How to sell an acupuncture practice

January 2, 2006 9:43 AM

Should I sell my business or change direction? I own a busy acupuncture practice seeing about 80 - 100 people a week. I have a waiting list of about five months for new patients. I went into a caring profession in order to help and support people and ended up burned out and exhausted.

The business is thriving but I am not. I look back fondly on the days when I got to spend lots of time with each patient but my overhead is such that, that is not a realistic possibility now.

As my practice has been built on my own reputation as a good practitioner how do I value it without me and more importantly would anyone want to buy it if I wasn't there? Alternatively I could employ a junior partner to take some of the load and take a back seat but I'm not sure how to structure that financially.

I've worked hard to create my business so I don't just want to close the doors (nor could I afford to) but I'm really pretty miserable the way things are. New Year's Angst! Help!

posted by anonymous to work & money (9 comments total)

Perhaps you should see yourself, to help you relax? Couselors need counsel, too ;-D
posted by vanoakenfold at 9:50 AM on January 2, 2006

I know acupuncturist practices that've found themselves in your place; in their cases, they've taken on associates. It's structured that the associates make about 40% of the patient fee, and the business--you--pay for admin, rent, reception, records, insurance, etc. It's definitely a good deal for young practictioners, and you could probably find great people, probably recent graduates from Pacific, to come in and join your practice. In the end, you make more money and work less, in fact. As long as you have a good office manager, you could have a number of associates working for you (under your license, for insurance purposes) and you would only have to do weekly supervisions and the like. Of course, interview with care. And also you'll give some kids a chance -- it's a win/win proposition. There's no need for you to work like this. It sounds ridiculous, and it's not making you happy.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 9:58 AM on January 2, 2006

You need a partner. No question. I don't have advice about how exactly to do that -- to bring on a Junior partner, but since your practice has grown to be bigger than you can handle, you need to grow the business to match.

This will create stresses of a different sort, as patients who have come to know and trust you do not get to see you every visit. But it sounds like the best option. You stay in business. Your customers stay happy. You can build the business over time. And most important, you get some sanity ("Half-day on Thursday and Friday for some me, er, Anonymous time!")
posted by zpousman at 10:16 AM on January 2, 2006

Maybe cut back to less patients each week?
posted by drobot at 10:19 AM on January 2, 2006

The supply of your time/expertise is not equal to the demand. Here's how to get more money now, work less, and create a potential buyer for your practice down the road:

1. Raise your rates (20%?) and cut your hours back (10 hours less per week?).
2. You waiting list will dry up as your higher prices will cause a few less people (but not as many as you fear) to stop seeing you.
3. Take on a jr. associate, and charge your old rate for him/her. Then people dissatisfied by the rate increase will still have an option.
4. Get a non-compete agreement for the jr. associate.
5. After a trial period (six months?) if you're still burned out and happy with the jr. associate, approach him/her to gauge interest in a long-term buyout, with you taking a 30%-ish upfront payment, and a percentage of revenue over a couple years (cash is better, obviously, but 100% immediately is unrealistic).

Remember, your clients would rather pay you more and keep you working, than have you stop working altogether.
posted by Kibbutz at 10:36 AM on January 2, 2006

Hire someone. RJ Reynolds has the right idea. You don't want to get a partner. Partnerships are like marriages, there's a huge failure rate and the person with more money loses a bunch of it.

Or you could just raise your prices.
posted by dagnyscott at 12:18 PM on January 2, 2006

If you raise your rates by 25%, you can reduce your patient count by 20% while taking in the same revenue. If you spend up to 20% more time with each patient, you'll still be working fewer or the same hours as before.

If you need any justification (other than supply exceeds demand) for raising your rates, consider that patients also value the extra time that you could spend with them.

(Which isn't to say that getting an associate might not be a bad idea, since it would presumably spread out your overhead (overhead cost per patient would decrease)
posted by WestCoaster at 1:55 PM on January 2, 2006

While dagnyscott is right about parternships being a rough and tumble ride, the associates idea isn't a bad one.

Bringing on people under you who can perform the primary patient care is a great idea.

But make sure you go the extra mile with it—expand carefully. Make sure each new hire has the potential to work close to your level. Have them observe several of your sessions, making note of the difference that you provide that make you successful. Then make sure they understand your philosophy of patient interaction and personal time, and act on it.

It's easy to maintain your level of service and quality and keep patients excited about your practice, even if it's not you who is performing the services, so long as everyone working adheres to your philosophies and concepts, treats patients with respect, and has the skillset down completely. It may sound a bit tough with fresh blood straight out of school, so be careful about the interview process, and remember that you don't want to take on a full partner or anything like that, at least for now.

Good luck!
posted by disillusioned at 2:13 PM on January 2, 2006

The only thing about raising your rates is making sure you're competitive with whoever else is practicing in your area... Make sure you check into that before taking the 25% advice!
posted by knave at 2:21 PM on January 2, 2006