Your Practice Sale Starts Years Before You Sell
Your Practice Sale Starts Years Before You Sell
Most physical therapy practice owners think about selling their business when they’re ready to sell.
Paul Martin thinks that’s already too late.
Paul is a physical therapist, founder of Martin Healthcare Advisors, and former clinic owner who helped grow a three-clinic operation into 21 locations.
After decades working with PT practice owners, he says one mistake appears again and again:
Owners treat selling their practice like an event.
It isn’t.
It’s a process.
And according to Paul, the owners who begin preparing several years before a transaction have far more opportunities to improve the company, reduce risk and increase its potential value.
Jimmy and Paul unpack what buyers actually look for when evaluating a PT business.
In This EpisodeThey discuss:
- Why buyers care about cash flow
- What EBITDA means in a PT practice
- Why historical success alone doesn’t determine value
- The importance of demonstrating future growth
- How financial preparation affects a transaction
- Why leadership alignment matters
- The operational KPIs buyers examine
- Charge capture and proper coding
- Productivity versus compliance
- Schedule management
- PT/PTA team models
- The danger of a practice depending entirely on its owner
- Paul’s “30-day test”
- Why larger practices often command higher multiples
- How Paul went from three clinics to 21
- Why systems and processes allow businesses to scale
- The difference between an owner’s perceived valuation and actual valuation
- Why Paul believes PT continues to provide extraordinary healthcare value
Imagine telling your staff:
“I’m leaving tomorrow. I’ll be gone for 30 days, and you cannot contact me.”
What happens?
If the clinic falls apart, Paul argues that you may not own a transferable business yet.
You may own a job.
Paul MartinFounder, Martin Healthcare Advisors
Website:
https://www.martinhealthcareadvisors.com/
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmartinsview/
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@martinhealthcareadvisors
Book MentionedBuilt to Sell
John Warrillow
<p>This episode is part of the <a href="/physical-therapy-business-podcast">Physical Therapy Business Podcast</a>, where physical therapists and clinic owners learn how to get more patients, improve operations, and grow their clinic without relying only on referrals.</p>
<p>Looking for more episodes? Explore the full <a href="/physical-therapy-business-podcast">Physical Therapy Business Podcast</a> for real-world strategies on physical therapy marketing, patient acquisition, and clinic growth.</p>
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You're listening to the PT Pintcast,
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where smart people in healthcare come to
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make noise.
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Here's your host, Jimmy McKay.
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All right,
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today's guest has seen more PT practice
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sales than anyone alive.
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I'm just making that statement.
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And somehow,
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still answers the phone himself,
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went on a call.
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He's a physical therapist who grew three
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clinics into twenty-one,
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founded Martin Healthcare Advisors,
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and spends his days helping PT owners
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turn, I think I'm ready to sell, into,
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I actually know what this company is
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worth.
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And there's a big difference there.
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He says most owners treat selling their
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practice...
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Like selling a house.
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You put it on the market.
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You wait for buyers.
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You pick the best offer.
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Done.
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Walk away.
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Throw them the keys.
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But that's not how this works.
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Not exactly.
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Buyers are not buying your past.
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They're buying your future.
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They're buying earnings, growth,
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leadership, systems, reduced risk,
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and the belief that the business still
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works after you walk away.
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So today we're asking,
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what actually makes a PT practice
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valuable?
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What kills a deal?
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Why should owners start preparing two or
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three years before they sell?
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Yeah, two to three years at least.
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And how do you know if you own
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a business or just a very expensive job
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with a logo?
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So let's bring him in.
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Welcome to PT Podcast, Paul Martin.
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Paul, welcome to the program, man.
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Yeah.
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Thank you, Jimmy.
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Great to be here.
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You probably deal with a lot of people
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in situations where you're going to ask
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questions that maybe they knew they should
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be asked.
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It's like kind of like when you're like,
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did you do the homework?
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You're like, I knew I should have,
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but I didn't.
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Then they get to you and you're like,
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I'm not letting you skate past,
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skate past that.
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So you said selling your practice is not
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an event.
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It's a process.
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So what happens when a PT owner treats
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it like an event and not like a
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process?
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Yeah,
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I think when a PT owner treats the
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sale of their business like an event,
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not a process,
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they miss out on gaining the true value
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of their business.
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They miss out on the opportunity to run
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a process whereby you put many acquirers
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buyers on the same starting line at the
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same time.
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You drop that checkered flag.
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They all have the same information.
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and then they are all vying to buy
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your particular business versus you get a
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phone call and wow,
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this company seems really interested in
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me.
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In fact, I think they love me.
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They've never said more nice things to me.
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This is my company.
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This is the one I wanna sell to.
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And going down that road can be a
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disaster because you've just given away
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the steering wheel.
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You want control of the process.
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You don't want the acquirer to have
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control of the process.
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And when you do that and when you
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treat it as such,
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you give away that steering wheel.
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So running a true professional process,
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we think, is so important.
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And we even think to the level of
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the way large investment banking companies
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run a process
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It is disciplined.
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It is accurate.
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It's providing high level materials for
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the potential acquirers.
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We bring that and we believe that should
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be offered and available to physical
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therapy businesses of all sizes.
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Well, let's start with the misconception.
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I always like to start with these because
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it's probably the most people, right?
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When a PT owner calls you and says,
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listen, I think I'm ready to sell.
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what do they usually misunderstand about
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the process that you didn't already sort
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of clear up?
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Like what do they think buyers really care
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about versus what they actually are
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looking at and gonna dive into?
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Sure.
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Yeah,
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and many times they think that it's about
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the practice and it's about historically
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what the practice has been able to do
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and the community ties that you have and
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all the different types of therapies that
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are being done in the practice.
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Those are all really important things
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until we come to the question of,
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What is your EBITDA, your cash flow?
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How much money are you putting to your
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bottom line after you pay yourself a
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salary, et cetera, et cetera?
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Because the hard and cold truth is they
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are buying that cash flow.
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And without that cash flow,
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it's really hard to sell any business,
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let alone a physical therapy business.
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So I think that's something that many
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owners don't truly get.
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And it's a rude awakening when then they
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send their information and the acquirer
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comes back and says, well,
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there's no cash flow.
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So we're not interested or whatever it may
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be.
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You said buyers are not paying for what
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an owner built the past.
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They're paying for what the company will
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do or they hope will do in the
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future.
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Explain that like I'm a clinic owner who's
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never sold a business before.
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Sure.
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So an acquirer is not going to pay
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you for what you're going to generate in
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the future,
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but they are buying your future.
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Right.
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Right?
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So they are going to pay you based
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on your historical performance.
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And typically that's the very most recent
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trailing, twelve months.
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But many owners stop there.
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Okay.
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This is what they're buying.
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You know,
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I'm going to maybe stay on a year
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or two, if that,
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but I kind of want to get out.
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What a buyer is looking for is,
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are you building your business to a
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transaction?
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or are you building it through that
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transaction and that event?
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So what we try to do is talk
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about the future and put in a very,
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very, you know, some detail,
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but very clear is where is this business
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going in the future
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to grow through that transaction it's kind
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of like you know there's a train and
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it's going to make a stop but as
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soon as you get on it's taken off
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and so you better jump on quick because
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this train is going and it's going to
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continue to grow that's how you attract
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more acquirers is to show your future
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because the past is something that they
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expect you're going to be able to show
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them
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Sure.
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You've said some owners spend more time
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really preparing their car more for a
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trade-in, less for a sale.
