I’d look carefully at what you’d actually GET. For example, the 2 employees may not stay or may not work that well with you. If you kept the current business name, but the person with that name departs, won’t you be explaining the switchover to a lot of former clients? And if you rename it, won’t you be starting new just as if you opened a fresh practice?
I can grasp the value of buing a dental practice where the equipment is in place, and there are deep records of people’ history on file. But without some ongoing projects that you could handle and take over that would support your survival for awhile, it’s harder to see the advantage of jumping into a stream of small ever-changing unpredictable projects that arrive from incoming unknown inquiries, etc. You’d be pulling the extra stress of the payments to the retiring person from the income stream; and the location of an office isn’t that relevant to a design firm since we don’t get walk-ins. Work usually arrives by active marketing or a few referrals, and the referrals would hark back to that retiree and his/her reputation. Odds might improve if you had been an associate for awhile who knew and liked how this individual worked, had deep familiarity with the interal operation of the practice, and could believe you would replicate the former success.
I guess this is almost a personality question, but I think I would hunt down my own contacts and build my own profile and reputation instead. Is there any alternative option such as pay this person for some guidance and mentoring, along with targeted introductions?
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