Many of our podcast episodes discuss healthcare practice deals from the seller’s perspective, but this one flips to the buyer's side of the table. Justin Marti sits down with Kathy Ells, founder of Next Step Dental Consulting and a buyer's advocate with more than three decades in dental practice transitions, financing, and accounting, including years inside dental lending.

Kathy has supported more than 1,500 dental practices, and she now guides dentists through startups and acquisitions: evaluating opportunities, assembling an advisory team, running due diligence, coordinating financing, and preparing for day one.

For any resident or younger dentist weighing ownership, it is a practical look at what an advocate does before you sign, how lenders decide to fund you, why the lease so often decides a deal, and how to tell your staff about a sale without sending everyone to look for new jobs.

• The four jobs a buyer's advocate covers before you sign: financial, operations, clinical, and legal
• What lenders actually check before they pre-approve a practice loan, including how much cash they want to see
• Why the lease, not the purchase price, is often the thing that sinks a dental deal
• How to introduce a new owner to the staff so the team does not panic and start job hunting
• Where AI helps in a practice purchase, and where trusting it still costs you

Timestamps

[00:00] Intro: Meet Kathy Ells, the buyer's advocate

[02:21] From 35 years in dental lending to a retirement that did not stick

[06:10] The four jobs your advocate does before you sign

[11:29] Red flags or opportunity: when not to kill the deal

[15:50] The three passes every first time buyer makes

[17:47] What lenders check before they pre-approve you

[19:03] Why the LOI matters more than buyers think

[28:58] The 60 second bank quiz: rate is not the whole story

[31:35] Why the lease can sink the entire deal

[34:57] Telling the staff without spooking them

[39:14] Where AI helps, and where it still costs you

[40:40] Where to find Kathy

• Next Step Dental Consulting (nextstepdentalconsulting.com)
• Provide (dental lending)
• Henry Schein One (referenced from the earlier Office Hours episode with Allie Hyatt)
• Marti Law Group due diligence checklist
• ChatGPT (mentioned in the context of buyers drafting their own purchase agreements)

• Website: nextstepdentalconsulting.com
• Phone: 508-864-2113
• Email: kathy@nextstepdentalconsulting.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-ells-bb9211a/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmarti
• Email: justin@martilawgroup.com
• Website: martilawgroup.com