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What should they be detailing in their
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business if we're going on that car
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analogy?
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Yeah,
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that wasn't a nice thing for me to
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say, Jimmy.
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But it's true, right?
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But I also like putting it in those
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terms because maybe we weren't taught to
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these things.
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That's why you have a company.
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Very good point.
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No, we were not taught this.
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And physical therapy school did not
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prepare us for the business side of our
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business.
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And I think even today it does not
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prepare physical therapists for the
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business part of their job.
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Right.
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And so, no, I think physical therapists,
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when they look at preparing to sell a
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business, you know, there's many, many,
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many steps to that from making sure that
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their financials are in order.
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making sure that their operations are
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driving those financial results,
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making sure they can show how's the
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retention over the last three to five
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years.
00:07:44.798 --> 00:07:47.261
So knowing those things about your
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business and being able to talk about
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them,
00:07:50.423 --> 00:07:51.964
like you talk about what you had for
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dinner last night and how you put that
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together and all the ingredients,
00:07:56.108 --> 00:07:59.411
you really need to know every aspect of
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your business
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we try to teach business owners that
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because inherently they don't know that
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they're tied up every single day.
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There's the next problem.
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There's the next therapist that happened
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to leave.
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There's the next one that either is,
00:08:14.504 --> 00:08:14.764
you know,
00:08:14.805 --> 00:08:17.125
going on vacation or just got pregnant or
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whatever it may be.
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And so that there's these constant,
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so to really truly know the things that
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an acquirer wants to know about their
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business sometimes is a process.
00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:28.399
Yeah.
00:08:28.440 --> 00:08:30.882
You've said that the best time when I
00:08:30.901 --> 00:08:33.322
should prepare is two to three years
00:08:33.363 --> 00:08:35.543
before you want to sell.
00:08:35.644 --> 00:08:36.544
Why that far out?
00:08:36.605 --> 00:08:38.806
What does that give you in terms of
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flexibility or preparation time?
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What does that arm you with?
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Sure.
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Well, first of all,
00:08:43.489 --> 00:08:46.129
your financials have to be in order.
00:08:46.710 --> 00:08:48.110
And many times,
00:08:48.311 --> 00:08:50.952
financials are not ready for a quality of
00:08:51.173 --> 00:08:52.133
earnings review.
00:08:53.354 --> 00:08:55.134
Jimmy, have you ever had a living autopsy?
00:08:55.847 --> 00:08:57.370
I have not, not personally, no.
00:08:57.409 --> 00:09:00.072
That's how I would describe the quality of
00:09:00.251 --> 00:09:01.133
earnings review.
00:09:01.293 --> 00:09:03.134
It's an audit that's being done by the
00:09:03.174 --> 00:09:04.816
acquirer on your books and they're going
00:09:04.836 --> 00:09:05.576
to shred them.
00:09:05.956 --> 00:09:07.538
They're going to go into every single line
00:09:07.619 --> 00:09:08.840
item, every single detail.
00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:11.341
So it takes some time to get those
00:09:11.422 --> 00:09:13.985
prepared and not all CPAs and accountants
00:09:14.065 --> 00:09:16.226
know how to prepare those for an acquirer.
00:09:17.605 --> 00:09:19.446
Another big piece is,
00:09:20.226 --> 00:09:22.248
as you're looking at your operations
00:09:22.288 --> 00:09:23.048
performance,
00:09:23.568 --> 00:09:27.070
where are your KPIs in comparison to your
00:09:27.110 --> 00:09:27.750
competitors?
00:09:28.652 --> 00:09:30.673
Where is your productivity?
00:09:30.874 --> 00:09:32.835
Where is your retention rate,
00:09:33.075 --> 00:09:35.777
patient retention, visits per FTE per day,
00:09:36.136 --> 00:09:37.418
visits per new patient?
00:09:37.758 --> 00:09:39.779
Where do all those metrics fit?
00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:41.461
Because remember,
00:09:41.520 --> 00:09:44.022
acquirers are comparing them to the last
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really good business that they acquired.
00:09:46.903 --> 00:09:48.184
So they really want to see,
00:09:48.605 --> 00:09:50.527
so that's another preparation piece.
00:09:52.317 --> 00:09:52.618
Big,
00:09:52.677 --> 00:09:54.460
big piece that I think a lot of
00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:58.962
multi-clinic owners may miss is truly
00:09:59.023 --> 00:10:00.783
aligning the leadership group.
00:10:01.804 --> 00:10:02.705
When your leaders,
00:10:02.764 --> 00:10:06.248
and think of you as the CEO,
00:10:06.687 --> 00:10:07.808
and then you have, let's call it,
00:10:07.828 --> 00:10:08.730
twenty clinics,
00:10:08.830 --> 00:10:10.350
and they all have clinical directors.
00:10:11.664 --> 00:10:13.586
The leadership are all those people in the
00:10:13.606 --> 00:10:14.167
middle of that.
00:10:14.628 --> 00:10:15.928
It's your director of marketing.
00:10:15.989 --> 00:10:17.610
It's your director of administration.
00:10:17.690 --> 00:10:20.111
It's your chief operating officer.
00:10:21.052 --> 00:10:24.395
And they're managing multiple things each
00:10:24.436 --> 00:10:25.255
and every day.
00:10:26.017 --> 00:10:30.159
They have to have real standards passed
00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:32.341
down to them that they have to show
00:10:32.361 --> 00:10:33.763
they are meeting because remember,
00:10:33.822 --> 00:10:35.625
many of them are not treating patients.
00:10:37.139 --> 00:10:39.220
And then as you get closer to an
00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:42.682
event, an acquirer looks and says, wow,
00:10:43.102 --> 00:10:45.124
those six to eight people,
00:10:45.764 --> 00:10:47.025
they are important.
00:10:48.105 --> 00:10:50.148
Okay, are they under non-competes?
00:10:51.514 --> 00:10:54.336
Do we have a strategy that if we're
00:10:54.356 --> 00:10:57.058
going to roll equity forward into a new
00:10:57.099 --> 00:10:58.779
company, me as the owner,
00:10:59.561 --> 00:11:00.861
is there a way that we can do
00:11:00.902 --> 00:11:03.923
that with this leadership group as well so
00:11:03.964 --> 00:11:06.465
that we are aligned in the future?
00:11:06.985 --> 00:11:09.006
Acquires want to see alignment.
00:11:09.626 --> 00:11:11.349
And if you can go to the acquirer,
00:11:11.448 --> 00:11:12.929
we already have a program.
00:11:13.836 --> 00:11:17.460
that exists that all of our leaders will
00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:20.442
have a value at the time of a
00:11:20.481 --> 00:11:23.304
transaction and they can roll that value
00:11:23.504 --> 00:11:25.866
into equity in the new company owned by
00:11:25.907 --> 00:11:27.048
the acquirer in you.
00:11:27.707 --> 00:11:29.850
Now you have a team that's going to
00:11:29.929 --> 00:11:34.173
drive you to that second level of growth,
00:11:34.293 --> 00:11:36.375
which I described before growing through
00:11:36.836 --> 00:11:39.337
that leadership alignment proves that out
00:11:39.477 --> 00:11:40.578
and really proves that theory.
00:11:42.153 --> 00:11:44.192
Knowing these processes that you're
00:11:44.232 --> 00:11:46.933
talking about could easily change the
00:11:46.974 --> 00:11:50.514
value of a sale of a company either
00:11:50.553 --> 00:11:51.595
way, right?
