Own a lucrative Chinese medicine practice in Washington

• A growing college town of 32,000, Walla Walla is a foodie’s delight and a wine-lover’s dream. Equally accessible from Seattle, Portland, or Boise, well-traveled visitors may feel like they’ve been dropped into Napa Valley — or Italy.
• The area offers more than 120 wineries, along with excellent gourmet fare served al fresco. Around every corner is a perfect restaurant, ideal tasting room, or must-have purchase. Around every bend is an iconic winery, unforgettable view, or epic adventure.
• The area has an abundance of outdoor recreation and an arts & entertainment scene that rivals cities many times its size. Boasting year-round sunshine and spectacular natural beauty, the town offers a wide range of outdoor activities and recreation from hiking and mountain biking to camping, canoeing, and horseback riding. From gorgeous hiking trails to world-class wineries, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in this little slice of paradise.
• The clinic is located within walking distance of downtown and consists of 3 treatment rooms, a waiting/reception area, space for a receptionist, a practitioner charting area, an herb compounding room, a room that currently serves as a laundry room, and a bathroom.
• The office is modern and tastefully decorated, and the clinic maintains a close relationship with nearby health providers and the local community, from which it receives many referrals.

• Thompson Family Acupuncture Clinic is a non-specialty practice, seeing everything from subclinical and acute orthopedic conditions to chronic issues that have not responded to other medical interventions.
• Current specialties include treatment of pain, digestive problems, women's health issues, anxiety and stress, among other conditions.
• The patient population has spanned from children to great grandparents and everyone in between. That said, the majority of the current patient load consists of women between the ages of 25 and 60.
• The current owner and her associate each work 3-4 days per week and see an average of 55-60 patients per week combined.
• Most patients continue to come in for maintenance on a consistent basis, and the majority of patients have insurance that covers treatments.
• Most patients are from communities within 25 miles of the office.
• Given the owner’s long history in the area, almost all patients are referred by other practitioners and word-of-mouth, while some come through the practice’s online presence.
• The current owner is happy to provide years of past calendars to prove consistent patient volume.

• The current owner has been quite uncomplicated in the methods she uses to treat patients, primarily employing Zang-Fu and channel theory diagnosis and treatment methodologies.
• She uses cupping, gua sha, and moxibustion when appropriate, and occasionally uses 5-element treatments.
• The clinic has a full granule pharmacy with approximately 300 herbs used to create custom formulas in-house. About a third of patients are prescribed herbal medicines from the clinic’s granule pharmacy. About 10% of patients take supplements which are drop-shipped through FullScipt, thus avoiding the need to hold a costly inventory of supplements.

The following income and expense summaries are derived from an average of income and adjusted* expenses from 2017-2021. Note that the current owner has office hours three days per week and takes up to four weeks off per year.

Income

Average gross yearly revenue (five years): $283,313 ($23,609/month)

Expenses

Average adjusted* expenses: $159,594 yearly ($13,300/month)

*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 Profit

Average $123,718 per year ($10,310/month)

• The price is based on a conservative professional valuation of $137,218 with an average yearly gross of $283,313 for the past several years.
• The owner’s motivation to sell in a timely fashion has allowed her to factor in a discount off the valued price for potential attrition and start-up costs on change of ownership. She expects the right person will retain her 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 a loan for the right buyer.
• Upon purchase, the new owner will receive all patient records and equipment in addition to any herbal inventory.
• The current owner will also transfer to the new owner all clinic-related intellectual property, including the clinic phone number, website, Facebook and Instagram accounts, JaneApp EHR, scheduling, and automated appointment reminder system, Office Ally electronic billing system, ConvertKit mass email system full of patient emails, and clinic-related financials.
• The clinic currently employs a full-time office assistant who answers phones, manages scheduling, and ensures overdue invoices are paid, among other duties; a part-time bookkeeper; a biller who works about four hours per week; and a part-time acupuncturist. All are W-2 employees, and all may be willing to stay on with a new owner or help in the transition by mutual agreement.
• The landlord is willing to transfer the lease or start a new one, and the current owner will facilitate interaction with the landlord in order to secure favorable lease terms.
• The current owner’s goal is to surrender the practice by March 1, 2023. She would be willing to sell earlier than that and stay on through February 2023 to train a new owner in her techniques and to assist in the transition, if so desired by the new owner.

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. The current owner has office hours three days per week, leaving plenty of room to work more hours in the clinic, which would obviously increase revenue.
• Add additional practitioners. In addition to or in lieu of working more hours, the practice could support at least one more provider during the times when the office is unoccupied. 
• Consolidate employees. Instead of hiring, a motivated new owner could double their patient load and dramatically reduce costs by absorbing the current associate’s patients. A new owner could also do their own billing rather than hiring a four-hour-per-week biller.
• Do some marketing. The practice does very little marketing outside of its web presence. There are file cabinets and databases full of patient information that could be used for marketing directly to current and former patients, but the clinic has been busy enough that these resources have rarely been leveraged. Having a booth at the local farmers market has also proven to bring in new patients. 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 ongoing online presence. Blogging, upgrading the website, paid online marketing, posting more on social media, and doing some email marketing all hold great potential to improve awareness of the clinic in order to generate more revenue.
• Sell more supplements. Only about a third of patients currently take a limited smattering of supplements. Giving a greater percentage of patients the option of herbs and supplements offers another opportunity for increased revenue.