Secure Dental-Ruth Mannschreck: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Secure Dental-Ruth Mannschreck: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Welcome to the Secure Dental Podcast. Through conversations with the brightest minds in the dental and business communities, we'll share practical tips you can use to scale your practice and create financial freedom for yourself and your family. My name is Dr. Noel Liu, CEO and Dentist at Secure Dental, and also co-founder of DentVia. I'm your host for this Secure Dental podcast, and I'm so glad you're joining in.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Hello. Welcome back again to another episode of our Secure Dental Podcast, where we bring in many different talents from both inside and outside our dental industry. Today's pod is sponsored by DentVia, a virtual dental administration company that allows our front desk and managers to do their daily tasks by taking care of the back-end office work. So definitely visit them at www.DentVia.com. It's www.DentVia.com. So with that being said and put aside, let's dive right in. So we have a very, very special guest here today, Dr. Ruth. She is a dentist, a business strategist, and the owner and founder of Shoreline Strategies LLC. With over 30 years of dental experience both as a practitioner and a business owner, she understands what it takes to run a practice and also on the sell side of a practice. She has transformed her own business and now helps many others through her own experience. And she has two fantastic programs: The Business Lifestyle by Design and Prep It to Sell, live virtual training programs. So welcome, Dr. Ruth. Glad to have you here.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Oh, it's great to be here. I can't wait to speak with your audience.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Love it, love it. So let's start a brief intro on how you got started with dentistry and what was the journey like?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
I actually was aimed at physical therapy in the beginning, and then watched a dentist and thought, boy, I can do what he's doing. And I love using my hands, so that was a no-brainer. I started my practice from scratch, which was the first of many really questionable business decisions that I made. Most of the things that I teach and guide people through are huge mistakes that I've made as a business owner, and that was probably my first one, but it worked out fine. I was in private practice. We had two little boys. My daughter was born. She had a very traumatic birth. She was in the hospital for weeks. When she got out, she had to see eight different doctors every week. So we had to take my practice of five days a week and scrunch it down to two-and-a-half days. And we did it. My team and I figured out a whole system. That's the Business Lifestyle by Design, is how to get your life back because practice can be all consuming. So that's one chunk that we work on. So fast forward a few years, and two colleagues of mine approached me and said, Gee, we'd love to buy your practice. And I thought, I love these guys. I know these guys. I went to school with them. This should be a no-brainer. I didn't stop and do, I didn't ask myself a lot of questions. I didn't consider many, many things. And I left a ton of money on the table. Not because these colleagues of mine had malicious intent; it was just I didn't know. And boy, life gets you when you don't know; when you don't stop to consider. So I'm on a mission to educate a lot of professionals in private practice to take a look, ask themselves a lot of questions before they get into a transaction that can change your life. Think about it. It's probably, the biggest asset you're ever going to sell is your practice. And if you don't do, it's kind of like mental due diligence to think about: what are my non-negotiables? There's a whole lot of questions I wish I had asked, and that's how I got into my program about Prepping Your Business to Sell before you get to that point in your life.

Dr. Noel Liu:
No. That's awesome. I'm definitely going to dive in a little bit on your experience with the sell side. But before we do that, right, let's go back in time a little bit. As practice owners, people who are running their own businesses, what are some of the things where they are not deciding to sell yet? However, what would you say, like some few steps they should do to start prepping for that exit? Because eventually it's going to happen, even though we don't think it's going to happen. But is there any step that someone should start looking into and taking right away, like from day one?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Absolutely. I think the biggest mistake I see docs making is they wait too long to start. So the things you can do early, if you can turn your practice into a business that runs itself, you have a much greater chance of selling it to various buyers. There are all types of buyers.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Business runs itself. I love that. Let's elaborate a little bit on that. I love that.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Because think about it, so many docs that I know they run themselves ragged, not just producing great patient care, but running a practice. Running the practice takes up way too much of our mental and physical time. And if you can, not only is it better to sell something, that's, I call it self-propelled, something that runs itself; that is much easier to sell, but it's also better for the doc. You get your life back. When, think about it, all you have to do is show up and do, whatever you need a handpiece, those are the rules in my practice. If I didn't need a handpiece and you didn't need my dental license to do it, I wasn't allowed to touch it. That's how we got down to two-and-a-half days. And we never went back. We never went back to five because we went right back up to the revenue we had before and exceeded it. So we have it in our heads that we have to be responsible and busy and productive all these hours, and it's just not the kind of success definition that I had for myself. So when we found out that we could scrunch it down, we just did. And we stayed at that. That became my new definition of success for me. Everybody should be able to have their own definition; you have to to have a little freedom in there. So I say, in getting your business ready to sell, your practice, let's turn it into something that runs on its own. And there are several components you need. You need great systems. You need the right people. You need great communication. There's a lot of things you can do to set that up. And the other thing I really encourage people, if you're going to set up your practice to run without you, it gives you freedom, so that, here's one of the mistakes I made. I waited to tell my team that I had sold the practice until the deal was done, because that's what a broker said to do. Like the next team meeting, you sit down and say, Okay, guys, here we go. I'm out of here, and this new guy is running the show. And that's a horrible way to do it.

Dr. Noel Liu:
But isn't that the norm?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
It is. And it's so, just consider this, just to think about. What if you told your team ten years before you're going to sell that, I, team, I am setting up this practice to run without me? I'm setting it up to care for you, to provide security, jobs, all of that. I'm setting it up so that if I get hit by a truck, you guys can keep on marching. Somebody else may sit in my chair. But our culture, the way we treat our patients, the way we treat each other as a team, all stays the same.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Love it.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Wouldn't that be a much less frightful way for our team? Because think about it. I felt responsible for the livelihoods of so many families because the main breadwinner worked in my practice, and it just didn't seem respectful, like I was treating them as a real person that mattered to me. Of course, I did it all wrong. So don't, I'm not preaching that I want you to do what I did because I really messed it up. But since then, I've spoken with so many other industries, and that's more common in other industries, to just have that conversation way ahead of time, and take the fear and the insecurity out of it. Now, when you have that in your back pocket, it's a whole different conversation with the new owner. Or the new, you know, your buyer, you can have a completely different conversation when you're not dependent on who is that person to decide if they're going to keep it or not.

Dr. Noel Liu:
This is so huge. One of the things that I see, like it's such a normal practice when you go and acquire a practice. It's like, Oh, come after hours. Come at a time when we are not open, or come at a time when we are closed, when nobody's there. Right? And you are talking, you're on the other side of the equation. You are like, No, no, no.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Yep. And that's exactly how, because I bought a practice. I bought another practice to add to my own. And that's how we did it. It was come see the office at night. But what if, I said to my team way ahead of time, We're going to have people walk through the office. They're looking at it. They're looking at our systems. They want to learn how we do things. And I have the new team come through, take a look, ask questions, engage. And then after they're gone, you have two exit interviews, one with the potential buyer and say, What did you think? And one with your team, and say, What did you think of these people?

Dr. Noel Liu:
Love it.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Sure. It's giving your team a little input into the transaction, but I think it's giving them respect. And they have opinions, they have perspective, which we just don't get as a doc. Our team has a much different perspective on how the business runs, how our patients engage with everybody from the front desk to the lab in the back. We are smart to listen to that perspective because it's available if we go after it a little.

Dr. Noel Liu:
You know, Ruth, you are so right, because these guys are the ones that are actually the grassroot efforts in a practice. They're the one who is on a day-to-day basis with their patients, not us. I mean, we are the owners. But the thing is, at the end of the day, it's those guys. And I love the fact that you want to get everybody involved. And that's coming from an abundance mindset versus somebody who's like scarcity, always thinking about, Oh, what if they leave? What if they quit last minute ... sell? Right? But I feel like if you get them involved, they feel like they're part of the family. They feel like they're part of the transaction. They feel like they're part of everything. And I think that respect goes a long way. And I love what you just said. So how is the current system? Even though the doc is not willing to sell right now, in the next five years or six years, I just want you to briefly touch base on, let's say, HR, operations, and let's say, financially, like their PNL statement and everything else. What should somebody do to start prepping like little bits and pieces at a time? Because I know that you said you want to prepare for exit, right? But what are some of those things that somebody can take away as a nugget right away?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Much of this is about how to get your business ready to run itself. So that's, my two topics are. So the things you can do right now are the things to get your business to run without you. The goal, the thing I want to hear my clients come back and say to me is: It happened. My business runs better when I'm not there. That is music to my ears. But we don't get that. I don't know. I went to a lot of practice management stuff when I was a doc, and no one ever said, Try to get your team to be self-directed. Try to get them to do. Nobody taught me that, you know? And that, when I've looked at practices to buy, I never heard anybody say, My team handles everything. All you have to do is show up, sit down in a chair, and start working on people. Never, ever. There's always a laundry list of, You're the doc, you have to do this also, you know?

Dr. Noel Liu:
So in your bio, you said something about the four pillars of getting your business ready for a successful sale, right? What are those pillars?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Sure. Those four? So the first one is to increase the value of your practice. You mentioned looking at your PNLs. I want doctors to understand their PNLs; not just look at them, but actually understand what's the difference between a PNL and your balance sheet, and why do you need both? And how can you make decisions based on those? So increase the value of that, but also increase the value of other parts of your business. It's not just the financial piece. You can grow professionally, your team, have your team be on the cutting edge. That is hugely increasing the value of your business. And I also say this is the time when you're increasing the value is to think about who's going to be your ideal buyer? Not all buyers are the same. You can have a beginner who wants to buy instead of build a practice. You could have what I call a marauder who just wants to come in, steal one thing. Like they'll take all your charts; I don't want real estate; I don't want equipment; I don't want your people; I just want your charts. So that's a whole different. Not that that's bad. It's just different. You have to think about what is it that you're actually selling? How can you divvy up your practice and your transaction team would help you do that? But the earlier you start to think about that, the more prepared you are to say, I've got this piece, and I've got this piece, and I want these two things to go together. You know, you can design it however you want if you're really clear about what you want when you're going in. So that's the first one. The second one is to decrease the risk. So there's always some risk in buying someone else's business. But there are many things you can do to decrease that in the eyes of a buyer. So if you're the doc and you're the rainmaker for the practice, like people come because the community knows you. It's wonderful for you. But for the next doc, it's going to be, they're not going to have your charisma, your relationship with the community. So you got to think about what's the doc's role in the community and how will you replace that with somebody else? The other thing to think about is: Do you have, I'll call them producers, I hate to use that word, but producers in your practice? Does the majority of your revenue stream, let's say hygiene, come from one producer? In the eyes of a buyer, if that producer walks out the door because she doesn't like me, I'm sunk. So you have to look at: Do your? When you get referrals in, when people get referred to you, if your referral partners, if you have 2 or 3 referral partners and the bulk of your new patients come from those people, boy, that's risky. Because if those existing referral partners don't appreciate the new doctor, there goes a big chunk. That's a risk for the buyer. So I like to distribute that. I like to even it out as much as you can, just so that it doesn't send off red flags for a buyer. So those are the first two. The third is, I believe every practice has what I call a competitive advantage. How are you different from the doc right next door? So in my community where I was, there were 70 dentists on my street. It's a very wealthy community. I know. So there's Dr. Ruth's second, really bad business decision was to set up in a town with too many dentists already. But if somebody's going to pick your practice over the one next door, why? Why would they pick yours? That's called a competitive advantage. Are you more qualified? You have to come up with something and put language around it and marketing around it to put that out there. Our buyers won't know that one dentist is hugely different than the next. You know, we know how we are different than the doc next door. But we have to put that into language that the buyer will understand and then articulate it all the time, so that they'll get it. When they meet our community, the community will reinforce what we've said, our competitive advantages. And then the last piece is: make it turnkey easy. So I'm back to making it a business that runs itself. That is hugely going to get somebody's attention. If you can say, Watch my team; watch them go, they do it all. I just show up and be a doctor.

Dr. Noel Liu:
That's wonderful. You know, when somebody's shopping for a practice, they are actually looking around quite a bit. They have a whole listing going on. And I think this is exactly what you just nailed into the head is: How do you set yourself apart? And when you have these four pillars, I think that's huge for someone to start thinking in terms of what do I need to do now? And I love the fact that you said, Get yourself out and let itself propel itself. And I think that's the key in valuation, honestly. You know, like myself, when I look at practices, I'm looking at the risk factor. Right? Like you just mentioned. How do I have this doc produce after post sale? Is he going to be gone? Is he or she going to be hanging around for a little bit? Like, you know, those are the questions that kind of keeps luring. And the fact that if I know that this doc is going to make sure, like, all the risk factors are taken care of in some shape, form or another, I think that practice is going to be a lot more attractive.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Right. And if you bring that to the table, if you start that conversation and say, Here's my competitive advantage, here are my risk factors, and this is what we've done so that they no longer will be. I love stepping into that first so that you're not making excuses for it, after when they bring it up. I like to put it right out there on the table and say, This is what we've done, and my team is part of all of this. I want to make my team as winsome as magnetic to the buyer as possible, so that he's going to want to keep them. He's going to have to keep them. You know?

Dr. Noel Liu:
Exactly. They should be worthwhile, right? I love it. So I want to transition a little bit from the sell side. Now let's talk about the buyers. You listed some of the different kind of buyers. Let's try to go in a list there, and some of the advantages and disadvantages. And I know like the buyers are looking at different practices to acquire. However the seller is also looking at different buyers, right, at the same time.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
I don't know if they are or not. I didn't. The first ones. So I have the sense as a dentist that we're kind of cave dwellers. We are in our office, and unless you're in a group practice or you're part of a big box, you don't have these conversations. We spend a lot of time in our own little practice, far removed from. We just don't have those conversations as often as other industries do. And I think it just doesn't occur to us. It's like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, you know? Like figure out what you want in a buyer and tell your broker, or don't use a broker, whatever; tell your broker, This is what I want. These are my selling points. I want a doc who looks like this, this, this, and this. This is a good match for me. Go find them. See? But that's confidence. And that requires clarity. You have to understand your practice and what your practice looks like to a buyer. So I think once you understand, once you get yourself organized and know these parts, you can have a much more meaningful conversation with a broker or however you want to do it, or directly with a buyer. You can have a great conversation because you can stand there in confidence, because you're very clear about what they're going to want out of your practice. And it's way more than just numbers. I know everybody says, Oh, you just have to raise your revenue. Well, yes, that's a great part. And I would add to that: you want to raise your trending. So you want not just good numbers, but you want trends of numbers for years going back. So that, too, you got to start early. But there's so much more to buying and selling than just how much revenue are they making. So maybe they're called soft skills. It's something that not everyone talks about, but I think it's a huge thing, and it's made the world of difference in some practices before they get ready to sell.

Dr. Noel Liu:
You know, that is so true. What I like to know is some of the mistakes to avoid based off your experience because you've been through this, and you mentioned earlier that it wasn't the best experience, right? Some of the pitfalls; pitfalls or the don'ts.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
I would say. So, the biggest mistake that people make is waiting too long. You know?

Dr. Noel Liu:
Waiting too long.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Waiting too long to get started. So a business doesn't have to be a practice. Just think about a business in general. It has a natural arc to its growth. And on that arc, there's the perfect place to sell your business. And we, as docs, are asking our business on that arc to peak at the very minute we decide we don't want to do this anymore, and that hardly ever happens. We decide, I've had enough. We're doing great. I just want to stop. And it's not at the same time when your business is having another growth spurt and ready to go. We just wait too long. We look at our trends for how things are going earlier so we can coordinate when we want to be done and where that trend is going to go. But that requires forethought. You just have to start sooner. So the biggest mistake I see is people wait too long to start. Another mistake I see is that docs think they have to bring an associate into the practice, and then sell the practice to this associate, or some flavor of that arrangement, which is fine, but that makes the docs think smaller. If you knew your buyer was going to be a group practice, let's say, who had deeper pockets, you would want a different price from them than your poor associate, who's still trying to run like crazy and pay off loans. So it makes you think small. And I just remind people, This is, you're selling your baby, your biggest asset probably. And you want to not have that mindset of, Oh, he can only afford this, so I'm only going to charge, I only want this much. It's not a smart way to think about your business that you've worked so hard to grow and build to what it is when you're ready to sell it. You know?

Dr. Noel Liu:
That's such a good example.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Yeah. Another mistake I see is what we talked about: not understanding the buyer's thought process, like what the buyer is looking for because they're not all looking for the same thing. And it took me a while to learn about different, there's investors, there's what I call marauders. There are other people I call settlers, like they have an existing practice and they just want to. That was me. I had an existing practice. I wanted to buy another one to bring in, I loved the team. There just were things I wanted to expand, and buying another practice was a great way. It's like building a deck on a house, you know, you just add to what you've got. But the mindset of somebody who wants to do that is totally different than a beginner. A beginner wants like the full package, like please have a long lease, have equipment, have all these things; I just want to walk in and start working. But a settler just says, I have everything I need. Really, maybe I only need your charts. Maybe I just need a little of this, a little of that. So think about who do you want to be your ideal buyer and kind of understand what they're looking for.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Right. So what else is in the don'ts about selling? One of the things is: everybody likes to talk about selling on based on revenue. Right? What are your thoughts on that?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Revenue is a great way to get someone's attention. But what I've noticed as I help people get their practice ready to sell, it's like a neon sign. Here's my revenue number. But then there's another wave of criteria. So I go right back to what's your competitive advantage? What else have you got? You have to have more than big revenue, or you've really limited your buyer pool if all you have is a lot of revenue. You know? You've just selected to not look at a whole bunch of people who are looking for something else. It behooves you to spend a little more time and say, So out of the two docs who have great revenue, which one should I pick? You have to be able to differentiate yourself. It's called branding in other industries, but you have to differentiate yourself from the next guy who looks just like you on paper.

Dr. Noel Liu:
And especially if they are super GPs, making all the revenue. Right? And that is a tough one. Is that what constitutes you have one of those items as unsellable business? Would that be one of them? Is that totally separate in your?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
No, no. No, no. That's, one doc I worked with. He's a wonderful doc. Great, did great work. But he didn't do the sales. He would present the case, and then he'd leave the room, and his office manager came in, and she was a closer. She could sell anything. And I warned him. I said, Well, what if she decides she doesn't want to work anymore? You're going to have somebody come in who can't generate enough revenue to pay you or to pay back the note because his closer's not there. So you really have to take all these things into consideration. Like, what is the doc responsible for? What does your team do for you? Which is nice, but you got to make sure you got a depth to your bench because you don't know if they're going to stay or not. These are conversations to have way ahead of time, so that you feel confident. You have to go into these transaction conversations with great clarity about what you're bringing to the table and what are your non-negotiables, like prioritize things because you're going to have to negotiate. But what's non-negotiable? What are you going to not give up? And those are great conversations to have with your family, with your spouse, just so everybody knows what's going on, and it's just not fun if everybody's not on the same page.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Oh, that's great. That's great tips. So in your experience, were there any dental offices that you worked with on the selling side that was not able to sell?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
At the moment weren't able to sell? Oh, absolutely.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Meaning like they ignored it, they did not come to you before they were thinking of selling. They just came to you and go like, Hey, Ruth, can you help me sell my practice? And this is what it is, like as is coming to you.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
So what happens is the broker says, Ruth, they went to the table. It didn't work. They don't know how to fix it. Can you help them fix this? That's where. So the failure or the no-sell happened before me. And then we went back and said, Okay, let's look at all these things, all the things we talked about. Today, it wasn't sellable, but it doesn't mean you can't make corrections, which take a little time, But there's nothing to say that you can't make corrections and go back to the table fully prepared and very confident about what you're doing.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Got it. Okay. So they kind of have to still stay around and make sure they tweak things up before they go back to the market, right?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Yes, or you just take what the market gives you. The market will buy a messy practice, but you won't get top dollar for it. You're not going to be happy. It was such a big deal to me. I started from scratch. I built everything, and then to not get what I thought I was expecting, I was crushed. And I don't want any more dentists to have, or any business owner, to have that experience of. That's a huge chunk of my life. Lots of my hours put into that, and to not walk away feeling like, Yes, this was such a great end to my career as a dentist.

Dr. Noel Liu:
I love it. Well, Dr. Ruth, thanks so much. What else can you give as a last tip to a dentist?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Let's see. And actually, I wanted to say we have some resources for the docs if they'd like. I have a checklist of things to consider before you think you're ready. So if they go to PrepItNow.com, there's a resource there they can get. It's just a checklist. Very simple

Dr. Noel Liu:
PrepItNow.com.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Right. PrepItNow.com

Dr. Noel Liu:
Simple checklist to make sure they are checking every single item in there.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Exactly. And it's a whole bunch of questions; things you got to sit down and think about so that you know what's important to you and what's not.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Perfect. We will definitely have the link below. So with that being said, is there any way, anyone who wanted to reach out to you, how would they do that?

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
My email is Ruth@ShorelineStrategies.com. That's the easiest way that comes directly to me. And most of my conversations do start privately. That's just the best way to do it.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Perfect. Well, thanks so much, Ruth, for joining in. I think what you just shared was amazing. This is something which many people would benefit from, and I wish that everybody can reach out to you who's on the sales side at this time. So start tweaking things up.

Dr. Ruth Mannschreck:
Yes. Thank you so much. This was great conversation. I appreciate it.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Well, everyone, thanks again. We're going to land the plane here. Make sure you like and subscribe, and we will see you on our next episode.

Dr. Noel Liu:
Thanks for tuning in to the Secure Dental Podcast. We hope you found today's podcast inspiring and useful to your practice and financial growth. For show notes, resources, and ways to stay engaged with us, visit us at NoelLiuDDS.com. That's N O E L L I U D D S.com.

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