Ep 67: David McCormick - Profit Is Not A Dirty Word

Blunt Dissection

On today’s show, I’m joined by David McCormick.

David is a veterinary valuation appraiser and transaction specialist, working with veterinarians throughout their ownership journey to help evaluate financial health so owners can make better decisions.

To give that a better outline David, in the same way, that veterinarians look at lab tests and x-rays to diagnose disease in animals, uses financial reporting tools to diagnose and treat unhealthy practices, or helps new owners understand their numbers from the beginning. In short, he’s a veterinary business health wizard who can read the tea leaves of your accounts and accurately predict much about your practice without ever walking in the door. A skill that every practice owner or manager would do very well to master too.

His career pathway to veterinary medicine was not direct and frankly is worth an interview on its own merits, with animal encounters in exciting, remote places and a near miss as a musician featuring highly. But it was his father, Larry, an MBA-holding Veterinarian that was the magnetic draw back into a world he was immersed in as a child. More on that in the interview.

David holds degrees in Science, Environmental Resource Management, and a Masters in Agricultural Education. He’s a regular and hugely popular speaker on the veterinary world speaking circuit, a charter member of Vet Partners, and serving as president in 2006. And was the Practice Management Education Manager for Western States Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas for seven years.

Money management is massively important for business and by extension physical and mental health. Well-managed businesses which return good profit margins allow for better staff salaries, more investment in new things to help standards of care, and a fair return for owners.

Having seen him keep the attention of the PSI vet symposium attendees the day before, on a subject more prone to glazing the eyes of veterinary professionals I knew I’d found my guy to talk about a subject that is taboo in the world of veterinary business - Profit is not a dirty word!

Regardless of your age or stage in vet med, this might be one of the most important conversations you hear because, in the end, economics determines just about everything.

So enjoy this, my conversation with the financial wizard and frisbee chasing David McCormick.

Today's show was made possible through the generous sponsorship of VetX Thrive - the course where vets like you go to learn the professional skills needed to have a happy and financially successful career as a vet. Learn more and sign up at www.vetxinternational.com today.