Plan B Business
Healthcare / Pet

Stay independent.
Outperform the corporate roll-ups.

We work with independent veterinary clinic owners doing $1M-$8M in annual revenue. Corporate consolidators (Mars Petcare, VCA, BluePearl, Banfield) are buying everything. Our 12-month engagement gets you to wellness plan recurring revenue, sustainable on-call rotation, and a clinic valued at 8-12x EBITDA - whether you sell or stay.

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Industry Reality

9 patterns we see in >70% of veterinary clinics

85%
frequency

Transactional visit model - no recurring revenue

Root cause: Clients come in for sick visits and annual exams only. No predictable monthly revenue. Cash flow swings 40%+ month-to-month.

What we do: Launch 3-tier wellness plan ($45/$75/$125 per month per pet). Includes annual exam, vaccines, dental cleaning, bloodwork. Targets 30%+ of active patients enrolled within 12 months.

80%
frequency

Owner-vet on-call burnout (60+ hours, 1-in-3 weekends)

Root cause: Solo or 2-vet clinic. Owner-vet covers 50%+ of on-call. Cannot take real vacation. Spouse and kids resent the practice.

What we do: Build sustainable on-call rotation: hire 3rd vet (associate or relief), partner with local emergency hospital for nights/weekends, deploy telehealth triage for after-hours. Owner-vet on-call drops to 1-in-5 weekends.

70%
frequency

Corporate consolidator (Mars/VCA/BluePearl) circling - tempting offer on the table

Root cause: Owner is tired. Corporate offers $3M-$8M cash. But the offer is typically 5-6x EBITDA when the practice could be worth 9-12x with 18 months of optimization.

What we do: Practice valuation deep-dive. Identify the 3-4 levers that move EBITDA multiple from 5x to 10x: wellness plan revenue, doctor productivity, average client transaction, client retention. Decide to sell from strength or stay from strength.

75%
frequency

Average client transaction stuck at $185-$240

Root cause: Underselling diagnostics. Not recommending dental cleanings consistently. Vaccine compliance below 70%.

What we do: Standardize 'gold standard' care recommendations across all DVMs (not just the assertive ones). Bloodwork on every annual exam over age 7. Dental disease scoring mandatory. Average transaction lifts to $300-$400.

70%
frequency

DVM (associate vet) retention crisis (50%+ leave within 3 years)

Root cause: Below-market base, no production bonus structure, no equity path, on-call burnout, student loan crushing. New grads leave for corporate signing bonuses ($75K+).

What we do: Restructure DVM comp: market-rate base ($120K-$160K depending on region) + production bonus (22% of personally generated revenue above base threshold) + student loan repayment assistance + path to partnership/equity. DVM retention lifts to 85%+.

75%
frequency

Practice management software still on Cornerstone (or Avimark, ImproMed) with no cloud features

Root cause: Legacy on-premise PIMS. No telemedicine module. No client app. Manual reminders. Inventory chaos.

What we do: Migration evaluation: cloud-based PIMS (eVetPractice, Pulse, Provet Cloud, Vetspire, Hippo Manager). Or stay on Cornerstone but add cloud add-ons (Petly app for clients, reminder automation). Decision based on practice size and complexity.

70%
frequency

Pet insurance penetration in client base under 10%

Root cause: Front desk doesn't discuss pet insurance. Clients decline expensive diagnostics due to cost. Practice loses 20%+ of recommended diagnostics revenue.

What we do: Train front desk to discuss pet insurance at every new patient onboarding. Partner with Trupanion (vet-direct pay), Embrace, Healthy Paws, Pets Best. Insured pets accept 80%+ of recommended care vs 45% for uninsured. Practice revenue per patient lifts 25-35%.

80%
frequency

Online reviews stuck under 100 Google reviews with 4.4-4.6 average

Root cause: No systematic review request process. Negative reviews from canceled appointments dominate.

What we do: Post-visit SMS review request flow via PIMS or RevenueWell/Demandforce. Negative review response protocol. Target 250+ reviews at 4.7+ within 12 months.

65%
frequency

Boarding, grooming, and retail revenue under 15% of total

Root cause: Add-on revenue streams underutilized. Grooming staff turnover. Boarding facility old.

What we do: Audit and rebuild boarding/grooming P&L. Retail focused on prescription diets and vet-recommended products only (not big-box competition). Target 20-25% of revenue from non-medical streams.

