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 92 This Practice Building series, Building Today's Veterinary Practice, was launched in september 2013 to provide a practice owner's perspective about the most important business challenges facing the independent veterinary practice. over the past 2 years, we have used a practical, user-friendly format to review and present topics that extend beyond traditional practice management themes. We have talked about many aspects of practice operations, including: • Financing options and opportunities • investing in your small business • innovations in client communications • information system technology • cultivating the next generation of leaders. along the way, we've attempted to illustrate many of these important issues through our own practice: in september 2013, we began the process of rehabilitating a historic building and converting it into a state-of-the-art primary care practice. While it wasn't the frst practice we had owned, this was our frst time building a practice from the ground up. as we look back 2 short years later and refect on our own process of building today's veterinary practice, it's our goal to share some of the many lessons we have learned. LESSON 1. PRACTICE OWNERSHIP WORKS Ultimately, veterinarians reach a point in their careers in which they must decide between 2 paths: to continue as an employee or make the entrepreneurial jump to practice ownership. over the years, i've spoken to many young veterinarians who have provided endless reasons for not wanting to own their own practice, including: • i can't afford to own a practice. • i'm concerned about family balance. • i need/want security. • i don't know enough about business. Based on our experiences as practice owners, our personal opinion is that practice ownership is the onLy path that gives a veterinarian the opportunity to accomplish professional, fnancial, and personal success. Many practice owners will tell you the one singular thing they are certain of is that they wake up every day knowing they have the autonomy to go earn a living. That autonomy comes with many headaches of running a small business, but also yields many benefts such as security, control, and stability—attributes many veterinarians desire. as referenced in prior installments of this column, available at tvpjournal.com, the market for acquiring fnancing is still strong for veterinarians looking to become practice owners. even with the consideration of large student debt burdens, veterinarians can secure fnancing to acquire an existing practice or even start their own if they have: • s hown good personal financial responsibility • established a professional track record • identified the right opportunity. Less than 2 years into a start-up practice, our business is in the middle of a sometimes stressful growth curve and is continuing to expand. But like the experiences of many other owner-operators, the process has proven to be rewarding as we have been able to build the exact practice we envisioned. Building Today's Veterinary Practice series Building Today's VeTerinary PracTice: Two years laTer Travis Meredith, DVM, MBA, Diplomate ACT Calico Group, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Christine Meredith, VMD Affnity Veterinary Center of Malvern, Pennsylvania