If you were to open your own practice...

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Aviator97

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Would you make much more money than just being a veterinarian as long as the business is successful?
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LetItSnow said:
Yes. Significantly. There is a laundry list of caveats and pros/cons, though.
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I kindly, disagree.

It depends upon the degree of which your clinic is "successful". Your salary will be determined based upon how much money you get after all other bills are paid: employee salaries, office rent, supplies for the clinic, clinic repairs, electric/water bills, etc, etc. You could potentially make a very decent income off a clinic if it is super successful (more than being an associate at another clinic), but your clinic can still be successful and you could easily only be making 30,000-40,000/year after all else has been paid.
 
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DVMDream said:
I kindly, disagree.

It depends upon the degree of which your clinic is "successful". Your salary will be determined based upon how much money you get after all other bills are paid: employee salaries, office rent, supplies for the clinic, clinic repairs, electric/water bills, etc, etc. You could potentially make a very decent income off a clinic if it is super successful (more than being an associate at another clinic), but your clinic can still be successful and you could easily only be making 30,000-40,000/year after all else has been paid.
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Perhaps you missed the part where I said "There is a laundry list of caveats and pros/cons, though." One of which, obviously, would be how successful your clinic is. Or was in the past, since you can always draw down on past success, too.

But since the OP opted for a simplistic question, I opted for a simplistic answer. And while your point is correct, it is broadly and generally true that owners of clinics make significantly more than non-owners.
 
LetItSnow said:
Perhaps you missed the part where I said "There is a laundry list of caveats and pros/cons, though." One of which, obviously, would be how successful your clinic is. Or was in the past, since you can always draw down on past success, too.

But since the OP opted for a simplistic question, I opted for a simplistic answer. And while your point is correct, it is broadly and generally true that owners of clinics make significantly more than non-owners.
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👍

I am just generally being a pain and joking around, because I am procrastinating writing this paper still.
 
DVMDream said:
👍

I am just generally being a pain and joking around, because I am procrastinating writing this paper still.
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I feel that. I have a major radiology exam tomorrow and I just can't bring myself to look at more rads. It's all starting to look the same, rather than more distinctive.
 
Cool thanks guys! Sorry about the simple question....I was in a rush. The reason I ask is because I'm interested in the medical sciences and animals, but then I'm also interested in business and accumulation of great wealth. Yes I know, a single veterinary clinic won't accumulate millions. A chain of them might though. 😀 Plus maybe throw in some real estate and you're good to go. 😀

Sorry about the off topic.
 
Aviator97 said:
Cool thanks guys! Sorry about the simple question....I was in a rush. The reason I ask is because I'm interested in the medical sciences and animals, but then I'm also interested in business and accumulation of great wealth. Yes I know, a single veterinary clinic won't accumulate millions. A chain of them might though. 😀 Plus maybe throw in some real estate and you're good to go. 😀

Sorry about the off topic.
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Buddy, you're in the wrong business :laugh:
 
If you are looking for wealth and opening/owning/managing a chain of veterinary clinics, your best route of action would be to go to business school, NOT Vet School.
 
Frozenshades said:
Buddy, you're in the wrong business :laugh:
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👍

In high school I worked in the kennels at a vet clinic and the practice owner told me one day
"you make more money than I do" and I was being paid minimum wage.

owning a practice is very expensive and on top of that you need to build clientele.

vets are also well known for not making a lot of money. if you are an entrepreneur I'd say go to business school and go that route. with $200k in loans it's hard for vets to get off the ground and even have enough money to start a business.
 
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wolfspeaker said:
If you are looking for wealth and opening/owning/managing a chain of veterinary clinics, your best route of action would be to go to business school, NOT Vet School.
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Some states require vet clinics to be owned by a vet, just FYI. But agree with everyone above, vet med isn't going to make you millions.
 
Lissarae06 said:
Some states require vet clinics to be owned by a vet, just FYI. But agree with everyone above, vet med isn't going to make you millions.
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Well, yeah. I forgot about that part. :laugh: I'm assuming the OP is wanting to open a chain like Banfield or something. Kind of sounds like that. The whole "chain" and "millions" part. :laugh:
 
wolfspeaker said:
Well, yeah. I forgot about that part. :laugh: I'm assuming the OP is wanting to open a chain like Banfield or something. Kind of sounds like that. The whole "chain" and "millions" part. :laugh:
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Ah, Banfield :smack:

Is it just me?
 
wolfspeaker said:
If you are looking for wealth and opening/owning/managing a chain of veterinary clinics, your best route of action would be to go to business school, NOT Vet School.
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Or both like me =)
 
Frozenshades said:
DVM/MBA?

