The Essence of Partners

The Team

The team is formed specifically for a new building or a lease of a portion of a building that works for the Owner’s direction. Team members for include the Owner [veterinarian], architect [designer], real estate broker [RE], builder, general contractor [builder], financing [bank], accountant/ business manager to implement the direction.

THERE ARE TWO BASIC DIRECTIONS TO TAKE FOR BUILDING SPACE FOR THE NEW HOSPITAL BASED ON THE BUSINESS GROWTH AND EXPANSION NEEDS.

The Old Way

The Owner talks to one of his clients that knows an architect and a contractor that does homes. They design a clinic and work with the RE broker that doesn’t verify if a veterinary clinic is zoned correctly for the “use” on the property.

The general contractor prices out the “completed” clinic drawings and the amount is more than expected.

Result: The owner has paid for the architectural drawings that are now useless because he can’t afford the culmination of the project, such as, cost of the land, construction documents, veterinary equipment, wasting time and possible interest charges relating to the building / land purchase.

Result…the Owner has discussed their “dream” with the Architect. The Architect has drawn what the Client wanted, the General Contract priced what was drawn. Everyone involved did what they were supposed to do

A Better Way

The Owner speaks with their Practice Manager and Accountant to provide profitably and cost of growth to their existing business for next steps, when, why, and how.

Talk with funding source for the project. This entails balance sheets and P&L statements to define what is their borrowing capacity based on their past performance.
Speak with an experienced RE broker in the veterinary field showing the correct zoning for pets but not including overnight stays and also showing the growth direction of the community.
Working with the team, the Architect’s and GC’s expertise in veterinary projects defines the rough size and costs relating to the construction of the building and development of the site.
The rough costs will go to the Owner along with clarifications for review of the practice manager and accountant.
The Owner works with their accountant / practice manager / attorney to understand the impact to the practice for land costs, site development costs, building costs, veterinary equipment, software, financing terms, IT, and moving / resetting the people.
Work with your Practice Manager to develop a 1 – 5 year projections defining goals along with keeping an eye on the competition and the direction the community is growing through a demographic study.
Gathering the specific data for the Team takes time but it is critical to the prosperity of the practice.

An example of time frames:
Financial discussions and assemble business documents, – 1 month.
Finding land zoned and road traffic for you, – 2 months. Facility design staff and Owner input and approval, Working on the City’s relation to the project – 6 months. In today’s world of technology, the bar has risen to expect better construction materials and techniques, which will reduce the time frame from dirt to grand opening.