{"id":22872,"date":"2022-12-01T00:00:20","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T00:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/?p=22872"},"modified":"2022-11-28T23:45:30","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T23:45:30","slug":"animal-boarding-1222","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navc.sitepreview.app\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/animal-boarding-1222\/","title":{"rendered":"The Business of Boarding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boarding pets at your veterinary practice. Do you roll your eyes at the idea? Do you give the service a thumbs-up? Do you have a gut reaction reminiscent of a bad experience? Opinions about boarding pets at a veterinary clinic are strong. Team members either love it or hate it. Some practices offer to board, and others won\u2019t touch it with a 1-foot pole (let alone a 10-footer).<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the deal with boarding? Why such strong reactions? To decide whether taking on overnight guests (and all the obligatory responsibilities) is right for your practice, you need to consider the pros and cons expressed by your colleagues. Then, you must dig a little deeper to find the pearls of wisdom that illuminate when the service works and when it doesn\u2019t. In other words, learn from the successes and failures of others and apply that knowledge to your decision.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Your \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

First, let\u2019s start with why you would consider offering boarding services at your veterinary practice. It\u2019s all about the pets, right? You want to ensure your patients are cared for properly when their humans are on vacation, right? OK, let\u2019s be honest; that isn\u2019t the only reason.<\/p>\n

There is also the idea that boarding pets can produce revenue without the input of the medical team. (After all, the medical team is maxed out, so why not let other team members grow some revenue?) A boarded pet might need a veterinary service or product. Or perhaps, taking on boarders can turn storage space or unused runs and cages into cash-producing real estate, especially if your revenue per square foot can use help.<\/p>\n

Without a doubt, boarding pets requires space and management. Therefore, your \u201cwhy\u201d is key to moving forward and implementing the service.<\/p>\n

Knowing the \u201cwhy\u201d will guide you in assessing what is needed to provide boarding and what you expect in return. For example, if your \u201cwhy\u201d is based on caring for pets with special medical needs, your setup, marketing<\/a>, fees and revenue goals will be different than those of someone whose \u201cwhy\u201d is to fill a basement area collecting dust and junk. You don\u2019t want to go through all the expense of setting up boarding and then be shocked by the numbers at the end of the year when you examine your revenue, costs and other key performance indicators.<\/p>\n

Knowing your \u201cwhy\u201d also lets you glean vital tips and hints from your veterinary colleagues. You have heard all the stories, complaints and bragging, but do any correlate with your actions? For example, a colleague who boards only patients with medical needs has different pearls of wisdom than a colleague who advertises boarding to the general pet-owning population. Having a clear sense of why you are offering boarding enables you to move forward with how you will differentiate yourself from the competition and what services to include in your \u201cStay here!\u201d packages.<\/p>\n

Differentiating your boarding facility from the competition will require you to know the following:<\/p>\n