Building a thriving veterinary practice, whether through acquisition, a de novo startup or in the nascent stages of ownership, demands more than just clinical prowess. It also requires a robust support system — a success team — comprising individuals with specialized expertise that complements the entrepreneur’s own. With that in mind, this is the first in a two-part article on who should be on your success team.
The path to successful practice ownership is fraught with complexities, from navigating financial intricacies to establishing operational efficiencies and fostering a positive work environment. Identifying invaluable team members, finding them and understanding their roles in the journey are critical for long-term viability and growth and are imperative for success.
Part 1 focuses on the people you need on board from the beginning. Your crew includes:
- A coach, mentor and consultant
- A demographic specialist
- An attorney (probably more than one)
- A business broker or veterinary transactional specialist
- An accountant
- An architect, contractor, space planner and/or interior designer
- A knowledgeable banker
Part 2 will appear in the December/January issue and will explore working with:
- A marketing agency to help with branding, imaging and promotions
- Insurance agents or brokers for business and professional liability coverage
- Health insurance brokers
- IT specialists
- A financial planner
- A payroll company
Coaches, Mentors and Consultants
These professionals will answer your questions, evaluate your vision, introduce you to other experts and resources, and guide you from where you are to where you want to go. Many of them will be there in a support role after your veterinary practice opens.
Mentors are experienced veterinarians, ideally practice owners, who have successfully navigated the challenges entrepreneurs face or will face.
Practice management consultants bring a wealth of experience in optimizing hospital operations, marketing, human resources and client communication. They provide objective advice and actionable strategies. Some specialize in specific areas, like HR, marketing or financial benchmarks.
A fourth resource worthy of consideration is a peer group consisting of other practice owners. They meet regularly to share experiences, offer advice and provide mutual support.
I recommend utilizing all these individuals for these reasons:
- Practical wisdom and guidance: Benefit from their real-world experience.
- Strategic planning: Develop a robust business plan and long-term vision for your practice.
- Networking opportunities: Gain access to valuable industry connections.
- Emotional support and accountability: Receive encouragement and stay on track.
- Problem-solving: Get assistance in overcoming challenges.
- Operational efficiency: Optimize clinic workflows and processes.
- Marketing and client growth: Develop strategies to attract and retain clients.
- Human resources and employee development: Build and manage a strong, cohesive team.
- Financial benchmarking: Understand your practice’s performance relative to industry standards.
Demographic Specialist
Whether you plan a startup practice or an acquisition, a crucial early step is ensuring your practice’s location will support a long-term business entity. Many variables go into identifying the right spot, so calling on an expert’s assistance is vital. Even evaluating an existing practice’s site can help you make a wise purchase decision. Communities change over time, and what was a gold mine 30 years ago could be a land mine today.
For a veterinary entrepreneur, utilizing a veterinary-specific demographic specialist is paramount. These professionals go beyond population data by offering granular insights. They provide detailed reports on local pet ownership rates, including the prevalent species, to inform your service offerings. Crucially, they analyze household income levels and pet ages within the target area to reveal the economic capacity for veterinary care and the potential demand for specific services, such as wellness plans or geriatric care.
Moreover, demographic specialists meticulously assess the competitive landscape, mapping veterinary hospitals, pet stores and animal shelters to determine market saturation and the capacity for a new practice. This task enables them to pinpoint underserved areas ripe for a new clinic and to project growth potential by identifying new housing developments.
Finally, they factor in practical considerations, like visibility, accessibility and zoning regulations, to ensure the location is demographically sound and operationally feasible. This comprehensive analysis mitigates risks and optimizes your practice’s long-term viability.
By investing in a demographics specialist, veterinarians can make informed, strategic decisions about a practice’s location, significantly increasing their chances of success.
Attorneys
Having a team of specialized attorneys is nonnegotiable for a veterinary entrepreneur.
An entity formation attorney will advise on the optimal legal structure for your practice (for example, sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC or S corporation), which impacts liability, taxation and administrative burdens.
Contract attorneys are crucial for drafting, reviewing and negotiating all agreements, including the purchase arrangement for an existing practice, vendor contracts, equipment leases and noncompete clauses.
Real estate lawyers handle property acquisitions, commercial leases and zoning compliance, ensuring your physical location is legally secure.
Finally, human resources attorneys are vital for navigating a state’s complex employment laws and assisting with hiring practices, employment agreements, wage and hour compliance, employee handbooks and termination procedures. They also help with potential HR disputes, safeguarding your business from significant legal liabilities.
A general attorney might understand business law, but a veterinary-specific attorney deeply understands the regulatory landscape governing veterinary medicine, such as patient record transfers and DVM noncompete clauses during a practice sale and compliance with a veterinary medical board.
