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In Part 1 I started unpacking a question that I saw on a vet community: is owning a practice the only way to make money as a vet, i.e. should I start a practice? We started with the (mostly financial) downsides of being an employed vet. But every yin has a yang…
When I owned my practice, I slept like a baby. In other words, most nights I’d wake up every three or four hours crying.
That was just a joke – sort of. It wasn’t actually that bad. (Besides, I owned my after-hours business at the same time as having three babies – I didn’t sleep at all.)
But what is not a joke is that I gave up my peace of mind the moment I decided to start my own business. Before that, I was a champion at completely disconnecting from work. As an employed vet, I’d walk out the door, and by the time I got into my shitty Subaru, all thoughts of work had evaporated.
We’d go camping, I’d renovate the house, run, surf, or just hang with the babies – fully engaged. I’d fiddle with my motorbike in the shed and read fiction and watch movies – mind like a pond. But the day I decided to start my own practice,, that equanimity was replaced with a meerkat for a brain – always looking for something to do, always on the lookout for opportunities. Or trouble. This still applies with The Vet Vault by the way.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked the vet business, and I love what I do now, but when the buck stops with you – when your input has an outsized effect on the outcome and the output – there aren’t many moments when you don’t hear that niggly little brain worm whispering to you from somewhere inside your skull: “I’m pretty sure there’s something you should be doing…”
You’re probably familiar with that feeling from exam time. Or my personal favourite: “I know you’re trying to relax in the surf, but here’s a problem that we should obsess about a bit…” (That worm also loves to hang out in the pit of your stomach.)
And I don’t think it’s just me.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because, although it can sometimes feel like pressure, it’s also motivation. The more you care about something, the more it occupies your mind, and it’s that drive, that purpose, that makes us humans build things of value. I’m pretty sure that the creators of the best art we get to enjoy hear “shouldn’t you be writing?” pretty much 24/7. That voice in your head gets you off the couch, but it can also be exhausting.
Before I owned my practice, I thought the things that would keep me up at night would be practical things like money, or paperwork, maybe client complaints. But I’m pretty certain that if the average business owner had to ascribe the number of sleepless nights (or glasses of wine) they’ve ever had to a particular cause, staff issues would outrank all others 10:1. You might think that dealing with people when they are your clients is hard. Wait until they are your employees!
It’s not entirely dissimilar to parenting. There are these people you are responsible for. It’s your job to keep the group as harmonious as possible – or at least not dysfunctional. But some days they just can’t get along. They bicker. They play power games. They do selfish things.
You care about them and want the best for them, but you also need to make decisions that benefit the group over the individual. Sometimes the kids don’t have the full context to understand why those decisions were made, and even if they do, they can be dicks about it. I’m pretty sure that my 14-year-old thinks he can run our household better than I can – and maybe he’s right – but a little bit of gratitude for my efforts would be nice! And it sucks having to be the bad guy.
But unlike kids, employees need to make you money. And you can’t take away their phones when they misbehave. And if they get really upset, they can take you to court. That’s on a bad day. There are also many good days. In reality, most people are nice, responsible and reasonable. But it takes one or two who are none of these things to make your life as a team leader very hard.
**By the way, if anyone who used to work for me in Perth is reading this – I’m obviously not talking about you. You guys were perfect – I’m just relaying things that I’ve heard from other practice owners. 😜
Oh, and yes – money WILL also keep you up at night from time to time. The buck stops with you, after all. The vagaries of the market and the economy and drug prices and, and, and… are up to you to deal with. The team and the suppliers and the landlord don’t care about the externalities – they want to be paid. Which can very easily mean that you don’t. It’s just that money is mostly more predictable than people.
Contrast this with my current experience back in the land of ‘employed vet’. I see the problems. I empathise with the owner as they tell me about some situation. I say, “Wow, that’s a tough one. (as I’m literally washing my hands.) Good luck with that. Anyway – I’ll be off now – see you next week.”
I get the panicked text on a Saturday night: “X is sick – can you cover their shift tomorrow?” I look at the surf forecast. I reply: “Sorry – I have plans.” (I’m just trying to sound cool – I do usually have plans, but it’s more likely that I have three episodes to edit, or I need to drive a kid to a rugby match. But in theory, I COULD choose to go for a surf over doing that shift. Because, unlike the years when it was my practice, that shift is ultimately not my problem.)
There are plenty of upsides to not being the boss. But it’s not my intention to paint a negative picture of practice ownership – my aim is merely to provide a bit of insight, and maybe generate some empathy for your boss.
And if there weren’t also significant upsides to ownership, then tens of thousands of people wouldn’t do it. Yes, money is one of them. But there’s more to it. We’ll think about it in Part 3.
This opinion piece was first published in The Vet Vault 3.2.1 email on Friday, 10 October 2025
Hubert Hiemstra is the friendly voice behind The Vet Vault and Vet Vault Clinical Podcasts. With over two decades of veterinary experience across three continents, he's on a mission to help fellow vets fall back in love with veterinary science. When he's not in the clinic or podcasting, he loves hanging out with his wife and energetic boys, catching some waves, going for a run, or just soaking up nature. Stay current with the Vet Vault’s practical, on-the-go clinical CPD episodes that are anything but boring. Explore the library here https://www.thevetvault.com/p/clinical-content/
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