00:11:51.695 --> 00:11:51.875
I mean,
00:11:51.914 --> 00:11:53.134
you could double or triple the value of
00:11:53.154 --> 00:11:55.235
a company before it goes to market if
00:11:55.274 --> 00:11:58.456
you know what levers to pull and what
00:11:58.515 --> 00:11:59.176
things to do.
00:11:59.296 --> 00:12:01.475
So Paul, million, billion dollar question.
00:12:01.696 --> 00:12:03.017
What are the levers to pull?
00:12:03.177 --> 00:12:04.496
What are the things that people should be
00:12:04.537 --> 00:12:05.856
doing to make sure that they're getting
00:12:05.876 --> 00:12:06.576
the most out of it?
00:12:06.897 --> 00:12:07.537
Absolutely.
00:12:07.697 --> 00:12:08.677
That's the secret sauce.
00:12:08.697 --> 00:12:09.618
So I'm not going to tell you that.
00:12:09.638 --> 00:12:10.077
All right, good.
00:12:10.118 --> 00:12:11.457
Yeah, we'll bleep this part out.
00:12:13.837 --> 00:12:15.798
One of the biggest areas that we find
00:12:16.119 --> 00:12:17.359
is in charge capture.
00:12:18.219 --> 00:12:21.100
That is what units are your therapist
00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:23.260
billing for the procedures that they are
00:12:23.321 --> 00:12:23.701
doing?
00:12:24.380 --> 00:12:25.660
And in many cases,
00:12:25.900 --> 00:12:30.503
therapists will choose to bill a code that
00:12:30.562 --> 00:12:33.462
is a lower paying code than they will
00:12:33.523 --> 00:12:35.764
choose to build the right code.
00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:39.071
And so that is one of the biggest
00:12:39.191 --> 00:12:39.471
areas.
00:12:39.571 --> 00:12:42.111
And when you go about it with you're
00:12:42.152 --> 00:12:43.493
providing the care,
00:12:44.373 --> 00:12:49.774
we are the most underserved asset in
00:12:49.835 --> 00:12:53.017
healthcare in terms of what we generate
00:12:54.256 --> 00:12:55.017
for patients.
00:12:55.378 --> 00:12:57.298
The results that we get in patients,
00:12:57.357 --> 00:13:00.860
we are severely underpaid for the results
00:13:00.899 --> 00:13:02.220
that we achieve with patients.
00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:05.542
So if you're doing therapeutic activity,
00:13:06.583 --> 00:13:08.703
We want you to bill for therapeutic
00:13:08.884 --> 00:13:09.504
activity,
00:13:09.784 --> 00:13:12.325
even though it's more expensive than
00:13:12.384 --> 00:13:15.046
therapeutic exercise, neuromuscular re-ed.
00:13:15.066 --> 00:13:19.125
And that's another more higher level code.
00:13:19.647 --> 00:13:21.886
That's what skilled therapists are doing
00:13:21.927 --> 00:13:22.866
with patients.
00:13:23.826 --> 00:13:26.347
Most skilled therapists are not doing
00:13:26.548 --> 00:13:28.508
three therapeutic exercises.
00:13:28.587 --> 00:13:29.908
It's putting somebody on a bike.
00:13:29.928 --> 00:13:31.048
They can do that at the gym.
00:13:31.068 --> 00:13:31.188
Right.
00:13:32.648 --> 00:13:33.970
My point is that most therapists are
00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:34.551
already doing that.
00:13:34.971 --> 00:13:36.212
They're just not billing for it and they
00:13:36.232 --> 00:13:37.014
don't think it's right.
00:13:37.033 --> 00:13:38.355
And they feel conflicted and we
00:13:38.395 --> 00:13:38.937
understand,
00:13:38.976 --> 00:13:41.600
and maybe their training has been that
00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:41.860
way.
00:13:43.222 --> 00:13:44.264
That's one big piece.
00:13:44.644 --> 00:13:47.168
Another big piece is schedule management.
00:13:47.969 --> 00:13:49.672
And this has two, two, two,
00:13:50.307 --> 00:13:52.009
Two levers, okay?
00:13:52.408 --> 00:13:54.831
The first lever is we have to make
00:13:54.871 --> 00:13:57.375
sure we are scheduling as such so that
00:13:57.414 --> 00:13:59.517
we are maximizing productivity.
00:14:00.878 --> 00:14:02.639
We're big believers in PT,
00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:04.302
PT assistant teams.
00:14:04.741 --> 00:14:06.323
We find that that works,
00:14:06.403 --> 00:14:08.586
especially if the PTs are at a level
00:14:08.907 --> 00:14:11.288
that they can truly manage the care of
00:14:11.308 --> 00:14:12.029
their patients.
00:14:12.490 --> 00:14:14.591
while the PT assistant is carrying out
00:14:14.890 --> 00:14:15.691
some of that care.
00:14:16.211 --> 00:14:17.610
We've designed the plan,
00:14:18.030 --> 00:14:20.351
me as the PT have done the evaluation,
00:14:20.812 --> 00:14:21.231
et cetera,
00:14:21.272 --> 00:14:23.413
and we're checking in every so often.
00:14:24.873 --> 00:14:27.113
But making that schedule in a way to
00:14:27.312 --> 00:14:30.153
maximize productivity and the
00:14:30.214 --> 00:14:33.195
communication between therapists and front
00:14:33.235 --> 00:14:37.035
desk has to be what we call completely
00:14:37.115 --> 00:14:38.096
patient-centered.
00:14:39.058 --> 00:14:41.399
We will do whatever we can to get
00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.841
the patient in and to do what the
00:14:43.880 --> 00:14:46.462
patient needs from us to get them better.
00:14:47.482 --> 00:14:48.884
Many times that's not happening in
00:14:48.923 --> 00:14:49.464
clinics.
00:14:50.284 --> 00:14:51.085
I got to be out of here at
00:14:51.105 --> 00:14:55.427
four o'clock today because that's when my
00:14:55.466 --> 00:14:57.207
whistle goes off that I have to leave.
00:14:57.268 --> 00:15:01.090
And so there's way of incentivizing to
00:15:01.110 --> 00:15:03.431
help therapists and front desk be able to
00:15:03.471 --> 00:15:04.052
do that better.
00:15:05.011 --> 00:15:06.972
So the one side of it is getting
00:15:07.013 --> 00:15:09.234
as many patients scheduled as we possibly
00:15:09.274 --> 00:15:11.033
can in the most productive manner.
00:15:11.674 --> 00:15:12.794
The second side of that,
00:15:13.054 --> 00:15:15.196
which this is where the other side of
00:15:15.216 --> 00:15:15.975
the sword comes in.
00:15:16.277 --> 00:15:17.356
So you have to do that in a
00:15:17.417 --> 00:15:18.376
compliant manner.
00:15:18.937 --> 00:15:21.798
It has to be within compliance standards.
00:15:22.438 --> 00:15:24.580
And while we can sometimes
00:15:25.807 --> 00:15:28.408
Shift into the yellow a little bit.
00:15:28.428 --> 00:15:29.149
We're in green.
00:15:29.188 --> 00:15:30.649
We just touched that yellow.
00:15:31.190 --> 00:15:32.831
You don't ever want to go deep into
00:15:32.850 --> 00:15:34.751
that yellow into into the red because
00:15:34.792 --> 00:15:36.912
acquirers will pick that up immediately.
00:15:37.513 --> 00:15:40.533
And most acquirers will flag that and
00:15:40.673 --> 00:15:41.974
decrease your purchase price.
