A successful older dentist may be interested in cutting back on work hours but not retiring altogether. Simply cutting clinic hours is usually not an option because it will leave patients disgruntled when they can no longer make an appointment there even though the dentist is still practicing. Selling the clinic through dental practice brokers in California might provide other possibilities.
Four Ways to Accomplish the Goal
There are essentially four effective ways to accomplish this. Some practitioners in this position hire a new dentist to work full-time in the clinic, allowing the expansion of business and the older dentist to work limited hours.
Another possibility is offering the clinic for sale through dental practice brokers in California with the requirement that the semi-retired dentist will stay on part-time for a certain number of years. In some instances, the dentist who wants to reduce hours hires a new practitioner with the plan that this new person will buy the practice within a certain number of years.
The fourth is to sell the business through a brokerage such as Western Practice Sales and continue to practice elsewhere on a part-time basis. This typically requires opening a clinic a certain distance away or working in one that far away to avoid directly competing with the buyer.
A Win-Win Business Transition
A business transition in which a new dentist takes the lead can be a win-win for both practitioners as long as they establish guidelines right from the start. The new dentist must understand that many patients will greatly prefer the practitioner they have been seeing for many years. Others, however, will not mind switching. New patients can all be put on the new dentist’s calendar.
Most dentists work on their own, but this leaves them vulnerable to the stress of running a solo practice and the risk of burnout. A new dentist who can rely on an established practitioner continuing to work part-time will now have more hours to focus on the required administrative and marketing tasks. The semi-retired dentist can focus on what he or she likes best: practicing preventive, cosmetic, and treatment dentistry.
