Key Takeaways

• Start Transition Planning Years in Advance: The most successful practice sales begin long before a buyer appears, allowing owners time to strengthen operations, culture, and leadership, not just financials.
• Buyers Look Beyond the Numbers: Practice value is driven as much by team stability, systems, patient mix, and culture as it is by revenue and collections.
• Reduce Overdependence to Lower Risk: Practices that rely too heavily on the owner, a single referral source, or one key team member are harder to sell and often valued lower.
• A Turnkey Practice Is More Valuable Than a Job: If a practice can’t run smoothly without the owner managing everything, buyers see risk. Empowered teams and documented systems increase both value and flexibility.
• Involving the Team Matters: Preparing and engaging your team early can ease transitions, protect culture, and reduce uncertainty for both buyers and sellers.

Many dental practice owners don’t think seriously about selling their practice until the opportunity is suddenly in front of them, and that timing can be costly. In this episode of Beyond Bitewings, host Ash speaks with dentist and practice transition advisor Dr. Ruth Mannschreck about what she learned the hard way after selling her own practice without adequate preparation. Her central message is clear: successful transitions don’t start months before a sale; they start years in advance.

Dr. Mannschreck explains that while most dentists focus on the financial readiness of their practice, including revenue, collections, and profitability, buyers are also evaluating the qualitative side of the business. Practice culture, leadership structure, team stability, patient mix, and operational systems all play a major role in how attractive (and valuable) a practice is to a potential buyer. A practice that runs smoothly without the owner handling every decision isn’t just easier to sell; it makes the practice worth more.

One major risk factor buyers look for is overdependence. If the practice relies too heavily on one rainmaker, a single referral source, or the owner dentist as the face of the brand, it creates uncertainty for the buyer. Dr. Mannschreck encourages dentists to diversify leadership, referral relationships, and patient flow well before a sale. Even something as simple as naming the practice after the owner can unintentionally make a transition harder, as patients and team members may struggle to imagine the practice without that individual.

Another key insight from the conversation is the importance of involving the dental team earlier and more thoughtfully than is traditionally done. Rather than announcing a sale after the fact, Dr. Mannschreck advocates for preparing the team years in advance by building trust, autonomy, and shared ownership of the practice’s success. In some cases, she has even seen practices allow team members to meet potential buyers and provide feedback, reducing risk for everyone involved and reinforcing respect for the people who keep the practice running day to day.

Finally, Dr. Mannschreck challenges dentists to ask a difficult but essential question: are you selling a practice or just a job? If the business only functions because the owner is working late nights handling administration, the practice isn’t truly transferable. Practices that are “turnkey” with trained leaders, documented systems, and empowered teams are not only easier to sell, but also provide owners with better work-life balance long before retirement or transition is on the horizon.