00:15:43.674 --> 00:15:43.835
You know,
00:15:43.855 --> 00:15:45.076
there are some a little bit more
00:15:45.096 --> 00:15:46.796
aggressive out there that, you know,
00:15:46.816 --> 00:15:48.256
are not quite as aggressive.
00:15:48.917 --> 00:15:50.398
you know, bothered by that,
00:15:51.219 --> 00:15:53.000
we don't want our clients, you know,
00:15:53.020 --> 00:15:55.802
we want our clients to be right in
00:15:56.182 --> 00:15:56.644
that green.
00:15:57.224 --> 00:16:01.268
So that is a very difficult process to
00:16:01.288 --> 00:16:03.769
get full productivity while you're also
00:16:03.809 --> 00:16:06.471
maintaining full compliance.
00:16:06.491 --> 00:16:08.894
That's the other area that we really find.
00:16:08.974 --> 00:16:10.075
I think, you know,
00:16:10.475 --> 00:16:13.018
the third area is attracting and
00:16:13.057 --> 00:16:15.379
retaining, you know, not just staff,
00:16:16.653 --> 00:16:18.215
But we talked about this with Kurt
00:16:18.274 --> 00:16:18.815
Cignetti.
00:16:19.416 --> 00:16:21.859
He wants pressure tested players.
00:16:22.339 --> 00:16:24.000
And so if you don't pressure test them
00:16:24.061 --> 00:16:24.761
in practice,
00:16:25.501 --> 00:16:26.703
so they do the loud music and all
00:16:26.724 --> 00:16:26.844
that.
00:16:27.784 --> 00:16:30.086
He was the coach of Indiana Hoosiers who
00:16:30.106 --> 00:16:31.008
won the national championship.
00:16:31.087 --> 00:16:31.428
Anyway,
00:16:31.928 --> 00:16:33.870
we have to pressure test our therapists
00:16:33.971 --> 00:16:36.214
and our therapists will appreciate it.
00:16:37.788 --> 00:16:39.208
They don't want to be babied.
00:16:39.629 --> 00:16:40.389
They really don't.
00:16:40.429 --> 00:16:42.629
We think we sometimes have to baby them
00:16:42.690 --> 00:16:43.990
because, oh, you know,
00:16:44.910 --> 00:16:46.870
they like their free time and they like
00:16:46.890 --> 00:16:49.211
their balance and they do like all that.
00:16:49.971 --> 00:16:53.493
But they also want to know when they're
00:16:53.533 --> 00:16:55.192
performing well and when they're not
00:16:55.232 --> 00:16:55.933
performing well.
00:16:55.953 --> 00:16:58.094
And if we don't pressure test them when
00:16:58.134 --> 00:16:59.614
we have pressure situations,
00:16:59.634 --> 00:17:00.774
they're going to wilt and they're going to
00:17:00.794 --> 00:17:01.355
want to go home.
00:17:03.197 --> 00:17:05.137
So I think those are three areas that
00:17:05.178 --> 00:17:07.700
we find are very, very key.
00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:09.961
You got stronger,
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:11.422
more willing physical therapists,
00:17:11.643 --> 00:17:13.743
they're billing the right codes and
00:17:13.864 --> 00:17:16.165
schedule management is at a hundred
00:17:16.205 --> 00:17:19.607
percent communication between front desk
00:17:19.768 --> 00:17:20.648
and therapists.
00:17:20.669 --> 00:17:21.829
Those are big areas.
00:17:22.438 --> 00:17:23.498
You alluded to this before,
00:17:23.538 --> 00:17:26.799
but how damaging is it when the owner
00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:29.121
is still the ringmaster,
00:17:29.361 --> 00:17:30.701
the center of everything?
00:17:30.801 --> 00:17:33.182
They are the star clinician.
00:17:33.222 --> 00:17:34.942
They're the referral magnet.
00:17:34.982 --> 00:17:36.223
They're the problem solver.
00:17:36.723 --> 00:17:38.944
How damaging is that in terms of the
00:17:38.984 --> 00:17:41.006
situation when you find these people?
00:17:41.536 --> 00:17:42.016
Yeah,
00:17:42.496 --> 00:17:44.836
it's more in small practices than it is
00:17:45.037 --> 00:17:46.116
in large practices.
00:17:46.497 --> 00:17:48.317
And there's a reason why large practices
00:17:48.357 --> 00:17:50.278
get higher multiples than small practices.
00:17:50.778 --> 00:17:52.239
So if I can be a small practice,
00:17:52.259 --> 00:17:54.118
but I can make my practice appear more
00:17:54.159 --> 00:17:55.200
like a large practice,
00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:57.079
I am going to get a higher multiple.
00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:58.019
And by doing that,
00:17:58.579 --> 00:18:01.260
you are essentially you would be willing
00:18:01.300 --> 00:18:03.882
to take the thirty day test.
00:18:04.561 --> 00:18:06.064
which is, hey guys,
00:18:06.765 --> 00:18:07.625
I hate to tell you this,
00:18:07.945 --> 00:18:09.548
but I'm leaving tomorrow and tomorrow's a
00:18:09.587 --> 00:18:09.909
Friday.
00:18:09.989 --> 00:18:10.769
I'm leaving tomorrow.
00:18:11.150 --> 00:18:12.372
I'm going to be gone for a month.
00:18:12.913 --> 00:18:13.854
You guys aren't going to be able to
00:18:13.894 --> 00:18:14.515
contact me.
00:18:15.259 --> 00:18:17.039
So you know what to do.
00:18:18.060 --> 00:18:19.402
Do they?
00:18:19.422 --> 00:18:20.502
Do they know what to do?
00:18:20.903 --> 00:18:23.705
And that is passing down, again,
00:18:24.346 --> 00:18:28.229
those policies and procedures and how we
00:18:28.308 --> 00:18:32.112
run our practice and making sure that you
00:18:32.152 --> 00:18:34.994
have those leaders in place that can run
00:18:35.015 --> 00:18:36.915
your practice when you're gone.
00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.042
acquirers are very,
00:18:41.083 --> 00:18:43.886
very skeptical when owners wanna leave
00:18:44.709 --> 00:18:46.131
very quickly after a sale.
00:18:47.133 --> 00:18:48.976
And so that's why I say,
00:18:49.076 --> 00:18:52.260
think out probably more like seven to,
00:18:53.321 --> 00:18:56.083
five to seven years before you want to
00:18:56.123 --> 00:18:56.782
be done.
00:18:57.202 --> 00:18:58.222
Meaning I want to be out of my
00:18:58.242 --> 00:18:59.824
clinic, traveling,
00:18:59.884 --> 00:19:02.423
doing something else to start preparing
00:19:02.825 --> 00:19:05.664
because you at least a minimum of three
00:19:05.684 --> 00:19:08.066
years with an acquirer is where you're
00:19:08.086 --> 00:19:10.287
going to get the best deal.
00:19:10.547 --> 00:19:11.767
You get the highest multiple,
00:19:11.807 --> 00:19:12.366
the best deal.
00:19:13.346 --> 00:19:15.028
And where if you have rollover equity,
00:19:15.147 --> 00:19:17.648
you can maximize that utilizing the
00:19:17.689 --> 00:19:20.729
resources of the acquirer and gaining that
00:19:20.950 --> 00:19:22.549
second bite of the apple as they call
00:19:22.589 --> 00:19:22.650
it.
