How to Sell a Florida Optometrist Practice
Selling an Optometrist Practice in Florida
Growing a Florida optometrist practice to the point where it’s ready to be sold is a big accomplishment. However, all that hard work could be at risk if the deal proceeds haphazardly. As with most things involving medical professionals, selling a optometrist practice is going to require abiding by different rules, regulations, and procedures when compared to selling more traditional firms. A lawyer’s counsel during this process is advised.
1. Determine When to Sell a Florida Optometrist Practice
Timing the sale of a Florida optometrist practice can have a huge influence on the transaction as a whole. This goes beyond just the purchase price. In fact, bad timing can even sink a deal altogether. Studying the market can help ensure that the conditions are right for success.
Of course, there are personal considerations to make when selling a business as well. For help figuring out the best time to sell your Florida optometrist practice, you can review our article here, or better yet, you could schedule a consultation with our corporate attorney.
2. Obtain a Valuation for the Florida Optometrist Practice
Next, the Florida optometrist practice is going to need a valuation. Valuation is the process of determining a business’s worth, and the professionals who handle this are known as business appraisers. There is no one equation for conducting a business valuation, and each methodology is going to reach a slightly different result. Because of this, it’s important to find a business appraiser that’s going to be a good fit for that specific practice.
3. Get Your Documents Prepared and Ordered
Unless you’re an attorney, paperwork is rarely anyone’s favorite part of doing business. Still, getting all of your Florida optometrist practice’s documentation together is essential to selling the business. The information therein is needed to attract buyers and to secure their confidence, and remember that presentation can go a long way, too.
At a minimum, you’ll want to present prospective buyers with three years of financial records, as well as any relevant documents relating to trademarks or other pieces of intellectual property. You can read our article for more about business transaction documents. If you’d rather not handle this yourself, then this is likely an area where your attorney can help as well.
4. Financial Review
Next comes a review of the Florida optometrist practice’s financials. Thankfully, completing the previous step should make this one a bit easier. If the practice has any investors, then those agreements should be reviewed at this stage, too. Depending on the provisions, these contracts could mean that the practice can’t be sold without their permission, so be sure to inform them of your intentions early on in the process.
5. Market Your Florida Optometrist Practice
After corporate housekeeping has been completed, it’s time to start courting buyers. Don’t just jump on the first interested party, though. Evaluating all possible options lowers the likelihood of falling for a lowball offer, and it’s also a necessary part of ensuring that the practice will be in good hands after the sale. Patience is important during this phase, as it can take anywhere from months to years to find the right buyer.
6. Maintain Your Practice’s Momentum
Although preparing your practice for sale and searching for buyers can take up a lot of time and attention, you should under no circumstances let your focus on your business slip during this process. Keeping things running at optimal capacity helps the practice to stay just as enticing as it was when you decided to sell. If you’re lucky, you could even manage to increase its value.
7. Other Concerns When Selling a Florida Optometrist Practice
As mentioned before, extra care must be taken to stay compliant with federal and Florida state regulations when selling a Florida optometrist practice. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to notifying patients before the changeover to allow them to switch providers and ensuring the proper care of their medical records and privacy during the transition. Because of the serious penalties for noncompliance in these matters, an attorney’s guidance is advised.
8. Conduct Due Diligence and Final Negotiations
While an attorney’s counsel is an invaluable resource during all stages of a business sale, due diligence and final negotiations often call for a certain level of legal and transactional expertise that only they can provide. They can help prevent last-minute delays, deal-threatening disputes, and more.
Due diligence for business acquisitions involves reviewing a business’s assets, records, and more to confirm its stated valuation and to see if it’s the kind of operation that the buyers are really interested in investing in. This time can also be used to investigate the buyer and ensure that everything on their end is as represented as well. The deal will then finally come to a close after any final adjustments are made.
Looking to sell your Florida optometrist practice? FL Patel Law, PLLC can help with all stages of preparing a business for sale while ensuring proper compliance along the way. Call us at 727-279-5037 or contact us online today.
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