The question isn’t whether you already know how to run one. The question is whether you’re willing to learn.
If you’re an Associate DVM working in a corporate or independently owned veterinary practice, you may have had the thought:
“Could I actually own a practice someday?”
Maybe it happened after a frustrating management decision.
Maybe you disagreed with how a case was handled, how fees were set, how the schedule was managed or how the team was treated.
Or maybe it’s simpler than that.
You’ve been practicing for a few years, you’re becoming confident as a veterinarian, and you’re starting to wonder:
What’s next?
Practice ownership might be one answer.
But it certainly isn’t the right answer for everyone.
I Certainly Didn’t Plan on It
When I graduated from veterinary school, I wasn’t dreaming about becoming a business owner.
I wanted to practice good medicine and help animals.
So I became an Associate DVM in a well-established, independently owned AAHA-accredited hospital.
Then, about two years later, an opportunity to buy a practice fell into my lap.
At the time, ownership looked pretty attractive.
No boss.
No asking permission.
No one telling me how I should practice medicine.
And I was buying an established, accredited hospital. Surely the clients would keep coming through the door.
How hard could this ownership thing really be?
About 60 days later, through a combination of personal savings, seller financing and traditional bank financing, I had the keys.
And then my real education began.
The Moment Everything Changed
About three years into ownership, I was in the middle of surgery when my CSR came back with a message from my bank manager.
He would hold the staff paychecks for another 24 hours while I figured out how to get enough money into the account.
That was my WTF moment.
I was working hard.
I was practicing good medicine.
But I wasn’t running a healthy business.
My pricing hadn’t been properly examined. Spending wasn’t adequately controlled. Competition surrounded me. And despite being busy, the practice wasn’t generating enough money.
That’s when I finally understood something every aspiring practice owner needs to understand:
Being a good veterinarian and being a good veterinary practice owner require two different skill sets.
Veterinary school had trained me for one.
Now I needed to learn the other.
The Good News? Ownership Can Be Learned.
That realization changed the trajectory of my practice—and ultimately my career.
I pursued business education. I learned financial management. We reorganized. I improved our marketing. I learned how to read the numbers and manage the business instead of simply hoping that being a good veterinarian would somehow make everything work.
Eventually, the practice became financially healthy and grew into a 3.5-DVM hospital.
What changed?
Certainly, we changed a lot of things inside the practice.
But the most important change was me.
I accepted responsibility for becoming not only a better veterinarian, but a better owner.
And that’s an important distinction for any Associate DVM considering ownership today.
You don’t have to know how to run a veterinary practice before you own one.
But you have to be willing to learn.
So…Is Ownership Right for You?
There are some wonderful advantages.
Autonomy is certainly one.
You can decide how you want to practice medicine, what services you want to offer, what equipment you want to invest in and what kind of team and culture you want to build.
Then there’s financial opportunity.
A healthy veterinary practice can provide income beyond what you might earn as an Associate DVM while simultaneously allowing you to build equity in an asset you own.
If you eventually own the real estate as well, you may be building two assets—the practice and the property beneath it.
And then there’s legacy.
There’s something pretty special about creating a veterinary hospital that reflects your standards, your culture and your vision of how clients, patients and employees should be treated.
But there’s another side to ownership.
Autonomy Comes With Responsibility
Nobody is going to tell you what to do.
Great.
But when payroll is due, nobody else is responsible for figuring that out either.
There are employees, suppliers, loans, leases, inventory, equipment, marketing, pricing and dozens of other decisions that come with having your name on the door.
And especially during the early years, it can be difficult to completely leave the practice behind when you go home.
That’s why I think aspiring owners need to ask themselves some very personal questions.
How much do you value autonomy?
How important is lifestyle?
Do you want to build equity?
How comfortable are you carrying debt?
Does creating something of your own excite you—or does the thought of being responsible for everything make you miserable?
Neither answer is wrong.
But knowing your answer matters.
And Then There’s Mental Bandwidth
This is one I don’t think we talk about enough.
Early in your veterinary career, medicine itself can consume most of your available mental bandwidth.
You’re still developing confidence in surgery, medicine, client communication and case management.
Then imagine finishing a difficult day of appointments only to discover that a technician has quit, your equipment needs replacing and the P&L isn’t looking quite right.
That’s ownership.
It doesn’t necessarily mean you should wait 10 or 15 years.
But you should be far enough along clinically that you have some mental capacity available to learn an entirely new skill:
Running a small business.
Don’t Confuse “I Don’t Know How” With “I Can’t”
This may be the most important point.
I’ve met many talented veterinarians who look at ownership and think:
I wouldn’t know how to run a business.
Of course you wouldn’t.
Why would you?
You went to veterinary school.
You weren’t trained to analyze financial statements, manage payroll, calculate staffing ratios, develop marketing plans, evaluate fees or lead an organization.
Those are learned skills.
Just like surgery was once a learned skill.
So don’t confuse lack of business training with lack of ability to own a business.
The better question is:
Are you willing to learn?
Three Ways to Get There
If the answer is maybe, you don’t need to resign from your job tomorrow and start looking at real estate.
Start exploring.
There are essentially three paths worth considering:
Buy Out — purchase an existing veterinary practice.
Buy In — become an equity partner in an existing practice.
Build Your Own — start a veterinary practice from the ground up.
Each has advantages, risks and financial considerations.
The right path depends much more on you than on which option looks best on paper.
Your Next Step
Before you start looking at practices or talking yourself out of ownership altogether, spend some time answering five questions:
- What do I really want from my veterinary career?
- How important are autonomy, lifestyle, income, equity and legacy to me?
- Do I have the mental bandwidth to take on ownership?
- What’s my tolerance for debt and financial responsibility?
- Am I willing to learn the business and leadership skills I don’t currently have?
Then start investigating what’s actually possible.
Talk with veterinary lenders.
Learn what financing might be available.
Look at practices for sale.
Explore partnership opportunities.
Study what a startup would really cost.
You may discover ownership isn’t right for you.
Or you may discover something entirely different:
You’re far more capable of owning a veterinary practice than you thought.
Could You Use a Second Set of Eyes?
If you’re an Associate DVM wondering whether ownership makes sense for you, I’d be happy to have that conversation.
No assumption that you should own.
No assumption that you shouldn’t.
We’ll look at where you are, where you’d like your career to go, and whether buying out, buying in or building your own deserves a closer look.
Sometimes you don’t need someone to make the decision for you.
You just need a second set of eyes.
Schedule a private conversation here
Practice Potential Analysis – Schedule Here
