Loans For Veterinarian Clinics and Pet Hospitals
Pets are the most important aspect of every pet owners life; we all love our furry little friends. We love our pets so much that American’s continue to increase spending across all sectors of the pet industry – this includes food, toys, treats, pet massages, and even pet reiki. However, the most important area that people should be focusing on is on veterinarian care. Veterinarians are at the forefront for care services for the health of animals through diagnosing, treating, and researching medical conditions and diseases. Without veterinarians, we would have nowhere to turn when looking to take care of our pet’s health! However, the veterinary industry is constantly seeing ups and downs, so in order for veterinary businesses to continue to thrive, staying ahead of the most up to date trends is vital.
Veterinary Industry Statistics and Trends
- Student Loan Debt: Education costs across the United States have skyrocketed, but for medical and veterinary schools, these education cost rates are even higher. The result? Most newly graduated veterinarians have graduated college with endless amounts of debt. This has led to the average veterinary graduate paying over $500 a month in student loans. This has led to many new veterinarians being reluctant to open up their own practice because they simply do not have the means to cover startup costs.
- Increase on Pet Spending, but Not Veterinary Services: According to the American Pet Products Association, there was over $60 billion spent on pets in the United States in 2015. An estimated amount of almost $63 billion will be spent on pets in 2016. While most of the money for both years has been spent towards food, supplies, and other miscellaneous pet products and services, there was about a very small amount of growth in spending for pet veterinary services. The veterinary industry is expected to see some growth in the next few years however, mainly due to the increase in pet insurance purchased by owners. This will lead to an increase of pet owners being able to afford expensive surgeries and procedures for their beloved pets.
- Increase in Veterinary Doctors, Veterinary Technologist and Technicians Job Growth: The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics have shown that the veterinary field is one of the fastest growing professions in the United States today. Once again, this is due to the major increase in people considering pets a major necessity to the home and allocating more time and money towards keeping their pet’s healthy and happy. It is also expected that the veterinary technician field will continue to grow over 41 percent in 2016; vet technicians will allow for many specialized services to be implemented into different veterinary practices.
- Veterinary Practices Focus on Cats: A study released by the American Veterinary Medical Association showed that cats can have an 80 percent clinic growth potential. The study shows that there are 13 percent more cats than dogs owned by pet owners, but cats are seen at veterinary practices 30 percent less than dogs. A major focus for veterinary businesses should be by focusing marketing services and strategies towards cat owners to bring in an untapped market.
- Implementing Key Business Strategies: Over 62 percent of veterinary practices do no implement effective social media, marketing, financial strategies, and key metrics. This means that there are so many ineffective price making practices and marketing strategies that are not being used effectively, resulting in many veterinary practices limited their growth and profitability.
Common Uses of Financing For Vets
- Technology is important in most medical services, and the veterinarian industry is no different. Having up-to-date equipment, machinery and technology is a must for vets.
- Inventory is a necessity for veterinary offices because it typically consists of a variety of over the counter and prescription medications for pets, miscellaneous toys, treats, and veterinary prescribed pet foods – none of which are easily affordable. Considering different financing options to cover necessary inventory costs for veterinary clinics is always helpful.
- Renovations and upgrades are not a necessity, but can benefit many veterinary businesses looking to stay relevant and up to date. Unfortunately, people do judge books by their cover, so make sure to have a good looking, clean, and sanitary establishment should be a priority for every veterinary practice. This venture can be pricey up front, there are always different loan options to help cover these costs.
- Expanding a veterinary business to offer more services to stay ahead of the competition, or to simply add more veterinary locations may very well be a good business decision.
- Marketing and advertising your veterinary businesses may be essential in bringing in new business. Focusing on a social media presence is may be a valuable marketing tool, considering how much people love to discuss pets. People value local veterinarians that will cater to all of their needs, but will do first hand research online before choosing their what veterinary business will fit all of their pets’ needs.
- Compliance is also a big issue for many veterinary businesses today due to the high standards encompassed with running any form of a medical facility. Pet owners today are overly concerned with how clean and up to date the veterinary facility is, so utilizing the variety of funding options to help make the transition into a more up to date facility is essential.
- Payroll is pretty important if you have employees who are depending on their paycheck every week. Making sure you have sufficient funds to cover staff wages and expenses is vital.
Types of Veterinarian Loans
| Types | Rates | Terms | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank | 6-10% | 3-7 years | 14-30 days |
| SBA | 6-10% | 3-7 years | 10-30 days |
| Line of Credit | 5-15% | 1 – 3 years | 7-30 days |
| Alternative | 6-25% | 1-5 years | 5-7 days |
| Cash Advance | 1.16-1.55 | 3-24 months | 1-3 days |
Bank Loans for Veterinarians
Standard bank loans and lines of credit offered by large banks, small banks, credit union, community bank and SBA lenders. Always the best rates and terms of all financing options.
- Rates: 4-10%
- Terms: 1-5 years
Veterinarian SBA Loans
Fairly similar to conventional bank loans, the only difference is the lender has a reduce risk because the SBA will cover losses of all SBA loans if the veterinarian fails to repay the loan.
- Rates: 6-8%
- Terms: 7-25 years
Alternative Veterinarian Loans
The middle ground between a true bank loan, and a high interest business loan and merchant cash advance. Rates are affordable and funding is fast and painless.
- Rates: 9-16%
- Terms: 1-5 years
Veterinarian Cash Advance
Cash advances are simply the sale of future earning in exchange for funding immediately. Repayment is usually made daily by collecting a percentage of the veterinarian office’s bank deposits or credit card transactions.
- Factor Rates: 1.16-1.50%
- Terms: 4 months – 2 years
