Veterinary Practice Ownership

Your team can’t perform to a standard that only exists in your head — and the cost of that gap is higher than most practice owners realize.

I know this cycle firsthand — and I see it with nearly every new practice owner I work with.

“Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.”

I heard this for the first time a few weeks ago, and I found it irritating—because choosing suffering is exactly what I do when I get stuck and stressed and don’t know what to do.

You’ve decided you could be a practice owner. That’s amazing news. Now it’s time to decide what path you want to take – build or buy? Let’s look at whether purchasing an existing clinic or starting your own is best the way to go by comparing the pros and cons.

Ownership is such a rewarding and lucrative journey compared to the risks and challenges, I encourage you to take the plunge, or at least the next step forward to learn what you must do to get started.

Everyone will be in a slightly different place when they want to start the process of practice ownership, so I’m sharing my initial steps to coach clients regardless of where they are.

Practice ownership is wonderful in many ways. You get to have something that is all yours and reflects your values. You are the decider, choosing the business model, what the practice looks like, who works for you, and what type of clients you see.

In this article, I share my evolution from a lonely, overwhelmed owner to one grounded in community support. I realized the key to avoiding burnout and propelling my clinic forward was embracing vulnerability. By building connections with mentors, coaches, and peers, I unlocked exponential growth – both personally and professionally.