Finding Balance: When Financial Success isn’t Enough

A successful mixed-animal veterinarian found himself at a crossroads. Despite his thriving practice and financial success, he felt disconnected from his passion for veterinary medicine. As a solo practitioner balancing small and large animal care, the demands of practice ownership were keeping him from his family and professional aspirations.

The Vision

This client's reality was far from his dream of a balanced life. His days were filled with the demands of business ownership, balancing the running of a busy small animal practice with the constant demands of cattle production medicine.

His goals were clear: he dreamed of expanding his time and energy towards production medicine while ensuring his community retained quality small-animal veterinary care.

The Discovery

Our coaching partnership revealed that his natural drive and pace made it difficult to bring in an associate veterinarian, and he struggled to delegate tasks to his small support team.

We discovered that his true passion lay in beef cattle medicine and production consulting. The small animal practice, while lucrative, was draining energy and time he wanted to devote to beef production cllents.

More importantly, frequent emergency calls and questions from large-animal clients often meant missing out on important family time. He also struggled to take time off or plan regular vacations. Despite financial success, he was burning himself out.

The Journey

Through structured coaching sessions, we tackled both urgent issues and future planning. Regular meetings helped us identify his true needs and challenges. Using a personality assessment, the owner learned how his high-drive management style could intimidate others and impede growth. A plan was made that would help bring more support in and move responsibility from his shoulders to others.

Key initiatives included:

• Creating a sustainable schedule for the daily patient caseload

• Establishing boundaries for after-hours messages and emergencies

• Planning for the addition of a second doctor and a manager

• Exploring valuation and a future exit strategy

• Investigate beef production career opportunities

The Results

The transformation had a positive impact on both his professional and personal life, creating sustainable change.

Significant achievements included:

• Identify a two-year plan to delegate small animal work and management to focus on beef cattle production

• Right-size patient caseload through new scheduling templates

• Established protected family time through scheduling boundaries for after-hours availability

• Established clear job descriptions for employees, creating a manager position

• Implement telemedicine consulting strategy for after-hours calls

Most importantly, the practice owner discovered he could maintain a successful business while prioritizing his family. He now takes regular vacations, coaches his children's sports teams, and enjoys weekday family dinners.

This transformation demonstrates how strategic coaching can help practice owners realign their professional path with personal aspirations. Through focused guidance and support, coaching provided the framework to maintain practice profitability while creating clearer boundaries, stronger team dynamics, and a concrete strategy for future transitions.