Beyond the Numbers Blog Thoughts & Advice on Veterinary Practice Management
I’m writing this post on the morning of March 19th. It is almost certain that by the time you read this, additional initiatives will be in place. Things are changing rapidly and we know the news services are struggling to make sense of information disseminated at news conferences with no written documentation...Read More
One of the most understated keys to profitability is good financial hygiene. In the same way that we have to take care of bodies personally, we must also take care of our businesses financially. Financial fitness test Q. As a practice owner, what’s the difference between cash versus accrual accounting and how...Read More
Ready for some hard truth? According to an American Animal Hospital Association survey, 86% of employees had stolen from their veterinary clinic. While theft is a blatantly clear form of fraud, not all fraud is that obvious. You might be flirting with fraud right now and not even know it. Fear not, below...Read More
A widespread challenge in the veterinary industry is showing clients the value of our services, but what about staff members? Surely it’s essential that our staff members understand the value of the services we provide. However, most veterinary hospitals give staff members an extremely generous discount on goods and services and allow carrying...Read More
Unless you have a foolproof system in place, there is a good chance your practice is missing charges on a daily basis. Is missing charges that big of a problem? In short, yes. Let’s take a look and run through an example. Let’s say that a client walks in for an appointment and...Read More
Veterinarians often tell me “I don’t believe in discounting at my practice.” I usually chuckle a little because every veterinarian I have ever known discounts. And, to be clear, not all discounting is bad. Discounts that drive new business or attract a new lifetime client, such as a free exam for a new...Read More
Our industry has a problem. This became abundantly clear to me when I attended the VHMA Critical Issues Summit on Pricing in Chicago earlier this month. The summit began with a presentation from Dr. Karen Felsted of PantheraT Consulting who set the stage for the conversation to follow. Presenting data from both the...Read More
Knowing the true cost of a product or service helps veterinary practices with pricing decisions, as do published resources like the Well-Managed Practice Benchmarks Study and the AAHA Fee Reference. In case you still find yourself on the fence about when to raise fees, which fees to increase and by how much, here...Read More
When it comes to increasing the bottom line of your Profit and Loss (P&L) statement, you have options. You can take the approach of focusing on expense management, or you can focus on increasing revenue. Which do you choose? Trick question; you don’t. Both have an impact on your bottom line. The correct...Read More
