One caveat about building a highly, successful dental office, with 14 employees and three doctors, is that the market for buyers shrinks. It’s similar to having a multi-million dollar house. There just aren’t many people looking to buy that kind of house. You want to get the best value out of your “baby,” but also, you want it to be taken care of and successful when you leave. Also, the time you want to spend in the office after you sell must be a factor taken into consideration. We quickly realized that the combination of the value of our practice, the size, and the time until we wanted … [Read more...]
My Family and The American Dream
50 years ago, on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 took off for the moon. Four days later, Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. One of the signature dates in the history of the world. A little less famous, but for me, just as an important event took place in Cleveland, Ohio. A poor, farming, immigrant family from Croatia (then Yugoslavia) stepped off a plane and started a bit of history for themselves. My father, mother, brother, and I arrived the same day that the Apollo 11 mission left. I was 21 months old and little did I know that I was now in the greatest country in the world. The one millions … [Read more...]
How are Your Buckets Doing? Next Bucket: Financial Vitality
Last month we continued this series with Bucket #2: Financial Security. Bucket #3 is the Financial Vitality Bucket. If you didn’t complete Bucket #2, go back and complete each exercise as it will build on the previous month. The process will require you to figure out and calculate some monthly expenses, then goals and then dreams later. We will start simple and get deeper as we proceed. Bucket Three: Financial Vitality This bucket requires you to have all expenses covered in the first two buckets and now add three other expenses: entertainment (movies, dinners, vacations, etc.), … [Read more...]
What is Your Business Worth?
When the decision finally came that my partner and I would be attempting to either hire more associates or plain sell our practice, we first had to value our practice. We did so about 5 years ago on a smaller scale, but this time we utilized McGill & Hill Group out of North Carolina to do the job. They provided us with a 50 page intense, in depth valuation. They are a well-known company that helps dentists in many ways. We have been to their seminars and followed their newsletters for 25 years. We were shocked at the actual high value of our practice that came mostly from our … [Read more...]
Graduation…And Children
Many of us remember the day we walked across the podium and received our college degree. Some of us went on to even more memorable graduate or professional degree moments. However, all those moments put together will not equal the pride and joy of watching my child receive that college diploma. My daughter, Julianna, received her B.S. from the University of Mount Union in Early Childhood Education. Not less than a month later, she was offered a job at her Elementary School (Incarnate Word Academy) as a fourth grade teacher. It has been a lightening quick 4 years that was filled with hard … [Read more...]