Preparing to sell your practice (Tip #3: Cards close to the vest)
If you're considering selling your medical practice, you may wish to talk over the process with someone. That's a good idea—as long as that person is not an employee of your practice. It may seem like you should give key employees (especially your most loyal, trusted ones) some kind of heads up that this big change could be coming. But making them aware of this possible disruption to their lives is unlikely to be helpful to them. In fact, it could have just the opposite effect. Let's just say that your office manager has been with you for a decade and has been instrumental in growing your practice. And let's also say that an investment group has approached you about the prospect of buying the practice. The initial terms look appealing. You like the buyers. A sale could really be happening! So why shouldn't you tell your office manager that something's in the works? Wouldn't that be better, and fairer, than unpleasantly surprising her later? Here are a few reasons why the answer is probably "no." 1) First and foremost: it's more stressful for the employee than you might realize. If your primary motivation for sharing this private information with a key/long-term employee is because you feel uncomfortable withholding information from them (perhaps even feel guilty about keeping secrets), consider this side of the issue before moving forward. When highly consequential, confidential information like this is shared with an employee, it puts an incredible burden on their shoulders. You'll need to ask them to keep it a secret from other employees, which may require them to be more reserved than they normally would be if anyone asks them a question about a potential sale. They'll feel pressure to "act" all the time. And all the while this trusted employee is pressured to protect your confidentiality, they'll also be burdened with stressful questions of their own about what the sale would mean for their future—questions you will not be able to answer. What's more, the process of selling your practice will take months. It could even take a year or more.