One in eleven veterinary practice owners don’t earn enough income to pay themselves adequately, let alone make a profit!
In the realm of veterinary practices, discussing net profits—particularly healthy ones ranging from 20-30% after paying the owner’s salary—often remains taboo.
However, it’s alarming to note that one in eleven practice owners fail to earn a sufficient income to pay themselves adequately, let alone secure a profit.
Welcome to the second post in our series: Overcoming Decreasing Profit in Veterinary Practices.
Here’s how Alex and Steve Gilmore, owners of Waiheke Vets, overcame the financial challenges in their small animal practice.
What was your situation prior to your turnaround?
When we first acquired our two practices on Waiheke Island, we were buried in debt. Each month, we watched as our accounts bled out by approximately $20,000.
The bills just kept coming, and we felt we were drowning.
We felt we couldn’t put prices up because people were already saying we were expensive. We didn’t think we could ask staff to be more cost-effective or to recommend more services.
As our focus and energy crumbled, the team fell apart.
The situation felt hopeless, and we were desperate to fix it, but honestly, we had no idea where to start.
We couldn’t see a way out, so we considered going into liquidation.
From the outside, everyone, including our staff, assumed we were successful, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
No one saw the books… the emotional damage… the despair.
What were your top three “turnaround” strategies?
Firstly, we focused on identifying and implementing systems to reduce missed opportunities in charging, rebooking, and procedures, which resulted in mouth-watering bottom-line results.
We had no idea how much “financial haemorrhage” was going on until we joined the AMG program. It is estimated that up to 15% of a practice’s total turnover is being missed in these few areas alone.
The great thing is that it wasn’t a hard concept to grasp; it was just a matter of implementing the process, which included getting the team onboard (which is often a challenge!).
We now have a daily process for monitoring missed changes and opportunities so they can be addressed immediately. We’ve found it’s important to have a system for monitoring the success of a process once it has been implemented, otherwise it often stops being followed pretty quickly.
Secondly, we began delegating issues to our team and learning to ask for their help. As business owners, we often thought we had to come up with answers ourselves. It turns out that by doing that, we were reducing the team’s engagement and ignoring their collective genius. No wonder they fell apart!
This particular cultural shift has allowed us to spend a lot of time away from the business without reducing performance.
The third strategy was understanding and employing the concept of the “Compound Effect” of small, consistent changes over an extended period of time, which make a huge difference.
Ideas that work are not hard to come across… implementing them often is.
You are not a tree… move!
In hindsight, all these strategies represent a change in mindset. The mindset change came first, which allowed the strategies to work for us.
What personal changes have sparked such a remarkable turnaround?
Let me share a few insights.
We’ve shifted from reacting impulsively to challenges to responding thoughtfully. Believe it or not, there’s a hidden gift in every challenge—it might take some digging or a long-term perspective to find it, but it’s there. And through this, we’ve realized that we are in complete control of our own success.
Our sense of self-worth has skyrocketed. We truly believe in our value now and aren’t scared of succeeding anymore.
We laid out a clear plan and vision infused with hope. Thanks to some fantastic guidance from AMG, we’ve become implementation ninjas.
We learned the importance of focusing on our team and openly sharing our vision with them. Building a supportive network has also been key.
Lastly, we’ve made time—a real, concerted effort to carve out moments—for what we truly love. This has involved creating new routines or tweaking old ones to ensure we have the time to enjoy life fully.
How’s your situation different now compared to previously?
We’ve become much more productive and focused, and the best part? We no longer feel overwhelmed. We invest more time and resources into training—both for our team and ourselves—to help everyone become the best versions of themselves.
We now spend more time working on our business rather than just on it. On the personal side, we now have time to exercise twice a day, and make sure we have quality time for holidays and family.
We’ve also found a new passion outside of our veterinary work, which has been incredibly fulfilling.
Our social connections have blossomed, too. We’re closer with our team and have built stronger relationships with our clients.
We even earned the title of Best Practice, which was a huge honour.
And…we have achieved a financial position that gives us our WHY: Time and resources to experience life on our terms.
We experience a huge sense of gratitude daily.
What helpful advice would you share with your peers?
Well, let me put it this way: if we can pull it off, so can you!
Start with finding your “why”—that’s your driving force, your motivation.
And when it comes to guidance, pick a coach who really knows their stuff. We went with the AMG program, and it was a game-changer for us.
Remember, it’s all about how you handle life’s ups and downs. Try to respond thoughtfully instead of reacting on impulse. Keep in mind that everything is temporary—both the peaks and the valleys.
On a more practical note, don’t overlook missed charges; they can significantly impact your bottom line.
Make your team your priority. Invest in their training and ramp up communication. Daily huddles, for instance, can make a big difference. And don’t just talk at them—ask questions and draw out their insights. You’d be amazed at the wisdom they can bring to the table.
Want to see where the biggest opportunities in your practice are? Click the link to take the free Practice Diagnostic Assessment and you’ll receive an assessment of the four pillars of a successful practice: Personal, Financial, Marketing and Leadership.
