Get the Highest Return on Your Practice Sale

We specialize in chiropractic clinics, including integrative + multidisciplinary clinics. This is where we have the specialized expertise, and also the best market exposure. However sometimes we do take on other listings, such as physical therapy, acupuncture or naturopathic clinics, as they have a similar and often shared audience in this marketplace.

Industry-wide chiropractic practice sales average between 12-18 months. At PPS our average sale timeline is 7.9 months from listing to close. While our sale program is designed to sell practices in a year or less, some clinics do take longer to sell due to challenges like a lower-interest location or highly specialized clinic model. 99% of our practices sell in two years or less.

The PPS commission on the sale of the business does not apply to the real estate. If the building is also available for sale, then PPS will partner with a commercial realtor in your state who will manage the sale of the real estate. This benefits you, as the agent will be an expert in your local market, and therefore they are best equipped to address buyer questions and concerns about the property, as well as evaluate any offers you receive on the real estate. However, involving real estate in your sale does result in extra work for the PPS team as we will be coordinating all of the sale activities, including additional communications with your real estate agent regarding the offer, negotiations, financing, and closing logistics. This extra complexity results in more sale expenses for PPS, but we avoid passing those expenses on to you by structuring a referral fee with the real estate agent. The real estate agent is typically happy to pay this fee because PPS will dramatically reduce their work on the sale by doing all of the marketing, finding the buyer, prequalifying them, obtaining the initial offer, and helping the buyer to obtain financing. Historically, we have found that if you let PPS find a realtor on your behalf they are happy to honor that referral agreement.

It takes most doctors about 1 – 2 hours to fill out the initial form. Once we have confirmed the information provided for the Clinic Review is complete then it generally takes the PPS team approximately two weeks to complete the Clinic Review, depending on how many other Clinic Reviews are in process at that time, your responsiveness to any follow up inquires, and the quality of the initial information recieved.

The High-Value package is designed to meet the needs of smaller, straightforward practice sales where the buyer is unlikely to utilize the rigorous national SBA lending program. The Full-Service package is targeted to provide the best support for larger sales, which require more data preparation, analysis + sale guidance to result in a successfully closed sale. To best serve the needs of these larger + more complex transactions the Full-Service package includes additional access + support to our team, as well as support from our Senior sale team including our Lead Broker, Lead Business Analyst + our Lead Closing Agent.

If the clinic has fully rebounded to pre-covid numbers, then buyers and lenders are typically granting a lot of grace for covid-related declines. However, if the clinic is still down based on monthly patient visits or revenue , then those lower numbers will likely factor heavily into valuation. That is one of the benefits of the Clinic Review, is it can help you to identify if it makes sense to list the practice now based on the clinic’s current status.

We do require a Clinic Review before starting a Full-Service or Platinum listing package. This process allows you to be sure you are comfortable with the estimated range of pricing in which we can likely list the practice before you make the investment in the upfront fee and data submission required for a full listing package. The Clinic Review also allows us to identify which listing package(s) would be the optimal fit for your practice, and allows you to “test drive” working with PPS to be sure that we will be a good fit as your partner through the sale process. However, if you prefer the High-Value package then a Clinic Review is not required.

We do utilize an exclusive contract for Full-Service listings, which we find is in our client’s best interest. Working with multiple brokers exposes you to the risk of owing multiple commissions if a buyer works with both brokers without communicating that to anyone. Having multiple brokers also fragments sale efforts on your behalf, as lack of knowledge of all buyers and offers eliminates the ability to strategically move the sale forward with each buyer.

Business sales require a significant upfront investment from the broker to prepare a practice valuation and marketing package. The broker should invest heavily in time and marketing dollars in the early stages of your listing, as that gives you a strong foundation for a successful sale. At PPS we invest about 60 hours in your clinic preparation and initial marketing package. To offset this heavy investment upfront, business brokers require an initial fee to offset those initial costs and also get a sign of “good faith” that the seller is committed to the sale. If a broker does not have an initial fee then the data preparation and marketing efforts they invest will be minimal, which will truly hurt your sale timeline and success.

12-18 months, depending on the state.

At PPS our mission is to serve the chiropractic community with the best support for practice sales + acquisitions, so we want to offer all doctors the best pricing on these services. However, our cost to provide high-quality sale services varies by location. Some states treat business sales as real estate transactions, requiring our Lead Broker to partner with a real estate broker in your state through a process called “interstate co-brokering”. This introduces a significant expense to your sale. However, ensuring you are working with a licensed professional also protects you from risk after the sale closes. In other cases, some states have more burdensome sale processes or lower overall buyer traffic, so sales in those states require higher investments of PPS time and marketing expenses, resulting in a higher commission rate. While no one relishes higher sales expenses, there is great peace of mind in knowing your sale is being handled legally and with the highest caliber of care.

Doctors are frequently surprised to realize that past experiences in selling real estate bear little to no resemblance to the process of selling a business. It’s an understandable comparison, as the two processes share similar terminology. The truth is that there are a lot of major differences between the two which make past experiences with real estate a poor fit when setting expectations for your practice sale.