The art of seizing opportunity

Why do veterinarians rarely contact a consultant or attorney until they're in some kind of difficulty? A colleague asked that question rhetorically during a recent conversation, and I believe she touched on an important issue. Here are some examples of what I believe she was getting at:

• Veterinary attorney gets a call from one of the partners in a newly organized veterinary practice asking how to handle the fact that one of the partners locked himself in the restroom screaming that he can't stand working with his partners any longer.

• Veterinary attorney gets a letter from an established practitioner saying that an audit showed his payroll tax returns to be completely wrong. "How could this be, since I just signed the forms my bookkeeper gave me...?"

• Veterinary attorney receives a fax from a clinic associate of an employment contract with outrageous terms and conditions. Cover letter requests help "getting out of" the agreement that was signed three months previously.

• Veterinary attorney gets an e-mail from a veterinarian who just bought an existing practice and cannot understand how it is possible that his predecessor was making "so much money" and yet now the same business can't meet its payroll.

These are the kind of situations I believe my consultant friend was referring to. I don't think she necessarily meant that veterinarians like those in the examples should have called us (veterinary attorneys and consultants) before making their mistakes. They just should have taken steps, sought guidance, been more patient – something — before signing on the dotted line and placing themselves in predicaments from which they later sought help in extricating themselves.

There is little training in veterinary school on the art of seizing opportunity. Yet, as health professionals, all of us are in some sense business people, frequently faced with business decisions (opportunities). I am speaking not just about practice owners, but indeed all of us.

The new graduate, once licensed to practice, has a marketable skill, available to be traded for cash. Whether one elects to begin private practice or to enter a residency (where the additional training later may yield a higher income) is a business choice.

If the choice is to go directly into practice, she or he must decide whether to accept a position with a lower salary in order to stay close to home or a higher-paid post in a city with a higher cost of living.

What is the value of the preferred lifestyle? What is the spendable value of the higher compensation? These are business decisions.

Beware of two pitfalls

All of this brings us back to the question of how veterinarians get themselves into trouble.

I believe that, in many cases, the failure to successfully navigate and manage professional opportunities (better salary, good partnership agreement, favorable interest rate on practice financing, plea bargain with the DEA, whatever) stems from an overwhelming desire to avoid two things:

1. The effort required to undertake due diligence.

2. Interpersonal conflict that is inherent in negotiation.

If you are beginning to see yourself in this picture, read on:

As we say goodbye to veterinary school, the professional world presents a clean slate. Nothing has been written yet about our career, our professional achievement, our prestige or our economic success. Yet, one Ohio State graduate from the class of 1967 may retire after earning an excellent reputation as a practitioner and having owned and sold multiple practices. Another veterinarian from that same class may never be able to retire, continuing to show up for work discouraged and lamenting the decision to have pursued such an unrewarding career.

Results of poor choices

Each had a blank slate to fill; the only difference may have been the decisions made during each doctor's professional life.

The resentful veterinarian might swear that he was never "given a fair shot" and that any economic or professional failings were someone else's fault. When he got out of school, he was "deceived" into abruptly signing a contract with a local clinic where the owner dangled bright partnership possibilities.

Once he left that practice on bad terms with a tarnished attitude, he teamed up with a veterinarian friend who had been treated similarly in his first job. The two doctors opened a practice where no other veterinarian had a clinic. Then they discovered there was a reason for that. The demographics didn't support a practice at that location.

After going out of business, the good doctor bought out an existing practitioner whose business was going "great guns," though the financial statement was a little hard to read. The seller had assured him that the practice was a real moneymaker, so after negotiating a 10-percent reduction in the asking price, the deal closed. Only after a year in business did our hapless friend discover that he'd paid twice what the place was worth. The rest of his career was spent playing financial catch-up.

This veterinarian, unlike his classmate, will never really be in a position to retire. He made a lot of decisions and signed a lot of papers. But he failed to do the homework needed to support his choices (due diligence), and failed to meet the interpersonal challenges associated with negotiating the hard details of his first job and the price of his practice purchase.

Next time, I will provide some helpful guidelines on ways to face head-on the effort and challenges of professional and business decision-making.

Dr. Allen is president of the Associates in Veterinary Law P.C., which provides legal and consulting services exclusively to veterinarians. He may be contacted at (607) 754-1510 or info@veterinarylaw.com