Dr. Gwen Eaker went through two dental practice brokers, each of whom left a bad taste in her mouth, before finding DDSmatch Southwest. Our team members are dental practice transition specialists who aren’t happy with a transition if you aren’t happy with your transition. Read more and learn why after letting our team handle her dental practice for sale, she considers Randy and Andy to be her “very good friends.”

How is it that you decided it was time to move on from owning your own practice?

I’m just tired of being an owner and having all that responsibility. I wanted to just take a job that had less responsibility but still good money. So, I found that.

How long ago did you make the decision that you wanted to make a change? Has it been quite a while?

I think it was about a year ago . . . Maybe about a year ago I decided. I signed on with [DDSmatch] maybe eight months ago. It took a little while to sell it, but it takes some time. It was less than a year for sure.

Had you worked with anyone else before you worked with Andy and Randy?

Yes. I’ve been with two other brokers. They were horrible. They were crooks. Really they were. It was really bad. One was way worse than the other, but they both were bad, very bad. Not trustworthy. Just in the end you felt like you were taken advantage of.

The second one, I felt he was working for the buyer in the end. You know? And he kind of is working for both, so it’s a tough line to toe, you know? In the end, I felt like he was more in favor of the buyer. I had bad feelings.

I didn’t feel that with Andy and Randy. They were very good. Very good. They helped me come to grips with even just making the decision. They helped me work it through and decide what was  . . . no pressure to sell it because you know that’s how they make money, is to sell my office. But they did not pressure me to do that. They would have helped me jumpstart it, and make it more of a success if that was the road I chose to take. They helped me decide. They were very good friends.

How did you even find out about them and DDSmatch Southwest?

Oh my gosh. I found out from a little dental equipment repair man, an independent guy who came to my office. He’s the one that told me about Andy.

By that time, I’m sure you had some trust issues there about using a broker to put your dental practice for sale.

Yeah. I let them know that. And, so, they were very good about my little roadblocks that I had from my previous experience. They were very helpful to help me overcome those hurdles because they knew I really did want to get out of this, and I needed to get out of this. But I was scared because of everything that had happened before, and the change is scary. So, they did, they helped me to make a good decision without pressure. That was important to me.

Where was your practice?

I was in Spring Branch, Texas. It’s north of San Antonio, about a half hour.

Did you have an idea of the kind of person you were looking to sell to?

Well, I love my staff. I still love my staff, so I cared about who bought it. I’m really pleased with who did end up buying it. So, yeah, I cared about that. I don’t know what would have happened if I’d come down to it, and it was somebody I didn’t really approve of. 

But they brought me some good candidates. They all were pretty good. And then, I really loved who ended up buying it. It’s harder if you don’t like whose buying it, or you’re questioning how they’re going to change the office, and how they’re going to treat your staff. That makes it more difficult, but I didn’t have that. I was lucky.

Did you have a part of your agreement where you had to work in the practice for a little while? How long was the transition period?

Well, we worked that out with the buyers. They wanted me to stay until the new doc out of dental school could get his license. So, you know, yeah, they were helpful with that. That just all depends who the buyer is. Some want you out right away.

You’re almost finished. What are your plans? What are you hoping to do now that you’re going to move on?

I took a job in Ohio, to just work for a company. A friend of mine . . . So, I know who I’m going to be working for. But I’ll be an employee, associate dentist.

You are basically saving yourself the stress of having to run a business, and do all the things on top of actually just doing the work in the chair, right?

Yes. Oh, it’s a huge headache. It’s a huge headache. It’s very difficult here in this area. It’s very hard for me. I’m very relieved.

If somebody was in your shoes in a similar situation, would you recommend DDSmatch Southwest to help put their dental office for sale?

Oh, I would definitely recommended DDSmatch, Andy and Randy particularly. I guess it’s regional, so it would depend where the office was. I have faith in the company and I really enjoyed the experience I had with them.

I mean, I would not recommend anybody else. And I’d never do it alone. I know some people do it alone, but I was like, ‘No way. I’m not doing it alone.’ So, for sure. I really, really enjoyed working with them.

What is it about doing it alone that you think you would never want to do that? Why you would really want a dental practice transition specialist?

Oh, I just think legally, something could come back and bite you. I just don’t know enough about business. I don’t think anybody knows all that, unless you’re an attorney and a dentist. You know, know all the things you have to think about to wrap things up.

Yeah. Too risky. I would never do it.

Was there anything specifically about the way DDSmatch Southwest handled it that you appreciated in particular?

Yes. I really appreciated, they had referred me to an excellent attorney out of Dallas, who I was very happy with. I had worked with an accountant that they told me about, who was excellent. So, they have a good referral base. They help you and have special people that they refer to that can really help you, and they’re the best at it.

So, that was really important to me because I don’t know people here. So, that was really great.

In terms of the transition over to your staff, did they help you with that transition or did they work with your team?

Oh, they did. Yes. He came to the office and talked with my girls. It was very smooth.

Any other advice that you would give to a dentist in your shoes?

Just let them handle it. Because I didn’t know how to do it, so he guided me the whole way. He was really good. He was very accessible. You know, text, phone, email, very responsive. I just don’t have any complaints.

Let DDSmatch Southwest Handle Your Dental Practice for Sale and You Won’t Have Any Complaints

Our team here at DDSmatch Southwest are dental practice transition specialists and your goals for your dental practice transition are our goals. For more about how our clients feel about us and how we’ve served them, check out our Client Testimonials page. To find out what we can do for you and your dental practice transition in Texas and New Mexico, contact us today.