Finance

Q: How can I determine how many veterinary practices can thrive in a certain city?

Small businesses are finding it harder to find a loan these days, thanks in part to increasing regulatory concerns.

Wellness plans aren't milking clients dry. They're swelling veterinary hospitals with income and helping spot patient problems. Learn what set-fee-for-service packages can do for your practice.

Veterinary fees have outpaced inflation. Make sure your clients understand the better medicine they're receiving, and tackle client pushback with bundled services, payment alternatives, and-gasp!-discounts.

Find out how to reduce or even aviod the cost of unemployment.

Your team members are what make your practice run, so give them the tools they need to succeed and to enjoy work. Here's what our veterinary architects have to say about building with your team in mind.

Q: How much should my team members know about my practice's finances?

Q. The inventory for our practice's equine work seems out of control and the payables are piling up. How do I manage inventory without losing money?

Sure, your schedule is crazy. But carving out a couple of hours per week could be the key to keeping your project on schedule and on budget.

It could be nothing more than a passing trend. Or it could be the future of veterinary practice marketing. Here's what you need to know about Groupon and other daily deal websites.

Ask yourself these important questions to see if you're ready to take the plunge into ownership.

You're used to handling most aspects of running your veterinary hospital yourself. But sometimes it's best to ask for help.

Chapter 4 of a nine-part video series about the Veterinary Care Usage Study by Dr. Karen Felsted, CEO of the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues.

It's not a glamorous title, but polishing your communication skills can help attract business from clients whose cats experience litter box problems.

The real reasons behind one of the veterinary industry's biggest problems.

Even in these difficult times, you can grow your practice by focusing on productivity

Do you have what it takes to create your own successful side business?

Accurate and complete financial recordkeeping is important to any hospital owner, but is also important to those who work with the veterinarian. People both inside and outside the hospital all depend on the accurate recording of financial transactions.

It isn't uncommon to find practices that, either formally or informally, offer technician appointments; i.e. patient visits in which certain services are provided to the pet and pet owner by a credentialed veterinary technician instead of by a veterinarian.

For more than a decade, the rule of thumb for setting fees in veterinary medicine was simple: Raise 'em! The corollary to this rule of thumb was: don't worry about clients not wanting to pay; if you communicate the value of the procedure, they will gladly open their pocketbooks.

Consider developing a monthly statistical analysis report for your practice. Take a pulse of your practice by understanding the monthly statistics that are important and track them in a comparative format; month to month, year by year.

For more than a decade, the rule of thumb for setting fees in veterinary medicine was simple: Raise 'em! The corollary to this rule of thumb was: don't worry about clients not wanting to pay; if you communicate the value of the procedure, they will gladly open their pocketbooks.

Budgets should an integral part of your overall financial plan. With budgets in place you are more likely to control the financial destiny of the practice.

Do you divide your staff responsibilities? By dividing responsibilities you reduce the opportunity of potential stealing from your hospital. Basically you should never have one person handle all aspects of a task. For example, the receptionist who handles money directly shouldn't be the person who prepares and makes the bank deposit.

Part of the reason technicians, doctors and other team members choose to work in the veterinary field is because they care about pets and want to see them get the care they deserve.

One of the many unhappy lessons veterinarians and their teams have had to learn from the recession is that clients don't have bottomless wallets filled with cash to spend on veterinary care.

Understanding profitability in a veterinary hospital can be like understanding a Chinese puzzle. Defining profitability can be confusing based upon the entity type.