Have you ever wanted to set up a veterinary practice? It takes a lot of time and dedication to create a trusted and successful vet practice, but the end results can be dazzling.
To become a successful business owner, read our four top tips for setting up your own successful veterinary practice, and you’ll be pulling in the profit in no time!
1. Choose a Great Location
Location is key to becoming a successful vet practice. Not only does a good central location in a town or city afford you extra exposure, but it’s often a great way to attract customers who need to travel by public transport.
Similarly, an adequate amount of parking is desirable for convenience, but if you’re a town or city based vet, you’ll want to research potential parking permits and restrictions on street parking.
2. Consider Your Range of Services
Perfecting the range of services you decide to offer will inevitably impact both the number of customers you attract, and the type of customer.
Vets who particularly advertise as a cat-friendly clinic will be more likely to attract a high number of cat owners, whereas those who specialise in exotic pets will be less likely to attract more domestic pet owners.
If you’re an independent vet practice, you can often offer a wider range of services with greater flexibility than a chain vet practice.
Independent vet practices like Elm House Vets offer a wide range of services from neutering to vaccinations, dentistry and puppy parties, so depending on what your target market is looking for, you can adjust your services accordingly.
3. Establish a Reputation for Quality
Although many vets will be known for good appointment availability or cheaper prices, the impression that makes the biggest impact is without a doubt the quality of your services.
By establishing a reputation in the local community (and further afield) for a high quality service, you will attract customers who want the very best for their fur babies, and will be more willing to engage with you for long-term treatment plans, or seek you out for more specialist work.
Becoming known for high quality and thorough work will also help you outwit your competitors with the power of word of mouth recommendation, but testimonials on websites like TrustPilot from past and present customers can also be a persuading factor.
These reviews are perceived as trustworthy and browsing customers are more likely to feel assured and confident in your abilities as a practice when hearing first hand accounts of others’ experiences with you.
4. Build a Great Website
Websites are key banks of information that can provide customers with quick access to important information including emergency contact numbers, a description of your services, directions to your business and opening hours.
As an optional extra, you could also include the ability to book an appointment through your website, which can help to streamline the system and prevent an abundance of calls at opening time.
By using a platform like WordPress, you can effortlessly build a website from scratch using pre-made templates and themes with top quality support and infrastructure to create the best website for your practice.
Have you set up a successful veterinary practice? Share your top tips for success in the comments section below!