Asheville Area Acupuncture Practice for Sale

The community of Swannanoa is located just east of its famous neighbor, Asheville, and right next door to the community of Black Mountain.
The area has about 150,000 residents and close to 10 million tourist visits per year.
Asheville and the surrounding region have been named one of the top 100 places to live in the United States; one of the safest places to live; and one of the country’s top 10 “foodie areas”, among numerous other honors.
It has an exceptional public school system, and natural beauty that is second to none.
The surrounding mountains offer walking, hiking, biking trails, greenways, camping, trout fishing, lakes, and nearby waterfalls.
The valley is home to six major conference centers, several colleges, and the top regional modern medical facility for the surrounding 18 counties.
While the clinic is currently situated in Swannanoa, it was located in Black Mountain for most of the past 18 years.
Close to 30 practitioners of different stripes have worked with SWB since our inception, and we continue to get a steady flow of new patients through our goodwill (we have won the area’s “Best Acupuncturist or Herbalist in the Western NC region” for the past 7 years).
Though we currently work out of a smaller space, we recommend a new buyer rent a slightly larger space to accommodate the overflow of patients we have been forced to put on waiting lists.

SWB is a non-specialty practice, where we see everything from subclinical and acute orthopedic conditions to chronic issues that have not responded to other medical interventions.
Our patient population spans from newborns to great grandparents, and everyone in between.
We currently average about 120 patients visits per month, with more new patient calls than we can handle, and over 1,500 active patient files.
We are a 100% cash practice (no insurance billing!), though we do provide superbills to those who request them.
Most of our patients are from communities within 15 miles of our office.
Given our long history in the area, almost all of our patients are referred by word-of-mouth, while some come through our online presence.

We've been quite uncomplicated in the methods we use to treat our patients, primarily employing simple Zang-Fu and channel theory diagnosis and treatment methodologies.
We occasionally incorporate Lonny Jarrett’s Heart Shock Trauma techniques, as well as food therapy, medical exercise, and a lot of patient education.
We use cupping for some conditions and occasional moxa, and most of our patients receive herbs or supplements.
The current practice also includes some functional medicine and refers out for blood and saliva testing. A new owner could be trained in all of this.

The following income and expense summaries are derived from an average of income and expenses from YE2015-2017. Note that Ms. Madden works out of one room, four days per week, and takes up to six weeks off per year.

Income

Average gross yearly revenue (3 years): $99,500+ ($8,290+/mo)

Expenses

Average adjusted expenses: $28,800 yearly ($2,400/mo)

Adjusted expenses are the net expenses that a new owner would have to take on in order to run the business at the same level of revenue as the current owner.

Net Income:

Average $70,540/year (~$5,870/month) – Over 70% of revenue is profit after expenses.

$93,500 OBO. Our price is based on a conservative professional valuation of almost $130,000, with an average yearly gross of about $100,000 for the past several years.
Our motivation to sell in a timely fashion has allowed us to generously factor in a discount off of the valued price for potential attrition and start-up costs on change of ownership. We expect the right person will retain our patients and transition smoothly, making this a great opportunity for the buyer.
The purchase will be structured as an asset purchase agreement, and may be drawn up between buyer and seller (preferred) or by attorneys, at the discretion and by agreement of both parties.
Approval of the buyer is subject to a credit check, and loans from medical practice brokers, banks, or the Small Business Administration (SBA) may be available to finance the transaction depending on the buyer’s creditworthiness.
The seller may also be willing to hold the loan given a 50% down payment from the buyer.
Upon purchase, the new owner will receive all patient records and equipment, in addition to a fully-stocked and well-organized herb and supplement pharmacy.
The current owner will also transfer to the new owner all clinic-related intellectual property, including the clinic website, all patient information, financials, and Unified Practice EHR, scheduling, and inventory program. (Note that the EHR is paid monthly, and the website yearly. Thus the transfer refers to the transfer of existing data, not ongoing payments after the sale.)
The current owner’s goal is to surrender the practice by the end of 2018. She would be willing to stay on for a limited time to train a new owner in her techniques and to assist in the transition, if so desired by the new owner, at no additional cost.

While the current practice nets a healthy return, a motivated buyer could significantly increase their income upon acquisition through a number of simple changes.

Work more hours. Given that the current owner only works 4 days per week and takes up to six weeks off per year, working more hours would obviously increase revenue.
Accept insurance. We are proud to be a low-maintenance, all-cash practice, but an enterprising new owner could certainly attract more business by accepting and billing insurance.
Add additional practitioners. In addition to or in lieu of working more hours, the practice could easily support at least one more provider during the times when the office is unoccupied.
Add additional office space. The current owner works out of a single treatment room with a reception and office area. A new owner could generate a lot of additional revenue by seeing patients out of a larger space, in more than one room at a time.
Do some marketing. We do very little marketing outside of our web presence. We have a database full of patient information that could be used for marketing directly to current and former patients, but we have been busy enough with our waiting list that we have not been using it as such. Doing any kind of additional marketing would create more opportunities for an increase in new patients and a return of pre-existing patients.
Improve online presence. The current owner has been successful without putting too much effort into creating an online presence. Blogging, improving the website, paid online marketing, and doing some email marketing all hold great potential to improve awareness of the clinic in order to generate more revenue.