The compassion behind practice ownership

Sponsored by DVM Elite

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: Hey everyone, I’m Dr. Adam Christman, chief veterinary officer here at DVM360. Thank you so much for joining us. Today we are talking with the CEO of DVM Elite, Amy Breuer. Thanks so much for being here.

Amy Breuer: Thanks so much for having me. This is great.

Christman: This is a great conversation, my friends. We’re going to tune in and chat about practice ownership. Because listen, owning, managing, and working within the veterinary practice is no easy feat. With large workloads and an understaffed industry, it is going to be hard to match up career and ownership expectations with reality. So, this sense of dissatisfaction is often hard to reckon with when practice owners put so much time and compassion into their practice. They love what they do. The Elite family of brands understands the heart of practice ownership and can offer guidance and support along the journey of practice ownership. Amy, it can be very overwhelming.

Breuer: Absolutely, it can. The struggle is real.

Christman: Yes, absolutely. So, let’s take a step back and walk us through the inception and mission of DVM Elite.

Breuer: Sure, you bet. DVM Elite was founded many years ago by Dr. Michael Warren and Melani Seymour to really level the playing field of independent practices, to help them grow and scale their practice by providing resources and a powerhouse community. Through that, they’ve been able to help thousands of practice owners really build an incredible practice, and countless owners sell and make that transition to the next phase. Another really important chapter in their life.

Christman: A huge chapter of their life. And my understanding is there are brands under DVM Elite?

Breuer: Yeah, it’s so cool. Very special because every single brand targets a piece of the practice. DVM Elite is there to help practices grow. Transitions Elite ultimately helps them sell and make that transition. But we also have other supporting brands within the family of brands. UPbook is going to be your technology as well as Concierge Elite to help with recruiting aspects and the team, people, and culture on the dream team side. There’s lots of opportunities to lift up an independent practice to get them where they need to be. The flywheel takes flight with all of those elements and all of those families of brands work together. However, they do stand independent of each other or collective as a family of brands.

Christman: Having the foundation of what DVM Elite can do, let’s talk about what a practice owner is thinking about or should be thinking about when it comes to selling their practice. There are so many considerations so what are those key considerations when selling a practice?

Breuer: They key considerations can be things such as how many doctors do you have? Ideally, you’re going to have two doctors. You’re going to be somewhere between the $1.4 – $1.5 million marker. Of course, your profitability is there. Now, just because those are the key considerations and benchmarks doesn’t mean that if you’re a single doctor practice, you’re out of the loop. This is where we come in to be able to help practices grow and meet those benchmarks so they can get excited about the future ahead. So, whether you’re building to scale or building to sell, we got something for everyone.

Christman: To your point about building towards the future what if I’m not ready just yet? What are some considerations I need to start planning if I’m looking to sell three or five years down the road?

Breuer: Well, you want to consider your revenue. We also want to make sure we’re focused on bringing in new clients into the door. I think a lot of times folks are so focused on their profit and raising prices, that they’re not necessarily looking at what they need to do to be able to set themselves up for success. That’s one of the very first things.

The other piece of that is making sure there is a plan in place where you know your numbers. You know what the story says and you’re really working towards that goal of making your practice as profitable as possible.

Christman: As practices are looking into a new year or fresh start, what should they be considerate of when they want to clean up their practice a little bit?

Breuer: Definitely, visibility and looking at your practice inside to make sure things are clean and tidy. Beyond that, strategic planning is important for any practice owner. That way you understand the goals you have in place, where you are now, and where you are headed in the future. These are all things we help practice owners with. We look towards the future and reverse engineer that backward into one thing they can do today to really make a difference for tomorrow.

Christman: Excellent. Okay, Amy, let’s take this one step further. Say I’m a practice owner, what are some metrics I should be considering when I’m looking to sell my practice?

Breuer: There are key metrics that you should be looking at all the time. The first is you want to make sure you understand what the story of the numbers are saying. Then, taking a deeper dive into the numbers. I love the 20s. For your staff and personnel ratio, 20 percent. Your production, your doctors, 20 percent. Never over 23 percent. Say your credit card processing sits between 3.5% of 4%, somewhere in between there. So really making sure you understand what the numbers are and again, if you’re unsure, these are things we work with for the practice owner. To do a P&L analysis, to understand where you can make a difference in those numbers and key metrics.

Christman: Absolutely. On the flip side, we have so many practice owners who are thinking of taking the leap, but they have some fears. What would you say to those that are questioning or a little bit scared to do that?