Edit: Curse you SDN, automatically lower casing those. I CAN USE ALL CAPS IF I WANT.
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I just completed my Masters in Business Management. It's not an MBA but I do have plans to go back and get my MBA if I do it at Florida my current masters will knock off a substantial amount of credits. I had a hard time finding DVM/ MBA programs.
 
The mean compensation for practice owners is significantly higher than for associates, $120,000 compared to $80,000 in 2009 (JAVMA data). As with owning any business, the reward is higher but so is the risk.
 
I've actually thought about going for my MBA instead since really, I just want to be a business owner and hopefully one day hit it rich. I mean yes I like veterinary medicine, but I like the green paper more...
 
Aviator97 said:
I've actually thought about going for my MBA instead since really, I just want to be a business owner and hopefully one day hit it rich. I mean yes I like veterinary medicine, but I like the green paper more...
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Keep in mind that green paper does not necessarily equate to happiness 👍
 
Aviator97 said:
I've actually thought about going for my MBA instead since really, I just want to be a business owner and hopefully one day hit it rich. I mean yes I like veterinary medicine, but I like the green paper more...
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If that's where your priorities lie, vet med is probably not for you. 😉
 
EngrSC said:
Keep in mind that green paper does not necessarily equate to happiness 👍
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Escalla said:
Ain't that the truth. 👍
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Actually we can be more precise than that ("not necessarily"). There is no correlation between long term happiness and wealth or income. There is a short term increase in happiness due to a sudden (especially unexpected) increase in wealth.

But it might not make you happy, but it is nice to have..

reminds me of a little tune I played when trying to learn the piano a few years ago:

"Money can't buy everything,
money can't make you a king(queen),
money cannot bring success
money can't buy happiness...

But of one thing I am sure,
money cannot make you poor,
money cannot make you sad,
money can't be all that bad"

😀
 
StartingoverVet said:
Actually we can be more precise than that ("not necessarily"). There is no correlation between long term happiness and wealth or income. There is a short term increase in happiness due to a sudden (especially unexpected) increase in wealth.

But it might not make you happy, but it is nice to have..

reminds me of a little tune I played when trying to learn the piano a few years ago:

"Money can't buy everything,
money can't make you a king(queen),
money cannot bring success
money can't buy happiness...

But of one thing I am sure,
money cannot make you poor,
money cannot make you sad,
money can't be all that bad"

😀
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Goes right along with what my father has always told me, "money doesn't buy happiness, but money doesn't suck either."

Just got to make due with what you have.
 
What SOV said 👍

I have one thing to add ... 40 hours/week is a significant chunk of time to spend doing something you really dislike. Take my word for it!
 
Frozenshades said:
Goes right along with what my father has always told me, "money doesn't buy happiness, but money doesn't suck either."
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My mother's version:

Yeah, people say money doesn't buy happiness, but being poor doesn't guarantee happiness either. There are a lot of unhappy poor people out there. If you're going to be unhappy, wouldn't you rather be rich and unhappy than poor and unhappy?
 
Yes, money can buy happiness (studies have shown that), but it doesn't follow that money guarantees happiness. It's all about how you spend that money.......the saying is that if money isn't buying you happiness, you're not spending it right! To maximize your happiness, spend money on experiences, not things - unless those things are shared and create an experience. Better to spend it (for more happiness) on going out for lunch with the gang every week than on a new suit or new piece of furniture.
 
As long as you're pulling in 75k, you'l be allright 😉

http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/09/study-says-$75,000-can-buy-happiness.html

I actually find this a very, very interesting study. Makes me even more convinced that a "rubber band" system in terms of earning potential in this country would help a lot of our wealth disparity issues.

I always say that people who think money doesn't matter have never had to chose between food and gas.
 
wolfspeaker said:
Or food or a roof over your head for one more month. 🙁
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Or a Porsche Boxter or Porsche Carrera.

Also I didn't know how to spell 'Porsche' and spent about 15 minutes reading about the different types of porches.


But yah I see no reason why owning multiple practices can't be a legitimate goal in this field. I plan to eventually own two or three myself to capture wider markets and price ranges.
 
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