You’ve been working as an Associate for the past few years and the time has come for you to move on and be your own boss. The question is: should I buy a practice or should I start one from scratch? This answer can depend on several factors including budget, current opportunities on the market, and your willingness to adapt to an existing practice.
Budget is all relative and oftentimes it may be more beneficial to purchase an existing practice due to positive cash flow. Although the acquisition price may be substantially higher than a start-up practice, there is an existing patient base to step into. Banks look favorably on this as well.
Of late, there has been a smaller inventory of practices for sale nationwide than in past years. This has created a higher demand for start-up practices. The benefit to starting a practice from start is that you are able to go into a location of your choosing and build it the way you want it. The downside is that you don’t have any patients to start with.