Veterinary Clinic Business Plan Sample

Veterinary clinic business plan for starting your own

Veterinary clinics exist to serve the medical needs of various animals such as dogs, cats, birds, fish, etc. According to the American Pets association statistics, there are more than 300 million pets in America. These pets at one time or the other require medical services and therefore, they are usually taken to veterinary clinics. If you have medical expertise and you are passionate about animals, a business plan for a veterinary clinic might be something that interests you.  

If you are unsure about how to open your own veterinary clinic, you can start by drafting a business plan that will give you an insight into the market. Here we have a business plan for Focused Pet Care. It is articulated by best business plan experts in the United States, hence it can help you get a head start.

Executive Summary

2.1 The Business

Focus Pet Care is a standard veterinary clinic located in New York, USA. We intend to offer standard medical services such as medical examination, diagnosis, treatment, and surgery to pets such as cats, dogs, birds, iguanas, and other animals. We intend to also offer consultancy and advisory services to our clients regarding their pets.

2.2 Management of veterinary clinic

While starting a vet clinic, it is essential to ensure that all aspects of the business are coherent. Hence, you must prepare a unique veterinary business plan before launching your business.

A veterinary practice business plan will be somewhat like a business plan for dog kennel. You can read a few business plans and develop a management strategy for your startup but it is not considered a good approach. It is recommended to hire professionals and get a customized business plan in line with your resources and objectives for your startup.

2.3 Customers of the veterinary clinic

Even when you hire business planning services to get a business plan written, you still need to do some work yourself. You need to find out which groups can be your potential customers and whether they are the same customer groups that you want to attract. Although Focused Pet Care will offer services to everyone with pets, running a veterinary practice in New York will particularly interest the following customer groups:

• Households
• Elderly
• Young, Single Adults
• Corporate Executives

2.4 Business Target

Starting a veterinary practice from scratch can be challenging. It requires streamlining of long-term objectives and goals. Our vision is to be recognized for the standard medical practices we offer and be the go-to clinic for all pet owners residing here in the vicinity.

Franchise Business Planning 

Helps the franchisee get business case approval from the franchisor

Company Summary

3.1 Company Owner

Edward Miller is a veterinary doctor who has worked in several veterinary hospitals in New York and has garnered administrative and practical experiences in surgery, dental care, reproductive issues, and skin disorders in animals.

3.2 Why the veterinary clinic is being started

Edward Miller noticed an increasing gap between the demand and supply of veterinary care in New York City. This wedge resulted in high prices charged by vets and they offered substandard services in return. To provide quality healthcare to animals in the vicinity, Edward decided to open a clinic of his own. Focused Pet Care is his first-ever veterinary practice start up.

3.3 How the veterinary clinic will be started

Step1: Planning the Business

Opening a veterinary practice start up can be a challenging task and requires proper planning that needs to be done ahead of time. A comprehensive business plan can help you analyze different strategies that suit your startup. It also enables you to do a cost-benefit analysis. 

Step2: Branding

Step3: Find a Physical Space

Since running a veterinary clinic requires constant supervision and monitoring, Edward decided to have his corporate office in the same building as Focused Pet Care. This can help him visit the clinics at any time and keep a strict check on business operations.

Step4: Online Presence

Living in an age of social media and digitalization, having a web presence is imperative for a company’s success. Having an online website would help potential customers understand the services offered by your business. In addition, they would also be able to book appointments accordingly.

Step5: Promote and Market

When you start working on your vet clinic business plan, you get an idea of how much it costs to open a vet clinic. The costs are similar to those in horse boarding business plan. To meet these costs and earn a profit, you must employ effective marketing strategies that align with your long-term goals

Services of veterinary clinic

Starting your own veterinary practice can be daunting and confusing. The key behind building a successful veterinary practice is to identify your target market and understand their needs thoroughly. In this way, you will be able to decide which services to offer. In this business plan veterinary clinic, we are listing the services offered by Focused Pet Care:

• General Examination

During a routine wellness examination, vets at Focused Pet Care will ask you questions about your pet’s diet, exercise, breathing, behavior, habits, elimination patterns (i.e., bowel movements and urination), lifestyle, and general health. Based on your pet’s history and physical examination, your veterinarian will then make recommendations for specific preventive medicine treatments such as vaccination, parasite control, nutrition, and skin and coat care. 

