How to Meet Challenges in Changing Business Climates

Every veterinary practice faces tough challenges in their business from time to time. These challenges could come in the form of declining revenues because of the economy, loss of a doctor, or new competition in the market. Challenges could also come from natural disasters such as floods, fires, hurricanes, etc. Here are some ways to meet and defeat these challenges.

The most effective way to meet such challenges is to have a financially healthy practice. A financially healthy practice is one that is generating enough profits to pay the owner(s) a return on their investment and also to invest back into the practice for things such as new equipment purchases or a new facility.

Let’s address the challenge of declining revenues first. If your practice is experiencing consecutive months of declining revenues, you need to understand how this is going to affect your practice. Are you still able to produce a positive cash flow, meaning, is your practice bringing in more cash each month than it is spending? If so, great! If not, we’ll look at a few ways to improve cash flow. [...]