My previous article [bit.ly/mistakes-TVB] discussed some of the most common mistakes made by practice owners and how to avoid such blunders. This time around, I asked my clients about the best decisions they made in their careers. Surprisingly, some of my most reliable contacts couldn’t recall any. They struggled to identify even one of their many excellent professional choices. However, after a little prompting, they provided a few examples.
1. Invest in technology that improves patient care, especially if you can use it multiple times a day.
Too many veterinary practices buy equipment that gathers dust in the stockroom. If one of your doctors recently completed an ultrasonography course, have the veterinarian practice the techniques to build confidence and skill. Also, review patient records to identify cases that would benefit from an ultrasound.
Don’t buy an expensive “toy” your team won’t utilize. For example, most general practices don’t have the caseloads to support a magnetic resonance imaging machine, but a urine analyzer might be a diagnostic tool appropriate for your clinic and the patients you see.
2. Emphasize profit over revenue.
We still feel the echoes of the excessive business growth rates experienced during the pandemic. Most veterinary practices I work with have returned to a historical growth rate of 4% to 6%. When everyone is running around with their hair on fire, like we did during the pandemic, none of us do a terrific job of anything. Although we did the best we could during difficult circumstances, few people would want to go back to that business model.
Rather than focus on the top line, concentrate on the bottom line. Anyone in this profession for a few decades (or more!) remembers how much space was consumed by pet food — boxes, bags, crates and cans. Food sales now are more likely to happen outside of veterinary practices, and many hospital owners lament the lost revenue. However, they forget the small profit generated from food sales and the substantial work required to order, stock and inventory those products. Without the need to house as much inventory, hospitals have converted storage space into revenue generators, such as an additional room for exams, procedures or consultations.
3. Invest in your staff.
Provide your team members with traditional employee benefits, opportunities for continuing education and advanced certifications, or even just a breakroom espresso machine.
Instead of assuming you know the extras they would appreciate, ask what they need. For instance, you might propose starting an employee retirement plan, but your staff might live paycheck to paycheck and contributing even a small amount could be difficult for them.
Employees and job candidates value health insurance. It’s an essential benefit even if your hospital isn’t subject to the employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act. You don’t have to offer the most expensive plan, as even high-deductible plans provide access to preventive care. While startup practices usually don’t have sufficient cash flow to provide health insurance immediately, they should be able to offer it to employees within 12 to 18 months.
Regarding how much of the individual premiums your hospital should cover, choose the percentage that works best for the business and your team. Practices that contribute only 10% might not see high enrollment rates or much employee enthusiasm.
4. Periodically reevaluate business hours.
Now that life is returning to pre-pandemic normalcy, some hospitals that limited their hours have reverted to their 2019 schedule. Others have not. No law says veterinary practices must be open six days a week. Or even five. The practices I work with experienced little to no impact financially or with client service and satisfaction when they reduced their operating hours. Instead, they saw improved doctor and staff morale, less physical and mental fatigue, and fewer last-minute callouts.
Yes, some pet owners will complain at first, but few will leave. Once clients understand your hours, they will plan accordingly. Yours won’t be the only business to maintain shorter hours. Some restaurants have markedly shorter hours than before the pandemic, largely due to a scarcity of staff.
5. Never stop learning about your business and the medicine you love.
Veterinarians must earn continuing education credit to maintain their licenses. Unfortunately, business education isn’t required, even though running a practice becomes more complex every year. The next time you attend a national conference, review the practice management lectures offered and go to a few. You might find a surprising number of interesting topics that will give you new ways to think about everyday situations.
Veterinarians sometimes confide that they aren’t doing critical business tasks — from accounting to payroll to owner compensation — the best way or even the right way. If that describes you, please address the deficiencies now. Don’t wait until it’s time to sell the practice.
6. Trust your gut.
You trust yourself to make sound medical decisions. However, your business acumen might not be as strong, and your brain knows when something isn’t right. When you have an opportunity to solve a major problem, but the solution doesn’t sit right, it’s OK to walk away. Your instincts will tell you when to say “no” to a bad decision.
For example, Dr. K wanted to buy out his business partner and was searching for an associate veterinarian to share the caseload. He found a potential candidate and extended a job offer. However, the more he thought about the candidate’s temperament and how it would affect the practice, the more uncomfortable he became. The situation took a turn for the worse when the candidate presented a long list of demands, ranging from new equipment and additional staff to facility upgrades.
Although he desperately needed another doctor, Dr. K rescinded the offer. When I told him the decision was one of his best, Dr. K said, “I thought I just got lucky!” Yes, luck comes only to those who put in hard work — the blood, sweat and tears.
While you try to learn from your mistakes and those of others, success stories are teaching moments, too. Take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate all your amazing decisions, including when you discarded decisions that you soon realized wouldn’t benefit you.
