As we welcome in 2018, many people will be celebrating the New Year with a glass – or bottle – of bubbly.  It’s festive.  It’s celebratory.  It’s tradition.  It also got me thinking…

If 2018 is your year to sell your group dental practice or DSO, what’s the best bottle of champagne you should have in the fridge?  Well, here are the official “TUSK Top FIVE” bottles of bubbly to celebrate the sale of your Group Dental Practice or DSO...

You've heard all of the stories about industry colleagues and fellow dentists making millions selling their businesses.  Is your time next?   Are we at the high-water mark for business valuation?

We have had the honor of speaking at many conferences this year and have fielded too many questions to count.  Having said that, one particular question seems to come up with great frequency among those who own group practices:

“What’s the difference if I’m an S, C or LLC as it relates to the tax impact of selling my business?”

Well, we’ve also closed several deals recently (and have several others in the works) where the corporate election will have a major tax impact on the outcome of the deal.  There are structural considerations of the transaction that can offset some – not all – of the tax impact, but make no mistake – corporate entity election swings major dollars at the closing table. 

All of those years.  All of that effort.  How many sleepless nights?  Personal guarantor on each and every loan with the bank.  Recruiting all of those associates and leading your team to a point of stability.  Your business has finally arrived at an admirable level of success – not to mention profitability. 

And then the phone rings. 

On the other end of the line is a guy you’ve never met who seemingly knows everything about your business…and he wants to buy it!  What an incredible justification for all of your hard work!

So, what are you going to do?

Are DSOs really going to take over the practice of dentistry? 

No, but there are a number of legitimate reasons why they've become so incredibly popular over the last several years.  We've been asked to speak to numerous groups of people over the last year and all of them - regardless of whether they were dentists, industry consultants, sales professionals or clinical professionals - have had the same questions:

• How did all of this start?
• What are the reasons behind it?
• Why is everyone so interested in forming a group or DSO?
• And, most importantly, do I want to get involved in it? 

Wisdom & Wandering from the Herd

Last fall, my partners and I all attended the McGuireWoods Healthcare Private Equity Conference here in Charlotte.  While most of the southeast was still battling the remnants of what was Hurricane Irma, we had an opportunity to listen to sector experts as they tried to navigate the swirling winds of the healthcare industry.  Make no mistake – healthcare is hot.  There is a lot of opportunity, but it doesn’t come without an equal amount of risk.

Here’s what we learned…

“The day before something is a breakthrough, it's a crazy idea.” ~Peter Diamandis 

Today we're excited to announce the official launch of the TUSK Partners website.  

TUSK Partners provides Buy-Side and Sell-Side Advisory Services, Strategic Consulting and Capital Raising Alternatives to Middle Market Dental Groups and DSOs.  We are passionate about working with transformative businesses and the management teams who drive their growth.  We build long-term relationships focused on maximizing shareholder value.   

You can download more details about our service offering here.

“Leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with “where” but with “who.” They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats.” ~Jim Collins, Good to Great

We’re going to take a slight break from our normal discussions of ROI, growth rates, scale and finances to delve deeper into the most important capital in your business – human capital.  All of your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) don’t add up to much if your team can’t execute the plan, so we’re going to talk about five critical roles in the typical DSO and how the responsibilities of each need to scale right along with the person who is accountable for it. 

“I have a memory like an elephant.  In fact, elephants consult me.” ~Noel Coward

We have had the honor of speaking at many conferences this year and have fielded too many questions to count.  Having said that, one particular question seems to come up with great frequency among those who own one to three or four offices: “What’s the real difference in a group practice versus a DSO, and when does it make sense to form an actual DSO?”

“I have a memory like an elephant.  In fact, elephants consult me.” ~Noel Coward

I recently wrote a blog post about creating time in your schedule to work ON your business instead of always working IN your business.  Let’s face it: we’re all time-broke – and nobody sees that changing any time soon.  Strategic planning is critically important for any business, but there’s one aspect of working on your business that often goes neglected: working on YOU.