Omaha Veterinary Clinic, 50-Year Full-Service Animal Hospital

$1.9M

Revenue

$834K

SDE

2.2x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a full-service veterinary clinic in Omaha, Nebraska with a 50-year operating history. The practice handles the full range of companion-animal care, from routine exams and vaccinations to dental work and surgery, and adds a professional grooming operation onsite that captures additional wallet share from the same pet owners. With half a century in the same market, the clinic sits on a deep base of returning patients and multi-generational client relationships that are difficult for a new entrant to replicate.

The numbers are the story here. On $1.875M of revenue the business throws off $834K of owner cash flow, a 44 percent margin that is exceptional for a veterinary practice and points to strong pricing, efficient staffing, and a loyal panel of clients who return year after year. The team is lean at seven people (two full-time, five part-time), which keeps labor cost in check but also flags key-person dependence on the retiring owner-veterinarian.

At a $1.8M asking price the deal pencils to roughly 2.16x cash flow, which is cheap for a durable, recession-resistant healthcare business with recurring demand. The owner also holds the underlying real estate (appraised around $300K), offered separately from the asking price, so a buyer can control the facility and lock in occupancy on favorable terms rather than being exposed to a third-party landlord.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is the headline: $834K of cash flow on $1.875M of revenue is a 44 percent margin, which is unusually high for a vet practice and signals real pricing power and a lean cost structure. Because real estate payments have already been deducted from cash flow, the buyer is looking at a clean owner-earnings figure rather than an inflated one.
Durability and moat come from 50 years in a single market. A half-century of client relationships, referral patterns, and a returning patient panel is a moat that money cannot quickly buy, and pet owners are highly sticky once they trust a clinic with their animals. The onsite grooming adds a second recurring touchpoint with the same customers.
Market tailwinds favor this asset. Veterinary spend has grown steadily for years as pet ownership rises and owners treat animals as family, and demand holds up in downturns because people cut their own discretionary spend before their pet's health care. This is about as recession-resistant as small-business cash flow gets.
The operator advantage is the entry price. At 2.16x cash flow this is meaningfully below where healthy veterinary practices typically trade, especially given the margin profile, so a buyer with a DVM on staff or a partner-vet model captures immediate value versus the going market for consolidated vet clinics.

How to improve it

Recruit or partner with an associate veterinarian in the first 90 days to reduce key-person risk tied to the retiring owner. This both protects continuity and creates capacity to see more appointments, which is the single biggest constraint on revenue in a small clinic.
Layer in wellness plans and preventive-care memberships that bill monthly. Converting one-off vaccine and exam visits into subscription plans smooths cash flow, increases visit frequency, and raises lifetime value per patient without a heavier marketing spend.
Push the onsite grooming operation harder as a margin and retention engine. Cross-sell grooming to every medical client, add package pricing, and use it to fill slower weekday hours, since it draws the same customers back more often than annual vet visits alone.
Modernize the front end with online booking, automated appointment and vaccine reminders, and a reactivation campaign to lapsed clients. A 50-year practice almost certainly has a large dormant list, and re-engaging it is the cheapest revenue available.
Review pricing against local benchmarks and raise fees on procedures that are underpriced. A practice this old often leaves money on the table with legacy pricing, and even a modest fee increase drops almost entirely to the bottom line.
Buy the real estate alongside the business rather than renting from a third party. Controlling the $300K facility locks in occupancy cost, builds equity, and lets you set rent to optimize the operating entity's financials at resale.
Cross-train the part-time staff and document standard operating procedures before the seller exits. With only seven employees, formalizing workflows protects the business from turnover and makes it far more sellable at your own exit.

Diligence notes

Confirm whether a licensed veterinarian conveys with the deal or whether the retiring owner is the only DVM. If the owner is the sole vet, the entire revenue base depends on your ability to staff a credentialed replacement, and that hiring risk should be priced into the offer.
Verify the $834K cash flow and the statement that real estate payments were already deducted. Pull three years of tax returns and P&Ls to confirm the margin is real and sustainable, and identify any owner add-backs that would not persist under new ownership.
Break down revenue between medical services and grooming, and test client concentration and retention. Understand how much of the top line depends on the departing owner's personal relationships versus the clinic brand, because that determines transition risk.
Diligence the real estate separately: confirm the $300K appraisal, the terms of the separate purchase, and the condition and code compliance of the facility. Since it sits outside the asking price, model both the buy and lease scenarios and their impact on total capital required.
Assess the staff, especially the two full-time employees, for retention risk post-close. A seven-person team means each person is material, and losing a lead technician during transition could disrupt the patient panel.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →