I would like to pass on a huge thank you to Rob for all of his hard work in helping us achieve our practice sale.
As somebody who was fairly inexperienced in this field, Rob took what was a daunting task and made it a straightforward, understandable and stress free process.
We achieved our goals quickly and couldn’t be happier with HPB. Would highly recommend it for anyone thinking of moving on from practice ownership.
Nick Tan – GoVets Greenwood
March 2020 Alan Kelly – Cannington Vet – Sold to Corporate
I would like to thank Rob for his valuable assistance in selling Cannington Veterinary Hospital. I can’t imagine that we would have had such a good outcome in a relatively short period without his intimate knowledge and experience both as a broker and previous veterinary practice owner.
The sale was desired because after 22 years of ownership in a successful and equal partnership, Trevor and I found ourselves diverging in our interest and contribution. I was approaching the traditional retirement age and wanted to reduce my clinical work, whereas Trevor was still motivated to continue in active practice. Inevitably over time this was creating a stress.
Although we considered selling to either a private or corporate buyer, we had several thoughts in mind including:
- We didn’t want an overly drawn-out sale as it would be a constant distraction from running the practice.
- We preferred a “silent process” that didn’t involve prospective buyers being visible to our clients and staff. That meant not advertising on the open market. This was to avoid exposing our staff to the stress of knowing we were selling without knowing when that might happen or who might be the new owners.
- After many years of hard work and the risks associated with running a successful practice, we wanted a good return on our investment.
- We wanted our legacy to endure, both in the style of practice for our clients, and continuity for our staff. Neither of us were comfortable with the idea of a Greencross, Petstock or Vetwest style of rebranding and corporate culture.
Rob was able to take all this on board and find us the right buyer with minimal fuss, despite it being a difficult market due to Covid. Furthermore, he was able to recommend an excellent lawyer to assist in the legal aspects of the sale negotiation, business conveyancing, and drafting of a suitable lease agreement (the buyers weren’t interested in owning he property).
I would be very happy to recommend Rob to anyone contemplating the sale of their practice.
Kind Regards
Alan Kelly
Partner Cannington Veterinary Hospital
Alan Kelly – Cannington Vet
January 2022 Duncan Hargest – Sale to a Known Buyer
Good Morning Rob,
One week on and all seems to going well at MVH. Regarding your services we are very grateful, as mentioned we had a couple of previous half hearted efforts to sell but little idea of how to go about it.
I think your presentation of the business to the buyer clearly validated the value of your services ,and that of the business, and was critical in us achieving our price.Your insistence to put all communications through yourself certainly contributed to maintaining good relations between us and the buyers.. The stock take is completed, Chris has totalled it up and I will do a check today, came to $ 40.k .I think the estimate/allowance was $41k.
Overall your help was essential to us, from our initial conversation some about 18 months ago when you offered very useful pre-sale advice…, through to the final settlement.
I would be very happy to contacted by any future client if it is helpful to you/them
Anne said the Moet was very nice.
Many Thanks,
DUNCAN
Duncan Hargest – Mundaring Vet
I have learned a lot especially about the different services that are offered around and would recommend yours without hesitation.
First communication – I actually had my initial call answered and spoke to a real person. Very easy to communicate with and a good listener. Listened with empathy & understanding as he came from a veterinary background and had owned & sold a veterinary practice. Explained the difference appraisal vs valuation
Explained the sales process very clearly and the timeline involved
Assisted with organising accurate P&L statement with accountants who clearly had no experience with preparing accounts for sale of a business.
Kept the negotiations rolling along and seemed to have a real sense of when to push or back off.
The communications were transparent for both seller and buyer, preventing a legal smorgasbord occurring .
I had done all the business courses preparing for an eventual sale but failed to realise that sale of business is all about profit margins, nothing about work culture and development of lifestyle.
Basically I had no idea about how to proceed and I could never have gotten to organise a sale .
I didn’t know of any suitable legal firm , conveyancing firms. Suggestions proved very efficient, capable and economical.
There was no way that I would have gotten to first base. Rob helped with an initial appraisal and then proceeded to do the negotiations on my behalf, discussing each procedure as it occurred. This enabled me to remain at arms’ length from the negotiations. This was important as the potential buyer was an employee of the practice.
I was very happy with the price achieved.
Was great to find someone who actually wanted to do a great job.
The advice regarding accounts, licences & permits transfers was invaluable and the handy hints on how to avoid disruption to business at change-over were very much appreciated.
Sue Joubert
Your advice was concise and succinct. It was helpful where you related to your own experiences when you sold your practice and provided your own previous “hands on” guidance.
Being aware that I had spent a year attempting to sell my practice myself (after my first success with a much larger practice sale several years earlier which lulled me into a misguided sense of confidence that I would do it again 😀), in hindsight I now believe the time I’d invested in these attempts were merely good training for being more prepared in sourcing the information required for when I made the decision to use your broker services. So, whilst I ended up with a significant delay (at least a year) before having yourself represent my practice for sale I’ve taken the positive from my own experience to know how to quickly source information to assist in keeping your ball rolling for interaction with prospective purchasers (and tyre kickers).
.for the benefit of any potential future sellers that may have the opportunity to read my comments, screening prospective purchasers should not be underestimated as this was a big part of the time spent in that year I spent “not” selling my practice.
I do know that Rob was 100% keen, patient, determined and committed with my practice sale throughout the entire process even though a couple of times I felt like not continuing when renewing the broker’s contract …. I am 150% glad I persisted as it can be an exhausting journey which influences our own perceptions and emotions of the process along the way. Having a broker as a stabiliser and for guidance was always reassuring. Thanks for sticking with me to sell my practice Rob.
Firstly, access to an up-to-date database of potential purchasers is something that you can’t buy just up the road at the corner store. It is something that is clearly researched and built up over time. This is a huge part of where a brokerage service earns its keep to draw attention to an individual practice that is going to be sold.
Secondly, weeding out the time wasters and dreamers. If one ever tries to sell a practice because you think “how hard can it be …. I can save thousands doing it myself”, I never really appreciated just how much time is involved in passing confidential information to numerous prospective purchasers when so many are either time wasters or it just isn’t the practice for them …. one cannot predict this in advance.
Thirdly, it is challenging to be seen as credible and impartial as a seller when you are also your own self-broker. It can be done but it is far more challenging without a third party as a broker in my opinion …. I know, I tried. Unless, of course you happen to have had the foresight and time to foster and develop an individual successor working within the practice that is hungry for practice ownership.
Who wouldn’t be happy with a fair price for less hassle and you successfully matched up a buyer with the seller right through to a settlement … that’s 100% where the value was derived from using a broker because there are so many steps where failure could and more likely to occur if not using a broker. To be frank again …. a couple of years ago my likelihood of me using a broker were zero percent.
Having a broker who has owned and sold a vet practice previously gave credence to Rob’s value as a broker.
Dr Steve Baker
