Money Matters

Buyers of veterinary hospitals prize the stability of earnings over time and the seller’s ability to successfully deliver goodwill.

What is the impact on a practice’s valuation during a crisis like COVID-19 when hospitals change how they manage clients and patients and when the usual daily grind is anything but usual? Honestly, not much — at least not yet. The two primary influencers of business value are cash flow and risk, both of which […]

Adding another veterinarian to a busy practice frees up time for you and other doctors to get more done on and away from the job.

How do you know when your hospital is ready to bring on another veterinarian? Maybe your current doctors are working more hours than they want. Or perhaps an associate veterinarian is planning a life change such as semiretirement or the birth of a child. Possibly, you want to spend less time on the medicine and […]

Should you sell your veterinary practice while prices are high, or does a better option exist?

Ten years ago, the U.S. economy was beginning to recover from the Great Recession. If you wanted to sell your veterinary practice back then, finding a buyer was time-consuming and sales prices were stagnant. Today, the market has changed entirely. Hospital owners are inundated with inquiries from consolidators large and small offering higher prices than […]

Don’t automatically rule out a profit-challenged hospital. The problems, from a less-involved owner to poor inventory controls, might be easily correctable.

With so many practices being sold to corporate consolidators, private practice veterinarians might have a harder time finding a hospital to buy. If the asking prices for the “best” hospitals are out of your comfort zone, should you consider purchasing a no-lo practice? The VetPartners Valuation Council coined the term “no-lo practice” to describe practices […]

If you’re considering practice ownership, learn the differences between an equity purchase and an asset purchase.

One of the most important aspects to understand when you buy a veterinary practice is whether you are getting the business’s assets or equity in the existing company. I know I’m asking you to understand accounting terms, but this is important and pretty easy to grasp. When you buy the assets, you get all the […]

Sharing details about your practice’s performance builds trust in your employees and can help make your business even more successful.

Open book management (OBM) has been part of the business vernacular since the mid-1980s, yet it continues to be viewed with healthy skepticism. A 2017 article in Forbes magazine reported that most companies increase profitability and productivity by 30% in the first year after implementing OBM. So, knowing that, what is OBM and would how […]

A variety of factors helps determine what your practice is worth and what a buyer is prepared to pay. The market today isn’t all about consolidators.

While specialty practices and referral centers historically have sold for high prices, general practices were not the darlings of corporate takeovers until now. Some owners of companion animal practices have received generous purchase prices, much higher than we would have imagined five years ago. “EBITDA” (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and “multiples” have […]

Analyzing income-to-expense ratios will help unlock profits. A detailed chart of accounts and benchmark reports are good starting places.

When practice owners and managers want to increase profitability, one of the first things they do is analyze expenses to identify areas where more is being spent than expected. From there, the challenge is to find ways to increase revenue or reduce expenses, or both, without sacrificing quality or service. Often, the best way to […]

How hospital owners are paid — and how much — depends on the responsibilities they hold and the budgets and policies that are in place.

Veterinary practice owners often see their hospital as more than an investment. For many, it is a passion, a calling or a life choice. Few private buyers acquire a hospital with a primary goal of making as much money as possible. The money is important, of course, but creating a legacy is sometimes of equal […]

Becoming an independent practice owner carries many risks, but the rewards can be hefty if you have a knack for business and are willing to sacrifice sizable paychecks for a while.

I have noticed a surge in the number of associate veterinarians interested in starting a practice. Whether this interest is the result of skyrocketing sales prices for existing practices, the desire to create something of one’s own or other factors, I am seeing new privately owned startups, even in areas with many competitors. Of the […]