These are the questions our advisors hear most, in the order owners actually ask them. There is no question about transitioning a business we at Martin Healthcare Advisors have not been asked, and none we will avoid. You will get a direct answer, including when it is not the one you were hoping for.
The first question almost every owner asks, and the one nobody should answer casually. Value comes from your earnings, how much risk an acquirer sees in them, and what buyers are paying for right now. Get a range in two minutes with the value calculator, or the real number from the Outside-In Assessment.
Every engagement has a defined deliverable, not open-ended advice: a defensible valuation, a written plan, or a completed transaction. For an M&A engagement, MHA's success fee is 5% to 10%, paid at closing from the proceeds, plus either $2,500 a month during preparation or a $7,500 to $15,000 retainer. The $2,500 Outside-In Assessment is credited toward the success fee. Every fee is published on the Exit page, and what the last two clients got back is on the case studies.
Build earnings and cut the risk attached to them. Charge capture, schedule management, and staffing are the three that move fastest, and a year of that work is what took the last client from a 5x to an 8x.
A transaction typically runs six to twelve months from preparation to closing, and preparation before that is what shortens it. We handle most of the data gathering ourselves, because the owner still has clinics to run.
Usually for a while, but the length and shape of your role is negotiable, and you have far more say over it than most owners assume. It is a term we negotiate, not a default you accept.
Less than owners fear with the right partner, more than they expect with the wrong one. Picking the partner who changes the least is a selection criterion, and we know which ones those are.
That is decided in the terms, not after closing. It is one of the six places transitions go wrong when owners negotiate alone, and one of the first things we negotiate for you.
No. Confidentiality is engineered into every step, see how we keep a transition confidential on the services page.
Usually not. One unsolicited offer gives you no way to know if it is fair, and skipping a competitive process almost always costs more than any fee saves. Paul walks through the math in the video below.
Private equity, a strategic acquirer, or your own team. Each suits a different owner and a different goal, the right choice starts with yours, not the acquirer's.
No. A broker lists your practice; an M&A advisor prepares it, values it, runs a competitive process, and negotiates terms, work your accountant and attorney aren't positioned to do alone (though we work closely with both).
Almost every owner arrives having heard a rumor about one. Cash at close, rollover equity, earnouts, and seller notes all change what the headline number is really worth, and understanding them is a large part of what we do before you ever sign.
Then you are exactly who our consulting exists for. There is a path from not-ready to ready, and it starts with knowing where you stand, not with a transaction. If we do not think a transaction serves you yet, we say so early.
Six things, mostly: selling to the first caller, going to market unprepared, mispricing, terms that ignore staff and culture, running diligence and clinics at the same time, and choosing the wrong partner. All avoidable, watch the video below.
