Running a veterinary practice today is more complex than ever. There are economic headwinds (many of us couldn’t plan for some of this), changing consumer behavior, workforce challenges, and tech disruption.
Uncertainty’s no longer the exception—it’s the rule. The good news? While you can’t control everything, you can manage the risks that matter most.
Know Your Benchmark
Economic uncertainty is real. Consumer confidence is shifting, inflation remains sticky, and pet-care spending may face headwinds. Practices that wait to respond will feel the squeeze. But by actively monitoring key metrics—same-store growth, average invoice size, retention rates—you gain early warning signals.
Benchmarking becomes your friend. If your clinic’s performance falls behind peer numbers in your region or size class, that doesn’t mean panic—it means targeted action. Think of it as financial triage, not just a report card. Ask: where are we under-performing and what can we fix? Are staffing costs creeping up? Is your client churn rising? Are clients pushing back on pricing?
Focusing on data gives you the clarity to act with purpose instead of reacting in crisis.
Protect the Bottom Line
Costs are rising—labor, utilities, supplies, you name it. Meanwhile, you may already have taken on pricing increases and stretched client goodwill. The margin buffers that used to exist are thinner. That means you need to become more intentional about protecting profit.
Start with the high-leverage areas: optimize scheduling to reduce downtime, ensure inventory turnover is efficient (so you’re not holding obsolete stock), and track revenue leakage (no-shows, unbilled work, discounting). Embrace tools that give transparency: dashboards that show cost per appointment, revenue per full-time-equivalent, and so on.
When you treat cost control like ongoing care (rather than a one-time fix), you create resilience. Buyers and investors increasingly look for practices showing stable margins—not just top-line growth.
Go Under the Microscope
Your team is the engine. When it falters, everything else shows it. In an environment where talent is scarce, burnout is increasing and generational expectations are shifting, managing workforce risk isn’t optional.
For practice owners this means: build clear progression paths for associates, invest in culture, monitor turnover and vacancy rates, and consider how your leadership structure aligns with future opportunities (sale, partnership, growth). A clinic with strong retention, engaged staff and leadership depth reduces operational risk dramatically—and that translates to value.
If you’re planning a transition in the next 5–10 years, workforce risk becomes part of your exit readiness strategy. What you’re aiming to show a buyer or partner is: “Yes, we have a strong team, we’re not reliant on one person, the culture is intact.”
Ready Your Systems and Data for the Future
The margin and workforce pressures connect strongly to operational risk. How well do your systems manage scheduling, billing, inventory, client follow-up? Do you have accessible data to drive decisions? Are you set up for emerging models—wellness plans, telehealth, partnerships?
Practices that invest in integrated systems—connecting patient records, inventory, client communications and financials—find themselves better positioned to scale, adapt and mitigate risk. Lack of data means blind spots. Blind spots mean unexpected costs, missed opportunities and slower responses.
Strategic risk also requires you to ask: what if my model changes? What if clients shift, or new entrants arise? How would we win? By regularly testing scenarios (slow growth, margin erosion, staffing disruption) and building operational muscle in good times, you are better prepared for bad times.
The Takeaway
The world of veterinary medicine is evolving—and with that change comes risk, but also opportunity. As a practice owner you may not be able to steer the macro-economy, but you can steer your ship. By focusing on benchmarking, protecting margins, managing the team, and strengthening operations, you turn uncertainty from a threat into a growth lever.
Ready to evaluate your risk and shape a strategy for the next decade? Let’s explore this together.