Breuer: Number one: don’t go at it alone. Have a trusted advisor. Two: making sure your numbers are in place and understanding the story of your numbers. Three: also looking at the fact that it is not going to be a quick transition. It does take time so preparing now is going to make for a better way forward in the future.

Christman: You touched on this before about having a trusted advisor. How important is it to have one?

Breuer: It’s so important because it will be the biggest transaction in a practice owner’s life. You want to make sure you get it right and have someone who is seasoned who walks alongside you in the process. These folks are here to guide you, to hold your hand, to make sure you’re doing everything you can to be in the best position to sell your practice and make that transition.

Christman: Because they are going to be your biggest advocate, right?

Breuer: Absolutely, one hundred percent. And this is something we can do and help our practices with. We take you through, do a free evaluation of the practice, and make sure you have everything you need to put your best foot forward.

Christman: I love that. In your expertise, what makes a successful practice?

Breuer: This is the thing. At the end of the day, your team and your people are going to be key to your practice. That is going to be true too if you’re looking to sell. One thing folks look for as they are acquiring a practice is your team and culture. So, having had a chance to really dive in and concentrate on your team by making sure you have the right people. They have an owner’s mindset, a growth mindset. That is what they want to focus on.

Christman: Absolutely. I’ve had friends that have been through this multiple times. All for the better. They said it was the best decision they ever made, but it was the hardest decision at the time. And all of them had a trusted advisor. I think getting all of their finances in check, I had a friend who wanted to hit that $1.5 million mark for her practice. It took her a while to get there, but she got there. Is that what you see in your neck of the woods with your expertise?

Breuer: It is, and it does take some time. Again, knowing where you’re at and your numbers and your practice health is the key to finding your way forward. Looking back at the practices we’ve helped, it has been amazing because so many of them are tired and frustrated. They got into veterinary medicine because they love the science. They love animals. This is hard. The people stuff is tough. When you’re able to concentrate on some of those things, lift up, and be able to work on your practice instead of getting sucked directly down into your practice, it makes a difference.

I look back at practices that we helped. They all had this starting point of maybe despair, frustrated in some way shape or form. That is because they’ve gotten away from what they do best. We all have our strengths and our values, but sometimes we just need a little help. This is what we’re here for. We look at your practice and we’re able to say, “This is their timeline to sell. Maybe it’s 18 months. Maybe it’s three years. Maybe it’s 10 years.” We help you begin to grow, not just professionally, but personally as well. Some folks have never taken time off and it’s so important to be able to do that.

Going back to the practices we’ve helped, they’ve started not necessarily at the benchmarks they need. They worked really hard. They rolled up their sleeves. We’ve given them the guidance. They’ve taken the prescription, so to speak, and been able to execute. Sometimes, those people are coming in with 20 new clients a month and they find over time, they’re able to grow their practice. They’re able to sell along the way. It is an amazing journey to watch these practice owners who started at one point, are able to make this transition, and are still giving back to the veterinary community in one shape or form.

Christman: We bleed DNA of vet med. We really do. It’s in us. It’s what we do. I think the reason we have a hard time doing it is we’re always going to be a veterinarian all the way through, and we want to leave that wonderful legacy, culture, and community we worked so hard to build.

Breuer: Yes! We want to leave that for you. That is the amazing thing as we’re all here to build a legacy. What is that? What does it look like for you? Sometimes we haven’t had the chance to think about it. But, we’ve built something great and we want someone to carry on. At the end of the day, who you partner with for your trusted advisor, who you partner with and sell your practice to, is going to make a difference in the legacy you left.

Christman: I love that. It’s so meaningful. This has been fantastic, Amy. Where can we learn more about DVM Elite?

Breuer: Visit dvmelite.com and transitionselite.com to learn more about us. We would love to help the practices listening in today. We’ll peel the layers back in the practice, do a free evaluation. We’ll take a peek at your P&L to say what you can do to move forward. Again, don’t go at it alone. That’s the most important thing. If it’s not us, someone needs to be there to help guide you and your practice to growth success so thanks so much for having us.

Christman: Absolutely. Great job! Thanks so much for being here and all the great work you do. She’s wonderful. I hope that practice owners watching this, or prospective owners are able to feel more empowered about practice ownership. It sounds like there are great partnership tuning in for you. On behalf of our friends here at DVM Elite and DVM360, thanks so much for tuning in. We’ll see you next time. Take care everybody.