The John Moulton Barn & Teton Range – 2010

Grand Teton National Park, WY

The Starting Point

The preparation of your practice for a sale begins with optimizing its current functions and performance. The next objective is to optimize its profitability. This is followed by the preparations that are needed to introduce and accommodate a prospective buyer.

Your Frame of Reference

If you are thinking of transitioning and selling your practice, you probably consider your practice as the product of your hard work over the course of your career…and rightfully so. It has provided for you, your family, staff and the care of your patients.

It is likely that you have a sense of pride for what you have accomplished and want it to to endure in the hands of a capable, younger plastic surgeon.

With these considerations in mind, you may think that your practice is functioning well. There may be some some tweaks needed, but for the most part, you are satisfied with its performance....

Green River – 2020

Utah

Your Visions and Plans for Success

When you begin to think seriously about ending your medical career, you will find yourself considering a variety of personal concerns and as well as professional practice matters.

The myriad of concerns that you will need to address will vary according to your type of practice: solo, group or otherwise employed. There will be variations in practice preparation according to your desired method of transition. You may want to execute a succession plan, sell to a financial institution such as a private equity firm, a family office or close your practice via an asset sale. Nevertheless, across the spectrum of practice types, there are some common matters, duties, and tasks that must be accomplished. 

It will be necessary for you to do more than just learn about the journey you are about to undertake. Relevant information, per se is insufficient. It is essential to create and implement a plan that is based on a...

Henry’s Lake – 2022

Idaho

Elements of a Balanced and Fulfilled Life

It is a common life experience that sometimes you have to forgo satisfying a desire in order to commit time, effort and perhaps financial resources to fulfill a necessity.

This is more frequent during your earlier years when life’s responsibilities required such choices. It often meant that wants or desires that you considered non-essential were put off. Perhaps they were never fulfilled, but hopefully, simply deferred and remembered in the well of your memory.

The desire to fulfill a myriad of responsibilities whether at home, work or community, springs forth from the nature of your character. Your cumulative experience and satisfaction derived from meeting your responsibilities further strengthens and develops it. Your focus on various achievements becomes a way of life.

Visions of Change

As you begin to envision life after the end of your career, your perspective about life will evolve. You may...

Yellowstone River, Hayden Valley – 2020

Yellowstone National Park, WY

 What Would Happen if You Couldn’t Practice Anymore? My Story.

I was 59 years old and thought I had many more years of Plastic Surgery practice ahead of me. I purchased the standalone office building of my dreams and undertook a major renovation, including a surgical facility. 

I knew I needed to plan for my succession. This was the plan, although my own end of career seemed distant…or so I thought.

I resolved to do so soon, but never got the chance. Some months after the grand opening of my office and I was settled in, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. It was a big surprise as I had been diligent about physical exams, screenings and my health in general. That and other medical problems ended my Plastic Surgery career.

I am well, thankful and happy that for a number of years I have been cured of colon cancer. My days of practicing medicine are over, but I was motivated to guiding...

Kenai Fjords National Park – 2012

Kenai Peninsula, AK

The Benefits of Proactive Preparation

The preparation of your practice for succession involves undertaking a series of measures that improve the performance of your practice, its profitability and value beyond its present condition. These enhancements will benefit you now and at the time of a sale by increasing its value.

Practices and Preparations 

As there are a variety of practice settings, the nature of corresponding preparations may vary. This article addresses the example of a solo, private practice as it is the most applicable to other types of practices. By customizing preparations, specific needs can be met.

The two major considerations can be broadly stated as preparing yourself first and then preparing your practice

Preparing Yourself

This involves preparing yourself personally and professionally. It is probably the critical necessity that is most under-appreciated because it may be unrecognized and...

Haena Beach – 2022

North Shore, Kauai, HI

Review Realistically

The accomplishment of any grand goal depends on completing tasks that are part of a plan designed to achieve your objective.

When it comes to transitioning from your practice, the first items to address are to prepare yourself personally and professionally. These include the creation of lifestyle and financial plans to determine whether your current assets will support your desired lifestyle. 

Once completed, it is prudent to undertake a thorough, objective review of the current condition of your practice. The purpose is to ensure that it's functioning properly. As you do so, consider the buyer’s perspective.

Next: Optimize the Value of Your Practice

The next  step in preparation is one that will benefit you in the near term as well as at the time of sale. That’s to optimize profitability and its value to you as well as a prospective buyer.

As is common in life, there are things that stand out...

Apparent Obstacles – 2022

Haena Beach, North Shore

Kauai, HI

A Path Amidst Impediments

The time has come in your life that you may find yourself having recurrent thoughts about transitioning from your practice. Some ideas will be specific and others rather vague. After considering this for awhile, you may realize that a long time has gone by without a clear idea of what to do, when or how. It is a challenge that remains.

You are not alone in this common experience.

At some point, there will likely arise from within you a powerful desire to act, to move forward and do what is necessary to prepare yourself and your practice. Hopefully, it is not too late to achieve your desired optimal outcome.

What to Do When

Over time, you will reach some conclusions, such as when you want to stop practicing, what do to do afterwards, what to do about your practice and much more. 

You will probably realize that the answers are often tentative because there is still much you do not know...

The Grand Teton & String Lake – 2022

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Plan Now, Prosper Later

The transition from your career is a major life event for which it is critical to prepare well in advance. 

Early on, you will recognize that the magnitude and scope of the challenge is significant. As a result, you will realize that to achieve a successful transition you will need to devote focused effort over a significant period  of time. Inevitable, initial questions will arise, such as:

• What should I do? 
• When should I do it?
• How do I do It? 

The First Step of the Path 

To begin, there are three major concerns for which preparation is essential.

The first of these is to prepare yourself personally, for the next great phase of your life. As you do so, it is important to keep in mind that your spouse and in unique ways, your family, are also going through a transition.

The second concern is to prepare yourself professionally.

The third is to prepare your...

Bedrock of Serenity – 2022

North Shore, Kauai

Living Purposefully and Fully

To contemplate the passage of time and how you perceive it is a subject of wonder since the beginning of time.

Early humans pondered the coming and going of the sun and moon while keeping warm by a campfire near their cave. In the twenty-first century, we ponder and wonder about the same rhythms of life as we mark time on a digital clock.

The rotation of the earth on its axis that creates day and night is the same now as it was in antiquity.

The rotational march of the earth around the sun that creates the seasons and marks the years, is the same now as it was then.

So it is, that the objective march of time, was and is the same for all of us. 

But there are three things that differentiates you and I as individuals:

• How you choose to use the precious time of your life.
• How those choices reflect how you value your time.
• How you perceive the speed at which time passes. 

These three...

Flaming Gorge Reservoir – 2020

Utah

A Path to Readiness

The transition from your career is one of those major life events for which it is critical to prepare well in advance. 

Early on you will recognize that the magnitude and scope of the challenge is significant. As a result, you will also realize that to achieve a successful transition you will need to devote focused effort over a significant period  of time. These inevitable, initial questions will arise: 

• How do I begin? 
• What should I do? 
• In what order should I do it?

I know that you learned long ago, as I have, that great achievements require great preparation.

The First Step of the Path 

To begin, there are three major concerns for which preparation is essential.

The first of these is to prepare yourself, personally, to enter the next great phase of your life. As you do so, it is important to keep in mind that your spouse and family, are also going through a transition.

The second...