Three types of veterinarians who should start a practice

Originally published in OVMA Focus Magazine September/October 2025

BY GREG TONER

In university, a mentor gave me some advice that I’ve shared freely since then: there’s no perfect time to have a baby or start a business. After living through having babies and starting a business, I’ve learned that she was right. Timing is far less important than acting. And you’ll inevitably figure out how to make it work.

I work with a lot of veterinarians, and I talk to five to 10 veterinarians from across Canada every day. Most are practice owners, but some are considering practice ownership and others have no interest in ownership.

I talk to many practice owners about their bad days, but there are generally more good days than bad. I generally find that there are three things that drive happiness in practice ownership for veterinarians, and it closely aligns with the three types of veterinarians who I think should seriously consider starting a practice.

1. The specialist

The specialist craves professional autonomy and clinical freedom. They love being able to provide the best possible care, and they take great joy in seeing complex cases and sharing that knowledge and expertise with others. Their practice is seen by other veterinarians as a resource they can lean on when things get hard. They love being the person the industry can turn to when the medicine gets complex. The specialist’s practice is spotless and operates with surgical precision. Although there’s less case volume than other practices, the specialty service their clients seek is highly valued.

2. The entrepreneur

The entrepreneur loves the business of veterinary medicine. They’re a veterinarian first and can jump into any part of their practice, and they take great satisfaction in building something bigger than themselves. As one part of their practice starts running consistently and operating profitably, they move on to the next step to keep growing. The entrepreneur’s practice is humming, everyone is in the right place, doing the right thing, and doing it on time. Their practice runs efficiently and provides predictable experiences for both their staff and clients.

3. The caretaker

The caretaker takes great pleasure in being a key member of their community. They have an enormous heart, and they take pride in looking after the pets in their community and being relied on to help when they’re in need. They provide a great place to work for their staff and view them as an extension of their family.

The caretaker’s practice is a warm place with friendly staff. Their approach to making their staff feel valued translates to staff making all their clients feel valued. This veterinarian has been an anchor to their community for over two decades and will continue to practice there as long as they can.

Practice ownership is just starting to evolve. Fewer clinics have chaotic schedules, and work is much more predictable for practice owners and their staff. The common thread for how the specialist, the entrepreneur and the caretaker approach practicing veterinary medicine is that the care for animals entering their practice is their north star - they want to make sure that they and their practice are the best that they can be.

Do you see some of yourself in one of these personas? Maybe practice ownership is for you. There will be hard days, but it will drive a sense of fulfillment that makes it all worth it.

Greg Toner, CPA, CA, TEP, CLU, is principal at VetCPA.

Reprinted from the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association’s Focus magazine www.ovma.org