The Opportunity to Own Is Wide Open. Are You Ready to Make the Most of It?
When I bought my practice, I was a brand-new veterinarian with $100,000 in student debt, no savings, and no business training of any kind. What I did have was a clear vision for the kind of practice I wanted to create, a deep love for veterinary medicine, and enough ambition to outrun the fear.
That ambition carried me a long way. What it did not do was teach me how to run a business. For years, I had QuickBooks, a tax accountant, and almost no real understanding of how my practice was doing financially. I was guessing more than I was managing, and the stress of not knowing was a steady hum in the background of everything.
On the people side, I was learning to lead a team in real time, which is a polite way of saying I made a lot of mistakes with people who deserved better. I was directive, I was a perfectionist, and I was not exactly a joy to work for.
And through all of it, I was doing it alone. I did not have mentors or peers I could call. I did not have a coach or a consultant in my corner. I thought asking for help meant I did not have what it took, so I kept my head down and kept grinding.
It took years, and eventually a consultant who finally helped me understand the business I was running, before things started to turn around.
That gap, between jumping in with excitement and jumping in with preparation, is exactly why I do this work. The woman I coach today is the woman I was 27 years ago. She is a great doctor. She is wonderful with clients. She probably has a team that genuinely likes her.
And she is about to discover that none of that fully prepares you for the day you become the boss, the bookkeeper, the HR department, and the person who has to figure out why the autoclave is making that sound, all before noon.
The Window Is Open. Here’s Why.
For several years, corporate consolidators were acquiring independent practices at a pace that made ownership feel out of reach for many associates. Valuations soared, competition was fierce, and the math often didn’t work in an individual veterinarian’s favor.
That landscape has changed. Rising interest rates slowed corporate acquisition activity significantly, and as a result, more practices are now selling at valuations that are realistic for an individual buyer.
Vet-to-vet independent deals have flipped from roughly 25% of all transactions to about 75%, according to recent data from Mahan Law, which closed over 75 practice transactions in 2025 alone representing more than $300 million in transferred practice value.
Startup activity has roughly doubled in the same period. The practices that were once being snapped up by consolidators are now available to the next generation of independent owners.
Banks also view veterinary practices as low-risk investments. Financing is more accessible than most associates assume.
If you have been waiting for the right moment, the conditions right now are among the most favorable for independent ownership in recent memory.
Women Are Leading This Moment
Women now make up more than 60% of the veterinary profession, and more than 80% of graduating classes. We have been the majority in this profession since 2009.
When I jumped into ownership right out of school, it was unusual for a woman, especially one at my level of experience, to make that move.
The expectation, spoken or not, was that ownership was something you worked toward slowly, and that women in particular needed more time, more seasoning, more certainty before they were ready.
That is changing. Women’s share of practice ownership has grown from 29% in 2007 to 41% in 2019, with projections pointing to women becoming the majority of practice owners by 2028.
More women are taking the risk, making the leap, and building practices that reflect their values and their vision for veterinary medicine. That is good for their careers, good for their teams, and good for the profession.
There is also a financial reality worth understanding. The gap between who is practicing and who is owning has a real cost over a career. Recent data shows that for women who went directly into practice ownership, the earnings differential compared to male counterparts grew to 80% by midcareer.
Practice ownership is the clearest path to building wealth in this profession. The more women who own, the better positioned they are, in every way.
What It Takes to Do It Well
Getting into ownership is genuinely within reach for most veterinarians who want it.
The financing exists.
The practices are available.
The profession is ready for more independent owners.
But accessible does not mean you’re prepared, and preparation is what separates the owners who thrive early from the ones who spend years recovering from the start they didn’t plan for.
Here are the four foundations that make the difference.
Get clear on your why.
Before you sign anything, sit down and write out why you’re doing this and what you want to build. Not a mission statement for the wall, but the real answer.
What is your long term vision for your life and career?
What matters most and how do you want to achieve it?
What kind of practice do you want to run?
What does it feel like to walk through the door every morning?
What makes you different from the clinic down the street?
What does success look like for your life, not just your business?
Your why is not a nice-to-have. It is the foundation every other decision gets built on, your business model, your hiring, your client experience, your culture.
Owners who are clear on their why make faster, better decisions.
Build your community and your expert team
You can have your uncle look at the plumbing, but the business needs people who know what they are doing. That means two things.
First, your personal community, the peers, mentors, and colleagues who have been through this and want to see you succeed. These relationships provide the perspective and encouragement that are hard to find anywhere else, especially when ownership gets hard.
Second, your professional team: a coach and consultant who understands veterinary practice, a bookkeeper, an accountant, a real estate advisor, a lawyer, and HR support.
Yes, this feels like a significant investment at the start. But these are the people who help you avoid costly mistakes, make faster and better decisions, and grow revenue more quickly than you would stumbling through it alone.
Practices that build this team early grow faster and struggle less. The investment pays for itself.
Become an intentional leader
You do not have to wait until you have a team to start learning how to lead one. The fundamentals of leadership are learnable, and the earlier you start, the better.
Learn how to give feedback clearly and directly, without damaging the relationship. Understand what accountability actually looks like day to day. Know what goes into a job description that sets someone up to succeed rather than setting you both up for frustration.
Understand why an employee handbook matters from the first hire, and what performance management looks like before you are in the middle of a difficult situation with someone you depend on.
The owners whose teams stay, grow, and build something worth being part of are the ones who invested in this before they needed it.
What Becomes Possible
When you build on this foundation, the difference shows up in specific ways. You’re clear on your long term vision and purpose. You have the knowledge and people around you to encourage and support you and to make sound decisions that align with these goals and your values.
Because you have these things, everything else - team culture, operations, client service, financial management - will flow from the foundation you’ve created. You’ll feel grounded instead of overwhelmed. You’ll know where you’re headed instead of living on the hamster wheel that never ends. You’ll be confident.
I know this because I lived it. Once I built the foundation I was missing, my practice grew by double digits. Turnover dropped. Clients drove over 100 miles with their pets because they trusted us.
And I went from barely keeping it together to genuinely loving what I had built. The extraordinary practice you are envisioning, the one with a culture people want to be part of and a business that actually supports your life, becomes something you build on purpose.
The opportunity is real. The timing is good. You made it through veterinary school, which, let’s be honest, is one of the hardest things a person can do. You have the grit. Build the foundation, bring the right people around you, and go create something extraordinary.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
If you are thinking about ownership or actively preparing for it, I would love to talk through where you are and what you need. Book a free 30-minute discovery call with me. Let’s have an honest conversation about your situation and what a strong start looks like for you.
