What Your Practice Is Actually Worth: EBITDA, the 50% Rule, and the 25% Benchmark
EBITDA explained: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, and why it isn't the same as cash flow
Cash vs. accrual P&Ls and how each changes the way you read your monthly numbers
The 50% benchmark: cost of goods plus non-doctor payroll, including payroll taxes, at or below half of revenue
Under 80% schedule fill points to a volume problem; at a full schedule, look at collections, per-patient average, staffing, and vendor contracts
A strong practice lands around 25% all-in doctor take-home, roughly the efficiency private equity operates at
Buyers typically look at a three-year P&L runway; a growing practice can earn a 5 to 7x multiple versus 3 to 4x for a flat or declining one
Rule of thumb: average your last three years of EBITDA, then multiply by 4 on the low end and 6 to 7 on the high end
Join the next iCareGrow event at iCareGrow.com; book a meeting with Ankit for a free copy of Optometry Redefined at meetings.hubspot.com/ankit98/optometry-redefined; connect at linkedin.com/in/ankitpatelcvc and mybcat.com
A solo episode pulled from the iCareGrow series conversations. EBITDA gets thrown at practice owners every time a buyer makes an offer or a bank sizes a loan, and most owners nod along without knowing what it really measures. Ankit breaks it down in plain terms: what EBITDA is, why it isn't cash flow, the 50% cost benchmark, the 80% schedule-fill check, the 25% doctor take-home target, and a rule-of-thumb range for what a practice might sell for. Grab your P&L and follow along. Join the next event at iCareGrow.com.
Connect with Ankit:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankitpatelcvc/
MyBCAT: https://www.mybcat.com
iCareGrow events: https://icaregrow.com/
Book a meeting with Ankit (free copy of his book Optometry Redefined included): https://meetings.hubspot.com/ankit98/optometry-redefined
Optometrists Building Empires: https://buildingempires.live
