Dr. Thomas Huddleston spent years working as an associate doctor in a corporate veterinary environment. But after dealing with an overwhelming schedule he couldn’t control and being limited in the care he could provide, he realized it wasn’t working. He wanted to make a change, something that would allow him to provide better care, help lower-income pet parents and build a practice that truly supported both its clients and employees.
He found all of that and more with PetSmart Veterinary Services.
Now, as the owner of two PVS hospitals in Las Vegas, Dr. Huddleston isn’t looking back. Here’s what he has to say on making the jump to veterinary practice ownership, why he chose a franchise model and what DVMs need to know before going independent.
PVS: What brought you to Las Vegas and what’s the secret to living there?
Dr. Huddleston: Well, the secret part’s easiest. Don’t go outside during the wrong time of year.
I came here because at the time I was in vet school in Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina happened when I was about a year away from graduation, so there weren’t a whole lot of jobs available. And I also saw it as a really good opportunity to go on an adventure and try a new place. Then I met my wife, coincidentally named Katrina, who lived here.
How long did you work as an associate or what other careers in veterinary medicine did you have before making the jump to ownership?
I worked for a corporate practice for about 14 years that was also inside PetSmart. Then I worked relief shifts in all different types of hospitals, just to get a feeling for what everything else is like. And then about three years ago I made the jump and started my hospital with PVS.
So that prior connection to PetSmart is what led you to PVS?
I had a friend who worked relief shifts for Banfield who wanted to open a brick-and-mortar location and invited me to join. I considered it, but ultimately decided I wanted to do something on my own. PetSmart Veterinary Services just seemed like a good fit because I already had the experience of working with PetSmart. It was a relatively easy change.
I saw the need for different availability to help lower-income people. And I wanted to be able to have control over what medicine we practiced and how we provided care.
What were the main things that motivated you to open your own practice rather than just stay as an associate somewhere?
I saw the need for different availability to help lower-income people. And I wanted to be able to have control over what medicine we practiced and how we provided care. If you work long enough for a corporate veterinarian, eventually it’s just down to numbers and you can see the burden it puts on staff members and veterinarians and how it grinds them down.
With PVS, I can control the atmosphere, make sure it doesn’t become a toxic work environment and put things in the practice to take care of my people that you wouldn’t normally see in a normal corporate environment. That includes extra bonuses for my staff when we meet certain goals or for helping a pet parent out in an emergency.
What was the typical day like before and how has that changed to what your typical day is like now?
Before, I would see four to five surgeries in the morning plus 15 drop-offs of other animals to try to juggle. Now I’m doing just as many surgeries and I’m still doing everything I can to get pets in the door, but it’s really just me and my staff. So I’m not trying to change how I’m doing things between different doctors. I can have all the support I need and I can still see the same number of pets. I’m not as restricted with how much time I have to do it and not as restricted with what kind of services I’m allowed to offer or the types of cases I’m allowed to see.
And of course I get here an hour early in the morning to do business work just because if I don’t do it then, I’m doing it after work.
You opened two PVS hospitals in Las Vegas. What went into that decision?
Almost all of my staff are people I’ve worked with before. So of course I already knew the PetSmart environment, but I also knew who was coming with me and what the working relationships would be like.
Then another doctor, who I used to work with a long time ago, came on board to help. That’s why I thought I could achieve doing two hospitals at once. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have done it. I would have just done the one, but I knew I could get the other doctor.
Have you found that process has been pretty smooth to manage within the PVS ownership model?
Definitely smooth. Of course, I do have a good practice manager supporting me, as well. But yeah, overall, it’s pretty easy. The hardest part of anything in veterinary medicine is just hiring staff. So if you have the staff, you’re good to go.
What most surprised you about owning your own hospital? What do you wish you had known beforehand?
I mean, I thought I knew what it would take to manage a business from my previous experience as chief of staff. But there are so many little things to managing a business you don’t think about, like all the different types of licenses and permits and things you’re going to need; trying to know the percentage cost of goods and what you need to do to stay within the balance of that; and how much it makes sense to actually pay your staff compared to what you’re making.
I had a rough idea compared to what Banfield used to do and what one of my previous practices used to do. But that doesn’t 100% translate to your own private practice. You kind of learn from your mistakes and figure it out as you go. Knowing what I know now, yeah, if I had known any of that ahead of time, I definitely would have had a few less hurdles to jump.
But it costs around $500,000 to $600,000, low end, to open a brick-and-mortar location. Opening a PetSmart Veterinary Services hospital costs a third of that, give or take.
What initially drew you to PVS and what other ownership models did you consider before making your decision?
So my wife actually found PVS first, just randomly through a Facebook ad. And then I reached out and I met with a Franchise Specialist who was really helpful.
Before I decided to move to PVS, I really thought about doing a brick-and-mortar with my partner, like I talked about, or just by doing a brick-and-mortar by myself. But it costs around $500,000 to $600,000, low end, to open a brick-and-mortar location. Opening a PetSmart Veterinary Services hospital costs a third of that, give or take. So that’s really what partially sealed the deal for me and just the comfort of knowing it’s an established corporate partner, in the sense that it’s PetSmart; it has a brand name and I’m going to get some traffic flow from clients automatically just because of that.
I don’t even really do marketing for myself, for the most part. PVS just handles all of that for me.
How has being located inside a PetSmart benefited your hospital?
The foot traffic is a big deal and our name is out there all the time. PetSmart Veterinary Services does all this marketing for us. I don’t even really do marketing for myself, for the most part. PVS just handles all of that for me.
They also really help you during opening because they give you suggested pricing, suggested equipment, suggested medicine to order. By no means do they force you to do anything, but it’s really helpful when you’re opening a place by yourself for the first time to have a cookie cutter design of what to at least start with and then you can modify and do things the way you want from there.
How did the support PVS provides (for financing, marketing, technology, etc.) impact your hospital?
So PVS did help me get all of the financing for the small business loans. They set me up with one through PetSmart itself, originally. And then when I wanted to buy more practices, they helped me find banks to finance that. That was a big deal.
They set every doctor-owner up with our own business consultants, which is a huge help for figuring out things like pricing, hiring, how much you can pay your staff and knowing what you can do with different initiatives, such as vaccine clinics.
And the technology is a big deal, too. I didn’t have to go through the process of troubleshooting and picking my own practice management software. PVS sets you up with all that stuff so you don’t need to take the painstaking time of trying to choose between all these different things and potentially making a bad decision; they have all the knowledge to figure that out for you. And then if we do have technical support, we know who to call and they’re right there to help you.
What advice would you give to your younger self or maybe just a younger DVM, starting out to better prepare for hospital ownership?
I mean, I kind of already knew this, but just know you’re going to work five or six, maybe seven days a week at least for the first year or so. Know that you need to really have enough funds and capital to operate for at least a year before you start making a profit. Also, open one hospital at a time — wait a little longer than I did to open the second one. It all worked out, but if I would have waited an extra six months, my life would have been a lot easier.
I don’t really have a whole lot more advice than that. Just pay attention to what you’re spending, and maybe take a business class to at least learn the basics, like what ‘cost of goods sold’ means and what you should expect to spend, percentage wise, on staff and other expenses.
But the good thing with PVS is that the business consultant also helps you with all of those things, so you’re never on your own.
Curious about starting your own veterinary hospital? Learn more about the PVS model or call 480-876-4703 to talk to a Franchise Specialist today.
