Australasian Dentist Issue 89

98 AustrAlAsiAn Dentist aQuIsItIons “poor terms of sale” – including clawback agreements, which he considered a “deal breaker”. Reality bites nonetheless the pragmatic entrepreneur was taking stock of the reality on the ground: the number of new dental clinics sprouting across Pakenham and next-door suburbs was outpacing the population growth. “Our practice growth may have doubled over a 10-year period but the population had quadrupled. Although we were still the biggest practice in Pakenham, that will have an impact,” he remembers rationalising. Other concerns were cultivating patient loyalty amongst fickle millennial customers who are more susceptible to social media trends than time honoured relational bonds; and keeping pace with evolving digital marketing platforms – the area that he believed, would become increasingly difficult to navigate. Sell or burn out Dr Fisher’s resistance towards selling the practice softened even more after he met up with Dr tony Coulepis, the executive Chairman of ekera Dental, in 2016. “tony refers to ekera Dental as a “non-corporate/corporate”. it’s still a corporate but relative to the others, they had a more personalised philosophy that i found appealing,” Dr Fisher recalls. in september 2017, Dr Fisher turned the reins of Cardinia Dental over to ekera Dental. “i don’t know howmuch longer i could have run the operations, but i thought i was going to burn out, “ he says. “i was afraid i would not be able to provide the same quality service to patients or employ as many dentists and the business would start to contract.” Family affair At the point of sale, Dr Fisher notes, the Pakenham practice had increased “significantly” in valuation since he purchased it in 1993. Crediting his wife for Cardinia Dental’s growth and success, the former practice owner says: “sharon was the unspoken business “partner”, a great co-worker and excellent brainstorming collaborator. “i suspect many private practices have thrived because of the “family model” – which is certainly the case with sharon and our four daughters, who all worked at the surgery during their university studies. they have now all graduated and are working in their individual professions of law, speech pathology and two in physiotherapy, taking with them the valuable skills they learned at the practice. the financial bonanza notwith- standing, relinquishing the practice has afforded the Fisher household the time and freedom to indulge in travelling sprees – even more than they’ve been doing since he stepped back in 2012. the globetrotting dentist’s travel diary reads like a lonely Planet brochure. shopping in Paris. skiing in British Columbia, Canada. Hiking adventures in italy, north American national Parks and the Austrian Alps. laidback cruise on the historic river rhine. road trips around europe and the West Coast of America. trekking through scandinavian capitals. You name it. in many ways, the semi-retired clinician is still savouring the fruits of his decision to buy the Pakenham practice 28 years ago. Yet things may look very different if he hadn’t taken a mentor’s advice to heart. the release valves he put in place throughout each growth phase helped prevent excessive pressures from building up. “in the end, i guess the ultimate delegation of responsibilities is to sell your practice to a reliable corporate,” he says. Time to sell? Andrew feels very fortunate to have had broad-ranging advice and support throughout his career. in turn, he has been “paying it forward” to other professionals who seek his counsel – something he is quite happy to do if and when approached. A strong advocate for dentists having a clear exit strategy, Dr Fisher offers this piece of advice for those still peering into a hazy crystal ball: “the way the industry has changed over the last 8-10 years has resulted in more market uncertainties. “i really believe it’s time to consider selling to the corporates because the opportunity may not always be there. At some point the market will become saturated and if no longer competitive, you may get pushed out. “if you choose to remain independent, then make sure you’re prepared to go all the way.” u Cafe in Paris