• Surgical Facilities

Our state-of-the-art surgical suite will offer various surgical procedures such as fracture repair, exploratory procedures, and routine surgeries such as spays and neuters. 

• Internal Medicine

We will offer complete in-hospital diagnostic procedures, including blood work, endoscopic capabilities, and ultrasound.  Consultation with specialists nationwide can be arranged too if needed.

• Grooming Kits

Pet owners who are particular about what shampoos, wipes, and combs to use for their pets are cared for at Focused Pet Care. Our experienced vets offer consultancy services to pet owners and offer them customized grooming kits for their cats and dogs. 

While working on your business plan for a mobile veterinary clinic, you will get an idea of how much it costs to buy a veterinary practice and hence, can arrange for funding accordingly.

Marketing Analysis of veterinary clinic

5.1 Market Trends

The veterinary services industry’s life cycle has been described as being in its growth phase. The Industry Value Added (IVA), which is used to indicate the industry’s contribution to the economy, has been pegged to grow at 2.9% between 2011 and 2022. The U.S economy, in comparison, is expected to grow at 2.2% in the same period.

The advent of new technologies has seen many professionals in the human healthcare sector migrate to veterinary medicine, as the industry continues to grow due to other factors such as pet ownership, availability of advanced diagnostic and surgical procedures, as well as the increasing awareness of animal health issues. Hence if you have some unique vet clinic ideas, this would be the right time for starting a veterinary business.

5.2 Marketing Segmentation

Defining your target market is essential before starting your own veterinary practice. In this sample business plan for veterinary clinic, the following are the customer groups catered by Focused Pet Care:

5.2.1 Households

Households with pets are the recurring customers of Focused Pet Care. Since pets are like family members of a household, they deserve the best possible care. At Focused Pet Care, they are entitled to get it from us.

5.2.2 Elderly

This group is pivotal to the success of the clinic. They are the most proactive regarding the health of their pets and demand a strong relationship with their pet’s veterinarian. In return, they will become loyal customers who will refer both friends and neighbors.

5.2.3 Young single adults

This group is primarily reactive to the health of their pets and will usually only visit the clinic for emergencies, reproduction services, and shots. This group will not visit us often but is still expected to be a significant source of customers from the community.

5.2.4 Working people

Due to their tiring jobs, working people are heavily dependent on veterinary clinics for all sorts of health-related concerns related to their pets. They might not spend a lot of time with their pets and hence might not notice any changes in their health until it worsens. The corporate lifestyle is quite mainstream in NYC. Therefore opening a veterinary clinic will be a good business opportunity for Focused Pet Care.

5.3 Business Target

• Running a veterinary practice with profit margins of 25% after the first year of business.
• Incorporating a dog daycare business plan in the operations of the veterinary clinic to expand the scope of services.
• Capturing a market share of 30% in the next three years of operations.
• Having a customer satisfaction score of 98%.

5.4 Product Pricing

Under this sample veterinary business plan, Focused Pet Care intends to lower its rates in the first 6 months of business. This will be seen as part of our promotion strategy to increase awareness about our veterinary clinic amongst potential customers. 

Marketing Strategy of veterinary clinic 

In this veterinary clinic business plan pdf, you will find a veterinary marketing plan used by Focused Pet Care. Marketing for any business is vital as it ensures that the company gains publicity and generates money. To have effective marketing strategies, we intend to conduct a market survey that will help us understand the market we are going into and figure out how best to penetrate this market.

