Associates: Is your perfect partner in plain sight?

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Let's face it. You went to veterinary school with a lifelong dream of saving and prolonging pets' lives. You saw your future diagnosing, treating and performing surgery in a successful, growing practice. Maybe you dreamed of one day owning a practice. Then you woke to the harsh reality of owning a practice that includes sleepless nights worrying about making payroll, enticing new clients, managing employee issues, facilities management and keeping up with new technology and ever-increasing advances in veterinary medicine.

With luck and effort you can find a good manager to handle your business needs. OR-even better-you can consider a business manager as an owning partner. This gives you a stakeholder accountable for running the business.

It can be the best of both worlds when you partner with a manager-a great marriage of specific abilities. You can rest assured while you're busy saving the lives of pets there's someone else making sure your practice runs smoothly. You know there's someone helping to take care of all the other important business departments:

• human resources

• finance

• accounts receivable and payable

• IT

• payroll and bookkeeping

• marketing and advertisement

• inventory management

• risk management and safety.

You may assist in these or other areas, but you don't need to shoulder the burden alone.

The benefit for the manager: She's able to use her strengths to help the practice grow. Together, this relationship allows each partner to do the work you love while knowing you're each accountable to the other for the practice's growth and success. 

Tricia Eagle is practice manager and co-owner of Ashby Animal Clinic in Harrisonburg, Virginia.