Wouldn’t it be easier to just get a job?
When you’re in the thick of it all, it feels that way, doesn’t it?
Especially when you’re knee-deep in payroll, staff issues, client complaints, and wondering if you’ll ever take a proper holiday again.
In this kickoff episode we start with the question every practice owner should revisit regularly: Why are you in business?
Dr Sam Bowden breaks down why most owners start with good intentions: better medicine, a better team, better money—but end up overworked, underpaid, and out of joy. And why the fix begins with something deceptively simple: clarity on that why.
Sam outlines his framework for what he calls an “abundant practice”—the five pillars that any vet business needs to get right if it’s going to support the life you want. And yes, that includes permission to take a holiday.
What You’ll Learn:
- The real reasons vets start practices (hint: it’s not just the money)
- Why good intentions often lead to overwhelm
- The 5 pillars of Sam’s Abundant Practice Model: time, team, clients, finances, fulfillment
- How a low financial drive hurts the profession—and your personal life
- Common mindset traps (and how to replace guilt with growth)
- The power of shifting from “either/or” to “yes/and” thinking
- Why clarity is the foundation for fun, freedom, and financial success
Plus, meet your hosts:
Dr Sam Bowden is a vet, author, and founder of the Accelerate Practice Academy. Sam’s helped hundreds of practice owners transform their businesses and their lives. He’s not just about making practices profitable; he’s about making them enjoyable and sustainable—and he’s got the scars to prove he knows what he’s talking about.
Dr Hugh Hiemstra is a practicing vet, former practice owner and host of the Vet Vault and Vet Vault Clinical Podcasts, where he shares ideas and knowledge to help veterinary professionals worldwide learn better ways to make the veterinary professional work for them and sharpen their clinical game.
If you are looking to grow an abundant practice, here are 4 tools that will help:
1. Get Sam’s book “The Abundant Practice”
2. Take the 7 minute Practice Diagnostic Assessment to uncover the biggest opportunities in your practice.
3. Join our FREE closed Facebook Group, “The Practice Incubator Group”. It’s the place we share good ideas that work in practice.
4. Want to discuss your situation? Click here to have a chat.