Benchmarks

The numbers we hit

KPIMarket avgPlan B targetAfter 12 mo
% active patients on wellness plans5-15%30%+22-35%
Average client transaction$185-$240$320-$420$270-$380
Practice EBITDA margin12-18%22-28%18-25%
DVM retention (3-year)45-55%85%+75-88%
Owner-vet weekly hours55-65<4542-50
Pet insurance penetration (client base)5-10%30%+20-32%
Practice valuation multiple (EBITDA)5-7x9-12x7-10x
Engagement Model

What working with us looks like

  1. 01

    Month 1: Practice + financial deep-dive

    We pull 13 months of PIMS data: revenue per DVM, average transaction, wellness compliance, dental compliance, bloodwork compliance. We pull P&L and identify EBITDA multiple drivers. We map the corporate consolidator landscape in your area.

  2. 02

    Months 2-3: Wellness plan launch + DVM comp restructure

    3-tier wellness plan goes live with existing clients first (warm conversion 25-35%). DVM compensation restructure rolled out with production bonus. Pet insurance discussion script deployed at front desk. Average transaction starts lifting.

  3. 03

    Months 4-6: On-call sustainability + PIMS evaluation

    Third DVM hire (or relief DVM partnership). Emergency hospital partnership for after-hours. Telehealth triage deployed. Cloud PIMS migration decision made (and started if go). Review request automation live.

  4. 04

    Months 7-12: Sell-or-stay decision + scale

    Wellness plans hit 25-30% of patient base. EBITDA multiple modeled at 8-10x. Owner-vet decides: take optimized corporate offer at higher multiple, sell to associate via partnership track, or stay independent and continue scaling. We support all three paths.

Common questions from veterinary clinics owners

What size clinic is this for?−
Sweet spot: 1-4 location independent clinics doing $1M-$8M annual revenue with 1-6 DVMs. Below $1M, you're typically pre-optimization (we offer different help). Above $8M (5+ locations), you need internal Hospital Administrator/COO role.
Should I sell to Mars Petcare or VCA?+
Maybe. The question isn't 'sell or not' - it's 'sell at what multiple, and to whom.' A typical clinic owner sells at 5-7x EBITDA. With 12-18 months of optimization, the same clinic sells at 9-12x. That's a $2M-$5M difference on a $1M EBITDA practice. We help you decide and optimize regardless of decision.
What about staying independent forever?+
Fully supported. Many vets don't want to sell - they want sustainable practice ownership. Our work makes independent ownership sustainable: wellness plan recurring revenue, hired-out on-call burden, retained DVMs, automated operations. Independent forever is a valid goal. We help you get there.
What practice types do you work with?+
General small animal practice, mixed practice (small + large animal), feline-exclusive, exotics, and integrative/holistic. We do not currently work with pure emergency/specialty hospitals (different economics) or large animal-only practices (different distribution model).
What about AAHA accreditation and state board compliance?+
AAHA accreditation lifts practice valuation 10-15% and improves clinical quality. Worth pursuing if you're 18-24 months from sale. State board compliance (controlled substance handling, radiation safety, OSHA, DEA) is non-negotiable - we connect you with veterinary practice attorneys for compliance, not us.
Pet insurance - which company do you recommend?+
Tool-agnostic. Trupanion has vet-direct pay (huge cash flow advantage for clients). Embrace and Healthy Paws have strong reimbursement. Pets Best is budget-friendly. We help you build the recommendation framework based on your client demographic - not pick winners between insurers.
What entity structure should I use?+
Most vet clinics operate as PCs (Professional Corporations) or PLLCs depending on state veterinary practice acts. Some states (CA, NY, others) have specific veterinary entity requirements. Tax election (S-Corp vs C-Corp) impacts owner take-home significantly. Your CPA + veterinary practice attorney handle this - we focus on operations and growth.
Who does the work?+
Ligal Frish and Eitan Eshtemaker - the two co-founders. Direct access, no associates. Fee structure: Diagnostic $1,500 one-time, Advisor $3,500/month (most clinics), Partner $8,500+/month (multi-location or pre-sale optimization).

Stay independent. Or sell from strength.

30-minute strategy call. We'll diagnose your top 2 levers and tell you if we're a fit. No pitch. No pressure.

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