Want to make more out of your dental career? Here are some new ideas in dental acquisitions
Tralongo LLC is an Atlanta-based firm that specializes in dental practice acquisitions. It was established a little more than a year ago, and is experiencing success due to its proven system of identifying and increasing profits in dental offices. There are few other companies like it in the dental industry.
Q: How did the idea for Tralongo come about?
A. Tralongo LLC is a new concept, created about one year ago. It was born when two minds, Dr. Ken Tralongo (pictured left) and David Lopez (pictured below right), came together and thought they could collectively grow their organization by partnering with dentists who wanted to make more out of their dental careers. The idea was that they could all grow together while maintaining their individual practices. At the same time, Tralongo LLC could pass its knowledge on to its partners. After all, the company has more than 90 years of combined experience in dental management and acquisitions, and I have been acquiring and merging dental practices since 1992.
Q: Could you please provide some background on this idea?
A. Tralongo LLC is a business opportunity for entrepreneurial dentists who are looking to build a multi-million dollar company by acquiring and operating multiple practices. Tralongo LLC, which created a proven system to identify, operate, and increase profits in dental offices, works with dentists to acquire existing dental practices in their markets in addition to providing them with access to their methods, support, and economies of scale. The company helps individual dentists to build their business from one location to more than 10 while centralizing their services and taking over any functions that don’t make sense to perform at a local level. Unlike other dental companies, Tralongo LLC doesn’t own any stake in the practices of the dentists they partner with. These practices remain autonomous.
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Q: Can you elaborate a bit more?
A. When dentists partner with Tralongo LLC, they are taken through the company’s five-step process, which consists of providing dentists with a training course, finding the right dental practices to acquire, obtaining the appropriate financing, assisting with the transition from the old ownership to the new owner, and working with the doctors to continue operating the new offices to maximize the profit.
Q: What has been the response from dentists?
A. They love it. The dentists who come to Tralongo LLC are looking to grow without losing equity in their business. However, most of these dentists simply don’t know how to achieve this goal, so they reach out to Tralongo LLC in hopes of finding answers. In other instances, doctors who own top grossing practices and yet are not making any money or can’t seem to duplicate their success and revenues across multiple locations are the ones contacting the company. Once dentists understand how the company’s model works, it becomes a no-brainer for most of them to partner with Tralongo LLC. Once they come onboard, Tralongo LLC monitors their businesses and their different departments, as they work on helping them grow, expand, and become as profitable as they can be.
Q: How do they benefit from this model?
A. Dentists benefit from this business model in numerous ways. For starters, their profit margins are better. They also receive guidance and support through every step of their growth process, as well as insight into the business side of dentistry. In addition, the Tralongo LLC model is ideal for dentists who want to get out of the chair, as it teaches them not only how to acquire, but also how to operate a profitable chain of dental offices.
Q: What are some future plans for the company?
A. Tralongo LLC began in 2013 with collective revenues of about $20 million and is expected to reach $80 million by the end of 2014. The company’s goal is to double revenues every year and continue to bring strong dentists on board who are looking to grow with them under one umbrella.
Q: Does Tralongo have any competitors?
A. Tralongo LLC does not have competitors since it is a very new concept to the dental world – in terms of the way it is structured and put together.
