Buyers pay for what continues without you. In a founder-led clinic, a large share of the value sits in one person's reputation and referral relationships. The transferable part — a second clinician carrying real volume, documented protocols, a booking and records system that isn't a diary, revenue that isn't overwhelmingly dependent on one referrer — is what a buyer is actually underwriting.
The rest is arithmetic done early. Three years of clean, reconciled accounts. Payor and referrer concentration you can evidence. A lease with runway. Clear title to the equipment. Settled employment terms for the staff who stay. None of it is dramatic, and all of it is far easier to fix eighteen months before a sale than during diligence.
A readiness review is where we usually start:
- Earnings quality — normalised EBITDA, owner remuneration, related-party and non-recurring items
- Concentration — revenue by referrer, by payor and by individual clinician
- Transferability — what happens to volume if the founder steps back, and over what period
- Contracts — lease, equipment, key staff, exclusivities and change-of-control terms
- Regulatory standing — licences and accreditation, and what does and does not transfer on a change of control
Where a business is not ready, we will say so. A year spent reducing concentration and cleaning up the accounts is usually worth considerably more than a year spent in a process that stalls.