Today's Veterinary Practice

NOV-DEC 2015

Today's Veterinary Practice provides comprehensive information to keep every small animal practitioner up to date on companion animal medicine and surgery as well as practice building and management.

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Today's VeTerinary PracTice | november/december 2015 | tvpjournal.com PracTice BUiLdinG 94 Measuring Impact a plan is not a static document—it is as dynamic as the business itself. Periodically measuring your practice against your plan enables you, as a business owner, to be attentive to subtle changes and opportunities and proactive in your actions versus being reactive to larger, more signifcant challenges. compared to their peers, who review their businesses annually (typically around tax season), practices that periodically review their businesses throughout the year are able to act more quickly, launching new marketing initiatives and investing in people, technology, and resources that bring new clients in the door. Response to Change effective planning also allows a practice to be responsive to changes in its business. The exercise enables business owners to commit necessary time to thinking about how they will act if, and when, certain events happen, such as loss of staff, new competition opening, negative turn in the local economy, or greater than expected growth. LESSON 4. BE WILLING TO CONSIDER NEW OPPORTUNITIES as stated earlier, increased competition brings new challenges, but it also brings new opportunities. The "old way" of practice ownership went like this: an associate would purchase the practice from his or her employer and eventually acquire the real estate. However, with rising values for well-performing practices and variable commercial real estate markets in most areas, many veterinarians are now looking for new opportunities to meet their professional goals. s ee Real Estate: To Buy or Not to Buy to learn how our practice handled an unexpected opportunity that required "out of the box" thinking this past year. MOVING FORWARD This is by no means an exhaustive list of lessons learned from owning and operating a practice in today's complex world. in fact, lessons are learned every day. But as we take a few moments and refect on the state of our business and our industry, we must recognize that there are many challenges. We frmly believe that for those who are willing to be entrepreneurial, proactive, and creative, opportunities abound for an independent veterinary practice. Our practice experienced this phenomenon this past year. What was once a long-term lease arrangement with our original landlord was unexpectedly transformed into an auction purchase opportunity, literally overnight. We were faced with an immediate decision. While our original intent was to purchase and hold the real estate, we realized that purchasing immediately meant committing signifcant capital to a large transaction before we were personally ready to do so. Purchasing the real estate also meant straying from our original plan of opening a second location. Faced with this dilemma, we took the opportunity to think outside of the box and fnd an option that would secure our practice's physical plant and property for the long-term, while allowing us the fexibility to expand our business in our original time frame. After spending signifcant time researching options and working with our fnancial advisors, we chose to partner with a veterinary-specifc real estate investment frm to purchase our practice's building and land. For our needs, an investor landlord offered many advantages: • As a veterinary-specific investor in commercial real estate, our partners possessed a detailed understanding of the industry and expectations. • Our investor had the capital to get the transaction completed without disrupting our day-to-day operations. • We obtained a fair lease that secures our location for the next 2 decades and left us the flexibility to operate as if we own the building outright. • We were able to preserve our personal capital to stay committed to the original plan of expanding to a second location. While this process was never part of the original plan, being entrepreneurial and a little bit creative allowed us to make a great business decision out of a potentially unpleasant situation. Real Estate: To Buy or Not to Buy T raV is MerediTH Travis Meredith, DVM, MBA, Diplomate ACT, is Contributing Medical Editor, Today's Veterinary Practice; co-owner of Affnity Veterinary Center, Malvern, Pennsylvania; and Director of Member Services, Calico Group, Philadelphia. He received his DVM from Texas A&M; University and his MBA from University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill. cH risTine MerediTH Christine Meredith, VMD, is co-owner of Affnity Veterinary Center, Malvern, Pennsylvania. She received her VMD from University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

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