If you have been out of veterinary school for a few years, you may be contemplating owning your first practice.  But, for one reason or another, you have not taken that first step.  Maybe it’s the fear of not knowing the process of what you need to do to buy or build a practice.  Or, it could be you are afraid you may not have what it takes to be a practice owner.  Or, possibly, you believe the corporate veterinary practices are taking over the veterinary ownership world and you’re afraid of competing against them.  We are here to help educate you and calm your fears away.

Owning a practice should be on nearly every veterinarian’s list of things to accomplish.  Pride of ownership, directing your own clinic or hospital, and treating those types of animals you want to treat are just a few reasons why you should want to be an owner.  In addition, veterinary practice owners typically make 22% more in annual salaries than an average associate veterinarian.  On top of that, the equity you build in your practice will contribute towards your retirement nest egg.

The process of owning a veterinary practice can be simple if done right.  Simple, but it does require work.  Having a good team on your side keeps the workload down and alleviates road bumps.  One of the first decisions is should you buy an existing or build a new practice?  That decision comes down to whether you want to buy an existing practice with potentially good cash flow, but also potential problems?  Is there a practice available to your liking and in the area you want to practice?  Do you want something that truly has your stamp on it that you have built from the ground up?  A self-evaluation and talking about it with a few experts will enlighten you into knowing which route is best for you.

The other question is whether or not you have what it takes to be a practice owner?  The simple answer is “yes, you do”.  Even if you don’t want to manage staff, do bookkeeping, or handle other management tasks, you can still outsource all of that and enjoy being a practice owner.  Proper guidance and education are key if you have not ever done any of those things before.  A consultant, accountant, broker, and others can help guide you in practice ownership.   

Corporate practice owners are here to stay.  I would not be afraid of a corporate practice as a competitor.  You can open a clinic across the street and out personalize their services.  Some corporates are just in it for the money.  Not all of them mind you, but quite a few of them.  They don’t provide the personal touch and sense of community that you can in your practice.  Many also have an associate turnstile where they change associate veterinarians every six to twelve months.   I don’t know about you, but if I’m taking my beloved dog Fi-Fi, who is a part of my family, I’m going to get to know my vet and make sure Fi-Fi sees that same vet every time.  I don’t want someone whom I’ve never met and don’t know anything about them.  I think the majority of the pet owning public feels the same way.

Fears are a product of the unknown.  You fear there’s a monster under your bed because you cannot see under the bed in the dark and you don’t know what’s under there.  You fear broccoli as a kid because you don’t know what it’s going to taste like.  Fear of practice ownership is similar.  If you educate yourself, you can squash those fears.

To help facilitate this, we are offering a seminar called “Build or Buy - Your Pathway to Practice Ownership”. This seminar will help you begin the process of educating you on what you need to do to be a practice owner.  There will be experts from various fields of buying or building a practice.  You’ll learn everything from finding the right practice or location to analyzing the value of a practice.  You will receive continuing education credits while you learn about the process of owning a practice.  It will be an evening full of information with dinner provided as well. For dates, locations and registration information, visit our calendar.

Each year one of the largest corporate veterinary practice owners holds a one day conference exclusively for veterinary practice brokers.  At the conference, they discuss, amongst many other things, how their company is different than other corporates, how they value veterinary practices and trends in corporate buying.  It’s an interesting meeting to get the “state of the union” from a corporate buyers’ perspective.  I wanted to share with you some of the notes I took and give you my thoughts on a few of their points.

• Corporates are continuing to expand.  Not only in the U.S. and Canada, but this corporate buyer has begun acquiring practices in Australia and New Zealand.
• Some corporates have begun to do de novo practices.  They are filling the gaps where they don’t have ownership of a practice with a startup practice.  If you can’t buy it, build it!
• The DVM retention rate for the industry is 62%.  A particular corporate claimed to retain DVMs at a rate of 82.5%.  They said it’s due to how they treat the DVM and staff leaving everything as close to the same as possible. They also give the owners a piece of the pie.
• There currently is a shortage of DVM associates. They are putting a heavy effort towards recruiting DVMs at Veterinary Schools as well as the general public.
• This corporate has three commitments – Wellness Plans, Dentistry and Fear-Free Clinics.
• They expect the current acquisition trend to continue for the next three to five years.
• Valuations are different among the various corporate buyers.  Their add-back for DVM salaries is 20%.  Another corporate buyer uses 22%.  That can make a big difference in the purchase price on a large practice. Another example is adding back an office manager salary.  That can vary significantly amongst corporate buyers.  These are just two of ten examples of the differences they provided. 
• Valuations have gone up over the past 5 years.  Five years ago, they were buying practices at 4x to 5x EBITDA.  They are now acquiring practices at a broader range of 6x to 9x EBITDA.
• They believe valuations are currently at their high peak with the expectation that they will start tapering back down to the 4x to 5x EBITDA range they saw five years ago.
• General Veterinary Practices that are in the sights of corporate acquisition teams represent 50% of all General Veterinary Practices.  Corporates currently own 30% of all of these practices.  The expectation is that once total corporate ownership hits 50%, the acquisitions will taper off dramatically.  Corporates then may turn to specialty clinics.  Note, we’re already seeing this in the marketplace.  They also may focus on de novo practices.

In summary, the presentation confirmed what our thoughts have been:

1. Corporates are here to stay. 
2. Corporate ownership will continue to grow. 
3. There are some good corporate buyers who treat their staff and DVMs well and there are others that do not. 
4. Corporates will go the de novo route when they can’t find a practice in an area they want to have a concentration. 
5. Valuations will begin to trend down in the not too distant future. 

The number of corporate buyers in the market and the supply of practices corporates want all play into this.  Whether good or bad, the corporate veterinary practice is here for the long haul. 

This is just meant as an educational document and we are not promoting this or any other corporate buyer. ​