Why This $3.2M Vet Practice Still Loses Money (How to Fix a Bad P&L) | Ep. 13

What separates a vet practice that clears $600K a year from one losing money on the same revenue? It's not what you'd think.John Younker, DVM, MBA sits down with Professor Jeff Sanford, MBA of the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine to break down two real veterinary practice P&Ls, line by line. Same size. Same type of clinic. Wildly different outcomes. One we call "Sad Times." The other, "Good Times."Professor Sanford's has analyzed well over 1,000 veterinary practices, and in this episode he shows you exactly where the money leaks out and how to plug it, using one simple framework: the 20/40/15 rule.Here's the gut punch. The "Sad Times" clinic does $3.2M in revenue and still loses money. Cost of goods running near 29%. Payroll at 53% with underutilized doctors and too many bodies on the schedule. Overhead creeping up everywhere, including a $100K professional fees line that made Jeff's jaw drop. This owner should be clearing $600K a year. Instead they're in the red.Then we flip to "Good Times," a $3.7M practice that does it right: monthly financials, weekly KPI meetings, COGS near 22%, payroll near 36%, and roughly $783K in EBITDA. Same effort. Completely different result. The difference is discipline.In this episode you'll learn:The 20/40/15 benchmark that tells you in 30 seconds if your practice is healthyWhy COGS is the expense you have the MOST control over (and how to fix it in 90 days)The inventory behaviors quietly inflating your drug spendWhy discounting is "the cigarette smoking of the vet world"How to spot overhead creep, renegotiate fees, and catch fraud before it costs youThe DVM-to-CEO transition that stalls most practices around $3MNew to reading a P&L? Start with Episode 12, where John walks through the basics: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4RN4iceccRrw4IdxPWAgg7?si=YMWRysSmRwqcJtDyiDudAA🎧 Subscribe for more practical finance for veterinary practice owners. No jargon, no MBA required.CHAPTERS00:00 Tale of Two P&Ls01:11 Podcast Intro and Guest03:46 P&L Buckets Explained05:56 Benchmarks and Percentages09:28 Sad Times Practice Setup11:22 Revenue Trends Breakdown12:53 COGS Deep Dive16:26 Inventory and Pricing Fixes26:22 Payroll Problems and Capacity33:12 Owner Pay and DVM to CEO38:44 Overhead Next Steps38:53 Overhead Expense Creep40:28 Big Overhead Outliers41:30 Professional Fees Shock45:19 Negotiating Bank Fees47:34 Rent Fixed Costs48:17 Expense Discipline Fraud49:01 EBITDA Explained49:46 Why EBITDA Is Negative52:42 Depreciation Passive Income55:49 Sad Times Recap57:18 Good Times Systems59:03 Good Times COGS01:01:04 Payroll Utilization Wins01:04:27 Overhead Normalization01:06:42 Good Times EBITDA Gap01:08:00 Owner Playbook Wrap