers: reducing owner dependency, professionalizing operations, proving consistent profit, and having a defensible payor mix. Everything else is noise. Your broker wants you to think "branding" and "patient satisfaction" are key. They're hygiene factors. Not value drivers.

What drives price: General practices sell for 65-80 percent of annual collections, or 2-3 times adjusted EBITDA. That multiple depends entirely on four things. One: a manager who can run the practice without you. Two: a hygiene program with multiple hygienists and solid recall. Three: a diverse payor mix with at least 40 percent PPO or fee-for-service. Four: a long-term lease with 5+ years remaining.

The painful truth: If you're highly operationally involved, your practice is worth less. If your hygiene book is thin, you're worth less. If you're 80 percent Delta, you're worth less. Most practices nail one of these. Great practices nail three. Exceptional practices get all four.

Action: Before you hire an advisor, audit yourself. Where do you stand on those four levers? That's your real roadmap, not some hypothetical brand story your broker sells to the next buyer.