Location, location, location

Your choice to work in the beauty of the countryside or on the teeming street corner in view of all passersby may influence your state of mind-but it also affects your pay. The Brakke Management and Behavior Study, released in 1999, shows that practitioners who choose to live in rural settings generally earn less than their urban counterparts. For example, practice owners who work in communities of 2,500 people or fewer earn 21 percent less than owners who live in larger communities.

But keep in mind, choosing the largest community doesn't mean you'll earn more, just as living in the smallest community doesn't mean you're destined to a life of poverty. For example, the Brakke Study shows that male practice owners earn less in communities with populations of 250,000 or more than their male counterparts in slightly smaller cities, and female owners who live in the largest populations earn only 1 percent more than female practitioners in the next smaller size city. The best advice: While the size of the city you choose will affect your potential income, let your personal preferences lead you.

Here's another key location issue to consider: competition. Should you worry about the number of veterinarians practicing nearby if you're joining an established practice? What if you?re starting from scratch?

In 1998, Veterinary Economics and Wutchiett Tumblin and Associates asked Well-Managed Practices how many veterinarians practiced within a 5-mile radius. Eleven percent reported one to three other veterinarians in their area, 27 percent reported four to six, 31 percent reported seven to nine, and 31 percent said there were more than nine. Clearly, Well-Managed Practices thrive next door to their colleagues. So, a well-established, well-run practice likely doesn't have much to fear from healthy competition. A start-up, on the other hand, needs to be sure the pet population in the area will really support another doctor, and you'll need to work on differentiating the new practice from established competitors.

Your practice location also may determine the clients you attract and keep. "The Current and Future Market for Veterinarians and Veterinary Services," a megastudy prepared by KPMG LLP Economic Consulting Services and released in 1999, shows that location was very or somewhat important to 54 percent of pet owners when they selected their current veterinarian. Sixty-eight percent of pet owners said they were happy with their veterinarian's location, and 19 percent of pet owners had switched veterinarians because their new veterinarian offered a more convenient location.

The 1997 Veterinary Practice Evaluation Survey, sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, released similar findings when it surveyed 37,000 pet owners and 535 small animal practices nationwide. The survey asked clients what factors most influenced their decision to choose their present veterinary clinic. Forty-eight percent of respondents cited location as a factor. Other reasons for choosing a clinic included referrals from friends (41 percent), referrals from relatives (13 percent), and a yellow pages listing (7 percent). The survey showed that older clients were more concerned with location, while pet owners who live more than 2 miles from the practice more often say they were influenced by their friends and relatives.

What makes a good location? In our opinion, a locale that meets your quality of life needs, a high concentration of your ideal clients, good visibility, and easy client access.

Caption for pie chart on client mileage: The Veterinary Practice Evaluation Survey (Pfizer Animal Health, 1997) shows that the mean distance clients travel to visit veterinarians is 5.3 miles and that 27 percent of clients travel less than 2 miles to visit their veterinary practices.

Caption for Figure 1: Male owners earn an average of 8 percent less when they work in the largest communities compared to male counterparts in slightly smaller cities, while female owners' incomes go up 1 percent. Source: Brakke Management and Behavior Study, 1999

August 2002 Veterinary Economics