The Top 10 Business Coaches and Mastermind Groups to Help You Grow Your Veterinary Clinic

Starting a veterinary clinic can be a rewarding career choice. When you’re trying to grow and build a stronger business, there are a lot of different resources that you can choose from. Coaching is becoming a bit of a buzzword, but it’s a much more valuable tool than many people realize. It's no longer easy to just set up shop and wait for customers to come. You have to work hard to succeed in business, and especially in a competitive industry like veterinary healthcare. 

If you want to improve your business by leaps and bounds, you should consider enlisting the help of a business coach or group that can offer training and support. Coaches are capable of fostering the skills of all kinds of employees and can keep your goals in sight and on track while teaching you how to also do those things yourself. It’s the best of both worlds, really, and you should take advantage of it while you can. 

There are coaches of all kinds and from all walks of life. Some are specialists in the veterinary field, and they will have the expertise of their own industry experience behind them. Others may be general business coaches that focus more on the business end of things regardless of the veterinary aspect or including it even though they don’t necessarily have the industry background. 

There’s not necessarily one right choice here -- at least not in that regard. The right business coach is going to be the one that fits your needs, no matter how big or small those might be. 

The business of running a veterinary clinic

You likely got into vet care because you like taking care of animals, not because you like running a business. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of business involved in running a veterinary clinic, so you’ll have to make sure that you’re adequately prepared. Some people choose to go into business with people who understand the business end of things. Others do it on their own and learn as they go. 

In addition to caring for animals, a vet clinic handles tons of administrative tasks and has a lot of business-related duties, reporting, and other factors to consider. You will become a reputable vet by caring about the animals, but you will become a successful clinic by learning how to run a clinic as a business and handling all the day-to-day operations, including:

• Practice management
• Marketing
• Sales
• Reputation management
• Accounting and finance
• And more!

It can be a lot to handle if you’re not prepared for the job ahead, but there are also a lot of resources out there to assist you along the way. The most successful people use the resources and help of those who have come before them, so make sure that you take advantage of what’s offered. That includes hiring a business coach. 

Before we get into the top 10 coaches for your vet practice management and training needs, let’s talk about the benefits of having a coach in the first place. 

The value of a business coach

Hiring a business coach comes with several perks, including the chance to learn as much as you can about business and running a clinic from someone who has been there before you. If you choose a reputable, well-trained coach, you can find several benefits. 

• Accountability: Business coaches will be holding you accountable for every single move that you make in business. They will call your bluff, tell you when you’re wrong, and make sure that your business always comes first. They're not here to be your friend; they’re here to get results. That includes holding everyone accountable for their role in the organization. 

• Honesty: A coach is never worried about hurting your feelings. They will be honest about what is wrong with your business or business model and how you can improve your practice. They will tell you all the things that you don’t want to hear and that no one else will. This allows you to get a no-nonsense look at your business so that you can make the best changes. 

• Perspective: A business coach is coming from the outside and doesn’t know your business at all. They will be able to give you a different perspective on things and provide some critical insights that you might not have discovered on your own. This can be invaluable to your growth and future success. 

• Improved Performance: When you are making changes, you will see better performance, both from your team and your business itself. A coach can point out the most important areas to improve and help you see bigger improvements in less time, and they will be able to keep the improvements moving over time. 

• Improved Relationships: A better clinic means better clients and more satisfied employees. You'll have a better company culture, a better client base, and a better sense of how to manage relationships in business so that everyone gets along and gets the job done for the sake of the practice and the patient at once. 

These are just a few of the biggest perks that come from hiring a business coach. Of course, you may find several other things to appreciate along the way. Check out the best business coaches below and find the one that can help take your veterinary clinic to the next level and make sure that these items are on your list to check before you hire a coach. 

The top 10 business coaches for veterinary clinics

1. Vet Advise

Terry Jackson founded Vet Advise to help people build and create successful practices within the veterinary industry. He has experience in the industry itself, along with business sense and training that helps him set clinics up for success. He's got a positive attitude and a unique coaching style. His training focuses on creating clear objectives to help manage time and create results. He can also help with marketing, selling, and other practice brokering needs, and his style is very out-of-the-box and focuses on team building, ownership succession, growth, and more. 