00:19:23.689 --> 00:19:24.989
I like when people change their minds,
00:19:25.048 --> 00:19:25.329
Paul,
00:19:25.349 --> 00:19:26.769
because it's always unique how they got
00:19:26.809 --> 00:19:27.009
there.
00:19:27.069 --> 00:19:29.691
You used to say and question how many
00:19:29.730 --> 00:19:31.230
PTs were actually really true
00:19:31.310 --> 00:19:32.070
entrepreneurs,
00:19:32.551 --> 00:19:34.051
and you've changed your mind.
00:19:34.152 --> 00:19:35.932
What did it change to and why did
00:19:35.952 --> 00:19:37.272
it change?
00:19:37.393 --> 00:19:38.032
Absolutely.
00:19:38.633 --> 00:19:40.614
Way, way back when...
00:19:41.071 --> 00:19:41.311
You know,
00:19:41.791 --> 00:19:43.893
I sold my practice and we grew it
00:19:43.913 --> 00:19:45.093
to twenty one clinics.
00:19:45.192 --> 00:19:46.032
And, you know,
00:19:46.113 --> 00:19:48.794
I was a young entrepreneur and, you know,
00:19:48.894 --> 00:19:50.634
I was different than all the other
00:19:50.673 --> 00:19:52.814
physical therapy owned businesses out
00:19:52.854 --> 00:19:54.174
there because they're just physical
00:19:54.214 --> 00:19:54.674
therapists.
00:19:55.194 --> 00:19:56.394
No, no, no.
00:19:57.275 --> 00:19:59.635
As I started, you know,
00:19:59.935 --> 00:20:02.695
becoming involved with physical therapists
00:20:02.895 --> 00:20:03.817
and their businesses,
00:20:04.277 --> 00:20:08.057
how quickly they were able to embrace
00:20:08.498 --> 00:20:10.117
systems and processes
00:20:10.498 --> 00:20:12.559
to run and manage their business.
00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:15.582
I cannot tell you how many businesses we
00:20:15.642 --> 00:20:18.263
started with one single site.
00:20:19.684 --> 00:20:22.326
We have one in New York, two partners,
00:20:23.167 --> 00:20:24.008
one single site.
00:20:24.368 --> 00:20:25.789
I can remember I went to visit them.
00:20:25.829 --> 00:20:28.192
Their eyes were this wide open when I
00:20:28.231 --> 00:20:30.133
told them about how we grew our business.
00:20:30.192 --> 00:20:33.395
And they today have fifty four clinics.
00:20:34.935 --> 00:20:37.277
in the New York metropolitan area are
00:20:37.317 --> 00:20:38.576
backed by private equity.
00:20:39.757 --> 00:20:40.297
So yeah,
00:20:40.856 --> 00:20:43.657
physical therapists have great acumen.
00:20:44.157 --> 00:20:45.397
And when you think about it,
00:20:45.897 --> 00:20:50.378
when I go to do an evaluation of
00:20:50.898 --> 00:20:53.618
a human, a patient,
00:20:53.739 --> 00:20:55.660
I'm looking at all the things that are
00:20:55.700 --> 00:20:57.019
keeping that human,
00:20:57.059 --> 00:20:59.200
that patient from being able to do the
00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.441
things that they want to be able to
00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:01.601
do.
00:21:02.801 --> 00:21:04.443
I can look at a business the very
00:21:04.564 --> 00:21:05.305
same way.
00:21:05.384 --> 00:21:07.267
And I find that physical therapists are
00:21:07.307 --> 00:21:09.148
very strategic when they look at their
00:21:09.189 --> 00:21:09.769
businesses.
00:21:10.369 --> 00:21:12.511
Sometimes they just don't know what are
00:21:12.551 --> 00:21:14.653
the systems and processes that I now can
00:21:14.855 --> 00:21:17.636
use to build this to three, ten, fifteen,
00:21:17.676 --> 00:21:17.998
twenty.
00:21:18.999 --> 00:21:20.539
And when they can see that,
00:21:21.201 --> 00:21:23.663
When they can see that in a map,
00:21:23.722 --> 00:21:25.463
literally how that is done,
00:21:25.544 --> 00:21:27.605
we're going to do two startups and one
00:21:27.645 --> 00:21:29.767
acquisition per year over the next five
00:21:29.807 --> 00:21:30.147
years.
00:21:30.428 --> 00:21:31.429
Here's the criteria.
00:21:31.608 --> 00:21:33.210
When they can see that in a plan,
00:21:33.950 --> 00:21:34.671
the lights go on.
00:21:37.353 --> 00:21:38.012
You're a young guy.
00:21:38.053 --> 00:21:39.034
You're a lot younger than I am.
00:21:39.253 --> 00:21:41.236
You probably don't even remember UHF TV.
00:21:42.175 --> 00:21:42.415
Oh, yeah.
00:21:42.496 --> 00:21:42.997
Ultra high free.
00:21:43.017 --> 00:21:43.196
Yeah.
00:21:43.217 --> 00:21:44.196
I remember, you know,
00:21:44.277 --> 00:21:46.759
Weird Al had that movie, VHF.
00:21:46.838 --> 00:21:47.459
Yeah.
00:21:48.078 --> 00:21:49.460
Remember, you can barely see it,
00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:51.381
but there was people back behind there.
00:21:51.721 --> 00:21:53.342
And then now we have high def.
00:21:53.761 --> 00:21:56.723
I always describe no plan to a clear
00:21:56.763 --> 00:22:00.226
plan is going from UHF to high def,
00:22:00.905 --> 00:22:03.307
driving to California to visit my son and
00:22:03.347 --> 00:22:03.988
daughter-in-law.
00:22:04.288 --> 00:22:05.308
And I'm in New Jersey.
00:22:06.048 --> 00:22:07.130
how do I get there?
00:22:07.309 --> 00:22:08.549
I need the plan.
00:22:08.589 --> 00:22:10.951
So plans are very, very important.
00:22:10.990 --> 00:22:13.792
And that's what I think spikes physical
00:22:13.833 --> 00:22:16.473
therapists to now become entrepreneurs and
00:22:16.534 --> 00:22:17.213
business owners.
00:22:17.674 --> 00:22:19.174
Well, you just mentioned it a second ago,
00:22:19.234 --> 00:22:19.655
your story,
00:22:19.715 --> 00:22:22.237
you grew from three clinics to twenty one,
00:22:22.277 --> 00:22:23.678
which is not a small feat.
00:22:24.218 --> 00:22:25.038
But let me ask you this.
00:22:25.117 --> 00:22:27.439
What did the twenty one clinic version of
00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:30.760
Paul understand that maybe the three
00:22:31.101 --> 00:22:32.882
clinic version of Paul maybe didn't?
00:22:33.001 --> 00:22:33.321
Or, you know,
00:22:33.362 --> 00:22:34.782
what'd you learn between three and twenty
00:22:34.883 --> 00:22:34.962
one?
00:22:35.526 --> 00:22:36.066
Yeah, no,
00:22:36.605 --> 00:22:39.847
how to execute on a plan and how
00:22:39.887 --> 00:22:41.548
to take three owners.
00:22:41.708 --> 00:22:44.909
And we had a consultant by the name
00:22:44.949 --> 00:22:47.730
of Alan Cox, Cox and Associates.
00:22:48.330 --> 00:22:51.432
He spent with us for three years from,
00:22:52.251 --> 00:22:57.494
from to ,
00:22:54.393 --> 00:22:57.634
he came onsite from Florida a week a
00:22:57.673 --> 00:23:00.535
month for three years.
