We are here to help you create your own path. Whether you call it your exit strategy, transition phase, or succession plan, this process is the best opportunity to set a vision for our career, lay the groundwork, and exit on our own terms.
- Met a veterinarian who lives in her clinic (not in an apartment above it) because that’s all she can afford after nearly 20 years as a practice owner.
- Spoken with a veterinarian who has based his retirement plan on the belief that his practice was going to be worth one year’s gross revenue, and who just found out that it’s worth about $1 million less.
- Received a call from a veterinarian who, in her own words, was going to “work until I die as a solo practitioner” and was just diagnosed with terminal cancer and given six months to get her affairs in order. Even though she had always jokingly planned to work until she died, she had really planned on working until she didn’t want to anymore and then selling her hospital, thereby setting her family up with financial resources.
- Sat in on a meeting with a millennial veterinarian with aspirations to be a practice owner as she negotiated purchase terms with a husband-wife team who had been planning their retirement from practice for about three years. Upon the sale, the couple will be moving south to be closer to kids and grandkids.
- Had a phone call with an enthusiastic, young veterinarian who was just approached by his hospital owner about gradually buying her out. After she sells, her husband, a firefighter, will be able to retire and she’ll devote her time volunteering in a veterinary association.
- Spent an afternoon on a beach with a veterinarian who sold his privately-owned hospitals to two younger associates when he was 52. He wasn’t ready to leave the profession yet, but suddenly he had the freedom to serve in ways he couldn’t when he was tied up practicing.
I was washing the dishes at home tonight thinking about how far we have come over the past couple of years. Honestly, we have come further and much faster than I ever anticipated, and it is wonderful. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be moving into a beautiful home with acreage after the past 10 years of grinding away with very little to show for it. That’s where I want to tell you guys thank you. My life and my family’s life are exponentially better because of what you guys have helped to accomplish. Life is better for a lot of people because of what we have achieved. It is better for people that work at Alpine, our clients, and their pets.
