For a professional who has a desire to own their own practice, does it make sense to buy an existing practice or begin a new start-up?
The answer depends on your goals and what kind of an environment that you want to work in. Many young professionals feel that the only way to have their own practice is to purchase one. However, some young professionals are successfully placing new start-up practices in leased commercial retail space and generating first year gross collections far in excess of what a typical professional practice might generate. In order for a young professional to be successful in a new start-up practice, they would need to have developed their skills and their speed since graduating as well as experience on the business side of operating a practice in a commercial retail environment. For young professionals that do not have a strong entrepreneurial spirit or do not have a stomach for the risk of opening a practice without a patient base, purchasing a practice makes sense.