2. Dr. Dave Nicol

Even Bill Gates says, “everybody needs a coach”, and Dr. Dave Nicol is that coach for the vet industry. He learned from his own experience of trying to build a practice in the industry. He spent 18 months building a large clinical practice and was able to make a big difference to help them along the way, but he did it with the assistance of a coach himself. His successes are based on the proper technique and believing that everyone can benefit from coaching. There are programs for online coaching and training, one-on-one consulting, and more.

3. Debbie Gair, Bridging the Gap

Bridging the Gap is a coaching and training program for managers across several industries. Management coaching for veterinarians and practice owners is important because several issues need to be addressed, including things like staff turnover, lack of teamwork, conflicts between staff, customer service shortcomings, and others. The program focuses on creating realistic goals, improving relationships with the team and with customers, teaching on better business decisions, and inventory, time management, and increasing profits. There are online courses and packages available as well as one-on-one programs. 

4. ActionCOACH

The ActionCOACH network is a nationwide network of training professionals and coaches that can assist with all kinds of business ownership and management coaching. The program is available across the country and the website makes it easy for vet practice owners to find and connect with the right business coach for their needs. The coaching is based on 14 Points of Culture that the organization uses to guide all coaching. Brad Sugars, a pioneer of the coaching industry, founded the group, which offers plenty of custom training and coaching solutions.

5. Melinda Emerson

Dubbed the SmallBizLady, Melinda Emerson has helped dozens of businesses jumpstart their operations and take things to the next level. Having worked with major brands like Staples and American Express, she understands big business concepts like marketing, global execution, and engagement strategies to help people find and love your practice. Although she’s not dedicated to the vet industry, she’s got over 15 years of experience in small business and knows how to help almost any business thrive. She offers online resources, coaching sessions, and even videos and blogs that can help you learn about starting and running a business. 

6. Jump Consulting

Although Jump Consulting was started by a woman who knows the pet industry from the business of pet sitting and walking, she also has a lot of insight that can benefit the average veterinary professional. She can help with starting businesses or scaling them, offering insight on marketing and building a client network, finding success, and more. She is a high-energy coach and offers several different coaching packages, including one-on-one support, online resources, and more. 

7. Laura Boone 

Laura Boone is the owner of the California Veterinary Franchise, as well as the CEO and an executive business coach. She has dedicated her career to helping coach vets and their teams, building an entire coaching brand based on the fact that every business has Constant and Never-ending Improvement (CANI). She empowers clients to be accountable and make smart business decisions to achieve ongoing results. She has more than 20 years working in administrative roles within the industry, and she knows how to coach on leadership, hospitality, and other relevant areas. 

8. Blue Heron Consulting

Blue Heron Consulting offers team coaching for vet clinics and managers, offering a variety of training resources. There are coaching solutions that offer one-on-one support for operational issues, financial and medical issues, and more. Their programs increase income and revenues, increase practice culture, and improve patient satisfaction. Each team gets two coaches, one for the medical aspect and one for operations, and they will help you build a strong practice based on their methods, which have been used for decades by several in the industry. 

9. Vanguard Business Coaching

Vanguard Business Coaching was founded by Andy Turner, a business coaching professional with more than 20 years of experience in the business industry. He has spent years offering consulting and coaching solutions, too, and works to help organizations identify their inefficiencies so that they can fix the biggest problems to build the bottom line faster. This is great for vet clinics that don’t have a lot of time to waste getting things right. There are a lot of other resources available, and you can find online courses, group training, and other solutions to help your practice. 

10. High Performance Vets

Owned and operated by Dr. Natasha Wilks, this coaching program offers business development and career coaching within the veterinary industry, whether you’re looking to get started or trying to move your career to the next level. She helps people unlock their full potential and ensures that everyone understands how to invest in themselves and their careers with a positive attitude. The program coaches on goal setting, communication, and other soft skills to give you the background to set up a successful practice even when you’ve already got the vet education. 

Set up even more success when you enlist the help of Smith.ai

Your vet practice is a full-time job. You've got enough going on, and maybe you don’t have the means to hire a full staff to handle live chat, customer phone calls, SMS, and other queries. The dedicated live receptionists from Smith.ai can offer 24/7 support for all of these things and so much more. 

We'll act as the face of your brand to set your communications up for success, including helping you craft the perfect strategy to manage it all. That way, you can focus on learning the important skills to build a strong vet practice and let us handle the rest. 

Learn more when you schedule a consultation to discuss our 24/7 live chat and phone answering services, as well as appointment booking, intake, and more. You can also reach us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.