00:23:01.214 --> 00:23:02.816
And I lived in his pocket.
00:23:03.853 --> 00:23:06.375
Just learning exactly how and we developed
00:23:06.454 --> 00:23:06.994
a plan.
00:23:07.394 --> 00:23:09.156
We executed on that plan.
00:23:09.757 --> 00:23:11.678
And that was where I really,
00:23:11.758 --> 00:23:14.279
really learned and where the lights went
00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:16.000
off, which we had three clinics,
00:23:16.040 --> 00:23:16.820
three owners.
00:23:17.741 --> 00:23:19.042
And we were just stuck.
00:23:20.202 --> 00:23:20.564
And I said,
00:23:20.604 --> 00:23:22.884
my goal is to have twenty clinics someday.
00:23:23.545 --> 00:23:24.986
And my partners would look at me and
00:23:25.006 --> 00:23:25.507
say, well,
00:23:25.586 --> 00:23:27.288
who's going to run the clinic that you're
00:23:27.327 --> 00:23:27.567
running?
00:23:28.527 --> 00:23:29.288
Well, I don't know.
00:23:29.607 --> 00:23:31.169
I don't know exactly how that works.
00:23:32.950 --> 00:23:36.393
And I'll never forget in our house with
00:23:36.593 --> 00:23:39.275
the three partners and Alan got up,
00:23:39.295 --> 00:23:40.375
he had the whiteboard.
00:23:40.455 --> 00:23:41.296
I love whiteboard.
00:23:41.395 --> 00:23:42.356
I love whiteboards.
00:23:42.557 --> 00:23:44.818
He's got the whiteboard going and he puts
00:23:44.878 --> 00:23:47.039
up my clinic and he said,
00:23:47.441 --> 00:23:50.021
Paul is going to be replaced by Nancy
00:23:50.522 --> 00:23:51.282
on Monday.
00:23:51.663 --> 00:23:54.325
She is the new director of the Moorestown
00:23:54.365 --> 00:23:54.726
clinic.
00:23:55.705 --> 00:23:56.146
Monday,
00:23:56.227 --> 00:23:58.470
he's going to vacate that clinic and she's
00:23:58.490 --> 00:23:59.592
going to become the new director.
00:24:00.051 --> 00:24:02.035
And I could see my partners like they
00:24:02.055 --> 00:24:05.619
were shaking.
00:24:05.660 --> 00:24:06.260
What about us?
00:24:06.300 --> 00:24:07.082
Wait, what about us?
00:24:08.683 --> 00:24:08.964
Jeff?
00:24:18.942 --> 00:24:19.362
All right, well,
00:24:19.382 --> 00:24:22.003
we all hopefully have an Alan sort of
00:24:22.064 --> 00:24:22.544
in our life,
00:24:22.564 --> 00:24:25.644
somebody who sees something and puts also
00:24:25.805 --> 00:24:29.907
a process to it.
00:24:30.528 --> 00:24:32.449
What do you think helped you think bigger
00:24:32.489 --> 00:24:34.109
with that time with Alan, right?
00:24:34.150 --> 00:24:35.369
He walked in one day and said, hey,
00:24:35.410 --> 00:24:36.691
listen, Paul's out.
00:24:36.730 --> 00:24:38.132
Somebody else is assuming his role on
00:24:38.172 --> 00:24:38.811
Monday morning.
00:24:39.893 --> 00:24:41.073
After that, you know,
00:24:41.113 --> 00:24:43.193
full body sweat wore off, you know,
00:24:43.334 --> 00:24:45.474
what were the things that helped you think
00:24:45.535 --> 00:24:48.017
bigger after that from three to eventually
00:24:48.057 --> 00:24:48.576
twenty one?
00:24:49.045 --> 00:24:50.306
Sure.
00:24:50.346 --> 00:24:51.185
Yeah.
00:24:51.205 --> 00:24:52.286
You know, if you can see it,
00:24:52.365 --> 00:24:52.987
you can do it.
00:24:53.047 --> 00:24:56.367
You know, I think, again,
00:24:56.768 --> 00:24:59.509
it went right back to the plan and
00:24:59.528 --> 00:25:02.371
a plan that included how much money are
00:25:02.391 --> 00:25:03.411
we going to have to borrow?
00:25:04.730 --> 00:25:06.551
What's each one of these new startups
00:25:06.571 --> 00:25:07.333
going to look like?
00:25:07.873 --> 00:25:09.653
What does an acquisition look like?
00:25:10.374 --> 00:25:10.574
And
00:25:11.784 --> 00:25:12.044
you know,
00:25:12.284 --> 00:25:14.724
we're actually bringing a full criteria
00:25:14.904 --> 00:25:16.205
into each acquisition.
00:25:16.586 --> 00:25:18.487
So we'll be able to very quickly say,
00:25:18.646 --> 00:25:20.528
no, this one doesn't fit our criteria.
00:25:21.647 --> 00:25:23.429
So we don't need to spend any more
00:25:23.469 --> 00:25:24.068
time on it.
00:25:24.950 --> 00:25:27.851
So there was a real process, you know,
00:25:27.931 --> 00:25:29.612
that was set in front of us.
00:25:30.471 --> 00:25:36.295
And I always knew that in order to
00:25:36.355 --> 00:25:36.875
grow,
00:25:37.174 --> 00:25:39.715
we could not keep treating patients and
00:25:39.756 --> 00:25:40.916
running clinics.
00:25:42.096 --> 00:25:44.537
And so it was just music to my
00:25:44.738 --> 00:25:47.397
ears when he said I was going to
00:25:47.417 --> 00:25:49.478
be out of my clinic in a month.
00:25:51.159 --> 00:25:53.118
Jeff was going to be the director of
00:25:53.278 --> 00:25:54.098
work hardening.
00:25:54.818 --> 00:25:56.859
And because we had a big work hardening
00:25:57.019 --> 00:25:58.660
workers compensation program,
00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:00.059
he was going to be out of his
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:01.059
clinic in a month.
00:26:01.540 --> 00:26:03.121
And then within three months,
00:26:03.861 --> 00:26:06.842
Jamie was going to be our director of
00:26:06.922 --> 00:26:08.342
marketing and she was going to be
00:26:08.382 --> 00:26:08.862
marketing.
00:26:09.789 --> 00:26:14.114
And we never had the trust in our
00:26:14.173 --> 00:26:16.155
staff to be able to run the clinics.
00:26:16.195 --> 00:26:18.038
We thought we were the only ones that
00:26:18.057 --> 00:26:21.320
would run clinics until we saw that there
00:26:21.361 --> 00:26:23.583
was a job description for a clinic
00:26:23.603 --> 00:26:24.084
director.
00:26:24.483 --> 00:26:26.086
There was training that we were going to
00:26:26.125 --> 00:26:27.386
do for the clinic director.
00:26:27.446 --> 00:26:28.567
We weren't just going to put them in
00:26:28.587 --> 00:26:29.689
and close our eyes.
00:26:30.910 --> 00:26:32.872
And when all those processes happened,
00:26:33.136 --> 00:26:35.198
took place with the three clinics that we
00:26:35.258 --> 00:26:38.039
had, it was just copy paste, copy paste,
00:26:38.059 --> 00:26:39.279
copy paste, copy paste.
00:26:39.740 --> 00:26:41.060
Once we went to four or five,
00:26:41.121 --> 00:26:44.702
six and late in two thousand ninety six,
00:26:44.782 --> 00:26:47.164
we did a seven clinic acquisition in
00:26:47.244 --> 00:26:49.046
Lancaster.
