Buying a veterinary practice in Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay has 62 established veterinary practices by our count: companies in business at least 15 years that still file with the state every year and aren't part of a larger group. Of those, 65% have been in business 20 years or more. Most will never be listed for sale, and many of their owners have never been asked.
What it takes to own one
Veterinary practices in Tampa Bay come in every size. Here's what owning one could look like at three levels, from a solid company to one of the leaders, with a small business loan covering most of the price.
- Earns about
- $166,000 a year
- Price about
- $515,000
- Your cash
- $72,000
- Could pay you
- up to $73,000 a year
- Earns about
- $242,000 a year
- Price about
- $749,000
- Your cash
- $105,000
- Could pay you
- up to $107,000 a year
- Earns about
- $387,000 a year
- Price about
- $1.2 million
- Your cash
- $168,000
- Could pay you
- up to $171,000 a year
Earnings are owner earnings: profit plus what the owner pays themselves, before loan payments and taxes. They and the prices are our estimates from public records, not the owners' figures, and we value companies like these at about 3.1 times a year's owner earnings. Your cash covers the down payment and closing costs, and what the business could pay you is what's left after the loan payments and the cushion lenders require. The more cash you bring, the further up you can go.
Age, size and location
Revenue is our estimate from public records, grouped into wide ranges.
| In business | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under 20 years | 22 |
| 20 to 29 years | 26 |
| 30 to 39 years | 9 |
| 40 years or more | 5 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 24 |
| $1M to $2M | 10 |
| $2M to $4M | 3 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Pinellas | 21 |
| Hillsborough | 15 |
| Pasco | 13 |
| Citrus | 6 |
| Polk | 6 |
| Other counties | 1 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Clearwater | 5 |
What the best veterinary practices have in common
- More than one veterinarian, so revenue doesn't depend on the owner's own appointment book.
- A growing number of active clients (those seen in the last year or so), with reminders that bring them back.
- A full schedule of dental and preventive work, not only sick visits.
- Equipment that's current and maintained: digital x-ray, in-house bloodwork, dental x-ray, anesthesia monitoring.
- Fees reviewed every year, and every service actually charged for. Missed charges are common in busy practices.
- Technicians who stay, and a practice manager who runs the front desk and inventory.
- A lease or building with room for another exam room.
- A good working relationship with the nearest emergency hospital for after-hours referrals.
What to check before you buy
- Doctor dependence. Look at how much revenue each veterinarian produces. If the seller produces most of it, the practice's value depends on a long handover and on hiring another veterinarian, which can take a long time.
- The permit record. Look up the premises permit and any discipline on DBPR's license search, and ask for the last inspection report.
- Associate agreements. Read the other veterinarians' employment contracts, pay formulas and any noncompete terms.
- Controlled drug records. Logs, inventories and storage should be in order before you take over.
- Medical records. Complete records back up the client list you're paying for.
- Equipment. Note its age, service contracts and any equipment leases you'd take over.
- Pharmacy and food sales. Online pharmacies have pulled this revenue from many practices, so check the trend.
- Local competition. Practices owned by large groups may be nearby and hiring from the same pool of veterinarians and technicians.
- The seasons. In some areas, clients leave for the summer with their pets.
Questions to ask the owner
- How many active clients do you have, and how do you count them?
- How much of the practice's revenue comes from your own appointments, and how long would you stay to introduce clients to the other doctors?
- Do your associates have contracts, and is anyone planning to leave or hoping to buy in?
- Which equipment is owned and which is leased, and what will need replacing soon?
- How do you handle emergencies and after-hours calls?
- How have pharmacy and food sales changed over the last few years?
- When did you last raise fees, and how did clients respond?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a veterinary practice in Florida.
Owning a company in Tampa Bay
The local economy
Tampa Bay, as we draw it, runs from Citrus County south through Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough, and east into Polk: Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Brandon, Wesley Chapel, Brooksville, Inverness, Lakeland and Winter Haven. Tampa is the business center, with Port Tampa Bay, Tampa International Airport, the University of South Florida and MacDill Air Force Base, home to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. Financial services, insurance and health care employ many people, and the Gulf beaches of Pinellas bring tourists and seasonal residents.
Polk County sits on Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando and has become a center for warehouses and distribution, alongside its older citrus and phosphate industries. To the north, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus are more suburban and rural, with many retirees. Home service companies, the building trades, medical practices and auto businesses all have a deep customer base across the region.
What's different about owning a company here
Hurricane Helene's storm surge in September 2024 and Hurricane Milton two weeks later both hit the region hard. Flood zones and insurance costs now matter in any deal near the water. Ask how the business came through those storms, what it claimed, and whether its building sits in a flood zone.
The labor market is deep by Florida standards, though skilled tradespeople can still be hard to find. New homes have pushed north and east into Pasco and eastern Hillsborough, and along Interstate 4 in Polk, bringing demand for services with them. Coastal Pinellas is more seasonal than inland Tampa or Lakeland. The bay itself shapes a service company's territory: crossing a bridge at rush hour can turn a short distance into a long drive, so look at where the customers actually are.