Bob Levoy
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Long-range strategic planning requires making hard decisions in your practice. First, you must decide what you and your team
are going to do more of. What's working? What services, activities, and products generate the most practice growth and are the most profitable? For
example, are pre-anesthetic risk assessments profitable—and good medicine? If so, you may want to challenge your team to increase
clients' acceptance of such procedures.
Next, ask what you and your team can start doing that you're not doing today. What new services, activities, or products could and should you introduce to improve practice
growth and profitability? Would extended hospital hours make appointments more convenient for target clients? Would in-house
lab work offer medical and economic benefits?
Third, you and your team needs to decide what you're going to do less of. What's not working? What takes a lot of effort and contributes little to practice growth and profitability? Can you limit
or eliminate these tasks or services and channel those resources into services or products that will yield a higher return
on investment? For example, one New Jersey companion animal practitioner loved to do equine work, but after thinking about
it, admitted, "It no longer makes economic sense to continue offering these services."
Clarity is the key to long-range strategic planning. The more time you take to clearly define who you are and what you want
to accomplish, the more profitable your practice will be.Veterinary Economics
Editorial Advisory Board member Bob Levoy is a seminar speaker in Roslyn, N.Y.
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