00:26:49.105 --> 00:26:52.426
And that that really took us from fourteen
00:26:52.467 --> 00:26:53.327
to twenty one.
00:26:53.928 --> 00:26:55.548
And that was when we knew we were
00:26:55.588 --> 00:26:57.069
ready to start looking for a partner.
00:26:58.330 --> 00:26:59.090
I'm going to force you.
00:26:59.111 --> 00:27:00.692
You have to pick one of these firsts.
00:27:01.652 --> 00:27:02.432
So I'll set the stage.
00:27:02.551 --> 00:27:05.593
A PT owner has decided this month they
00:27:05.633 --> 00:27:07.153
want to sell in three to five years.
00:27:07.173 --> 00:27:08.074
So you got them on that good,
00:27:08.714 --> 00:27:09.694
that timeline, right?
00:27:09.734 --> 00:27:11.055
They're doing things ahead of time.
00:27:11.635 --> 00:27:13.415
Give me their first phone call.
00:27:13.935 --> 00:27:15.717
What's their first spreadsheet they need
00:27:15.737 --> 00:27:17.477
to create and what's the first
00:27:17.597 --> 00:27:19.178
uncomfortable truth they need to face?
00:27:19.238 --> 00:27:20.499
Yeah.
00:27:20.578 --> 00:27:22.598
So the first spreadsheet they need to
00:27:23.338 --> 00:27:24.720
create, um,
00:27:25.415 --> 00:27:27.717
really is a spreadsheet that would show
00:27:27.757 --> 00:27:29.137
them a couple of things.
00:27:29.377 --> 00:27:33.921
One is what are their metrics compared to
00:27:34.141 --> 00:27:35.862
the industry standards?
00:27:37.262 --> 00:27:38.423
Where are their metrics?
00:27:39.625 --> 00:27:41.006
Visits per FTE per day,
00:27:41.566 --> 00:27:44.106
visits per new patient, units per visit.
00:27:44.768 --> 00:27:49.810
Where do they stand in the current market?
00:27:51.388 --> 00:27:52.592
Who do they need to call?
00:27:53.354 --> 00:27:54.736
I mean, Jimmy, give them my number.
00:27:55.999 --> 00:27:57.762
What you really need to have though,
00:27:58.163 --> 00:27:58.443
you know,
00:27:58.483 --> 00:28:00.387
seriously is what you need to have is
00:28:01.810 --> 00:28:02.653
an evaluation.
00:28:04.226 --> 00:28:06.746
just like a physical therapist evaluation.
00:28:07.366 --> 00:28:08.727
And in this valuation,
00:28:08.767 --> 00:28:10.686
we would call it an assessment where
00:28:10.727 --> 00:28:13.307
you're assessing the business's readiness
00:28:13.728 --> 00:28:15.188
for a transaction.
00:28:15.807 --> 00:28:17.448
And that's everything from financial,
00:28:17.728 --> 00:28:21.229
to operations, to clinical, to leadership,
00:28:21.628 --> 00:28:24.588
to growth plan, et cetera, et cetera.
00:28:25.089 --> 00:28:27.450
Are you really truly ready for?
00:28:28.329 --> 00:28:31.951
And I think that is the first call
00:28:31.971 --> 00:28:32.691
that they would make.
00:28:32.711 --> 00:28:33.530
What was the last one?
00:28:34.045 --> 00:28:35.968
the first uncomfortable truth they need to
00:28:36.008 --> 00:28:36.990
come to and face.
00:28:37.490 --> 00:28:37.671
Yeah.
00:28:37.971 --> 00:28:39.653
First uncomfortable truth that they will
00:28:39.673 --> 00:28:43.000
have to face is in many cases where
00:28:43.019 --> 00:28:46.265
their perceived value was and their actual
00:28:46.285 --> 00:28:46.665
value.
00:28:48.199 --> 00:28:51.863
Many owners make a small mistake of when
00:28:51.903 --> 00:28:53.683
somebody tells them at a cocktail party
00:28:54.005 --> 00:28:55.605
how you find your EBITDA.
00:28:56.247 --> 00:28:57.548
It's not really that.
00:28:57.708 --> 00:29:00.590
It's taking all of their salaries.
00:29:01.050 --> 00:29:02.172
You know, you got two owners,
00:29:02.192 --> 00:29:04.153
you put all that to the bottom line
00:29:04.173 --> 00:29:05.575
and they're each taking two hundred fifty
00:29:05.595 --> 00:29:06.276
thousand a year.
00:29:06.855 --> 00:29:08.837
And they forget that you have to replace
00:29:08.877 --> 00:29:10.740
that with a replacement salary.
00:29:11.560 --> 00:29:14.242
So that tends to be the biggest truth
00:29:14.363 --> 00:29:17.165
that is what that true value of the
00:29:17.185 --> 00:29:20.848
business is and how far or how close
00:29:20.909 --> 00:29:24.612
they may be to where they are willing
00:29:24.652 --> 00:29:26.834
to, that's enough for me.
00:29:27.174 --> 00:29:28.895
If we can get exit closing,
00:29:29.355 --> 00:29:31.317
why down the road in a couple of
00:29:31.337 --> 00:29:31.679
years?
00:29:32.499 --> 00:29:34.681
um that's enough and we're content and we
00:29:34.701 --> 00:29:37.883
can move that or we're not even close
00:29:37.903 --> 00:29:40.064
i mean we have so much work to
00:29:40.104 --> 00:29:41.664
do to get to a point where we're
00:29:41.704 --> 00:29:44.146
even willing to consider so they've talked
00:29:44.186 --> 00:29:45.647
about selling the business for three
00:29:45.688 --> 00:29:48.930
months but once you have the valuation
00:29:48.970 --> 00:29:51.811
done and the assessment done you're years
00:29:51.852 --> 00:29:53.613
away from getting the value of what you
00:29:53.653 --> 00:29:55.315
really need to get in order to make
00:29:55.355 --> 00:29:55.914
that decision
00:29:57.054 --> 00:29:57.374
All right,
00:29:57.413 --> 00:29:58.795
let's go out of this and go big
00:29:58.855 --> 00:29:59.115
picture.
00:29:59.155 --> 00:29:59.977
I want you to help me read the
00:30:00.017 --> 00:30:00.457
tea leaves.
00:30:00.656 --> 00:30:01.518
Are you bullish,
00:30:02.138 --> 00:30:03.759
bearish on the profession,
00:30:03.840 --> 00:30:04.981
the profession as a whole?
00:30:05.021 --> 00:30:06.682
Like you talk to owners,
00:30:06.702 --> 00:30:08.184
you see under the hood of a lot
00:30:08.224 --> 00:30:08.625
of people.
00:30:08.925 --> 00:30:10.928
I'm not going to ask for any information
00:30:10.988 --> 00:30:11.488
I shouldn't have.
00:30:11.528 --> 00:30:12.690
But overall,
00:30:12.710 --> 00:30:13.951
when this comes to your brain,
00:30:14.431 --> 00:30:16.073
are you optimistic on the profession?
00:30:16.113 --> 00:30:16.733
Where do you sit?
00:30:17.372 --> 00:30:17.531
Yeah,
00:30:17.932 --> 00:30:20.034
I am extremely optimistic on the
00:30:20.074 --> 00:30:23.237
profession for probably two main reasons.
