Most articles on this topic are written by someone with something to sell, either the corporate group looking to acquire your practice, or a broker looking to list you for sale to their buyers. This one is different.
Our CEO and co-founder, Monty Beshay, spent years managing 20+ animal hospitals across Canada for a vet corporation before founding VetCircle. Our co-founder and COO, Amy Ma, spent years on the acquisition side, helping purchase independently owned vet hospitals as part of a national corporate group. Together, they’ve seen this decision from both sides of the table: as corporate operators, acquirers, and now advocates for independent practice owners. So when we say there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, we mean it.
Here’s the conversation we have with practice owners every week, laid out clearly so you can make your own call.
Key Takeaways
- Selling to a corporation is the right call for some owners, but it’s not the only path.
- Most “forced” sales are exhaustion-driven owners who are burnt out from management
- The decision to sell your business should be made from clarity, not depletion. A third-party operational review before signing an offer, is one of the most valuable steps an owner can take.
- Independence is not the opposite of support. The right systems and group leverage now give independent practices advantages that historically only corporate scale offered.
What Corporate Ownership Genuinely Offers
Let’s start with the honest case for selling. The advantages are real:
- Immediate exit liquidity: A signed deal puts capital in your hands now, not ten years from now.
- Operational scale: Centralized HR, bookkeeping, accounting, legal, a regional manager, marketing, and procurement support can take real weight off your shoulders.
- Succession certainty: No more wondering whether your associate will buy in or whether you’ll find a buyer when you’re ready to exit.
- Freedom from the ownership weight: For owners genuinely ready to step back from running a business, this is a legitimate path.
For some owners, selling to a corporation is the right move.
What Independence Genuinely Offers
The case for staying independent is just as real:
- Full equity growth: Every dollar your practice appreciates stays yours.
- Complete control: You decide on medical standards, hiring, pricing, hours, workflow and culture, without a corporate handbook.
- A practice that reflects you: Your name, your standards, your team, your legacy, your reputation.
- An exit on your timeline: You can still sell later, when you’re ready, on terms you set.
- What independence requires: the right systems, the right support, and a clear-eyed view of where your practice actually stands today.
The Conversations Corporate Buyers Don’t Always Have Upfront
This is where VetCircle’s experience becomes especially valuable, as there are several realities that practice owners often don’t fully understand until after a transaction is complete:
Earnouts have teeth
The headline number you’re given typically includes performance targets you must hit over 3-5 years to receive the full price quoted. If you miss the targets, then the price tag changes.
Post-sale, your role usually has limits
You stay on as Medical Director or DVM, but operational decisions, pricing, vendor choices, staffing levels, appointment scheduling, and marketing usually come from head office.
“Support” looks different from how it was described
Avoid disappointment! You need to understand that the team involved with acquisitions is different from the team that will support and oversee your practice after the sale. The day-to-day experience of ownership transition will differ from the conversations that take place during the sale process. Before making a decision about who to sell to, we strongly encourage practice owners to speak with other DVMs who sold to the organization they’re considering. Hearing firsthand experiences can provide valuable insights into what the transition was like, how support was delivered, and what life looked like after the sale.
It’s also worth understanding how the corporation provides regional management support. The quality and type of guidance you receive can vary depending on the experience and background of your assigned regional leader. Leaders with a veterinary medicine background often bring practical insights into clinical operations, staffing challenges, and workflow realities. Leaders from other industries may offer strong business expertise, but your practice team may continue to play a larger role in solving veterinary-specific operational challenges.
Neither approach is inherently right or wrong, but understanding the support model and the people who will be working alongside your team can help ensure expectations align with reality.
Most original owners leave 3+ years post-sale
Sometimes the commitment is by choice, but most times it’s a requirement of the deal.
In many cases, the higher the purchase price, the longer the expected post-sale commitment to the practice. It’s also important to understand that, because a practice’s value is often closely tied to your production, most corporate buyers will expect you to maintain the same or a similar workload following the sale. This commitment often remains in place until the organization can recruit another DVM to replace your hours and production. Also keep in mind that if any associate veterinarians leave early in the transition process, you may be expected to work additional hours to cover the gap. This may continue until the buyer is able to recruit a replacement DVM who can take over those hours and production.
That said, not all corporate buyers operate the same way and expectations around working hours, transition commitments, associate recruitment, compensation, and flexibility can vary significantly from one organization to another. That’s why it’s critical to ask detailed questions throughout the process and speak with multiple practice owners who have already sold to the buyer. Understanding their real-world experience can provide valuable insight into what life after the sale actually looks like.
None of this means selling to a corporate is the wrong decision, it just means owners should fully understand the realities of the agreement, the expectations that come with it, and the culture of the organization they’re partnering with before signing.
Why Independent Owners Often Feel Forced to Sell
Here’s the pattern we see most often: owners don’t sell because they want to, they sell because they’re exhausted and burnt out from management, and can’t see another way forward.
The practice has become too dependent on them which means that vacations don’t happen, everyone else gets to take sick days but they don’t get to take sick days every question runs through their desk and by the time a corporate’s offer arrives, it feels less like a choice and more like a rescue.
But here’s the truth: most of these “forced” sales aren’t actually forced, they’re burnout-driven, and burnout is solvable. We’ve helped owners go from “I’m done, I have to sell” to a multi-DVM practice running without them at the centre, same owner, same building, completely different life.
A Side-by-Side Look
| Factor | Selling to Corporate | Staying Independent (with Support) |
|---|---|---|
| Exit liquidity | Immediate, often substantial | Built over time, on your schedule |
| Operational control | Limited post-sale | Full, medical, hiring, culture, pricing |
| Equity growth | Ends at sale for some corporations, some corporations will allow you to keep some shares. | Continues for the life of ownership |
| Day-to-day support | Centralized, corporate-defined | Self-built or through groups like VetCircle |
| Team & culture | Subject to corporate standardization | Owner-defined and protected |
| Long-term legacy | Brand is often absorbed | Your name and standards continue |
How to Decide
Before any owner signs a deal, we ask them to sit honestly with five questions:
- Am I selling because I want to exit ownership, or because I’m exhausted by how I’m currently running it?
- Have I had a true third-party look at where my practice actually stands?
- Do I understand exactly what’s expected of me during the earnout?
- If I imagine my practice running well in three years, with the right support, does ownership still feel like a burden?
- What happens to my team and my standards under new ownership?
If the answers point clearly to selling, sell with confidence. If they don’t, you have options.
A Final Word
The reason we built VetCircle was the conversations Monty and our COO Amy kept having with owners who’d sold and regretted it, owners who would have stayed independent if they’d known the right kind of support existed.
If you’re at a decision point, let’s talk. A no-obligation conversation with our team can help you think through where your practice actually stands, before any permanent decision gets made.