Provided that this veterinary business plan template is quite detailed, you can refer to the marketing strategies used by Focused Pet Care and see if any of them resonates with your business idea.

6.1 Competitive Analysis

• The services at Focused Pet Care would be offered by professional vets who have practice worth 7+ years.
• Building a veterinary clinic that has state-of-the-art and standardized medical facilities for our various customers.
• On-the-job training will be provided to most of the employees at the clinic to ensure that your pet is in safe hands.
• The introductory prices offered by Focused Pet Care Clinic would be lower than the market rates without any compromise on the quality of services.

6.2 Sales Strategy

• Ensure that Focused Pet Care is enlisted on offline and online directories
• Make use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter
• Engage in direct marketing
• Use direct word-of-mouth marketing

6.3 Sales Monthly

6.4 Sales Yearly

6.5 Sales Forecast

Personnel plan of veterinary clinic

The average cost of executing veterinary business ideas is in almost the same range as mentioned in business plan of a dog training center. It is important to account for different kinds of costs to forecast financial returns accordingly. In this business plan for veterinary clinic, we are taking down the average salaries of employees at pet hotels.

7.1 Company Staff

As per this veterinary clinic business plan sample pdf, Little Paws will hire for the following positions:

• 1 Managing Director
• 2 Veterinary Doctors
• 4 Veterinary Assistants
• 1 Accountant
• 1 Purchasing Manager
• 1 Driver

7.2 Average Salary of Employees

Financial Plan of veterinary clinic

A sole focus on increasing sales does not ensure that your business has become successful and will yield profits. It would help if you did a thorough analysis of the veterinary clinic start up costs and estimated the operations’ capacity for your business accordingly. 

In your financial plan, you must identify when and how to cover your investment amount with the earned profits. Moreover, it would help analyze your yearly expenses to determine the possibilities of reaching an economy of scale. A veterinary clinic business plan should also include an in-depth financial analysis which gives an idea of how much it costs to start a veterinary clinic and how much you need to earn to sustain the business.

While analyzing how much it costs to open a veterinary clinic, you must familiarize yourself with different business models such as a pet photography business plan. It will help you understand the industry better.

Here we’re providing a business plan used by Focused Pet Care for you to use as a reference.

8.1 Important Assumptions

8.2 Break-even Analysis

8.3 Projected Profit and Loss

8.3.1 Profit Monthly

8.3.2 Profit Yearly

8.3.3 Gross Margin Monthly

8.3.4 Gross Margin Yearly

8.4 Projected Cash Flow

8.5 Projected Balance Sheet

8.6 Business Ratios

FAQ

• Are veterinary clinics profitable?

If you open vet clinics, you can typically generate a profit of $50k per month by the second or third year. However, it is only possible when you efficiently manage the business.

• How do I set up a vet business plan?

To have a veterinarian business plan of your own, you need to:

1. Research how your competitors are doing the business
2. Explore services that can be offered
3. Decide the audience you want to serve
4. Plan your veterinary practice
5. Form your veterinary practice into a legal entity
6. Register your veterinary practice for taxes
7. Open a business bank account & credit card
8. Set up accounts for your veterinary practice
9. Get the necessary permits & licenses for your veterinary practice
10. Get veterinary practice insurance
11. Define your veterinary practice brand
12. Create your veterinary practice website
13. Set up your business phone system

• How much money do you need to start a veterinary clinic?

For an average price of $1,000,000, you’ll be able to open a small animal clinic from the ground up. At $250,000, the cost of starting a mobile veterinary practice is much more affordable. It depends on what business plan veterinary clinic you follow.

• Is a vet clinic a good investment?

To make an investment profitable, you need to have a strong veterinary clinic marketing plan. The investment required to set up a clinic is similar to that mentioned in a business plan for dog walking. A vet clinic is certainly a great investment as it has high returns. The average full-time equivalent (FTE) veterinarian produces roughly $550,000 to $600,000 a year.

Download Veterinary Clinic Business Plan Sample in pdf