00:30:23.317 --> 00:30:27.039
Number one is there is so much need
00:30:27.861 --> 00:30:29.342
and we don't have, you know,
00:30:29.362 --> 00:30:31.442
there is so much need for physical
00:30:31.482 --> 00:30:31.903
therapy.
00:30:32.124 --> 00:30:34.786
There are way more patients that need care
00:30:35.145 --> 00:30:36.788
that are not getting care and that are
00:30:36.807 --> 00:30:40.049
on waiting lists across the country to get
00:30:40.109 --> 00:30:40.371
care.
00:30:40.750 --> 00:30:43.573
So we have an enormous need for our
00:30:43.613 --> 00:30:44.173
services.
00:30:45.390 --> 00:30:47.730
I think the other reason why I'm very
00:30:47.810 --> 00:30:51.811
bullish on this is that at some point
00:30:51.872 --> 00:30:52.532
in time,
00:30:52.593 --> 00:30:55.334
as we continue to show the value that
00:30:55.374 --> 00:30:57.795
we are providing to patients and we are
00:30:58.595 --> 00:31:01.476
continuing to march to Washington to show
00:31:01.496 --> 00:31:03.136
the value that we are providing to
00:31:03.176 --> 00:31:03.596
patients,
00:31:04.076 --> 00:31:07.458
we are the absolute greatest value in
00:31:07.518 --> 00:31:09.479
healthcare without a doubt.
00:31:10.339 --> 00:31:12.119
And I think the more of that that
00:31:12.180 --> 00:31:13.601
we can push and press,
00:31:14.862 --> 00:31:17.163
the more our reimbursement will start to
00:31:17.222 --> 00:31:19.724
get to a point where being a physical
00:31:19.765 --> 00:31:23.428
therapist is a good career versus
00:31:23.688 --> 00:31:25.308
currently it's,
00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:28.182
it has its challenges.
00:31:28.801 --> 00:31:28.981
You know,
00:31:29.021 --> 00:31:31.883
therapists coming out of school in ten
00:31:31.923 --> 00:31:33.063
years, in ten years,
00:31:33.103 --> 00:31:35.643
they may be only making ten or twenty
00:31:35.663 --> 00:31:37.584
percent more than they made when they were
00:31:37.624 --> 00:31:39.463
out of school unless they start their own
00:31:39.503 --> 00:31:40.025
practice.
00:31:41.525 --> 00:31:42.625
And there's many, you know,
00:31:42.684 --> 00:31:45.346
get rich quick opportunities out there
00:31:45.385 --> 00:31:47.826
with AI and other things in business.
00:31:48.227 --> 00:31:49.886
So many, you know,
00:31:49.926 --> 00:31:52.087
college students are choosing not to go
00:31:52.147 --> 00:31:52.968
into physical therapy.
00:31:53.817 --> 00:31:55.698
So that's going to be a challenge.
00:31:55.718 --> 00:31:58.378
PaulMartinHealthCareAdvisors.com is the
00:31:58.419 --> 00:31:58.798
website.
00:31:58.818 --> 00:31:59.878
That's where you'd send people.
00:31:59.898 --> 00:32:01.440
You've got your own YouTube channel there,
00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:02.019
LinkedIn.
00:32:02.140 --> 00:32:05.642
I see you sharing insights like we talked
00:32:05.662 --> 00:32:07.501
about today and others on LinkedIn as
00:32:07.541 --> 00:32:07.781
well.
00:32:08.082 --> 00:32:08.403
But Paul,
00:32:08.423 --> 00:32:09.403
we have a tradition on the show.
00:32:09.442 --> 00:32:10.963
It is called the parting shot.
00:32:10.983 --> 00:32:14.644
This is the parting shot.
00:32:14.724 --> 00:32:16.766
One last mic drop moment.
00:32:16.806 --> 00:32:17.645
No pressure.
00:32:18.066 --> 00:32:20.166
Just your legacy on the line.
00:32:21.953 --> 00:32:22.575
All right, no pressure.
00:32:22.595 --> 00:32:23.576
I'll set this up for you.
00:32:23.936 --> 00:32:25.679
A PT owner is listening right now.
00:32:26.420 --> 00:32:28.663
They're five years, three years,
00:32:28.702 --> 00:32:30.065
even one year away from selling.
00:32:30.224 --> 00:32:31.767
What do they need to hear from Paul?
00:32:31.886 --> 00:32:32.847
Is it a pep talk?
00:32:32.887 --> 00:32:34.069
Is it a get your stuff together?
00:32:34.289 --> 00:32:35.832
What's the pep talk you give to someone
00:32:35.872 --> 00:32:36.814
if they're a few years out?
00:32:36.854 --> 00:32:37.453
What do you say to them?
00:32:38.844 --> 00:32:40.444
If you are a few years out,
00:32:40.785 --> 00:32:43.546
you need to start today at getting a
00:32:43.605 --> 00:32:46.866
true understanding of what your value is,
00:32:47.707 --> 00:32:50.387
not by a third party appraisal company.
00:32:50.448 --> 00:32:53.409
And what's your value in this current
00:32:53.648 --> 00:32:54.028
market?
00:32:55.390 --> 00:32:59.134
And if that value after I pay taxes
00:32:59.173 --> 00:33:00.674
and after I get the second bite and
00:33:00.694 --> 00:33:01.055
all that,
00:33:02.175 --> 00:33:05.440
where is that compared to what you will
00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:09.864
need in order to move into the next
00:33:09.903 --> 00:33:10.964
part of your life?
00:33:12.006 --> 00:33:16.451
and start building today the plan to get
00:33:16.490 --> 00:33:19.272
from point A to point Z.
00:33:19.894 --> 00:33:21.015
Once you can see it,
00:33:21.455 --> 00:33:22.477
you will believe it.
00:33:23.037 --> 00:33:26.381
And once you can execute on the first
00:33:26.520 --> 00:33:27.382
part of it,
00:33:27.422 --> 00:33:29.844
just get to the next step of the
00:33:29.864 --> 00:33:30.144
plan.
00:33:31.650 --> 00:33:35.532
That's what I would say for all to
00:33:35.593 --> 00:33:39.015
embrace that because you will get to a
00:33:39.055 --> 00:33:41.537
finish line if you start that process
00:33:41.757 --> 00:33:42.198
today.
00:33:42.478 --> 00:33:43.018
Don't wait.
00:33:43.858 --> 00:33:44.839
Paul Martin, appreciate the time.
00:33:44.859 --> 00:33:46.080
Thanks for coming on the show and setting
00:33:46.101 --> 00:33:48.301
everybody straight.
00:33:48.362 --> 00:33:48.962
Thank you, Jimmy.
00:33:50.874 --> 00:33:51.934
That's it for this one,
00:33:52.214 --> 00:33:53.875
but we're just getting warmed up.
00:33:54.356 --> 00:33:56.278
Smash follow, send it to a friend,
00:33:56.478 --> 00:33:58.138
or crank up the next episode.
00:33:58.660 --> 00:33:59.519
Want to go deeper?
00:34:00.020 --> 00:34:04.063
Hit us at pgpinecast.com or find us on
00:34:04.103 --> 00:34:06.644
YouTube and socials at pgpinecast.
00:34:07.066 --> 00:34:09.367
And legally, none of this was advice.
00:34:09.427 --> 00:34:11.168
It's for entertainment purposes only.
00:34:12.849 --> 00:34:13.429
See, Keith?
00:34:13.630 --> 00:34:14.690
We read the script.
00:34:14.990 --> 00:34:15.672
Happy now?