Many healthcare professionals dream of owning their own business. After all, if you could make more money off your specialized skills and knowledge and also be your own boss, I’m sure you’d want the same thing. However, not everyone is fortunate enough to start a business. Start-up costs are often high, and it could be months before your business takes off the ground. But what if there was a faster way to become a health entrepreneur?
I’m talking about buying an existing health business. You get to minimize or even eliminate the difficulties associated with starting a new business. Not all healthcare businesses succeed, and you get to pick off where they started for the right price. You can utilize their existing manpower, infrastructure, and equipment and implement your own corporate growth strategy. Best of all, they’ve done all the hard work, especially when it comes to paperwork. All you have to do is make the business your own.
That said, taking over a business isn’t without its challenges. Here are a few things you can do to expedite the process.
1. Take your time
Buying an existing business requires more work than you think. On average, the business acquisition process takes at least six months. The process can drag on if complicated regulations are involved, often the case for the healthcare business.
But rushing the process can lead to more serious issues down the line. Once you’ve taken control of the business, you’re on the hook for any violations or liabilities. Take the time to perform due diligence.
2. Ask for the records
One of the reasons the acquisition process can take a long time is to ensure that everything is in order. You’ll have to examine thousands of documents and talk to dozens of people. Make sure to ask for the records at the get-go so you can start the due diligence process right away.
If you discover anything that may jeopardize the acquisition, inform the current owner right away. Since they are still the business’s legal owner, it’s their job to resolve the issues or talk to the relevant people.
3. Get the right representation
You probably already know that you’ll need a lawyer to acquire a business. But you can’t just hire any lawyer. You’ll want someone who specializes in mergers and acquisitions or M&A. They can be quite expensive, but they’ll make the whole process easier for everyone involved.
Your business lawyer might offer to represent you during negotiations, but this is a huge mistake, one that could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Only a skilled M&A lawyer can navigate the minefield of legal problems that are bound to crop up.
4. Be discreet
All the representation in the world won’t matter if you don’t have a business to acquire. If you’re serious about buying a business, you’ll need to contact brokers who might have listings for you. Take your time to weigh your options. Just don’t announce to the world that you’re in the market for a business if you don’t want to be inundated with offers.
It might sound like a good problem to have, but you want to focus your energies on serious offers. If you have to sift through dozens of failed businesses, you could end up paying thousands of dollars in legal bills.
5. Check the actual value
Now here comes the difficult part: the money. If your offer is too low, the seller could walk away from the table, leaving your hard work in the dust. On the other, you could lose a lot of money if your offer is too high. Every acquisition deal has a sweet spot that balances your interests with the seller. You need to know how to ascertain the firm’s right value.
A long list of factors can affect the final value, including location, timing, and interest. If you’re the sole buyer, you have more control over the process. But if you have to compete with other people, you could lose the deal if you don’t have the right figure. You may need to partner with a professional to calculate the firm’s value and give you a figure that the seller can live with.
A final word
We all want a smooth and painless acquisition process. The shorter the time and the less money involved, the better. That said, you don’t want to skimp on the fundamentals, including due diligence.
