I was scrolling through a lively thread on an online veterinary group that started with the question: Is practice ownership the only way to make money as a vet?
The anonymous poster was feeling frustrated with the financial ceiling they had hit as an employed vet, ten years in, despite being a productive and experienced employee. Sound familiar?
I was once a full-time employed, experienced and productive vet. I’ve also been a practice owner, I’m still a business owner, and I am once again a salaried employee in a vet business. I’ve also spoken to many, many people from across the profession – from students to specialists to owners of the largest vet groups. And I have some thoughts…
The answer is probably yes…. but
The short version is that, yes, owning a clinic is probably your best bet for making money in this profession.
BUT…
It’s definitely not a guaranteed way of making money, and that extra income has a cost.
Let’s unpack that.
Let’s start with a few facts (aka strong opinions)
I’ll start with a few facts (or at least strong opinions):
1. As a salaried vet, you are probably not being paid what you are worth.
By ‘worth’ I mean a combination of your brain power and the time and money that you invested to get the degree you had to earn to get you to where you are now. ‘Worth’ from a ‘how much money do you generate with your work’ perspective might be up for debate, but that’s a very deep rabbit hole with many variables – many of which (but not all) are out of your control as an employee.
2. Your vet salary, by itself, won’t make you ‘rich’.
The definition of ‘rich’ is of course debatable. On both a global and historical scale, we are all filthy rich – drowning in excess. Even by current day standards, compared to everyone else, we are perfectly comfortable. But we’re not ‘investment banker’ rich, or these days, ‘plumber rich’, and maybe you want to be. And that’s ok.
Could you increase your salary by increasing your skill/qualification level? Sure. I’m not 100% sure what vet specialists get paid these days – it’s definitely more than a GP – but I know plenty of specialists, and none of the salaried (i.e. non-business owners) ones are spending their weekends on their yachts sipping margaritas. (Well… except maybe radiologists. And dermatologists 😜)
Is a vet salary enough to provide you with leverage to make money elsewhere? i.e. do we earn enough to allow you to save and invest in something else (time, or money) that can start making you some extra $$? Absolutely. Vet salaries are actually not that bad when compared to the general population, and it’s totally possible to be money-smart in a salaried position. Just don’t count on your monthly pay cheque to buy you that summer house at the beach.
3. SOMEONE is getting rich from your work – it’s just not you.
Well, at least that’s the plan – in the current market I know plenty of practice owners who are paying their vets more than they pay themselves just to keep the doors open – but ultimately, the goal of private business is to leverage someone else’s skills and hours to make a profit.
It is in the business’s best interest to pay you as little as they can get away with. And, to be honest, I don’t have a big issue with making money for someone I respect and who has invested a lot of time, money and sleepless nights into creating a profitable practice (we’ll get to that). I would, however, be a little less excited about making money for a bunch of wealthy boomers who own the retirement fund that owns the veterinary business I worked for. (Again – another very torturous rabbit hole.)
And…. to be continued….
…I started writing this thinking that I’d whip out a few opinions for a nice, succinct blog post, but as I’m writing, I realise there is a lot to consider here, and you and I both need to get back to work.
So we’ll pick up where we left off next week with a look at some of the perks of being a salaried vet, and some realities of practice ownership.
Oh, and you know you can comment on these posts, right? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this – just don’t call me names.
This piece was first published in The Vet Vault 3.2.1 email on Friday, 3 October 2025