Business Broker or Veterinary Transactional Specialist
For entrepreneurs looking to acquire an existing practice, a specialized business broker or veterinary transactional specialist is indispensable. They possess an intimate understanding of the veterinary market, allowing them to accurately appraise practices, ensuring you pay a fair price and understand the actual value of the assets and goodwill. They act as intermediaries, identifying suitable practices that match your vision, negotiating the purchase terms and structuring the deal to be advantageous for you.
Beyond negotiation, they guide you through due diligence, coordinate with attorneys and accountants, and manage the complex paperwork required for a smooth and efficient transfer of ownership, saving you immense time and mitigating potential pitfalls.
Veterinary transactional specialists live and breathe the veterinary market. They possess unparalleled knowledge of practice valuations and understand add-backs and the intangible assets (like goodwill and client loyalty) that truly drive value. They maintain extensive networks within the veterinary community, connecting you with appropriate buyers or sellers, including corporate groups, and can negotiate terms that reflect industry benchmarks and nuances. Their specialization enables them to secure more favorable deals, streamline complex processes and prevent common industry-specific missteps that a general business broker might overlook.
Accountant
A skilled accountant is fundamental to the financial health and compliance of your veterinary practice. These professionals establish robust accounting systems, whether you’re starting from scratch or integrating an existing practice’s books. Their expertise extends to accurate bookkeeping, managing payroll, preparing financial statements, and conducting thorough financial due diligence on an existing practice to verify its profitability and uncover any hidden liabilities before the purchase. Crucially, they provide strategic tax planning advice, ensuring your business minimizes its tax burden legally, and handle all federal, state and local filings to keep your practice compliant with all laws.
Veterinary-specific accountants understand a practice’s unique revenue streams and common expense categories. They can accurately benchmark your practice’s performance against industry averages, helping you identify areas for improvement or potential red flags during due diligence. Their expertise allows for more precise tax planning tailored to the veterinary profession, ensuring you maximize deductions and credits specific to the industry, ultimately optimizing profitability and reducing tax liabilities far more effectively than a general accountant.
Architect, Contractor, Space Planner and/or Interior Designer
These professionals are crucial for creating a functional, compliant and appealing veterinary hospital, whether it’s a startup or a practice in need of significant renovation.
An architect designs the overall building or interior layout, ensuring efficient workflow for staff, separate patient zones, such as quiet cat rooms and noisy dog wards, and adherence with local building codes, including accessibility requirements.
A contractor manages the construction process, ensuring it stays on schedule and budget.
A space planner optimizes every square foot.
An interior designer selects the finishes, lighting and furniture to create a welcoming, professional and durable environment that reduces stress on animals and clients and reflects your practice’s brand.
Veterinary-specific designers and contractors understand the specialized needs of an animal care facility, such as durable, nonslip, easy-to-clean floors, ventilation systems that control odors and airborne pathogens, soundproof materials for animal comfort, and appropriate zones for different pet species. They know the dimensions required for surgical suites, diagnostic imaging rooms and kennel areas, ensuring regulatory compliance and efficient workflow. Their expertise translates into a facility that is aesthetically pleasing, highly functional, safe and built to withstand the demands of a veterinary environment.
Banker
A banker who understands the veterinary industry’s financial landscape is irreplaceable. These professions are more than loan officers; they are also financial partners. They can provide essential capital for your venture, whether to purchase an existing practice, fund a startup, acquire medical equipment or secure commercial real estate. These bankers are familiar with specialized lending programs, such as Small Business Administration loans, which often offer more favorable terms for practice acquisitions and startups. They can also advise on business checking accounts, lines of credit to provide working capital, and merchant services for processing client payments.
A banker specializing in veterinary practice finance speaks your language and understands the profession’s nuances. They are familiar with the typical financial performance of veterinary clinics, the valuation methodologies used by brokers, and equipment and real estate needs. The understanding allows them to structure loan products tailored to the industry, often with more favorable terms, lower down payments and longer repayment periods than general business loans. They can also expedite the loan approval process due to their familiarity with industry benchmarks and risk factors, making financing for acquisitions or startups smoother and more accessible.
By recognizing the unique contributions of all these professionals and investing in their expertise, veterinarian entrepreneurs can significantly increase their chances of building a successful, sustainable business and enjoying a fulfilling career.
BACK TO SCHOOL
The UC Davis Graduate School of Management offers an executive education course called Foundations of Veterinary Business. The next opportunity starts in May 2026. Learn more at bit.ly/4lpY8gQ.
OTHER POTENTIAL TEAMMATES
- American Veterinary Medical Law Association: avmla.org
- Independent Veterinary Practitioners Association: iveterinarians.org
- PSIvet: psivet.com
- The Veterinary Cooperative: theveterinarycooperative.coop
- Veterinary Management Groups: myvmg.com
- Veterinary Ownership Advocates: veterinaryownershipadvocates.com
- VetPartners: vetpartners.org